Post by xskiesx on Jun 19, 2008 2:31:22 GMT -5
Cannon or your own: Original
Copyright (Marvel/DC/ect): Marvel Based
Characters civilian name: Joel Bates; Saburo (The Third Son)
Code names/Aliases: Most recently called"The Living Shadow" or "Mr. Shadow" or just "Shadow" by onlookers; Originally called 'Kagemusha' (Shadow Warrior)
Class [Superhero, Vigilante, Mercenary..etc]: Vigilante/Mercenary; Seems to be becoming a Superhero.
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Gender: Male
Age: 23
Apparent Age: 23
Hair: Jet Black
Eyes: Baby Blue
Height and weight: 5'10 ; 165
Appearance: Joel is a very well built young man due to the martial arts training he has gone through in his life. His muscles are not overly large they are simply tight and toned giving him a fairly light yet intimidating look.
That does not mean he is weak, oh god no. His Skin is tanned with various small bright colored scars scattered about his body. He has jet black medium length seemingly shaggy hair, and bright baby blue eyes. However, underneath his eyes lies black 'crows feet' due to his exposure to the shadows so often since he acquired his powers.
This gives him a fairly tired look all the time, causing people jump to conclusions about him, especially at work. He is about 5'10 and weights a fairly normal 165 pounds.
As for clothing, Joel wears simple young person attire. Jeans, A band T-shirt and a stylized hoodie are most constantly worn by Joel. For work Joel wears a very simple black or navy blue suit and tie with His hair usually stylized to look professional.
As his super powered alter ego, Joel looks fairly simple as compared to many other heroes and villians running about. Basically, when the suit is active (always as Mr. Shadow) Joel takes on a completely black look, with no real features such as hair or nails or anything of the like.
From head to toe Joel looks as though he is wearing a skin tight suit with hood and all, but in actuality is embraced by the very shadows themselves basically. The only real feature he has are his eyes; they are bright white in color and round much like spiderman's masks eyes, but much more rounded.
Personality: Easy going. Joel is ridiculously easy to get along with on an everyday basis. Most martial artists are stubborn as all hell in their passions and points of view, but Joel is different. He learned in his time in Japan that being serious was boring, and you miss so much that way. When he returned home, he returned a changed man. He became a wise cracking funny man, much like when he was a kid. However, when a situation demands it, Joel can be as serious as a heart attack in a matter of split seconds. He has had the discipline needed to do what it too to become a master of three martial arts, he can be serious when he needs to, trust me.
Most people see Joel as a bi-polar sort of guy, but in all honesty he melds the two extremes of his personality amazingly well. Of course, as The Shadow is he much more of a smart ass than when he is being professional at work, or the current situation demands his full seriousness. Joel ends up being something like a freak mix of Captain America, Spiderman, and Deadpool.
He has a hold of how he should act, and despite his choosing to act less formal much more than formal, he gets the job done, both as The Shadow and as Joel. You never really know what to expect with Joel, and thats the way he likes it.
Powers:
Simply put, Joel was given the power to control shadows. That includes:
-Limited creation of fake shadows for use with powers, teleportation through shadows, construct/item/weapon creation from shadows, Camouflage in shadows, Ect.
Secondly, Joel can also activate a shadow 'suit' directly from the shadows around him and he receives the benefit of the following:
-Enhanced strength, Enhanced agility, Enhanced Reflexes, Enhanced durability, Small Healing Factor
Learned Abilities: Peak physical condition, Extensive knowledge in Muay Thai, Ninjutsu, and Karate; Recent College Graduate, Knows Japanese. Oh yea! and he is a friggin' ninja!! pretty awesome no? XD
Equipment: A single grey utility belt with various ninja based tools in it. Shuriken, a small sword, explosive tools, wire, flashbang, ect.
Weaknesses: Joel MUST protect his identity it would be disastrous if any stranger or enemy were to find out that Mr. Shadow was indeed none other than Joel Bates. Also, despite his healing factor and durability within the shadow suit, Joel can be killed like any other person especially outside his suit. Finally, Joel has OCD which effects him both as Joel and as Shadow much more than one would expect.
Background:
How Joel Bates acquired his awesome powers...
Joel was A kid obsessed with the martial arts. Short of that, he was a normal kid. His favorite movies were enter the dragon and any ninja movie ever, he truly was hopelessly obsessed. He had friends and he was into music. His dad was a businessman, and his mom was a nurse. Simple enough.
It was when he graduated high school that really matters. So lets start there.
By this time in his life, Joel was a promising martial artist. So much so that, as a graduation gift from his father, Joel was being sent to Japan for training in ninjutsu. A contact of a friend of his, and it was all done. The only thing...it was not possible for a year from then. So, college came next and Joel began his studies. He was an average student for the most part, but was always thinking about his martial arts. To feed his need, Joel found a sort of side project of sorts along with his first year of college. Fighting. Not against random people or anything like that but an organized sort of 'group'. Don't ask how he found out about it, lets just say he was persistent. Either way, Joel began the circuit as the youngest fighter. He was nothing but a target at this point, yet he still won. Undisciplined punks were what any normal adult would call the dudes that Joel fought against.
Joel on the other hand, was perceived as a nice, driving college student. Time went on, and when there was no one else for him to fight, Joel planned on leaving the group though he had no idea what he would do next. He had gained a black belt in Shotokan karate during high school and began training in Muay Thai after that. As distanced as he was from the normal college student, Joel was a good kid. He fought for the right reasons if that makes any sense not the wrong ones like most of the other guys around him in the group. Well, on his last night of defending the title against Big Jim, a hardened criminal, He was jumped on his way out of the warehouse. Needless to say, he ended up in the hospital. His parents worried and his semester ending, Joel's trip to Japan and his training would soon begin. Weeks later, when he recovered from his wounds and finished his second semester, he was slated to leave for Japan in two days.
He went to Japan and met the man who had planned on training him. Master Jigen they all called him. Joel became a full fledged member of the 'clan' only a few short days after beginning his training. Whoever Jigen owed that Joel's father knew, he must have owed a HUGE favor because as far as Joel could tell every other member had been there for years upon years before being officially named a member by Jigen-sama. Joel was already a bit culture shocked, so it didn't seem so odd to him for some reason, to the other members it meant a whole lot. For the second time in his life, he was beat out of conscienceness and awoke in a white room. What the rouge members of the clan hadn't planned on was the fact that Joel would simply go back at his training with much more resolve and passion as he did before, thats how he was. He was a persistent little bugger with his Martial arts. He awoke to Jigen smoking a pipe, and when he arose, the old man simply smiled and motioned for him to follow. The two trained singularly for a few solid weeks before Joel was back in the normal group, MUCH more confident than he was before.
Now, Joel mopped the floor with a good 50% of the existing members in only a short 4 week period. He knew he would never have a chance at anything like this again, and as such never let himself fall behind; not even once. The training intensified in the next few weeks and Joel began ascending the ranks of that school of Ninjutsu. He began his weapon training and the other more advanced aspects at this point like Seishin-teki kyōyō, or the art of spiritual refinement and on to things like Bajutsu, or the art of Horsemanship. Ninjutsu was truly an impressive thing, and Joel loved it to no end.
Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement training)
Now, let me remind you, many things had happened in Joel's life, much more than just Ninjutsu and being beaten up. these are just more important than the other stuff.
His training was winding down, and he was damn near the end of his year and a half trip, when everything Shadow began to fall into place. Oh right, I forgot to mention something. The trip was only supposed to last a month and a half, but Joel fending off all attempts that his parents shot his was of him returning. He was learning these things so quickly that most of the students around him began to call him 'Saburo-Sama' or 'the third son'. Only two other men had mastered these things as quickly as he did. Master Jigen and a man named Reiko. Nothing was spoken of this Reiko, but Jigen had told Joel stories. He was the founder of the school in ancient times, and was said to have made a pact with the devil himself to give him the power needed to make the school soar over all others.
rumor has it that he became a demon, a demon who could control and move in the shadows without any fail, as well as use the shadows around him to steel himself for battle making him a fierce opponent. With people like the Hulk and Spiderman running around, Joel believed the stories. They called Reiko's demon 'Kagemusha' or 'shadow warrior'. Joel was impressed, and couldn't leave just yet.
Oh! also, another important tidbit. Joel had been taking what classes he could online while in Japan as well as picking up the language, so going home was no longer a big deal after convincing his parents that he 'needed to do this...he just did'. A bullshit excuse sure, but it worked. Now with unlimited resolve and extended time, Joel became something he never though he would be. He became a ninja, at least in his own mind. It had been three years now, and Joel was 21 years old, and damn near graduating with a minor in Japanese and a Major in communications. He had begun to undergo missions with the top of his 'class' at this point. Which, as far as he knew were only training missions, but were later revealed as...well...real burglaries, assassinations and combat. He was being taken advantage of without even realizing it. When he did, it was too late the clan, the Kageken, or 'Shadow blades' had old enemies come visit them for their revenge. Joel was asleep when it began, but he awoke moments later with a blade to his throat. His training didn't cover every aspect of the martial arts, but he knew three styles at this point, and apparently that was enough. He took down the attacker, and fled to the main complex. There, the Kageken were being wiped out. Knowing he had to do something, he fought his way to master Jigen's chambers, where he lay dying at the altar of Reiko the founder. He told Joel to come closer, at which point the many hiding enemies came running from the wood works. Master Jigen shot his hands upwards and began to chant as he layed his right hand on Joel's shoulder. "Don't worry...it won't hurt too much..." he said. At the same moment that Joel's vision dimmed and he lost consciousness.
He awoke later to the dead bodies of his attackers, and blood on his hands. Jigen hacked out a final pathetic smile, and said his final words. "The Kagemusha is back...long live..Ka..ge..keenn.."
Joel's head began to shoot with pain, and two members of the Kageken came running. The police were on their way, and Joel needed to get the hell out of there and fast. The carried him out, and dragged him miles away where they had his small amount of personal belongings. "Go!" they send, sending the absolutely stunned Joel to the airport in a small black, unmarked car. He found his ticket home, as well as a small metal necklace with the Kageken Seal on it, small weapons, many other small items and Joel's official ninja garb. He made sure to not carry the weapons with him on the plane, and for whatever reason the employee knew and allowed the weapons on the plane, albeit in the cargo. The ties the Kageken held ran deep, and it was apparent to Joel now. The seal of the Kageken, shown below, would prove to be much more useful to Joel than he thought as well...much more useful.
Kageken Seal
Joel Bates Becomes Shadow...
Now back in the states, and staying with his parents in their Chicago home, Joel was left dazed and confused from the events that had passed the nights before. How in the hell could he be the new Kagemusha? How could he have, physically, gained the powers Jigen told him he had? How was any of this possible?
He had no longer had any real physical ties with the Kageken, and as a matter of fact didn't even know where he had trained exactly. So that meant All of his questions were at this point not going to be answered, so he had to figure it out himself.
his parents, especially his mother, were worried about the young Joel because he came home with more scars and a different look in his eyes. As if he was lost and confused since he had been back, which was true but for a different reason. It was even worse when Joel held the Kageken seal, it was as if the seal promoted his change into kagemusha. It was his first serious attempt at finding that out, that he found out that the seal was indeed the item that caused the change.
Holding the seal up to his chest, Joel began to lose consciousness and quickly tossed he seal away. He needed to get alone so he could test it out again in a safe enviroment. He went to the old warehouse where he used to fight and seeing that nothing happened there any longer, did a few tests. Finally, he held the seal to his heart, felt a sharp pain and began to feel extremely cold, and his vision began to dim. He hadn't passed out this time, but he couldn't see. The cold crept up from his feet and subsided on the top of his skull, when his vision finally began to come back.
He blinked, then blinked again. He scanned his own body, and saw nothing but black. The day was ending and the large windows on the top of the building cast huge shadows in the warehouse, yet immediately surrounding Joel there were no shadows, thought everywhere else there was.
Joel remembered that Kagemusha meant Shadow Warrior and he was said to be able to control and hide within the shadows, so why were there no shadows around his body?
He took a step, and his legs began to wobble, while he neared the shadows around him. He stepped into the shadows to his right, his foot and his leg seemingly disappearing from sight. Joel's eyes widened with fear, and he again began to lose consciousness. He awoke again two blocks from the warehouse, several people crowded around his still black body, and apparent bright white eyes. They reached for Joel, and he rose quickly to his feet. They all looked confused and spooked, when Joel pushed a fat old man out of the way and took off. He ran and yet never felt tired like he should have, as a matter of fact he felt like he was moving way too fast for his own legs. What the hell was wrong with him? Did he have superhuman speed and whatnot as well?
This was insane! what the F@!# was happening!?
He finally stopped running when he realized he was back at his parents house, underneath the window of the room he was staying in.
stop. stop. stop. stop. stop.
He said to himself over and over again, to no avail. He threw the seal into the open window, and fell to his knees as the darkness around him faded.
That was the first conscious change, and the first time he was sure of what he was. Joel was super powered.
Time went on and Joel began to understand his powers, and people began to recognize him as "Shadow" or any combination of the word. He graduated college and got a job as a PR man at an affiliate company of Stark Industries. With work and being Shadow were more than enough to keep him busy for the 2 years since he came home from Japan. That leaves us at the present...sort of. There are many stories to be told later. Joel or Shadow if you wish is now in between allegiances, usually doing whatever work he can find as shadow, usually "good" work over "bad".
Writing Sample:
The night was dark, much darker than usual. It was good for Joel, that meant the street lights and the various alleyways and warehouses would cast a perfect little shadow that he would be able to use.
He had been running for a good 15 minutes now, his breath nothing short of perfectly regulated as his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings in the dead of night. If anyone got a direct glimpse of him it could prove to be a bit troublesome. He would have to not only make it to where he was supposed to be, but he would have to shake off onlookers. Boy was he glad he was able to stick mostly to the alleys on his way to the warehouse.
The job he was last given, through a mutual super powered 'friend' had him rescuing a young girl of a right single dad from the suburbs. Apparently so rich that his daughter was kidnapped for the ransom money. It was easy enough for Joel, especially because the idiots gave away the location that they were hiding her, and get this...the whole ring leader in all of this some unknown dude with some lame power wasn't even personally guarding her.
Joel arrived with time to spare until they said they were supposed to kill her. He had 20 minutes, which was more than enough time based on his intelligence. He wasn't a braggart, but he was confident in his skills thats all. He stepped into a nearby shadow to his right, and disappeared into the murkiness below. Seconds later, he arose again from the same murkiness, only this time feet to his right inside the warehouse.
A single small light flickered on the other end of the room, and he muffled sounds of a girls cry made their way to Joel's ears. He cracked his knuckles, and slowly made his way to the light. He arrived shortly after, and scanned his opponents. Five guys; two with guns pointed at the girl and three playing cards at a small rickety table about ten feet to the right, all three of which were smoking cigars.
Joel smiled, and made his move. He slipped into the shadows near him and a few seconds later, a single black arm came forth through a shadow behind one of the men holding up the gagged and handcuffed girl. In a flash of movement, the gunmen went down hard, alerting the other four to what was going down. The second gunman fired wildly into the darkness where he sword he saw Joel. Again, moments later, the obviously spooked crooks all stared hard at the same spot, waiting for Joel to emerge from the shadows. Of course, he never did. He exited the shadows behind the three card players.
He leapt forth from the shadows, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Hey boys! Im here for the card game!"
A wicked rising knee shot followed by a simple one two punch, followed then by a duck under the third thugs punch, and ending with a vicious uppercut to his chin and the three card players hit the floor. The last gunman stood frozen and terrified at the display. Joel smiled.
"Wheres the key to the cuffs?"
The thugs flipped Joel the bird. He smiled again, wondering why he didn't fire the gun, oh well better for Joel. He took a few steps toward the backing away thug. He bent down, reached his arm out and pulled a small black police baton from the shadows underneath his feet, and rose again to stare at the thug.
"Awww...com'on. I don't wanna have to do this..."
Joel's eyes flared and a bright white smile formed on his normally pitch black face. He was gonna enjoy this.
Copyright (Marvel/DC/ect): Marvel Based
Characters civilian name: Joel Bates; Saburo (The Third Son)
Code names/Aliases: Most recently called"The Living Shadow" or "Mr. Shadow" or just "Shadow" by onlookers; Originally called 'Kagemusha' (Shadow Warrior)
Class [Superhero, Vigilante, Mercenary..etc]: Vigilante/Mercenary; Seems to be becoming a Superhero.
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Gender: Male
Age: 23
Apparent Age: 23
Hair: Jet Black
Eyes: Baby Blue
Height and weight: 5'10 ; 165
Appearance: Joel is a very well built young man due to the martial arts training he has gone through in his life. His muscles are not overly large they are simply tight and toned giving him a fairly light yet intimidating look.
That does not mean he is weak, oh god no. His Skin is tanned with various small bright colored scars scattered about his body. He has jet black medium length seemingly shaggy hair, and bright baby blue eyes. However, underneath his eyes lies black 'crows feet' due to his exposure to the shadows so often since he acquired his powers.
This gives him a fairly tired look all the time, causing people jump to conclusions about him, especially at work. He is about 5'10 and weights a fairly normal 165 pounds.
As for clothing, Joel wears simple young person attire. Jeans, A band T-shirt and a stylized hoodie are most constantly worn by Joel. For work Joel wears a very simple black or navy blue suit and tie with His hair usually stylized to look professional.
As his super powered alter ego, Joel looks fairly simple as compared to many other heroes and villians running about. Basically, when the suit is active (always as Mr. Shadow) Joel takes on a completely black look, with no real features such as hair or nails or anything of the like.
From head to toe Joel looks as though he is wearing a skin tight suit with hood and all, but in actuality is embraced by the very shadows themselves basically. The only real feature he has are his eyes; they are bright white in color and round much like spiderman's masks eyes, but much more rounded.
Personality: Easy going. Joel is ridiculously easy to get along with on an everyday basis. Most martial artists are stubborn as all hell in their passions and points of view, but Joel is different. He learned in his time in Japan that being serious was boring, and you miss so much that way. When he returned home, he returned a changed man. He became a wise cracking funny man, much like when he was a kid. However, when a situation demands it, Joel can be as serious as a heart attack in a matter of split seconds. He has had the discipline needed to do what it too to become a master of three martial arts, he can be serious when he needs to, trust me.
Most people see Joel as a bi-polar sort of guy, but in all honesty he melds the two extremes of his personality amazingly well. Of course, as The Shadow is he much more of a smart ass than when he is being professional at work, or the current situation demands his full seriousness. Joel ends up being something like a freak mix of Captain America, Spiderman, and Deadpool.
He has a hold of how he should act, and despite his choosing to act less formal much more than formal, he gets the job done, both as The Shadow and as Joel. You never really know what to expect with Joel, and thats the way he likes it.
Powers:
Simply put, Joel was given the power to control shadows. That includes:
-Limited creation of fake shadows for use with powers, teleportation through shadows, construct/item/weapon creation from shadows, Camouflage in shadows, Ect.
Secondly, Joel can also activate a shadow 'suit' directly from the shadows around him and he receives the benefit of the following:
-Enhanced strength, Enhanced agility, Enhanced Reflexes, Enhanced durability, Small Healing Factor
Learned Abilities: Peak physical condition, Extensive knowledge in Muay Thai, Ninjutsu, and Karate; Recent College Graduate, Knows Japanese. Oh yea! and he is a friggin' ninja!! pretty awesome no? XD
Equipment: A single grey utility belt with various ninja based tools in it. Shuriken, a small sword, explosive tools, wire, flashbang, ect.
Weaknesses: Joel MUST protect his identity it would be disastrous if any stranger or enemy were to find out that Mr. Shadow was indeed none other than Joel Bates. Also, despite his healing factor and durability within the shadow suit, Joel can be killed like any other person especially outside his suit. Finally, Joel has OCD which effects him both as Joel and as Shadow much more than one would expect.
Background:
How Joel Bates acquired his awesome powers...
Joel was A kid obsessed with the martial arts. Short of that, he was a normal kid. His favorite movies were enter the dragon and any ninja movie ever, he truly was hopelessly obsessed. He had friends and he was into music. His dad was a businessman, and his mom was a nurse. Simple enough.
It was when he graduated high school that really matters. So lets start there.
By this time in his life, Joel was a promising martial artist. So much so that, as a graduation gift from his father, Joel was being sent to Japan for training in ninjutsu. A contact of a friend of his, and it was all done. The only thing...it was not possible for a year from then. So, college came next and Joel began his studies. He was an average student for the most part, but was always thinking about his martial arts. To feed his need, Joel found a sort of side project of sorts along with his first year of college. Fighting. Not against random people or anything like that but an organized sort of 'group'. Don't ask how he found out about it, lets just say he was persistent. Either way, Joel began the circuit as the youngest fighter. He was nothing but a target at this point, yet he still won. Undisciplined punks were what any normal adult would call the dudes that Joel fought against.
Joel on the other hand, was perceived as a nice, driving college student. Time went on, and when there was no one else for him to fight, Joel planned on leaving the group though he had no idea what he would do next. He had gained a black belt in Shotokan karate during high school and began training in Muay Thai after that. As distanced as he was from the normal college student, Joel was a good kid. He fought for the right reasons if that makes any sense not the wrong ones like most of the other guys around him in the group. Well, on his last night of defending the title against Big Jim, a hardened criminal, He was jumped on his way out of the warehouse. Needless to say, he ended up in the hospital. His parents worried and his semester ending, Joel's trip to Japan and his training would soon begin. Weeks later, when he recovered from his wounds and finished his second semester, he was slated to leave for Japan in two days.
He went to Japan and met the man who had planned on training him. Master Jigen they all called him. Joel became a full fledged member of the 'clan' only a few short days after beginning his training. Whoever Jigen owed that Joel's father knew, he must have owed a HUGE favor because as far as Joel could tell every other member had been there for years upon years before being officially named a member by Jigen-sama. Joel was already a bit culture shocked, so it didn't seem so odd to him for some reason, to the other members it meant a whole lot. For the second time in his life, he was beat out of conscienceness and awoke in a white room. What the rouge members of the clan hadn't planned on was the fact that Joel would simply go back at his training with much more resolve and passion as he did before, thats how he was. He was a persistent little bugger with his Martial arts. He awoke to Jigen smoking a pipe, and when he arose, the old man simply smiled and motioned for him to follow. The two trained singularly for a few solid weeks before Joel was back in the normal group, MUCH more confident than he was before.
Now, Joel mopped the floor with a good 50% of the existing members in only a short 4 week period. He knew he would never have a chance at anything like this again, and as such never let himself fall behind; not even once. The training intensified in the next few weeks and Joel began ascending the ranks of that school of Ninjutsu. He began his weapon training and the other more advanced aspects at this point like Seishin-teki kyōyō, or the art of spiritual refinement and on to things like Bajutsu, or the art of Horsemanship. Ninjutsu was truly an impressive thing, and Joel loved it to no end.
Seishin-teki kyōyō (spiritual refinement training)
Now, let me remind you, many things had happened in Joel's life, much more than just Ninjutsu and being beaten up. these are just more important than the other stuff.
His training was winding down, and he was damn near the end of his year and a half trip, when everything Shadow began to fall into place. Oh right, I forgot to mention something. The trip was only supposed to last a month and a half, but Joel fending off all attempts that his parents shot his was of him returning. He was learning these things so quickly that most of the students around him began to call him 'Saburo-Sama' or 'the third son'. Only two other men had mastered these things as quickly as he did. Master Jigen and a man named Reiko. Nothing was spoken of this Reiko, but Jigen had told Joel stories. He was the founder of the school in ancient times, and was said to have made a pact with the devil himself to give him the power needed to make the school soar over all others.
rumor has it that he became a demon, a demon who could control and move in the shadows without any fail, as well as use the shadows around him to steel himself for battle making him a fierce opponent. With people like the Hulk and Spiderman running around, Joel believed the stories. They called Reiko's demon 'Kagemusha' or 'shadow warrior'. Joel was impressed, and couldn't leave just yet.
Oh! also, another important tidbit. Joel had been taking what classes he could online while in Japan as well as picking up the language, so going home was no longer a big deal after convincing his parents that he 'needed to do this...he just did'. A bullshit excuse sure, but it worked. Now with unlimited resolve and extended time, Joel became something he never though he would be. He became a ninja, at least in his own mind. It had been three years now, and Joel was 21 years old, and damn near graduating with a minor in Japanese and a Major in communications. He had begun to undergo missions with the top of his 'class' at this point. Which, as far as he knew were only training missions, but were later revealed as...well...real burglaries, assassinations and combat. He was being taken advantage of without even realizing it. When he did, it was too late the clan, the Kageken, or 'Shadow blades' had old enemies come visit them for their revenge. Joel was asleep when it began, but he awoke moments later with a blade to his throat. His training didn't cover every aspect of the martial arts, but he knew three styles at this point, and apparently that was enough. He took down the attacker, and fled to the main complex. There, the Kageken were being wiped out. Knowing he had to do something, he fought his way to master Jigen's chambers, where he lay dying at the altar of Reiko the founder. He told Joel to come closer, at which point the many hiding enemies came running from the wood works. Master Jigen shot his hands upwards and began to chant as he layed his right hand on Joel's shoulder. "Don't worry...it won't hurt too much..." he said. At the same moment that Joel's vision dimmed and he lost consciousness.
He awoke later to the dead bodies of his attackers, and blood on his hands. Jigen hacked out a final pathetic smile, and said his final words. "The Kagemusha is back...long live..Ka..ge..keenn.."
Joel's head began to shoot with pain, and two members of the Kageken came running. The police were on their way, and Joel needed to get the hell out of there and fast. The carried him out, and dragged him miles away where they had his small amount of personal belongings. "Go!" they send, sending the absolutely stunned Joel to the airport in a small black, unmarked car. He found his ticket home, as well as a small metal necklace with the Kageken Seal on it, small weapons, many other small items and Joel's official ninja garb. He made sure to not carry the weapons with him on the plane, and for whatever reason the employee knew and allowed the weapons on the plane, albeit in the cargo. The ties the Kageken held ran deep, and it was apparent to Joel now. The seal of the Kageken, shown below, would prove to be much more useful to Joel than he thought as well...much more useful.
Kageken Seal
Joel Bates Becomes Shadow...
Now back in the states, and staying with his parents in their Chicago home, Joel was left dazed and confused from the events that had passed the nights before. How in the hell could he be the new Kagemusha? How could he have, physically, gained the powers Jigen told him he had? How was any of this possible?
He had no longer had any real physical ties with the Kageken, and as a matter of fact didn't even know where he had trained exactly. So that meant All of his questions were at this point not going to be answered, so he had to figure it out himself.
his parents, especially his mother, were worried about the young Joel because he came home with more scars and a different look in his eyes. As if he was lost and confused since he had been back, which was true but for a different reason. It was even worse when Joel held the Kageken seal, it was as if the seal promoted his change into kagemusha. It was his first serious attempt at finding that out, that he found out that the seal was indeed the item that caused the change.
Holding the seal up to his chest, Joel began to lose consciousness and quickly tossed he seal away. He needed to get alone so he could test it out again in a safe enviroment. He went to the old warehouse where he used to fight and seeing that nothing happened there any longer, did a few tests. Finally, he held the seal to his heart, felt a sharp pain and began to feel extremely cold, and his vision began to dim. He hadn't passed out this time, but he couldn't see. The cold crept up from his feet and subsided on the top of his skull, when his vision finally began to come back.
He blinked, then blinked again. He scanned his own body, and saw nothing but black. The day was ending and the large windows on the top of the building cast huge shadows in the warehouse, yet immediately surrounding Joel there were no shadows, thought everywhere else there was.
Joel remembered that Kagemusha meant Shadow Warrior and he was said to be able to control and hide within the shadows, so why were there no shadows around his body?
He took a step, and his legs began to wobble, while he neared the shadows around him. He stepped into the shadows to his right, his foot and his leg seemingly disappearing from sight. Joel's eyes widened with fear, and he again began to lose consciousness. He awoke again two blocks from the warehouse, several people crowded around his still black body, and apparent bright white eyes. They reached for Joel, and he rose quickly to his feet. They all looked confused and spooked, when Joel pushed a fat old man out of the way and took off. He ran and yet never felt tired like he should have, as a matter of fact he felt like he was moving way too fast for his own legs. What the hell was wrong with him? Did he have superhuman speed and whatnot as well?
This was insane! what the F@!# was happening!?
He finally stopped running when he realized he was back at his parents house, underneath the window of the room he was staying in.
stop. stop. stop. stop. stop.
He said to himself over and over again, to no avail. He threw the seal into the open window, and fell to his knees as the darkness around him faded.
That was the first conscious change, and the first time he was sure of what he was. Joel was super powered.
Time went on and Joel began to understand his powers, and people began to recognize him as "Shadow" or any combination of the word. He graduated college and got a job as a PR man at an affiliate company of Stark Industries. With work and being Shadow were more than enough to keep him busy for the 2 years since he came home from Japan. That leaves us at the present...sort of. There are many stories to be told later. Joel or Shadow if you wish is now in between allegiances, usually doing whatever work he can find as shadow, usually "good" work over "bad".
Writing Sample:
The night was dark, much darker than usual. It was good for Joel, that meant the street lights and the various alleyways and warehouses would cast a perfect little shadow that he would be able to use.
He had been running for a good 15 minutes now, his breath nothing short of perfectly regulated as his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings in the dead of night. If anyone got a direct glimpse of him it could prove to be a bit troublesome. He would have to not only make it to where he was supposed to be, but he would have to shake off onlookers. Boy was he glad he was able to stick mostly to the alleys on his way to the warehouse.
The job he was last given, through a mutual super powered 'friend' had him rescuing a young girl of a right single dad from the suburbs. Apparently so rich that his daughter was kidnapped for the ransom money. It was easy enough for Joel, especially because the idiots gave away the location that they were hiding her, and get this...the whole ring leader in all of this some unknown dude with some lame power wasn't even personally guarding her.
Joel arrived with time to spare until they said they were supposed to kill her. He had 20 minutes, which was more than enough time based on his intelligence. He wasn't a braggart, but he was confident in his skills thats all. He stepped into a nearby shadow to his right, and disappeared into the murkiness below. Seconds later, he arose again from the same murkiness, only this time feet to his right inside the warehouse.
A single small light flickered on the other end of the room, and he muffled sounds of a girls cry made their way to Joel's ears. He cracked his knuckles, and slowly made his way to the light. He arrived shortly after, and scanned his opponents. Five guys; two with guns pointed at the girl and three playing cards at a small rickety table about ten feet to the right, all three of which were smoking cigars.
Joel smiled, and made his move. He slipped into the shadows near him and a few seconds later, a single black arm came forth through a shadow behind one of the men holding up the gagged and handcuffed girl. In a flash of movement, the gunmen went down hard, alerting the other four to what was going down. The second gunman fired wildly into the darkness where he sword he saw Joel. Again, moments later, the obviously spooked crooks all stared hard at the same spot, waiting for Joel to emerge from the shadows. Of course, he never did. He exited the shadows behind the three card players.
He leapt forth from the shadows, his eyes wide with excitement.
"Hey boys! Im here for the card game!"
A wicked rising knee shot followed by a simple one two punch, followed then by a duck under the third thugs punch, and ending with a vicious uppercut to his chin and the three card players hit the floor. The last gunman stood frozen and terrified at the display. Joel smiled.
"Wheres the key to the cuffs?"
The thugs flipped Joel the bird. He smiled again, wondering why he didn't fire the gun, oh well better for Joel. He took a few steps toward the backing away thug. He bent down, reached his arm out and pulled a small black police baton from the shadows underneath his feet, and rose again to stare at the thug.
"Awww...com'on. I don't wanna have to do this..."
Joel's eyes flared and a bright white smile formed on his normally pitch black face. He was gonna enjoy this.
