Chapter 8: Not 1412, but Kid

“Hey, did you guys hear about this??”

“What did you hear?”

“Oh! I see, you’re talking about No. 1412…”

“That’s right, that thief, 1412, he is so handsome!”

“Yes, I heard that he can change into someone else’s appearance at will, in addition, that he can do magic!”

“That’s right, he can even fly.”

       “Oh, my! So cool!”

“You all got it wrong!”

In the classroom, three young students are discussing the most trendy criminal, thief No. 1412. The name is spread because Gordon’s wanted order code is 1412.

The heist of Adam’s Star in Gotham is a timely event. It spread all over the streets overnight. “Phantom Kid” became one of the most talked-about subjects among Gotham citizens.

However, just as these students were talking about it, a divergent voice emerged from a girl with brown-red hair.

“He is not “thief 1412,” his real name is Kid! Phantom Kid!”

Next, the girl snorted coldly, bypassed the classmates and sat in the last row of the classroom. She took out her laptop from her bag and then started typing on the keyboard quickly, no one knew what she was doing.

“She’s such a freak. She sits all by herself in the last row in every class, she never participates in any parties, and she only works with her computer all day long.”

“Don’t say that, Barbara is the number one computer genius in the school. It’s not surprising that she has a strange personality… Moreover, she is not alone.”

After Barbara walked away, several people began to whisper again.

“Hey, guys, it’s not a good idea to speak in an ill manner of people behind their backs.”

At this moment, Mathison appeared suddenly and said with a smile on his face.

“Look, who is this here? It turned out to be Mathison Fang.”

The boy who said Barbara was a freak cried strangely.

“I have to admit that I was wrong before. Barbara is not alone. After all, she still has you as a knight to accompany her.”

“Enough, Kemper, I’m not a knight… I’m just a magician.”

“Yes, you are Mathison, of course, you’re a magician.”

Mathison stared into Kemper’s eyes for a long time.

“Well, I give up, man, don’t stare at me with that kind of eyes, I apologize, I shouldn’t have said that Barbara is a freak.”

“Anything else?”

“Actually, yes!”

Kemper is stunned, “What else?”

“Remember this for me, it’s Phantom Kid,’ not ‘thief 1412!’”

After leaving these words, Mathison left calmly and sat next to Barbara.

“Do you think there is something wrong with the two of them? Why are they so obsessed with Kid? It is clearly written in the newspaper that the thief is No. 1412.”

“Who knows…”

“Do you think that Phantom Kid is cool, too?”

As soon as Mathison sat down, he heard Barbara’s voice.

“From all the video data, we can see that the Phantom Kid has a lot of magic skills, it must be that you like him very much.”

Barbara took it for granted. At this time, Mathison noticed that the scene of “Phantom” stealing Adam’s Star had been playing on Barbara’s computer.

There were a lot of reporters at the time, they were all present to film Phantom Kid’s first show. Yet, during the whole process, almost all of these videos were confiscated and blocked by the police. Only two or three pictures were circulating.

   Barbara’s full name is Barbara Gordon, Jim Gordon is her father. According to the plot, in the near future, Barbara will go to New York to study for a while, and then return to Gotham to become finally Batwoman and Oracle.

Coincidentally, Mathison’s home happened to be on the same street as Gordon’s home. They often played together since they were young, so Barbara and Mathison are actually childhood friends who grew up together.

   After Mathison transmigrated, his parents died prematurely. He hadn’t even seen them, he still needed a normal school life. He could only do magic openly in the public. His ability to disguise and practice other Phantom Kid’s skills were kept as a secret.

So anyone who knows Mathison thinks that he is just a magic enthusiast.

Barbara has a miraculous talent for hacking. She had been extremely good at computers since she was a child, and has now long surpassed her computer professor by a huge chasm of mastery, so much that not even the GCPD’s web security wasn’t enough to stop her from hacking into it.

”I didn’t really pay much attention to Phantom Kid, so I didn’t really know that he is a master magician.”

”…That’s right, after all, we both know you can’t hack into the GCPD database.”

Mathison wiped the non-existent cold sweat from his forehead and said, “Is it really a good idea that you keep hacking into the police database? If your dad finds out about this, do you believe he’ll actually arrest you and put you in jail?”

”You seem to care a lot about this Phantom Kid, I’ve never seen you this attached to a criminal before, it’s not… like you’ve been affected by someone’s charm, is it?” Mathison asked with a smug look on his face.

Suddenly, Barbara twisted her head to gaze at Mathison and said, “Mathison, I… feel that this Phantom Kid is very strange.”

”Strange?”

”Well, he gives me a very familiar feeling, as if I’ve seen him somewhere… but I’m pretty sure I don’t remember anyone like him.”

All these words have instantly shaken the heart of Mathison. After learning how to obtain the system reward, he was not in fear that his identity might be exposed. But, right now, his power is too weak, not much stronger than an ordinary person, it is best for him to just ignore it all for now. 

  Such situations are better to wait until he becomes skilled in Red Magic before he could really ignore ordinary police and military, and it wouldn’t matter if he would be recognized then. 

”You’re probably overthinking it.”

Despite the emotional roller coaster he is going through, Mathison still kept his poker face on, his expression hasn’t changed much from the beginning to the end.

”Hee hee, that’s true,” suddenly Barbara laughed in a goofy manner, as if she has just remembered something funny, “You wouldn’t believe it, there were times where I even wondered whether Phantom Kid could be you.“

   “Then, I thought about you, often enjoying peeking at girls in the shower and stuffing women’s lockers with toy snakes, I say to myself, ‘how could even you possibly be that classy and elegant gentleman thief when you are always this mischievous!’”

Barbara covered her mouth and laughed, as she started remembering all the times Mathison’s caused such troubles.

”Barbara! That was years ago, don’t go too far!”

Mathison couldn’t help to face the embarrassment, especially as he felt the eyes in the classroom staring at him at the same time.

As for peeking at a girls locker room? That was to observe the details of females’ physiology for possible cross-dressing disguises later!

As for stuffing toy snakes? It was to exercise his lockpicking skills. If he hadn’t put anything there, he would have been treated like a pervert. But since he did so, people thought he was playing pranks!

He did many many other things to hone his thief skills!

Mathison was incapable of saying anything.

Before he met Barbara, his impression of the Oracle was that she was very knowledgeable and cool. In reality, she is knowledgeable, but only in front of her computer, and, most of the time, she is a rebellious and sarcastic person.

Just as Mathison was trying to clarify himself, the lecturer entered the room, and everyone stopped talking.