SHADOW KID

Chapter 11

Ash was infuriated. His father had died. No, murdered. And he wasn't just going to sit around in his room doing nothing about it. Not at all.

Ash worked on his final touchings to his mask as he looked at the time. Just an hour left. An hour before he was about to do the most unimaginable thing anyone would ever think of doing. "Ash, dear?" Mrs Flint called as she knocked on his door. Ash shoved everything he was doing off the desk as he replied, "Y..yes mum?"

"You still awake?" Mrs Flint probed. "It's really late, you know?" she added with a hint of worry in her voice as she spoke. Ash sighed and thought of an excuse.

"Erm, I have homework mum. But don't worry, I'm almost done", he reassured her. Mrs Flint didn't reply for a while and Ash felt anxious. "Did she know?" he thought. Well, to be honest he was acting weird for the past few days but all this time Mrs Flint thought he just needed some time, maybe to mourn over his loss but what if she suspected something else now. Her silence was without doubt increasing the tension. Until finally...,

"Okay, dear. But don't work too hard, you hear me?" said Mrs Flint and Ash let out a sigh of relief. It was only after making sure she had really left, Ash resumed his work. "Don't worry mum, I promise after this, dad will rest in peace", Ash told himself as he affixed another piece of embroidering on his suit...

* * * * *

Ash stood on the roof of his house dressed in an unusual garb. The illuminating light of the moon ensconced his figure as he wore a suit clad in shades of black and white and a mask which covered his face. It looked almost like Spiderman's one except instead of zig-zag lines, he had had a straight one right in the center, which split in two different halves with the same colors that matched his suit. He looked amazing. At least, that was what he thought, each time he looked at the significant 'S' emblem on the top right of his suit.

"What should I call myself?" he thought but then brushed it off his mind. Names will come eventually, but right now he had a job to do.

Ash focused and gathered all his energy. This time he was not going to teleport to school, he was going back to the secret lab, where it all began. Where he got his powers. The Three Wolves had to be there for sure. He just knew it. But to get to the lab again, he needed to get to the abandoned factory first.

"Focus Ash, focus!" Ash reminded himself as he pictured the image of the factory in his mind and then within a few seconds, Ash jumped off the roof and vanished into thin air.

Ash reappeared right in front of the factory and he smiled. "Well that's good enough, I guess I'll just do the rest without my powers then", Ash told himself and went inside. He searched for the upside down lever that should be on the ground somewhere but it just wasn't there.

"Where is it?" Ash thought as he frantically looked around him. Then he saw it, right behind him and Ash slapped his forehead. "So much for being alert Ash", he thought.

He crouched as he grabbed the lever and remembered the first time he tried to pull it. Boy, that was hard. But Ash was stronger now, especially after bring gifted with these new powers.

Not only did it gave him new, undiscovered abilities, but it also increased his strength by a margin. So if his weak, scrawny figure could still pull it then, this time, it should be nothing less than a piece of cake.

Ash took a deep breath and pulled the lever with all his might only to break it into two. "Oops, I guess I used too much force", Ash remarked. Suddenly the ground shook and Ash felt a strong gravitational force pull him downwards into a secret shaft underground. Finally, he was going to the lab again even after solemnly swearing to never return the last time.

"Wow, not sure if I actually miss this place", Ash whispered to himself as he walked along the dark alley that led to the lab's main chamber. But he wasn't alone. There were other voices in the room as well, and Ash sneaked in quietly along the corners to find out who it was.

Then he saw them. The group of bandits that murdered his father. The Three Wolves. They were discussing in another section of the lab, their plans unravelled on a long piece of blueprint that was spread out on a table.

"I suggest we go this way", Ash heard the first one say. "No here", said the second one. But there were only two of them. "So why were they called The Three Wolves?" Ash thought. Could it be a mistake?

"Where's Captain?" Ash heard the second one mutter again and just as he was about to spring in on them, a set of hands grabbed him vehemently from the back and threw him out into the open.

"I am right here", said Hunter as Ash struggled to free hinself from the man's grasp.

"And it looks like we have a visitor", he added with his typical lopsided smile...