Devlin was flying, but not as Red-X. No, he was flying in his Bat Orphenoch form. The long scarves around his neck became large batwings to allow him to glide in the sky. He often did this at night as not to draw too much attention to himself. Since the town of Amity Park only had ghost trouble (which were being taken care of by its local hero team known as "Team Phantom") Devlin didn't wish to add Orphenochs to the list of the things the people needed to worry about. The world was already far too messed up as it already is with all the anti-mutant sentiment. That was the thing that puzzled him about humans. Humans would hate and despise those different from them. Religion, race, gender…and now genetics. It would seem that humans thrived on hatred. Peaceful co-existence was unheard of and ignored. He often imagined what would happen if the supernatural and magical realm became public knowledge. People knew ghosts existed, well the ones in Amity Park did. But he just could see all those religious fanatics condemning all supernatural and magical creatures as 'unnatural' and 'evil' as well as 'spawns of the devil'. The supernatural and magical wasn't evil, nor was it good. It was a little bit of both. Humans didn't understand that and were dooming themselves and didn't even know it. Thankfully, they were some exception to that rule.
He remembered the day he received his 'wings'. It was many months ago. He had come close to losing Danielle that day. He had lost his life, but gained another. Generating his gun, he fired a few shots into the air. He then re-absorbed the weapon before reassuming his current flight pattern.
His brother, Ichijyo/Desmond had found out he was an Orphenoch when they were speaking in private. He had noticed that Devlin's senses, speed, agility, reflexes and strength was nearly above normal vampires, even for a dhampir. That was when Devlin confessed that he was an Orphenoch, but begged his brother not to tell the others. Despite his reservations, Ichijyo respected his brother's wishes.
As a general known fact, vampires were evil and soulless creatures that had no conscience. Dhampirs, however, were an exception of the rule since they were half human, meaning a soul. But, did a soul make a difference? A lot of evil people have souls, didn't they? This confused the young Day-Walker. He thought that life as dhampir was confusing, but posing as human was even more confusing and being an Orphenoch…
At least he still had his soul. He flapped his wings and dove down upon a roof. As soon as his foot touched the ground, he shifted into his human form. He looked upon the moon and the stars and smiled.
His brother asked his for a sample of his blood. Devlin asked why. His brother wanted to know how much time Devlin had left. With s shrug, he gave him the blood sample.
Time? What did Ichijyo mean? Weren't dhampirs immortal?
Wait. Dhampirs. He couldn't even call himself that. True, he was once a dhampir, but what was he now? An Orphenoch Dhampir? Then, was he half vampire and half human, or half vampire and half Orphenoch?
Or none of the above? Was he a freak?
Devlin lay on his back, his hands on the back of his head.
He remembered back to the day, actually night, when this all began…
(Flashback…)
Devlin ducked when a stake was ready to pierce his heart. He was dressed in his usual black and white ensemble. His hat was on the ground as were his cracked glasses. His adversary had short, blond hair, green eyes, a heavy-set squared jaw, and a constant stubble. He also had a scar on his left cheek. He wore round glasses, a large cassock, khaki pants, black shoes, a white shirt, white gloves, and a gold cross around his neck. On his gloves, there were inscriptions written across the crosses drawn onto the back of the glove.
This man was known as Alexander Anderson, A priest and paladin of The Vatican and Section XIII Iscariot, worn enemies of the Hellsing Organization. Unlike Hellsing, that had several vampires working for them, the Section XIII Iscariot saw all vampires as filthy creatures that deserved to be terminated. They called it 'purification' or 'blessing'. In Devlin's opinion, they were fanatics.
"You will be purified you filthy abomination and cast down to Hell where you belong!" he shouted with a bit of Irish and Scottish accent in his voice. He threw several blessed bayonets at the young dhampir and Devlin dodged by leaping into the air.
"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Danielle shouted as she assumed her ghost form. She sent an ecto-blast at the psychotic paladin and it sent him flying. She kneeled down next to Devlin. "Are you okay?"
Devlin looked up at her. He had a few cuts and bruises but nothing too life threatening. He was in his vampire form, evident by his sharp fangs and pointed ears. "I think so, just a few scratches, that's all."
Danielle smiled and then looked as the paladin rose up. He said, "Vampires and those who ally with such filth all stand equal in the eyes of God; sinful dirty heathens to Man."
"What's with this guy?" Danielle asked as she charged up her ecto-blasts.
Devlin got up, "Let's just say he's the kind of guy that thinks people like me don't have the right to live."
Anderson charged and produced two more bayonets. He stabbed at Danielle who went intangible and into the ground before coming back up and kicking him in the back. Another charged up ecto-blast sent him sailing. "Come on!" she said to Devlin as she helped him to walk. Suddenly, a knife came flying towards Danielle. Devlin notcied this and spun around to protect her. The blessed knife pierced his heart, killing him instantly.
"DEVLIN!" Danielle yelled out in horror. She dropped to her knees and cradled the body of her best friend in her arms. "Devlin…no…" tears fell from her eyes, "I never even got the chance to tell you that…"
"The creature has been purified, now it's your turn," Anderson said. "May God bless your soul and send you to heaven spirit."
"YOU KILLED HIM!" Danielle yelled as she charged, flying straight at Anderson. Anderson grabbed her by the neck and slammed her against the wall. He squeezed her throat.
Devlin's eyes suddenly snapped open as the wound in his chest healed after pulling out the bayonet. He looked up and saw Anderson, strangling Danielle. In rage, he shouted, "LET HER GO!"
Anderson looked over to Devlin, eyes wide with shock. He let go of Danielle who coughed and looked over at Devlin who was standing again. "Devlin…?"
"This is not possible. No vampire has ever survived my blessed blades of God," Anderson said in disbelief before grinning, "No matter, it just gives me the chance to do it all over again."
"I am not a vampire you fanatic!" Devlin hissed. His eyes flashed white as his body changed. He now looked like an armored cowboy with his cowboy hat, boots, coat, gloves and everything associated with a cowboy based on the design of his organic armor. Small batwings covered his arms and legs and a pair of big ones spread out behind his back like a cape…or a long scarf to be more precise. He even had batwing spurs on his boots. His cowboy hat also held a pair of bat wings and the hat covered the top half of his face. His eyes peaked out from under the hat. His mouth was covered by a fanged mouthpiece. The ends of his coat were designed like batwings.
Anderson rushed at Devlin and threw his bayonets. They didn't even scratch Devlin's new armored hide. Devlin, without thinking, created a pair of tri-barreled hand gun with batwing decorations on them. He aimed at Anderson and fired. He continued to shoot until there was nothing left of the insane paladin. Devlin sighed and reverted to human form. He looked ashamed. He was no longer the same. Danielle walked towards him and he backed away. Did he have to say goodbye to her now? What would he tell Miriam and Walter?
He felt a pair of arms wrap around his neck. Danielle was hugging him. She had tears in her eyes and sobbed. He smiled at her and said, "Let's go home."
(End Flashback)
A lot had changed since then. He practiced with his new transformation constantly to discover his strengths and weakness. He only found out what he was when he encountered a strange man that called him an Orphenoch.
Devlin looked up into the night's sky. Could he change back to a normal dhampir if he wanted to? Did he want to?
His sharp hearing picked up something. Danny was in trouble. He shouted out, "X-CHANGE!" and transformed into Red-X.
Danny was kneeling on the ground, exhausted from his fight with Desiree. Desiree, however, was not one to be beaten easily. If she was going to eliminate Danny, now would be the time.
Of course, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be any outside interruptions.
As Desiree came close to executing the final blow, a large red energy shield erected in front of Danny. Desiree bounced off painfully. Danny then heard footsteps and turned.
Standing not too far from him was Red-X. Danny was about to say something, but Red-X intense stare shushed him. Desiree was trying to shake the cobwebs out of her head.
Red-X made his way towards Desiree, deactivating the suit in the process and changing back to Devlin. A foolhardy act, but there had to be a reason; Devlin rarely did anything half cocked. He kneeled down in front of Desiree. Desiree, as usual, saw a potential person to grant wishes to…then twist them around.
"What is your wish?" she asked expectedly.
Devlin could wish for anything. He could even wish himself back to normal, maybe even become human. No, he decided to ask for the next best thing.
Devlin only smiled at her softly before answering.
He said to her, "I wish…for you to be happy."
"What?" Desiree was shocked.
"What?" Danny repeated, also surprised.
"When you lived before, before you died, you loved the sultan dearly. He promised you everything and you loved him, didn't you?" He continued, "So aren't you going to grant my wish?"
"That is a wish I cannot grant," she replied.
"Really? Why do you twist the wishes of others, Desiree?"
"Because…" she didn't know how to answer. She looked down on the ground.
"Is it because…you felt envious of the happiness of others?" he prodded. She nodded. "And you feel alone?" she nodded again. He smiled softly, "Don't be."
"Why?" she was then silenced when he enveloped her in an embrace.
"You are never alone…I'm here now," he whispered to her. Danny just gawked at this. Okay, even THIS was weird.
Desiree began to feel moisture in her eyes. Was she crying? Why? When was the last time she had cried? She began sobbing now.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked him, still in his arms.
"Because I do not think you are evil," he said, running his fingers through her hair. "Just bitter and alone…like I was."
"You?"
He then let her go and smiled at her. "Be happy, Desiree. Don't try to hurt others, okay?" he then walked over to Danny and offered his hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Danny said to him. "What did you do?"
"Sometimes fighting isn't always the answer. There are always other ways to stop a conflict," he explained to Danny. "A friend told me that once." Danny then noticed Desiree was still there and got ready his thermos. "Wait." Devlin went back to Desiree, who was still thinking. He said to her, "Even with the green skin and red eyes, you are still very beautiful, Desiree." It was a sincere compliment. Danny slapped himself in the face. Devlin even flirted with ghosts.
"I am?" she asked, smiling at his compliment.
"There's no doubt that you will someone who will make you happy," Devlin added. "I hope you do someday. Just, promise you won't cause trouble."
Desiree smiled, "I promise, child." She started to fly away, "And thank you. I will return to the Ghost Zone and I will not bother anyone again." She flew off.
"Hey!" Danny yelled but was stopped by Devlin. "She's getting away!"
"Let her," Devlin said. "She won't cause any trouble, I guarantee that."
"I hope you're right."
"I know I'm right."