IMPORTANT – please read these authors notes before continuing.

Okay, so I'm trying to find a way to best describe this piece of writing here. Not only is it a crossover between two fandoms, it's also a crossover of the worlds of two different fanfiction series of mine.

Yep, this is going to fuse together the fanons of Project Phantom and Huniepop: Relationship Problems. Take one of the most powerful assassins in history, working for a shady underground organization, send him to the colorful town of Glenberry, and this is what you get.

Naturally, this first chapter is a taster of sorts to see how well it goes. Be sure to let me know if you'd like to see it continue. I'll soon have a gap in my writing list anyway with Blondie almost finished.

Anyway, let's get started!

The Phantom of Glenberry

The City of Angels – a place of wealth, glitz, glamor and grandeur. Indeed, a true desert paradise for those with the money to call it home. Well, that was for those who knew where to look. Beyond the glitzy, clean surface there existed another world, darker but somehow even more extravagant. There was only one problem – those who attended its parties, walked those decedent velvet halls, shook hands with the devil and sipped their glasses of wine: well, they didn't tend to live for very long.

There was a song, a poem in fact, one that always came to light in the darkest of nights, one that drove a fragile soul to persist even in the depths of such a murky world.

Phantom of Inferno, ruler of masquerades, overlord of deception, beyond the sea of flames. Within the depths of our underworld, the puppeteer remains. Every master needs a pawn to carry out his will: an underling to cleanse the world of weakness, to find new blood to spill. From the west coast of California, to the beaches of L.A, comes forth a hooded shadow, to take pure souls away. Behind a mask of purest white, concealed by cloak of night, there waits a bringer of deliverance, to end the breath of life.

A lone, fragile blue light flickered in the encroaching blackness, the ringing of a telephone, so loud in contrast to the almost agonizing silence. With a single, strained glance toward red digits ofthe bedroom clock, the truth became clear.

"Two o'clock in the morning. Of course…. I shouldn't expect anything less."

Softness, a hand upon the cheek, so fragile and gentle. Slender, pale fingertips caressed bare skin, a pair of powerful blue eyes shining through. "Don't answer it, Reiji. Go back to sleep…."

Reiji, a name he didn't hear outside the four sacred walls of their little loft apartment – something with enough sentiment to at least bring the weakest flame of warmth.

Bright, long blond hair, ample gorgeous curves and a youthful, loving face. The girl at his side cracked a droopy, sleep-ridden smile, moving closer to snuggle, her yellowy locks spilled across a bullet-scarred chest as purred like a selfish cat. Ever the insistent young lady, she wrapped one of her long, sensual legs across his stomach.

"You know I can't do that, Cal."

No matter how much she pleaded, missing these phone calls was a red line, and an extremely dangerous one at that. Untangling himself from the comforting confines of his naked, voluptuous lover, Reiji reached for the loudly chiming handset, bringing a sleepy, almost crawling of the hand across the bedside desk.

With a clumsy push of the 'answer button' with one of his thumbs, he yawned, squeezing the receiver tight. "Yes. You know what time it is, right?"

"Indeed I do, Zwei," came a hot-blooded, sultry voice over the line – the voice of a woman.

Zwei, the name with true meaning, the one for which he was known, even feared by many hundreds of people. It sent a shiver across his back, one with enough sharpness to awaken his dormant senses, the instinct of survival.

"Now," she continued with a low, steamy giggle. "Get dressed in your business attire and be on your way. Don't say a word to Drei… not yet…. I have a job for you… one of a 'sensitive' nature that only you can pull off. Meet me at the old location… you've got two hours… don't keep me waiting…."

The line went dead, leaving Reiji, no, Zwei, to stare with cold, glassy eyes through the encroaching night, toward the faint, grainy patterns of a plainly painted, white bedroom ceiling.

The other woman was calling. As much as he didn't want this, it was time to go to work.

A greyed out room of old stone walls, cobwebs filling its many corners and insectoid life occupying its many dusty crevices. A lone, desperate lightbulb flickered in a desperate attempt at existence, silently bathing the surroundings in a faint reddish light.

The meeting point, or so he'd been told. Waiting, cautious and careful as always, a gentleman of smooth, gelled dark hair took note of every entryway and exit in the building.

Two large windows, a wide, rusted front doorway, and if the worst came to the worst, an old laundry chute which lead to the basement level below. How many times had he come here now? On how many painful days had his mistress, the one who ruled this game of life and death, given the order?

With glassy, hollow eyes and an empty smile, he looked to the mirror, reaching forth with his left side fingertips to brush away the archaic muck and filth. Beyond the endless layers of dust, a person stared back in eternal questioning – a man not quite forgotten and yet too painful to remember.

There was a name for the boy within the reflection, somehow, somewhere, in a time long since passed. Yet the icy, agonizing chill it brought aided in quickly pushing aside any hopes of deliberate remembrance. Was he Zwei, or was he Reiji, did it even matter any more?

This reflection, this phantom in the mirror, standing at just over five feet in a slick two-piece suit, shoes shined, shirt open and a sliver chain around the neck, was all that defined his purpose now. A smooth, deadly hand of deliverance – one only capable of a single function: ending the precious gift of life.

'We are phantoms. We have no other purpose, no ultimate goal. Our master gives the order and we obey. We obey because we want to live, and if you don't do the same, you'll die.'

A voice from the past – one that resonated with haunting, grainy flashbacks. Another life ended by his own hand, a life he once held so very close. Another promise broken and another piece of his soul that'd died.

"You always had a name, Eren. We weren't just numbers. No, our lives had more meaning than that."

A sharp, sudden sound, one with enough strength to snap the man away from the mire of his reflections. On instinct, remembering the gruelling weeks and months of his training, the young hand of deliverance stood on high alert, reaching into the pocket of his suit jacket to produce a small semi-automatic pistol, his slender fingers squeezing around the grip with precision.

"Rest easy, Zwei, it's only me. You can put the gun down."

That voice, so empowered and yet alluring, like honeydew to the senses. It was enough to bring him to follow the order, bringing his arm down to the side as, from the doorway, a shadowy silhouette entered the dim illumination of red light.

There she stood, a woman, tall, well endowed with emerald green eyes and long, natural long blond hair, her shapely form squeezed tight into a business jacket and knee length skirt. Giving a soft but serious wink, she leaned up against the table beside the door, reaching her long, elegant digits across her cleavage, into the inside the inside pocket of her garment.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Zwei. I had Lizzy drive me tonight….."

Zwei – the name he could do little but shudder internally toward, the moniker of his purpose, the reason he waited so quietly within this beat up old warehouse, a relic from a time long since forgotten by the sands of time.

His mind, empty of feeling aside from the slightest souring note of unease, fixated on work, to the moments ahead. "Who's the target? I wasn't expecting you to call me here of all places, Miss McCunnen."

Who's the target, a question Zwei had asked so many times before, dozens in fact, and every time it lead to the same outcome. Nobody on the list ever made it beyond the night, never. It was only fitting to ask the dreaded question yet again, especially as Claudia, his overlord of sorts, held that tiny white envelope between her fingers.

In fact, she said very little, simply tossing the white briefing note of sorts at his feet, Polaroid photographs scattering dusty, cracked concrete floor.

"You're going to Glenberry next, a vibrant student town on the west coast. The girl in the pictures will be your target, but… be careful…. there's a special condition attached to this job."

A special condition? What was that supposed to mean? Brow raised in an uncharacteristic moment of questioning, Zwei scooped up the pictures from the ground, deciding to go ahead and inquire before getting a look at his new mark.

"You know that I only have one purpose, ma'am. What kind of 'special condition' are you talking about? The bosses don't usually call for me unless they want me to lower the curtain on somebody getting in the way…."

Claudia chuckled at that one – her pink lips curving into a sinister yet enticing smirk of sorts. "That's because," she began, reaching into the pocket of her jacket and bringing out a pair of sunglasses, "This one isn't coming from the bosses…. In fact, nobody else has a stake in this…. it's a personal errand you'll be running for me… my way of saying thank you for helping me take back Inferno…."

Another job on the side for Miss McCunnen? Of course, why would it be anything otherwise if she'd asked him to meet her here of all places?

"Alright," Zwei began, giving a slow, focused nod as he narrowed his powerful brown eyes in response. "What would you have me do?"

"Oh it's quite simple… you can start by taking a look at the girl in the photographs…."

A woman, curvaceous and well endowed, clad in a tight fitting tank top and denim shorts. Allowing his mind to enter 'business mode' as required, Zwei took in her finer points. Violet eyes, long black hair with a contrasting red headband, Hispanic in descent. She held a carefree expression and a warm, compassionate smile across her lips, sipping a latte as she leaned up against the doorway of a hair salon.

It was bizarre to have such a target brought his way. She looked so normal, an everyday girl going about her life. No suit, no skirt, no earpiece. No armoured cars and not a single bodyguard in sight. Why did Claudia want him to bring his skills to bare against a seemingly ordinary girl in the street?

"Her name's Kyanna Delrio. Twenty-one, a single mother and a part time hairdresser at the local shopping mall in Glenberry, and that's where things get interesting… namely because…. I want you to take her alive. A standard grab and hold…."

"ALIVE?"

It was a question that needed asking twice, because it was more than a rarity. In fact, it was unheard of. Given the nature of the people he worked for, Zwei had one line of work, one specific goal to carry out. Why in the world would they want her intact?

"The look on your face says it all, Zwei… but rest assured… there's a reason for this."

Puffing out her chest and taking a long, deep breath, Claudia gave a sharp point toward the photographs he held close.

"Kyanna's ex-boyfriend, a man by the name of Dario Esteban… is part of a small time gang operation in Glenberry, extortion, street fighting, small time theft, you name it, but it's the people he works for I'm interested in. The El Loco Cartel… a large scale Mexican arms dealing operation across the west coast… direct rivals to our own group Inferno, as luck would have it."

Suddenly it all made perfect sense. After all, Zwei was no stranger to the dark underworld of America, its many Mafia families, dangerous international corporations and its many gangs and outfits. He'd already made his mark a dozen times over, sent on many a hellish job to wipe so many of them from existence to make way for Inferno – each one a job he'd never forget.

"I see where you're going with this," the Phantom gave a short nod, looking to the pictures in his hand again. "The girl's just bait… I'm guessing a pawn to spark her ex into action….."

"Exactly," Claudia smiled, giving a teasing chuckle as she slipped on her sunglasses. "If we take the girl it'll no doubt push Esteban to make a move… going to his bosses for backup. That'll give us the perfect opportunity to call it an act of aggression… allowing us to move in… with you at our side of course… to destroy the Loco Cartel and take their operations as our own."

"Alright." Zwei tucked the pictures into the pocket of his jacket, looking to pick up his recently discarded gun from the musty old bed behind. "When do I leave for Glenberry?"

"Tomorrow, by car…. It's about a week's drive from here. You'll be unable to use the airlines until we update your identification through our channels… so a car will have to do… oh and one more thing….."

"What is it?"

Zwei asked his question carefully, slipping away the gun. "You said I need to take her alive, right? What more do I need to know than that?"

"A word of warning…. In fact, call it advice. This time around, Zwei… there needs to be a witness, and I have the perfect one in mind."

A witness? Was she insane? Given the nature of his work in days past, leaving witnesses had serious consequences not just for Zwei himself, but for Inferno as a wider organization, too. Just what was Claudia trying to pull here?

"Rest easy, Zwei… I have this all figured out. Take a careful look at the back picture... the one you missed up until now. You'll see a young man… he'll play a role in this too."

Indeed, he had neglected to check the back picture, a small image folded away behind all of the others. Focusing his eyes, the Phantom took note of all the important features.

Male, well toned, a snappy dresser with long peroxide blond hair, favouring attire such as open, unbuttoned shirt and casual dress pants. In this particular image he sat, sprawled halfway across what looked to be a nightclub bar with a suave smile, one of his arms coiled around the waist of a redheaded girl in a frilly dress.

"Mike Andrew Winters, twenty-two, a small time vocalist and musician. Glenberry's local playboy, as luck would have it. He's currently being watched by Esteban because of a previous, unsuccessful relationship with Kyanna…. If you nab her in plain sight of this guy, you can guarantee Dario will find out about it."

So there was a specific way Claudia wanted things done? Zwei took careful note of everything she said, not wanting to make even the tiniest mistake. Such a thing would mean retribution for everybody involved, especially if this was a lone power grab for Miss McCunnen.

"Is there anything else I should know before I leave? Threats, external factors, any other issues I need to be made aware of? If you're operating on your own here Claudia we can't afford any loose ends."

Moving away from the table upon which she leaned, Claudia turned her back, stopping in the darkened doorway one last time, looking back with those powerful green eyes from behind her sunglasses.

"Just be careful of outside interference. Just because Inferno is under my control now… it doesn't mean that Mcguire and his little puppet Nuen aren't out there somewhere…."

Mcguire – a man whom once had such great power, and a stain upon Zwei's reputation as a Phantom. It was supposed to be his last job, a chance to rid the world of its largest underworld boss and put Claudia in the seat of power. That day still sent a sickening shiver down his back – the day McGuire escaped.

"I'll be sure to keep my eyes open…."

"You'd better," Claudia warned with a teasing wink. "Oh and Zwei? I doubt you'll need it, but as an insurance policy, I decided to send a message to Drei while you made your way here…. I doubt you'll need her help, but it's better to be safe than sorry, so consider her informed…."

Sighing quietly, running a nervous hand through his black locks, Zwei watched as his paymaster, the woman who ran the show, vanished from sight.

The next mission was set in stone, and there was no going back. There was never a road back from this life. After surviving so much, the path seemed to be endless.

No matter how many things he survived, from inferno's rise through the underbelly of America's darker side, to the power struggle of sorts between his current boss and his former, to the Santa Madelia job, Zwei, couldn't help but wonder when he'd finally have respite.

Shaking such a daunting throught from his tired mind, the hired hand turned his attention toward the pictures again, pulling them from his pocket to take a closer look.

"Glenberry… says on the back of this picture right here there's a population of over one-hundred thousand, largely urbanized…."

A quiet flare of questioning, one he hadn't felt in so long, rose to the surface, taking form as a small but oh so present twinge in his stomach.

"I can't quite place it… but I have a strange feeling about this job…. Something isn't sitting quite right with me…."

To be continued….

There you have it! The first chapter is complete. What did you think? Do you have any thoughts? Would you like this story to continue? Is there anything you'd like to see in future from this cocktail mix of Huniepop and Phantom?

As always, you're more than welcome to leave me some feedback. I value the opinions of all my readers. Keep on supporting both Huniepop and Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, and I'll see you in the next chapter of whatever I'm writing.