The Shadow Man

Three

I run under the cover of night, chasing my target.
He leaps from building to building, running from me.
I pull the grappling hook from my lower back, and leap over the edge of the building, free falling head first.
I fire it off, sticking the line to another tower. The hook pulls me up as I swing around a corner.
The claw releases just as I land.
I slide the tool across my back, continuing my chase.
He turns, shooting a pistol in my direction.
I take cover behind an AC vent.
I leap over, hurling my staff.
He reaches out, and catches my weapon with ease.
He shifts the blade, and spears it into the ground, before continuing his brisk run.
This is one of those times I wish I had just stayed away.
I wish I could return to civilian life, but I can't. Fighting is the only thing I know, and it's probably how I'm going to die.
I charge towards him, retrieving my staff as I do.
A cloud of black smoke appears in front of me, taking the form of a man, who grabs me by the throat.
He lifts me from the ground, I grasp at hands I cannot Touch.
My stomach drops, and so does my body. Through hateful eyes the man stares at me. Staff in hand I fall to the ground, unsure if I'll survive the fall.
The impact is the only thing I feel.
The city street, paved with fresh rain cracks as I fall upon its surface.
I lay there, unable to move.

I try and try but my body refuses to obey my commands.
Despite the protests of my aching body, I force myself to sit up.
One by one the street lamps flicker off all around me.
The moment I stand something crashes against the side of my helmet.
My body is thrown.
I roll twice before getting back to my feet, staff at the ready.
Darkness swirls around in the air before manifesting in front of me.
It takes the shape of a man.
He's thin, and short.
Around my height.
The only thing that stands out are his piercing white eyes.
I take a swing at him, my blade glides strait through his chest.
He grabs the blade, and with his other hand he quickly places his fingers against my chest. I'm lifted off my feet, energy sparks around my body as I try absorbing the kinetic energy around me to slow my flight.
I land on my feet, charging back at him.
My body goes right through him.
He turns and slams his black fist into my lower jaw.
I stagger back, before retaliating.
I swing left, right, even throwing a kick.
All of my blows are fruitless, striking nothing. He sweeps my leg and kicks me onto my back. He steps forwards, making it obvious I can't touch him.
He tosses my staff out of arms reach.
His face is lowered until it's less than a foot from mine.
I feel cold, emanating from his body as he gets closer.
"So this is the one who defeated the Dark One?"
Asks a symphony of voices.
"The one I've heard so much about?"
A black vine wraps around my neck, lifting me into the air and dropping me back down.
"Pathetic. It can't fight the Darkness."
I run for the staff, only to have it ripped away.
"It depends on its weapon for safety.
I wonder what desperation will drive it to do."
The staff vanishes into Darkness as the black form continues toying with me.
Energy balls around my fists as I ready to illuminate the shadows.
"It thinks it can shed light in the Darkness. It doesn't even know how the forces work. It is inexperienced."
The shadows overtake my hands, crowding them in black.
"Naive, and weak."
It pulls my hands, yanking my body fourth. I fall to my knees, unable to wrestle my hands free.
It flips me in the air, pulling me to the ground in my back.
I look up as one of the street lamp above me flickers to life, casting rays of light, blocked by the Shadow Man.
"You call yourself the Shift. The Strong One. You merely stole the Title."
I pull against the darkness, but it anchors me to the ground with unseen strength.
I feel the energy being pulled from my body leaving me exhausted and defenseless.
"I'm the One who made it."
I gasp for breath as I feel the armor weighing down on me.
The man glares at me with his hands clasped behind his back.
My eyes flicker to the left, where a young kid stands. He shivers in the cold wearing a thin shirt.
"One of the gifts given to him by the Crucibles awakening, is the ability to manipulate gravity. He has already weighed you down 10 fold."
I look back up.
"Why are you doing this?" I manage to choke out.
The dark figure stands there.
"Regardless of your weakness, you are getting stronger. You have shown yourself to be resilient, and effective. Growing stronger in the use of your abilities.
That is something, I cannot allow."
My visor shatters from the change in weight, chunks of glass sink into my face.
I spear my staff into the ground in the form of a sickle, holding on with all my might as gravity shifts in the opposite direction. The blade cuts through the cement as I'm pulled by my own weight multiplied by 10. The shadow man slowly walks towards me. I glare at him, bleeding from my face. He grabs the staff, and pulls it from the ground.
I fly towards the forest, crashing into trees until I lose conciseness.