WRAITH

Real name: Dennis Young
Occupation: Informal student of history, and Brotherhood protégé
Identity: Known to most as Wraith. A very few know him as Dennis, but don't use the name regularly anyway.
Legal status: U.S. citizen with no criminal record. His status as a run away has been cleared up
Other aliases: None
Place of birth: New York
Marital status: Single
Known relatives: Raymond Young (father, missing), Brandy Young (mother), Chantell Young (sister)
Group affiliation: Brotherhood trainee. Founder of The Pack.
Base of operations: Currently travelling in Europe
First appearance: January 2001
History:

Wraith's history, before his x-factor kicked in, is as simple and depressing as it is common. He grew up in a broken home, living with his mother and a succession of her boyfriends in government subsidized housing projects. His attendance at school was erratic, his behavior unruly, and he got messed up with drugs and alcohol pretty early. He was a regular smoker before he was eleven.

At the age of twelve, Wraith's powers manifested for the first time, during a particularly stressful argument at home. His mother's current boyfriend was a real bastard, and in a drunken rage was beating on both Wraith and his mother. The beating didn't last long, as Wraith's fear power appeared for the first time, sending both mother and boyfriend screaming out into the night. While they were gone, Wraith packed a few things he thought he might need and set out to live on the streets.

Life on the streets was hard for a couple of years, particularly since it took Wraith's power a while to settle down. For months it would seem as though his eyes were glowing red during the slightest stress. Wraith did manage to survive and get by, however, and not much else was seen of his powers for the next couple of years.

At fourteen Wraith's life on the streets got a lot easier, as he learned to use his powers (though he didn't think of it in those terms) to project an aura of insignificance around himself, motivating people to ignore his presence. This made shop-lifting a breeze in most places, and Wraith was never physically uncomfortable again after that. He never lacked for food or shelter when he wanted it. He generally slept in a basement squat with a few of his closest friends, and his ability to shop-lift effortlessly kept him on good terms with a lot of people. He often did drugs of various sorts but never got really hooked on anything. He's either very lucky, or just has a physiological system that doesn't get addicted easily.

Wraith lived a number of years on the street in that way, without giving much thought to his future. He learned the value of friends and of having people around he could trust, but he didn't make much effort to lift himself out of that lifestyle, though it wouldn't have been hard, given his advantages. Then one fine day he ran into his first ever mutant, not counting himself, and things changed rather abruptly in his life.

That mutant was Arcadia Crichton, and after a brief tussle they got to talking and she went ahead and told him what he was, since she'd had a taste of his powers. They stayed in contact afterwards and in the following weeks Wraith did a lot of thinking about who and what he was.

Wraith's actions after that were heavily influenced by his attitudes formed on the streets and his need for a circle of friends around him he knew he could trust. Having learned he was a mutant, and not able to deny it, he felt he could no longer really trust his street friends, because he had to lie to them about who he was, and they would never relate to what it was like to be a mutant. Following that thought to its logical conclusion, he decided he needed to make new friends, mutant friends, who he could count on.

Still in contact with Arcadia, Wraith tracked down Feral, a rather obvious mutant who was living in abandoned subway tunnels at the time. This was the first time Wraith used his street contacts to find obvious mutants, but far from the last. He befriended Feral, helped supply her with money and food and other stuff she had trouble getting. Whenever she, and anyone else, asked him why he was helping mutants his answer was always the same: "Sooner or later I might need help too. We're all in this together."

Wraith was far from the only one looking for mutants on the streets of New York. Scott Summers was out and about also, recruiting for the Brotherhood. He found Feral, he tracked down Arcadia, and he gave them both his usual offer. With the advantages of his powers Wraith wasn't located by the Brotherhood, but he did hear about them through his friends. And together they made Scott a rather unique offer.

Calling themselves The Pack, Wraith, Arcadia, and Feral negotiated a special arrangement with Scott and the Brotherhood. Scott agreed to fund them, getting them off the streets and living decently, if they agreed to go to school, learn to use their powers, and be good kids. Arcadia was off the street and living in her own small apartment, but that's besides the point. Scott gave them $100,000 to play with. He was either very smart, or very lucky, because it actually worked.

Not very long afterwards, Wraith was living in a nice old house in Harlem, with Arcadia, Feral, and new members of The Pack Nox, Kelly, and Amara. By then the mandate of the team was becoming a little blurry. They lived well enough without any further Brotherhood support. No one was really enforcing the schooling policy, and training with the Brotherhood was minimal at best. Concerning some of his intentions, Scott may have been over-ruled, and there's only one guy who could have done that.

Wraith did some serious musing about the role of The Pack among the mutant community and talked with his friends about it. He also had a rare chance to speak to Magneto personally and express some of his concerns. The Pack may have been started as a way to help a few mutant teens living on the street but it didn't stay that way. It quickly became what the Brotherhood wasn't, and what Wraith believes it should be. An organization of mutants willing to help other mutants with no strings attached. No cloak and dagger, no secret oaths, no terrorism. Just mutants helping mutants to cope and get ahead, because ultimately that's in everyone's best interests.

After The Pack was settled in their new house and things were going well, Wraith finally decided to accept Scott's offer to see some of the other Brotherhood operations in Europe and meet some of the other members. Not that Wraith was quite a member of the Brotherhood at the time of his departure. He's still learning about them, and not quite sure if he trusts them. None of The Pack really trusts them, except Amara, who was a member before, and still is now that she's with The Pack.

Wraith is going to spend some time in Europe and learn what the Brotherhood has to teach, at least as much as they are willing to let him see. He hopes to learn a little more about how to fully utilize his powers, and perhaps form a better opinion about his place in the mutant community. He identifies with that community very strongly, and feels his place is with them, but isn't certain of his role or how he can best contribute. After his success with The Pack many people seem to be looking toward him for leadership, but he's still not sure he's a leader, and if he is, where he should lead.

The only thing certain about Wraith's future at this stage is he's likely to return from his experiences with the Brotherhood in Europe as a very different person. And what his role will be at that stage is anyone's guess.