When Adrianna Peréz was 12 years old, her parents owned a bodega in New Steel City. What that meant was that every month, a member of the local crime family, the Smiths, would send in a well dressed gentleman to visit their shop. He would come in, declaring himself to be an insurance agent and head to the back of the shop to speak with Adrianna's parents. Once in the privacy of the office, he would demand "protection money" from them. As long as her parents paid up on time, no one got hurt. A pity it didn't remain that way.
It was a warm summer afternoon. Adrianna and her four siblings were helping her parents in the shop, stacking cans of soup. Then the bells at the door rang, announcing the entrance of a customer. The Peréz siblings looked up. The customer was a tall, red headed white man in a crisp black pinstripe suit.
George, the oldest, piped up. "Welcome to the Peréz Family Store. Can I help you find anything?"
The well-dressed gentleman nodded. "I'm looking for the owner of this establishment. I want to offer him some-ahem-insurance."
"All right." George replied. "This way please." George led the gentleman to his parents' office, with Adrianna and all her siblings trailing behind. In the office, Adrianna's father, Luiz, sat waiting, looking worriedly at his ledgers. He looked up with surprise at the gentleman.
George said to his father, "This man says he's here to sell 'insurance'."
Luiz said to the gentleman, "Why are you here? I've already paid his money for this month."
The gentleman replied, "Why don't you send these children away so we can talk like adults." Luiz waved his children away. Adrianna and her siblings rushed out of the room. After everyone left, Adrianna, always the curious one, put her ear to the door to listen.
"I'm not from Jonn Smyth.", came the voice of the stranger, "Instead I represent Seamus MacDonald. To put it simply, our organization is just about to take over this side of Shuster's island. And to those who won't pay us now, let's just say it won't be pretty."
"I don't have the money," replied Luiz, "Just give me some time, and I could give it to you in a month."
"No deal. You're trying to cheat my employer out of paying. Well, your loyalty is going to cost you."
That night, in the small living space the family Peréz stayed in above their bodega, Luis Peréz and his wife Maria stood guard with one shotgun each pointed toward their door. Their three children were hiding in their beds, shaking with fear. The seven of them waited for a shootout which was never to come. The smell of burning food drifted into the room. Maria's eyes widened. She turned to Luiz to see the same horrified expression on his face. The mobsters were burning down the building! Hurriedly, the two parents roused their children and raced them down the fire escape. Once at a safe distance, they did a quick headcount of their children. 1...2. One was missing! Maria and Luis counted again. And again. There was only one inescapable truth. Adrianna's little brother Miguel was still inside.
On that day, a figure was born, one that would later become the terror of the organized crime bosses of New Steel City. In the nightmares of young Adrianna Peréz was formed...The Red Phantom. Adrianna spent her adolescence training, learning the arts of deduction and hand-to-hand combat. By the time she turned twenty five, she knew she was ready. And she set out to battle crime in her hometown, garbed in a dark red cloak. Adrianna Peréz became the Red Phantom.
Eventually, the Red Phantom's battle on the streets of New Steel City got the attention of an organized group of costumed crime-stoppers called the American Metahuman Defense Society. And though the Red Spirit had no powers, she was deemed worthy to join the team, who were convened to handle any massive nation-shattering event. They had deep pockets and a backing from someone high up in the U.S. Government. They equipped the crime fighter with a high tech suit and gadgets, making an already-dangerous crime fighter, much more so. A warning to criminals everywhere: Beware the Red Phantom!