Shadow-Man

8

When I woke up on Saturday morning in Steven's castle, I immediately went down to Steven's lab like he had told me to do. I held my sketch pad close to my chest as I walked to the back of the lab where Steven was poking away at some screens. I walked over to him, and sat on top of a metal table that was nearby.

"Good morning. I've been coming up with some designs for your suit." Steven told me, pulling up a few pictures of suits to show me.

"I actually came up with an idea for the suit last night." I said, opening my sketch pad and pulling out the drawing I did of my suit, and handing it to Steven.

Steven looked the drawing over, seeming to think it over. Honestly, I don't really think it mattered what Steven thought of my design, because my design was the one that I wanted. I figured that if I was going to be the one wearing the suit, and it was going to be me that represented Shadow-Man, then the suit should be one that I liked. Fortunately for me, Steven nodded, and began to work on building the suit, making it look just the way I wanted.

While Steve worked on the suit, Steven had the man who drove his car escort me through a door that was in one of the back corners of Steven's labe. Upon walking through the door, I found what looked like a weight room, though I was expecting some form of another lab or something. The man who drove Steven's car, who later introduced himself as Warren, told me that I was going to need to train, and work on my fighting skills.

"Right now?" I asked.

"Yes." Warren told me.

"I, don't have any clothes to work out in." I was still wearing my school uniform, because it's not like I had time to pack a bag before I was taken to Steven's house.

"Oh, right. I'll be right back." Warren said before leaving.

Warren was a man who looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He had dark blonde hair that he combed to the side, with slight freckles, and eyes that looked like corroded pennies. he seemed loyal, and really kind.

When Warren came back, he was holding a pair of black track shorts, and a white tank top. He handed both articles of clothing to me, and showed me a nearby bathroom where I could change. As I put on the clothes, I couldn't help but wonder who's clothes I was putting on. As far as I knew, Warren and Steven were the only people living in the house, and they were both bigger than me, and had male bodies, so it wouldn't make sense that they had clothes that fit a sixteen year old girl perfectly.

When I was done changing, I stepped out of the bathroom to find that Warren had changed out of his nice suit, and into basketball shorts and a t-shirt. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail, asking Warren about the clothes as I did so.

"They belonged to an old friend of Steven's." Warren explained.

"The trans one?" I asked, probably being just a bit too nosy.

"Yes." Warren told me, then he quickly changed the subject.

"We're going to see how good your fighting skills actually are." Warren told me, then he pointed to a large mat that was sitting on the floor in the corner of the room. "Let's get onto the mat, and we'll fight."

"You sure? I may be small, but I've picked up a few skills." I said, walking over to the mat. I had no clue how good Warren was at fighting, so I knew that it was very likely that he would be able to beat me up rather easily.

When Warren and I both got onto the mat, he didn't waste any time attacking me. Warren quickly grabbed me around the waist, and backed me into a wall, slamming me very hard against it. I grunted as Warren began punching me, but fought back quickly. I slammed my elbow as hard as I could into the dead centure of Warren's back, making him let go of me to arch his back. I used Warren's short lived moment of distraction to kick his leg, knocking him off of his feet. I looked down at Warren as he laid on the ground, and groaned a bit.