Shadow-Man

19

*Gill's point of view*

I walked out into the kitchen of my house to get a snack. I was very hungry, and my parent had been gone forever a while. I saw my older brother, Felix, sitting on the couch, watching TV in the living room.

"What are you watching?" I asked, sitting on the couch next to Felix, and opening the bag of chips that I had grabbed.

"Cartoons." Felix responded. Just then the TV was filled with static for a moment, then the screen showed a dark figure tired to a chair in a dark room, surrounded by a white light. I recognized the form right away, and leaned forward, dropping the chip I was holding as I looked at the screen. It was Ty, or 'Shadow-Man' technically, that was tied to the chair.

A man walked into view, and began to speak to Ty. Ty identified the man as Pip, so Pip, in turn, took off Ty's mask. Felix looked over at me, knowing that Ty was my boyfriend, and my face dropped a lot, because there was definitely no denying that that was Ty. I watched, unable to look away, as Ty was untied, and began to beat up, and I had a moment of hope, thinking that Ty was going to win. The he got pinned to the wall by two very large men.

Pip then pulled two batons out of seemingly no where, and began to beat up Ty with them. I flinched as Ty let out a shout of pain when Pip whacked him in the knee. I watched in horror as Pip broke both of Ty's legs, and cut up his face. Tears began to flooded my vision as Pip pulled a gun out of his back pocket, and pressed it to the side of Ty's head.

Pip tried to get Ty to tell him his real name, but Ty refused, and told Pip off instead. Pip was pissed, and threatened to kill Ty if he didn't tell him what he wanted to know. I silently begged Ty to tell Pip everything, to say whatever he needed to at to get out of there alive, but I knew that Ty wouldn't do that. Ty cared too much about being a good superhero, and about being a good person to tell Pip anything.

Pip asked Ty if he had any last words, and Ty looked directly into the cam. I couldn't help but feel that he was looking directly at me, and watching me as I cried over him, already mourning him. Maybe he was thinking of me in his last moments of life.

"Don't forget me." Ty said, his voice cracking in a way that made me cry even more. Then his face turned into one of anger, and determination, a look that could cause even the toughest man in the world to break when seen upon Ty's face. "And don't let people like Piare win."

Then Ty looked sideways over at Pip, gritted his teeth, and took a deep breath. He looked so brave, and unphased by the events that he knew were about to take place.

"Do it." He growled, pushing his head further against Pip's gun. Ty closed his eyes tightly, which told me that he actually was scared, and that broke my already broken heart even more.

Even over the TV, the gun shot was loud. It seemed to hang in the air, ringing in my head. Both Felix and I flinched, and Felix cursed, but I couldn't form any words? The world slowed as I watched blood fly out of the side of Ty's head, along with a few bits of brain matter. Ty's limp body dropped to the ground, and bounced slightly against the concrete floor that sat beneath him. Ty's eyes stayed closed, but his face didn't look as pained, and afraid as it had before. If I didn't know better, I would almost think he was sleeping. The shock hadn't quite set in yet when I heard a voice mask over the echoing of the gunshot in my head.

"This is what happens when you cross me." Pip said, pointing down at Ty's dead body, and kicking it. "To anyone who thought they were going to be the next real life superhero, let this be a lesson to you. Shadow-Man here thought he was helping people. All he was actually doing, was convincing happy people that they were sad. I was pulling kids off the streets, and giving them jobs where they were paid good money. This kid here, was feeding them lies, and turning them against me. All of you out there better remember this. I will always come out on top."

With that, the screen cut to static for a brief moment, then cut back to the cartoon that Felix was watching earlier. I was in shock. My mouth hung open, and my cheeks were stained with dried up tears. Felix stared at me, and I looked over at him. I then began crying all over again. Hot, large, salt filled tears spilled out of my eyes like a waterfall, and  I began sobbing like a child.

"Oh God." Felix breathed, scooting closer to me, and pulling me into a hug. I clung to Felix, and sobbed into his shoulder.

Ty was dead. Ty got his brains blown out by a very evil man, just because he had the guts to do what he knew was right. I watched Ty get his brains blown out on live television, as did the entire city. Everyone had to see Ty at his absolute worst, which was him dead on the ground.

I didn't know how to handle that.

***

Ty's funeral was awful. I stayed through the  whole thing, and only talked to Ty's mom. She was sobbing, and I was too. I stayed behind, even after the funeral was over, and watched Ty get barried, being stuck in the ground forever.

"Hey Ty." I said, my voice shaking as I sat on the ground near Ty's headstone. "I'm not going to get to see you for a long time, but I won't forget you. I promise."

"I don't think I'll be able to get the memory of watching you die out of my head for a long time actually." I chuckled dryly. Then I rolled up the sleeve of my black shirt, and showed my still tender forearm to Ty's headstone.

"I know you've only been gone for a short time, but I already used the money I was saving to get a tattoo to honer you." I said sadly. I had Ty's name, and the years of his birth and death tattooed onto my arm in yellow ink.

It seemed kind of stupid after I thought about it, but it was too late to take it back. I just left like I needed something to honer Ty, and a tattoo somehow seemed like the best choice at the time. In hindsite, I should have waited until I was in a less distressed state before making any major decisions, like getting a tattoo. I shook my head, clearing the thoughts out of my head.

"Bye Ty. I'll see you again." I sighed, standing up and turning to leave. I knew I would have been crying if I hadn't already cried myself out at the funeral. When I turned around, I saw three familiar forms standing a little ways away. I approached them, and stood in front of them, wondering what they were doing there.

"Why are you guys here?" I asked, voicing my thoughts.

"I wanted to see Tyler's grave. They want to pay their respects." Warren told me, looking over at Jess and Steven who were standing beside him.

"He's right over there. They got his name right." I said, pointing to Ty's headstone. I would have been pissed if they used Tyler's birth name on it.

"Gill, do you...do you blame us? For what happened?" Warren asked nervously.

"No. I kind of want to, but I know that it's not your fault. Pip did what he wanted to do."

"We know, but, we knew Pip. We taught him how to fight, and we knew what he was capable of."

"It sounds to me like you blame yourself more than me blamimg you." I said.

"I do. I feel awful. He didn't deserve this. And worst of all, everyone is going to give up now. It will be like he died for nothing." Warren said, looking like he was going to cry. I thought about what Warren had just said, and thought about Ty's last words. He didn't want Pip to win. He looked right at me, right through that TV screen, and told me not to let Pip win.

"We can't let that happen. He wanted someone to stop Pip after he died. We have to stop him."

"How on Earth are we supposed to do that?" Steven asked, speaking for the first time.

"By following in his footsteps." Warren said determination evident in his voice.

"I'll do it." Jesssaid imediately. "I owe a lot to Shadow-Man."

"No. It has to be me. He would have wanted it to be me." I said. No one argued with me.

"I'll design the suit." Steven said.

"I have some ideas." I said, feeling like I had something to look forward to.

I was going to be a superhero. Just like Ty.