The scruffy street gang leader reminisced back to his old job as a bag boy at the local supermarket. It was certainly safer than his current employment. He originally signed on to make a quick buck and he thought he chose a safe bet. The mob boss that backed all the gangs in the Upper West Side was regarded by all as being untouchable, though absolutely no one at the street gang level knew who he was. Still, something had all the local gangs spooked. He didn’t believe all the “Man-Bat” stories told down at the local hang out, but their tension was very contagious.

His gang was gathered that evening in a supposedly-abandoned warehouse to take inventory. He paced nervously back and forth across the warehouse floor. Just as he attempted to get his gang’s attention, the skylight in the roof burst as a dark silhouette dropped in on them from above. The visage was followed close behind by a yellow streak.

“The Bat!” one thug yelled out, as the whole gang scattered.

The Dynamic Duo landed in the midst of the mass exodus, and they immediately began pursuing their prey. They rounded up gang member after gang member, but the leader got lost in the confusion.

The gang leader thought he was home free when he reached main entrance to the warehouse. He opened the door, but immediately took a few startled steps backwards before tripping over himself and falling down. From nowhere there appeared a looming costumed figure casually leaning in the doorway with a smirk on its face. “Well...hello there,” a disjointed female voice said.

“What da...?” the leader blurted out. “Another one a dem freaks?”

The wraith-like shadow seemed to be atop him instantaneously with a firm grip on his shirt collar. It stared hard at him, only there were no eyes in the mask, just a white void where they should have been. The gang leader began trembling uncontrollably, and he got the feeling that the being only fed off of his fear.

“That’s Pantherette to you, buddy,” she said through clenched teeth. A gloved fist raised, readying to strike him. Then all went black.

P A N T H E R E T T E