Marvel's Cloak: Shroud of Darkness

Chapter 4 - Seven Out of Every Ten

Outskirts of Moldova

Tyrone felt water dripping on his face a drip at a time and then he felt the itchy but soft sensation of grass under his body.

"Ugh!" Tyrone groaned, stirring awake "Where the hell am I?"

All around him, Tyrone could see trees without end and he could hear little critters running around in the bushes, out of sight but not out of earshot.

Occasionally, Tyrone could even hear the howling of wolves and the roaring of mountain lions. Still, the gloominess surrounding him did not lessen one bit.

It was as if his existence itself drowned out all emotions from his surroundings... all emotions except for FEAR.

Tyrone rubbed his head "The last thing I remember was... huh? I guess Tandy's father made good on his promise huh? Only he dumped me in a forest where I'll probably die anyway!"

Tyrone stumbled to his feet dizzily, glanced around a bit until he knew that he was absolutely and irrevocably lost.

'Wish I had paid more attention in geography class.' Tyrone thought.

"They say the people who are already lost in life can only be found when they go somewhere new!" Tyrone whispered, facing east towards the sun and spinning in place until he got dizzy.

Tyrone stopped spinning in the North-West direction and after recovering his bearings, that's the direction he decided would begin his new journey in life.

He didn't know where he was going... and he didn't know if he would even make it out of the forest but he still ventured forward one step at a time...

Each step was a symbolic gesture to severing the life he had left behind in Boston.

Tyrone walked and walked until the memories of Boston... his brother, Billy... his mother, Adina... his father, Otis... and everything else just faded to the back of his mind.

∞∞∞

One Year Later

News Front

"This is your favorite reporter... a year after the hanging of Tyrone Johnson, the mutant and black community are still reeling with indignation at the unjust murder of a black, mutant child (Billy) and then the unlawful execution of his brother (Tyrone Johnson).

Not long after Tyrone was hanged for his supposed 'crimes'... a video surfaced online of what truly happened that faithful day Billy Johnson was killed... the video that started out as a practical joke by jealous neighborhood rivals, quickly spiraled into something terrifying...

Tyrone being accidentally assaulted by the store owner's wife but Billy saved his brother in an act of straining his mutant ability... it was this act of saving his brother that would ultimately lead to Billy's demise as he was shot by both cops on duty at the time – James Connors and his now-dead partner, Bradford...

Later in the video, we see the two corrupted cops attempting to cover up their involvement by attempting to murder Tyrone Johnson but the kid reacted in time to dodge, leading to a ricocheting bullet that killed Bradford... we see that, in the subsequent struggle, Tyrone Johnson's life was only preserved due to a timely intervention by Tandy Bowen...

Notorious party girl who was dating the innocent church boy at the time... then came a whole propaganda based on loose facts that were fed to the media... leading to Tyrone Johnson's being hanged just a month later...