Gauntlet

The Inscrutable Lady Phantom in... Myriad Danger!

Entry for Aim to Engage Day #8 -
RIse by Ambassadors x superhero 
(Prompt: see external link; exactly 500 words)

The hazy orange dawn silhouetted Wǔyè City's smog-choked buildings. Just beyond its edge was the Abode of Favored Personages, where captains of industry were laid to rest beside their kin. Lately the cemetery was becoming very cramped indeed. 

Our story begins in the secret crypt below the Zhou Clan mausoleum. That's where barrister Mei-lin Zhou was interred, between her parents' graves... only to rise again weeks later, during the Festival of Hungry Ghosts. The cavernous room was now her base of operations. She had returned there to nurse her most recent wounds.

"Did you see the Fifth Estate website, Madam?" asked Evgeny, as he stitched up a gash near Mei-lin's left ribs. "They call you 'Lady Phantom' now."

Mei-lin grunted, nonplussed. She recognized the moniker as a dramatic translation of 'nǚ guǐ', literally "female ghost" — usually one seeking revenge from beyond.

The Fifth Estate was one of Wǔyè's English-language news resources, a "citizen journalism" platform. While their content was mostly fact-checked and vetted, they were not averse to occasional clickbait and sensational headlines. In private, Mei-lin admitted that 'Lady Phantom' would make quite a sticky hashtag.

Suddenly, her burly manservant paused between dabs of iodine tincture.

"What's the matter?" asked Mei-Lin.

"Footsteps. Above us," said Evgeny. "We have guest, Madam."

Senior Inspector Ganbataar Bao was looking at the Zhou family obituary portraits when Mei-Lin emerged from the shadows in full costume.

"We found your latest gift at the wharf, 'Lady Phantom'," he said. "You can't keep doing this."

"Why? Is it making your department look bad?"

"Quite frankly, my men are doing that well enough, by themselves," said Inspector Bao. "No, my concern is that you're wasting your resources. On Tuesday, you knock out some goons and stop a container full of trafficked women from leaving port. By Friday, the thugs have deadlier arms, the next shipment is twice as large, and their plan is more efficient. But there's still only one of you. It's just not strategic."

"You don't know what I'm capable of!"

"Maybe so... But if you want to make a difference, then you need to start getting higher up the command structure."

"Mu."

"Pardon me?"

Mei-lin traced the symbol 'μ' in the air with her pointer finger. "Mu. It stood for 'Myriad' in classic Greek math. I've been doing more investigation than you realize, Inspector. Everything rotten in Wǔyè City can be traced to a single network called Myriad."

Inspector Bao listened intently as Mei-lin presented the evidence on her tablet: 

'μ' carved into the torso of a slain pimp turned informant;

A cornered hitman declaring "We are Myriad!" before taking lethal Phlebotinum pills;

Myriad insignia etched on crates packed with smuggled Chekov .38 pistols.

Mei-lin had uncovered paper trails linking Myriad to all organized crime in the metro, from the Gentleman Monkey's daring jewel heists to ZenSec's disruptive cyber-attacks. 

Bao shook his head. "Just one Lady Phantom versus a Myriad. The hope of Wǔyè City rests in the fists of a lone dead woman."