Fantomcat, a masked swashbuckling hero who thrives on December 31, 1699 in mortal combat with his nemesis Baron von Skelter, a sword-wielding caped Skeletoid alchemist.

During the battle, Phillipe is treacherously cast into a painting within the halls of his home, Castle Fantom, by Von Skelter's henchmen with the Crystal of Malevolence, a stone so powerful that it can change worlds.

As his clock strikes midnight, he becomes trapped in the painting for three centuries while Von Skelter stole his Ring of the Fantoms and his sword, Touché.

As time passed, the area around Castle Fantom becomes a bustling metropolis called Metrocity, a city submerged in crime rings led by the fiendish arachnid Marmagora.

Eventually, at midnight on 31 December 1999, Fantomcat is freed from the painting by the Wildcat Detectives when they take a wrong turning into the castle while chasing two explosive-wielding reptiles.