Life hasnt always been fair to old Ralph. I was born to a single mom, she tried her best, but we were in a poor part of town, and never really escaped. We had food and clothes, and most times a roof over our head, so I would say she got us through fairly well. Its hard to know your poor, when its all you know, and dont know no better.
But when I became an adult, suddenly I was thrust out of the protective shell of my home and had to face some cold hard realities really really fast. I took a job as a busboy, cleaning up after people who could afford better meals than I could. Luckily the manager let us have a meal from the kids menu if it wasnt too busy. So I got to eat nuggets and stuff at least once a day.
But that wasn't the life I was fated to live. There was something on the horizon I could never have guessed was coming. It wasnt some grand gesture from a god or super powered being. You would think fate would have made it a bit more... Well, more. But I got what I got, and in the most mundane of ways.
I left work late, like most nights. The dishwasher didn't show, so I had to bus tables and then ended up doing dishes after. As I walked out of the back door, I stopped to get a fresh breath of air. If I had just kept walking, it would have missed me entirely. I can only guess at what it was that hit me from the sky. Dark Matter? Black Hole? Alien Eye Beams...? Dude, I dont really know. But something hit me hard from above, and drove itself right through my body. I felt it hit the top of my head, and pass down through my feet.
I dropped like a rock, then and there. I woke up face down in a puddle and tried to stand. Everything was darker. I could see, but there was a shadowy tint to everything. Rubbing my eyes didnt help. I stumbled out of the back alley and onto the sidewalk next to the restaurant. I hurried home, and just could not shake all the shadowy vision my eyes were seeing.
Once i got home I realized that I wasn't just having my eyes tinted by shadow, I was surrounded by shadows. They moved with me, around me, obeyed my commands. I could wrap myself with their dark cloak and hide away from prying eyes. I could reach out with them and affect the physical world, hitting, grabbing, punching.
I think I might have giggled euphorically at one point.
But then the realization hits and the giggled strangles in your throat. You have powers. What do you do with them? I live day to day, just trying to survive and make enough money to pay my way. I struggle - daily. Maybe... maybe with these shadows I wouldnt have to struggle anymore. I could take what I want, I can do what I want. I can...
I can remember how hard my mom worked to raise me right. She taught me right from wrong, she kept me away from bad elements on the streets. She made sure I was raised better, better than a crook, powers or not.
So no, I would not use these shadows to take what I want. I would use them to stop those who would would prey on others, stop the criminal element that Momma always protected me from. Now it was my turn to protect people too.
And on the plus side? Crooks have cash. Dope pushers carry a lotta cash. Gangs have money. I might not rob from the innocent, but I have no qualms about robbing from the evil I stop on the street.
A man has to survive. And until someone is going to pay me to be a Hero, I will make do with what what I can from the baddies.
Fate shrouded me in shadow. I will use those shadows to move among the criminals. Go where I am not meant to, and see and hear things they dont want me to know. Crime prefers the dark, and now so do I. They will fear the night, fear the unknown. They will jump at shadows and the bumps in the night.
I am a wraith, a phantom. I am Terror.
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