Gotham City Police Department's rooftop.
Commissioner James Gordon stood next to a giant lighted spotlight, shining the iconic bat symbol into the dark sky.
Across from him, a somewhat goofy-looking teenager was staring at a card full of words.
The teenager was wearing a red short-sleeved shirt, green gloves and pants, a yellow cape, and a black mask that covered half of his face.
The bright red, green, and yellow colors made him look like he had just escaped from a circus and forgot to change his costume.
He called himself Robin, the student, assistant, and partner of Batman.
"The last drop of water falls in the transparent bottle,
A newborn fish leaps out of the dried-up bottle,
The trapped angel weeps in sorrow,
When the flipped "L" appears on top of the tower,
Silver-white wings descend guided by moonlight,
Wiping away the angel's tears.
Yours sincerely, Phantom Thief Kid."
Robin finished reading the contents of the card, and his eyes showed a strange look.
"Commissioner, are you sure this isn't some kind of new prank? Or did the Riddler escape from Arkham?"
"No, this isn't a prank, and the Riddler hasn't escaped either,"
Commissioner Gordon said with a serious gaze.
"About a week ago, Phantom Thief Kid sent a notice letter to the art museum. The museum staff thought it was a prank, so they didn't report it. But a few days later, they discovered that a bracelet with diamonds had been stolen, and the same card was left at the scene."
"Today, he sent another notice, along with the jewelry he stole last time. This time, the notice is more riddle-like and difficult to understand, and we've only figured out part of the meaning."
Robin asked in surprise, "So, does it mean he returned what he stole items? Why would he do that?"
"Maybe he was angry that no one paid attention to his notice, or maybe he didn't really want the jewels but had another purpose. Who knows what he's up to?"
Gordon shook his head. "After so many years of working on cases in Gotham, I've stopped asking 'why.'"
"Well, I'll keep this card with me for now, and I'll figure out its meaning,"
Robin said, putting away the card and preparing to leave the rooftop.
"You've been alone during this time. Where is Batman?"
Gordon asked as Robin walked away.
"Batman is busy with other things, he's not in Gotham right now. You know, he has a team now, and I don't mean our old duo, but a big team."
"The Justice League, right? I understand," Gordon replied.
"Don't worry, Commissioner, Gotham still has me. I can help you catch this copycat Riddler."
Robin patted his chest, showing a confident smile.
After speaking, he jumped off the edge of the rooftop and disappeared into the night.
...
Meanwhile, in a single-family house in Gotham City.
In a dimly lit room, a handsome young boy had a blindfold tied around his eyes.
In front of him, there was a large square table with a jumble of playing cards and a timer placed on top.
Taking a deep breath, the boy pressed the switch on the timer.
Then, his hands quickly swooped across the table, swirling and gathering all the scattered playing cards into his palms.
Then, with a quick flip of his hands and a slight squeeze, the cards began to bend under pressure.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
As the pressure on the bent cards reached its peak, the cards in his hand shot up into the air like a fountain.
When the cards reached a certain height, the upward force disappeared, and they began to float back down under the influence of gravity.
And then, something shocking happened.
Just as the first card was about to reach the same level as his hands, all the cards that had been shot up magically left his palms.
Meanwhile, the cards that were originally in his left hand smoothly fell into his right hand, followed by the rest of the cards, quickly collected in his right palm without any errors.
In a synchronized motion, the stack of cards that were originally in his right hand now fell onto his left hand.
The teenager intertwined his hands, merging the two stacks together and spreading them out on the table in an arched shape.
Each card pressed against the edge of the one beneath it, with an almost equal distance between them.
With a gentle flip of the card at the bottom, a chain reaction happened, and all the playing cards on the table automatically flipped over, like a domino effect.
The first card was the Ace of Spades, followed by the Two of Spades, then the Three of Spades... until the King of Spades.
First, the Spades, then the Hearts, the Clubs, and finally the Diamonds.
What was once a scattered deck of cards now perfectly displayed itself in order on the table.
Finally, the boy stopped the timer.
The entire process flowed smoothly, without any movements or pauses.
"Phew—"
The boy took a deep breath as he removed the black cloth that covered his eyes, revealing a pair of bright blue pupils.
"27.21 seconds, 0.8 seconds faster than last month, not bad."
The teenager's name was Dean Sutton. He wasn't really born in this world; he was a traveler from another world called Earth.
Dean is lucky to be born in the Sutton family, which is a well-known family of magicians in Gotham.
Both his parents were amazing stage magicians.
Even though his parents passed away in a car accident when he had just turned six after arriving in this world, they left behind enough to ensure that Dean would never have to worry about starving.
However, despite this, Dean still felt a great sense of problem in his heart.
Even though he didn't pay much attention to DC Comics in his previous life, he had heard about many large-scale events with wide-ranging disasters.
Events like the Star City explosion, the destruction of Bludhaven, the seven million lost souls in Coast City, the cosmic calamity of Blackest Night, and so on.
Even without mentioning those terrifying major events, let's focus on Dean's life in Gotham.
He has to set up traps at his doorstep and windows every night just to feel safe enough to sleep.
The future would only grow more dangerous.
Luckily, as a traveler, Dean had his own "golden finger" – an interface called the "Miracle Thief System" that resembled a game UI.
[Name: Dean Sutton]
[Age: 16]
[Skills: Proficiency in magic, proficiency in driving, proficiency in lock picking, proficiency in shooting, proficiency in hand-to-hand combat, quick disguise, voice changes without props.]
[Items: Card Gun, Grapple Gun, Triangular Glider, Bulletproof Cloak]
This was Dean's personal panel in the system. Aside from the panel, there was also an exchange store.
The store offered a lot of items. According to the information provided by the system, exchanges require points called Amazement points.
As the name suggests, Amazement points are produced when someone was amazed.
An ordinary person can provide a few Amazement points at a time, and the higher the person's identity and the stronger their amazement, the more Amazement Value they can provide.
But in the ten years since he crossed, Dean hasn't earned any amazement points.
Most of his current skills and items come from the system's beginning gift pack.
To test his proficiency in his skills, Dean sometimes participated in stage magic performances and also earned some extra money.
Thanks to the reputation of his parents when they were alive, many theaters and circuses welcomed him on stage.
As a result, Dean was also granted the title of a talented young magician.
However, no matter how amazing his magic performances were on stage and how amazed the audience was, his Amazement points in the system never increased.
As Dean pondered the name of the system, he couldn't help but suspect that perhaps he needed to use magic and steal to earn Amazement points.
So, the question arises:
What kind of behavior can be considered that of a mysterious thief?
In Dean's mind, different names immediately came to mind, the elegant and romantic, the charming and dashing expert thief, the funny and clever childish thief...
In the end, it is imagined as a clean figure, magnificent, stylish, elegant, and mysterious, a figure that embodies almost all the qualities of an expert thief.
His name was—Phantom Thief Kid.
...
Author's Note: This is different from the last two Kaito Kid fanfic while those 2 was based on MARVEL/DC TV shows or movies, this ff is based on DC comics only Enjoy~
If you are into Overpowered MC, this is not for you ;)
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