Shadow-Man

18

The first thing I noticed was that my head was throbbing with the force of a thousand suns. I felt like was skull was going to split open and my brains were going to spill out of my head, if that hadn't happened already. The second thing I noticed was that everything was black, even though my eyes were most certainly open. Then I noticed that I was tied to a chair.

"Where am I?" I asked dizzily, not expecting to get an answer.

"He's awake!" I heard a seemingly distant voice call through the darkness, and I winced as the shout echoed around me.

"Who's there?" I asked. Or at least I think I asked. The fact that I didn't get a response made me wonder wether or not I had asked my question out loud. What I got instead of a response, was a bright ass light being turned on right in my face.

"Action." A voice hissed. I blinked, trying to get used to the sudden and drastic change in lighting. My head began to throb even more, if such a thing were even possible.

"We finally caught you Shadow-Man. I have to admit, you were harder to catch than I thought you would be." A close and familare voice said. I squinted through the light at the form that was approaching me.

"Pip?" I asked.

"To some, yes." Pip cooed.

"Stop with the cryptic bullshit Piare. I know who you are." Pip didn't appear to react at all, be he was wearing a ski mask, so I probably just couldn't see his face.

"You may know who I am, but now it's time for me to know who you are." Pip said cryptically.

"I said to cut the cryptic bullshit. There's no one here to witness your nonsense but me."

"That's where you're wrong Shadow-Man." Pip growled, walking over to me and standing behind the chair. Pip crouched down so that he was level with me, and pointed into the inky blackness beside the bright ass light. "There's a camera right there, and my men have hacked into multiple systems. Everything that's happening right now is being brod casted live on every station across the city. Say hi to the people."

"Fuck you." I growled as Pip waved into the darkness.

"Now, let's find out who you really are." Pip walked around the chair and stood the side of me. I watched his hand move towards my face, and grab onto my mask. I was unafraid as Pip ripped off my mask. I could see Pip's eyes widen when he saw who I was.

"You?" He asked, seemingly surprised.

"Me." I responded seriously.

"Do they know?" I knew he meant Warren and Steven.

"No." I lied. I knew that Pip would go after them if he knew that they knew. "They don't know anything about any of this. They just thought that I was an average kid who could be a world class engineer with the proper training."

"You're not going to be anything anymore. You've made my men suffer. You've made me suffer."

"You deserved it you fuck wad."

"You talk brave for someone who's tied to a chair."

"So do you for someone who had to tie me to a chair so I wouldn't beat their ass."

"Well let's untie you and see what you can do." Pip untied me, and I immediately stood up, swinging my fist and punching.

Pip was caught off guard, not expecting me to start fighting right away. I was beatign the shit out of Pip, and got him on the ground. I started to kick him, not really caring about wether or not that was fair. I was in the middle of kicking Pip in the stomach, when two men came charging at me. They each grabbed one of my arms, and dragged me back, pinning me to the wall that was behind the chair. I fought against them, and watched as Pip shakily stood up, blood pooling out of his mouth and nose.

"You fucking coward! Fight your own battles!" I yelled.

"Ok." Pip growled, sticking his hands into the darkness behind him. When. He turned back around, he was holding both of my batons. I groaned, knowing what was coming.

Pip walked over to me, and hit me hard in the side without a moment's hesitation. I could already tell that a few of my ribs had been broken. Then Pip whacked me in one of my knees, effectively shattering my kneecap. I crid out in pain, and the people holding onto me let go, and I fell to the ground. Pip didn't stop there though. He also broke my ankle on my previously unharmed leg.

After deciding that I was disabled and couldn't harm him anymore, Pip threw the batons to the side, and socked me in the face. He cut me pretty band just above my eye, and blood began to pool into my eye, forcing me to close it. Pip seemed to smirk as he pulled a gun out of his back pocket, grabbed a handful of my short hair, forced my head back, pressed the barrel of the gun into my temple, and looked towards where the camera was.

"Tell us your name." Pip hissed.

"Fuck you." I responded. I knew that telling Pip my name could only have bad consequences.

"If you tell me your name, and forget about everything you know about me, I'll let you go. I'll let you live."

"Screw living. You're a criminal Piare. You're a villain, and you deserve to suffer. The things you've done, the things that I have proof that you're guilty of, are already out there. Real, solid, undeniable evidence of your crimes are in the hands of people who can bring you down, and I hope you get sentanced to death."

"Tell me who knows. Tell me or I'll kill you."

"Do it." I growled. I had no interest in living to see the light of day again. Not at the moment at least. Survival is moralities worst enemy. People will do what they have to to survive, and history books will tell you the same thing. Few people will sacrifice themselves for the sake of what's right, and most people will watch everyone else die as long as they get to live. But not me. Not Shadow-Man.

"Fine. Any last words?" Pip asked.

I looked into the camera, and thought about all the people who must be watching this. I though about Gill, and how sad he must be watching me about to die on a TV screen. I thought about Jess crying into Steven's shoulder, unable to watch what was about to happen, while Warren and Steven couldn't look away, all of them standing shocked in Steven's lab. I thought about my mom, and how she must feel to find out that her son was a superhero, causing a significant amount of trouble for a crime boss by helping people, and about to die at the age of sixteen, all in one night. And I thought about Clair, and how shocked, and shaken she probably was, despite the fact that we weren't friends anymore.

"Don't forget me." I said, my voice trembling a bit. Then my face hardened into an expression of anger and determination. "And don't let people like Piare win."

I then looked over at Pip, not turning my head at all. I knew what was coming, and I wasn't ready for it, but at the same time I was. I didn't know what would be waiting for me after death, and I was scared to find out. I was also scared of how those close to me, specially Gill, would handle watching me get my brains blown out in live television. I didn't want to go, and I was terrified out of my mind, but I knew that the trick to bravery was nothing more than pretending that you aren't as terrified as you actually are.

So, I took a deep breath, forced my fear down into the pit of my being, and spoke.

"Do it." I growled at Pip through gritted teeth, pushing my own head closer against the gun on my temple.

I didn't even hear the bang.