Snippet #2527014

"Alright, we'll see what we can do. Thanks, Gabriel." the officer said, hanging up the phone. He then phoned an institution for people with super powers who are mentally unstable, and explained the situation in as great detail as he could to them.

"We've delt with something similar to what you're describing, and it isn't easy to move them without violence. We'll send over an extraction team to pick him up immediately." The Warden of the institute said. "He will be treated humanly while he stays here, and we will take measures to make sure he won't relapse into madness if he is cured."

"Alright, sounds good, when can I expect your extraction team to be here?" the officer asked calmly.

"Within two days, most likely around noon tomorrow, when the sun is at its brightest."

"Alright then, I'll talk to you soon."

"Let's not make assumptions. People with shadow manipulation almost always have to be killed, but we try our best to save them. It's a pity, really, that there isn't more shadow manipulators in the world, yet at the same time, it's a blessing." With that, the Warden hung up the phone.

The Next Day, at Noon....

The sun was extremely hot today, and very bright, the summer heatwave had begun; it was the perfect time to extract a shadow manipulator from his cell. A truck akin to a swat van pulled up in front of the police station, and a team of six people piled out, all wearing heavy armor and armed to the teeth with high-powered assault rifles and tranquilizers.

The flood lights outside of Brandon's cell were turned onto full power, and were lowered and pointed towards the door to prevent escape. The extraction team took their positions, ready to enter and tranquilize their target and then haul him off without any fight.

Brandon's dark, glowing eyes opened, and stared at the door. Shadows concentrated around the door and his body. The door opened, and even the floodlights weren't able to cleanse the darkness. The extraction team all looked at each other, and one by one, they entered the cell, only to find a squirming mass of shadow surrounding their target, making him appear almost god-like as he sat in that chair of his, which by now looked like a throne of darkness.

"Gentlemen...welcome to the end of your lives." Brandon said, lifting a hand up and spreading his fingers, pointing at the extraction team. Tendrils lurched forward and started to assault the team, all of them staying professional and launching their tranquilizer darts at Brandon, none of them connecting with their target; eaten up by the shadows surrounding the young man's body. From the outside the cell, shots could be heard as well as screaming as the extraction team both fought the tendrils and tried to close distance on Brandon to knock him out.

One by one, the extraction team members either were killed, or were thrown out of the room, slamming into the wall opposite the door. Officers and surviving team members all opened fire on the darkness, only for the shadows to reach out and destroy the flood lights, then reach out and kill everything around the door.

The police chief managed to get a message to Gabriel, if not call him during the chaos. "Gabriel, we called the nearest institute to get him cured, but he's gone crazy! They sent in an extraction team, and they're all dead..." Brandon's voice could be heard laughing darkly in the back ground. "...Oh god he's loose, he's coming this way.....No, no no! N-" The message ends there, there's nothing but Brandon's laughter before the phone is crushed and the message cuts out.

The Next Week....

The newspapers all had headlines saying "Mysterious Man with Superpowers Escapes Police, Cannot be Found!" or "Strange Superpower-wielding Man Kills Eighteen, Still Not Found!"

Brandon, meanwhile, had taken refuge in an abandoned building in the slums of town, making the inside his castle, as if he were proclaiming himself king of the city. He sat in a throne made from pure shadow, and had amassed a small following of people both with and without super powers, who committed crimes around the city, such as robbing a bank earlier that week, or stealing food from a store to feed themselves. Those who failed or were caught were killed by Brandon himself; he had no use for those who were, in his own words "Incompetent idiots."

Word started to spread around the city about Brandon, that he could help you hide, even from SOLO, that he could even protect you from SOLO if need be. This news would inevitably reach Daniel's ears at some point; that a man known simply as "Shadow" could hide, shelter, and protect those who needed it, if they came bearing some sort of gift, whether that gift be money, food, or even themselves as members of his group of criminals.

And all they would need to do, was find him. They would be guided by a series of intricate riddles and puzzles given by high-ranking members of the "Shadow Legion." who were usually dressed in all black, with the hoods of their jackets up at all times, as well as wearing a black mask with the eyes painted red.