|
Registered User
Currently Offline
|
Posts: 1030
Join Date: Jan 2008
|
“When my sister was six and I was fifteen our mother passed away. This left the task of raising us to our father police sergeant Jonathon Dark. He was a caring man but his job left him rough around the edges. He spent more time on patrol than he did at home” here he pauses taking a drink of water from a twenty ounce bottle “all I was interested in at the time was racing my sport bike on weekends down at the race track. But of course my sister couldn’t raise herself so being the older brother I took charge of her. I took Jess with me on weekends when I raced my bike. It wasn’t the best environment but it helped to make her tough.”
At this point he gets up and walks over to the fireplace “my father finally worked his way up to chief of police. He started being home with us more, no longer having to go out on patrol. But that didn’t last long. The criminal underworld didn’t take too kindly to him cleaning up the streets. One day he was working late and as he walked across the parking garage heading to his car a man stepped out of the shadows. A man with a gun stepped out and pulled the trigger. My father died right there in a pool of his own blood.”
“I see and that is why you’ve come to see me?”
“Part of the reason anyway” he says sitting back down on the couch “the court appointed me guardian over my sister. But before they would let her stay with me they directed me to come here.”
“Now I see” the psychiatrist says while jotting down some notes “they want to make sure you are mentally stable enough to take care of your sister.”
“Yes” John replies “and I’m all the family she has left.”
Six months later on John’s twenty-fourth birthday he makes a crucial decision “I’m going to Japan.”
“What? Why?” his sister asks in confusion.
“There’s something I have to take care of. That’s why I asked Alicia to stay at the house with you.”
“But I want to go with you” Jessica pleads with him “why can’t I come?”
“You have school for starters, besides where I’m going is no place for a little girl.”
“I’m fifteen now John, I’m not a little girl anymore. I’m a young woman!”
Three weeks later John Dark Jr. found himself in a remote fishing village on the western shore of Japan. He sought out the famed Shadow Master who offered to teach him the ways of the ninja alongside his other students. The training was brutal in more ways than one. The physical and emotional strain brought him close to insanity. The only thing that saved him was another student, Ryu Kamakura. The two became fast friends and trained together nearly every waking moment. While John preferred the speed of the shurikens and daggers Ryu developed a deadly accuracy with the sickle bladed kamas.
After nearly eighteen months of training John was ready to return home. His training had finally come to an end. Kokushibyou, the Shadow Master, wished his student a safe return trip and Ryu saw him off to the airport. Once home John was reunited with his baby sister Jessica and his girlfriend Alicia. He told them about the training he had received and his plans to hunt down his father’s killer.
“John you can’t be serious?” Alicia asked “the police are still working the case. You know they won’t rest until the murderer is put behind bars.”
“I want in” Jessica blurts out “he’s my father too!”
“No way Jess” John says a bit sternly “I can’t be protecting you while trying to fight the criminal underworld.”
“I don’t need protecting” Jessica protests “all I need is a little training like you had.”
“This is not a good idea” Alicia reiterates “the cops can handle this.”
“No” John answers “it’s been over two years and they still haven’t caught the S.O.B.”
Alicia finally consents reluctantly and offers some more constructive input “well you can’t just go around in your street clothes. You’ll be too easily recognized and someone will come here to the house to get at you.”
“What do you suggest?”
“A costume to hide your identity and some equipment” she answers “my brother might be able to help.”
A week and a half later John Dark Jr. is out patrolling the city of Saint Katherine’s Bay while wearing a black costume and mask with a gray cape, boots, and armored gauntlets. The overall suit has a hawk theme to it complete with the outline of a diving bird adorning its chest. As the costumed vigilante Shadowhawk he is able to keep his identity safe while at the same time hunting for his father’s killer.
He fires a grappling cable from his left gauntlet securing it to a nearby building. Then he swings out into the night alternating between right and left gauntlets using the momentum to carry him through the city at breakneck speed. All the while thinking how grateful he is that Jess agreed to wait until she’s had a few months training before she joins him in his quest.
__________________
|
