It was a wonderful day to visit the orphanage.
Tattered floors.
Creaky doors.
A place truly unfit to nurture a child.
Micah stepped into the not-so-fine establishment, his eyes scanning the gloom.
"If the smell of rotting animals won't kick potential foster parents out, I'm not sure what will," Randy muttered beside him, wrinkling her nose at the lack of staff.
It didn't seem like many children were present. Seeing as this was the only orphanage in the village, one would expect kids running around, making noise, causing chaos.
"It's too quiet," Micah replied. "The statistics don't add up. Clearly, this orphanage is definitely a front."
Posing as potential foster parents, the pair made their way to reception. The receptionist trying far too hard to look polite told them no children had been admitted in months.
That would explain the silence.
But it also confirmed something else:
The staff was involved.
Micah sighed softly, putting on a performance.
"Oh well, honey. I guess we'll have to visit another orphanage. We'd better be heading out now."
The receptionist smiled stiffly and waved them off.
Once they turned the corner and stepped out of sight, their disguises dropped. They regrouped with the rest of the team waiting in the alley.
"A front, as expected," Genji said.
Genji was the team's "genius," though most quickly realized he was more of a run-of-the-mill deranged scientist. Through some digging not that he'd ever explain how he had located a hidden facility one mile beneath the orphanage.
"A magician never reveals his secrets," Genji smirked, tapping his temple. "This information did not come cheap, my dearest Captain."
As a bona fide mad scientist, Genji desired nothing more than to become a historical icon, rivaling Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. He revered these men as a Roman would revere gods eternal, untouchable, divine.
Genji dreamed of having his name etched into history. And to achieve that goal, he required Micah.
Micah was special.
Genji could see it.
The scientist possessed a gift unlike any other: eyes that could see all that could be seen abstract concepts, hidden structures, invisible data. And with that gift came his second title:
Genji Hideaki - The Visionborn.
"Fine," Micah sighed, giving in to their standing agreement.
Genji was to be granted full control of Micah's body for one hour to conduct whatever experiments he wished.
Randy, knowing the agreement, shot Genji a murderous glare.
Micah placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll be fine. Focus on the mission. Something important is hidden beneath that orphanage—something even we aren't aware of."
Randy nodded and left to prepare.
---
The Phantom's Den.
Randy walked down the headquarters hall and stopped before the quarters of The Phantom. She knocked firmly.
The door opened.
The Phantom emerged—a creature of shadow, surrounded by piles of clothes and half-eaten food. Randy greeted it, and it returned the gesture with a hollow rasp.
"Captain Micah will be… occupied with Genji's childish hobbies," Randy said. "You've been requested to accompany me tonight."
Silence.
Then, The Phantom began to change.
Crimson eyes shifted rapidly through a gradient of colors before settling into an abyssal black. Flesh threaded itself over exposed bone. The suffocating shadow that earlier filled the hallway evaporated.
Standing in its place was a man.
Danny.
"I hypothesize," Randy said dryly, "that you didn't feed your pet."
Danny laughed.
"You don't have the guts to call The Phantom a 'pet' to his face, do you?"
He stretched, cracking his neck.
"Alright, I'll take the mission. Hey—since we've got a minute, want to bathe together?"
"No."
Randy turned and waved him off.
Danny grinned and went to bathe alone.
As he sank into the water, he studied the reflection of his Frankenstein-esque body—scars, surgical marks, strange modifications.
How did it get like this?
Because of The Phantom.
The Phantom was his gift…
But Danny called it a curse.
A monstrous construct.
One that refused to obey him.
A construct was meant to protect its user, but The Phantom rejected Danny as its master. On multiple occasions he'd tried to tame it, only to be denied every time. They were equals meaning at times Danny wasn't even in control of his own body.
He was originally scheduled for execution because of how dangerous he was.
But The Phantom had taken control, saving him while leaving him in a near-death state.
Danny believed it brought misfortune.
But thanks to Genji's body modifications, he could now use some of its abilities.
He rose from the water, droplets rolling down his scarred skin.
It was time.
.....
At the dead of night, the duo neared their destination. An uncanny mist appeared, thick and unnatural.
Danny tensed. "Hmm, it suddenly became misty. Maybe we should head back. Maybe we should get the Captain. You know, realistically, we could die, and I don't want to die," said Danny.
Randy replied, "Calm down, it's just mist. We're not returning without the Captain's 'treasure,' okay."
"Abandon all faith, all ye who enter... Yo, you do see that, right, Randy?" Danny pointed outside at the unnatural stillness of the mist. "Umm, driver guy, driver guy, whaa—HEY! Stop ignoring me! So you're a psycho too? Geez, Randy, we—."
The driver interrupted, "We have arrived."
Randy replied, "Let's go, Danny. The sooner we get going, the sooner we'll be out of here."
A figure with a creepy smile and a decrepit body emerged from the mist. "The hospital is closed," it informed the duo.
In the blink of an eye, the figure's head fell to the floor, decapitated. "Let's be quick," Danny said.
The situation, thought to be dealt with, was not. The duo began to approach the entrance of the building. However, the headless body of the figure—now identified as the receptionist—lunged toward them. While still facing the entrance, the receptionist's body was instantly dismantled, a doing of the Phantom. The remains turned to ash. Danny ignored it and opened the door, only to be greeted by more vampires.
Danny began to summon a piece of the Phantom for combat, but the Phantom interjected and withheld its power. Randy, seeing this, unsheathed her daggers to defend Danny.
"Any minute now," Danny muttered.
Randy moved first. Two vampires lunged, and she slashed one across the throat, pivoted, and buried the other blade in the second creature's skull. Randy's daggers were a gift from the Captain, Micah.
She was a descendant of the Hartford clan, warriors once responsible for protecting the king. For most of her life, she had trained daily, undergoing cruel physical and mental trials to become a living weapon.
Randy slashed at the remaining vampires, keeping them at bay.
Long ago, before the present, a great war had caused the death of many, the regression of civilization, and the extinction of noble clans. Micah, then known as the Captain, was an exceptional soldier who was promoted to work directly under the king and even made the honorary heir.
Because the finest protectors were selected from the Hartford clan, and most were deployed during the war, only two descendants remained. Of the two, Micah chose Randy Hartford.
Micah eventually relinquished his authority as heir. He gifted Randy her twin daggers and revealed the truth about the war and the Hartford clan, successfully recruiting her as his right-hand man.
Danny blinked. "You're scary, you know that?"
Randy didn't answer. She exhaled through her nose.
More vampires crawled from the dark, screeching. Randy spun low, slicing a leg off one creature, ducked under another, and drove both daggers into its chest.
"Okay that's actually really, really cool. Also terrifying," Danny swallowed.
But still no Phantom.
"R-Randy? Little help?" Danny stepped back as claws raked across the tiles.
Randy kicked a vampire aside. "Danny, figure it out!"
"I am trying! The Phantom hates me!"
Another shriek echoed. The hallway darkened as more figures approached from deeper inside the building.
Danny closed his eyes and begged—the Phantom stirred slightly, a sliver of shadow forming behind him but it fizzled out like a dying flame.
"Great," Danny muttered. "Guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way."
The duo stood back-to-back.
Shadows swarmed.
The mist crept inside like a living serpent.
The fight had only just begun.