Phantom X

Chapter 1: A Cat… and Larry

I flew over the city invisible. It had changed extensively in the years since I left, much darker and more polluted than I remember. Landing in an alley, I transformed back into Fenton and cautiously walked out onto the sidewalk. My stomach growled, distracting me from thinking of my family and allowing me to focus on something else. The food I'd taken from the house—I couldn't think of it as mine without thinking of them—had only lasted a few days, and, being the smart person I am, I hadn't thought to bring any money.

'I suppose I could always pickpocket someone.' I thought. My hero side flinched at the thought of stealing—the face of my alterative future, jerky, older self came to mind—but self-preservation won out in the end. Besides, that future was created because my ghost half and Vlad's combined. If I stay away from Vlad, then it won't happen.

Turning my body invisible and intangible, I walked up to a woman and put my hand in her purse. After fumbling around for a moment (and almost getting caught), he found the woman's wallet and put in his pocket. After adjusting my style and pickpocketing a few more woman—their purses made it easier—I decided to get one more wallet and call it a night. In the morning, I'd put them all in a box, free of their cash, and drop it off outside the police station. I'm not so mean as to let people think that I'll steal their identity or something. And the police should be able to return them to their owners.

I spotted my last—I guess they're victims—for the night. She was a pretty, with chin length, blonde hair and almost cat-like features. Apparently, she had better senses than the rest because, before I could turn intangible, she had grabbed me and knocked me up against the wall of a building. There were no people around, so no one saw the woman whip out a pocket knife and pressed it against my neck. "Aren't you a little young to be mugging someone?" She asked with amusement in her voice.

"I-I wasn't mugging you! I swear!"

"So, you're a pickpocket, then? You're pretty good." She, amazingly, put away the knife and let me go. "I didn't even see or hear you. So, why are you pickpocketing people in the first place?"

"W-well, I, um…" My stomach decided to complain again, making me redden in embarrassment.

The lady laughed again. "So, you're hungry! Well, if you do something quick for me, you can come over to my place and I'll fix you a meal. I only live a block away. Come on." She started walking away, not even caring if I followed, and I, again being the smart person I am, went after her.

'What am I doing!?' The rational, albeit paranoid, side of me scolded. 'Why in hell are we following her!? She's probably going to use me as a slave, or something!'

'She seems ok.' My kinder, heroic haft argued. 'She could have just turned us into the police. Instead, she's offered to make us a meal. She obviously has the skill to take me down if I don't use my powers. She probably just wants to help me.'

"Ok, we're here." Her voice drew me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see a huge apartment building. Glancing back at my companion, I noticed that she had a large grin on her face. "First rule of life: If you wanna eat, you got to earn it. If you can get to my apartment my way, I'll feed you and let you sleep in my apartment. If not, you can stay on the streets. Now, watch closely."

With incredible grace, she jumped onto the broken fire escape on the building. Moving like it was the most natural thing in the world, she flipped and spun up to the top floor, never resting. When she had reached the top, she simply rested on the edge of a window sill, her smirk obvious from 5 stories down.

'Do I really want to do this?' I asked myself. My stomach growled again, making me walk towards the building. 'Alright, if I use any of my more obvious powers, she'll be able to see. Perhaps, if I merely tap into my super strength and speed, then I could make it up there…' My eyes faintly glowed green as I copied the woman's movements, knowing which places were safe to put my feet on and which were completely rusted. Soon, I reached the top. I smirked at the woman and said, "That was simple enough."

"Impressive, kid." She looked me up and down before we entered her apartment via window. "It would take a gymnast several years to move that fluidly."

"Guess I'm just special. And my name's not 'kid', its Danny."

"My name is Selena. Selena Kyle. I hope you like fish and carrots, because that's one of the few things I have around here." Selena moved into the kitchen area, allowing me to look around. At first glance, her apartment seemed like something Paulina would like, but small areas of chaos ruined the overall appearance. Slashed throw pillows, broken picture frames, spray paint on the walls made this look shattered almost. "Bathroom is at the end of the hall. Guest room's on the left and my room is on the right." I turned back to see Selena smirking at me. "So, does 'Danny' have a last name?"

"Once upon a time." I whispered and looked out the window, a tear slipping down my cheek. "I don't use any of my last names anymore, the first because it holds to many bad memories, the second because anyone who also shared that name is gone. And I don't want anyone to find me."

"An orphan." I looked back at Selena to see her giving me, not a pitying look, but an understanding one.

"Twice. Both of my families died—my biological one and my adoptive one."

"I won't say 'I'm sorry'." My eyes widened. "I know from experience that it doesn't do anything. The only thing that helps when tragedy strikes is to find a new purpose. Like when I almost died from being pushed out a window. I realized life was too short to just stand on the sidelines and I wasn't exactly in the right mental state to be a hero. So, now I'm a thief."

"Really?" Somehow, I wasn't really surprised by that piece of info. "So, if you're a bad guy, then why did you help me?"

"You don't get it. Thieves aren't real bad guys." She set the finished food on the table and gestured me to take a seat. "They don't plot to end the world, there are no master plans; they're just looking out for number one. We're not evil, just selfish."

I started eating, surprised that it was good. "I once tried to be the hero. That's why my family is dead; a villain was stronger than me and I couldn't save them in time. Nothing I had was enough."

"Danny, you've been breaking your back to help people for lord knows how long. You deserve to be a little selfish. Why don't you learn from me how to be a thief? It hurts less people than most other selfish things and you can't exactly live on pickpocketing. You'll only be taking care of yourself, and maybe even a new family you care for."

I looked at the thief across from me. She was trusting me with this information, a former hero. Who was I to betray people's trust? And I won't be breaking my promise to my family…

Smirking, I raised my glass in a mock toast. "Why not?"

Robin PoV*********************************************** *

"I can't" I looked down on my city, twisted by Johnny Rancid, in sorrow.

"But why can't you?" Larry asked in his childish voice. "You're Robin!"

"LOOK AT ME!" I yelled. "I'll just mess it up again!"

"So? I mess up all the time. But I still try."

"I've been nothing but a failure lately! I couldn't save my brother from an explosion on the day our parents died! I can't stop Johnny! I'm a failure!"

"Robin," I looked down on the small duplicate, who was fidgeting nervously. "Clockwork will probably get very upset if I tell you this, but… Danny is still alive."

And this is where I'm stopping. PS Catwoman was based on the one in Batman Returns.