Shadow Man; A Dark Story of Jude Rutherford

Han Eduardo

"Jude Rutherford!"

He just called my full name? I turned around in suprise, and right there before me stood a shadow with white eyes and a dark, almost invisible body.

"Or should I say... Shadow Man?"

"How do you know my full name?" I responded with a sharp glare, ready to step into a fight.

"My name is Han Eduardo. I know many things about you, bro. Even things that you do not know."

Such a weird name, no wonder he wants to be Shadow Man. And Bro? He just called me bro! This guy must be some psycho. He stole my style, my identity, my shadow occupation, he even stole my signature stance. And he thought he could call me bro? Just like that?

"Yeah? Well it is good to know that you know all that about me, that means I can go all out on you!" I registered, ready to fire into my combat mode.

"We don't have to do this." He uttered in cowardice, trying to avoid the fight. "I have just come here to talk. You need to know that we are on the same side..."

That was just an excuse so I could not whoop his ass. I was not ready to listen to excuses.

Before he could run his mouth again, I rushed towards him with full speed, throwing my elbow forward. But with his shadow moves, he was able to avoid my suprise attack.

That was not possible! No one had ever dodged my suprise attack! He had really fast reflexes, just like me!

I could not give up yet though, I threw everything I had at him. But this guy was just too good. He escaped them all without lifting a finger!

When he said that he knew everything about me, he was not joking around. It was as if he had all my moves memorized in his brain and he knew exactly what I would do next. Before I could deliver my sneaky low blow on him, he caught me by the side and sent me crumbling onto the floor.

"You should listen to me, Jude. I have only come here to help you. There is someone trying to kill you, and I am here to warn you."

What did he take me for? A fool? The only person trying to kill me right now was him, who had chosen to become a clone of me. He must be planning to kill me and replace me.

"Think about it!" He continued. "Why do you think you were in that train accident? Why have there been more cases of mutants attacking high schoolers in the last few weeks?"

Frankly, I did not know why. All I knew was that the evil mutants had suddenly become more interested in my classmates at school.

Like what happened three days ago when Fat Christy found a carrot sized mutant hanging between her hamburger, waiting for her to dip her mouth. I had to stop her from eating it, and trust me, it was not easy. I had to fight her to save her. That was surely gonna kill her if she ever took a single bite.

Or yesterday when one of the sophomores, a science freak was trapped in the chemistry lab. Everything went kaboom around him, and even though he did not die, his body would never remain the same. He was scarred for life, burnt by acid. Later, the teachers found out that a creepy teenage mutant had sneaked into the school and had been the cause of the accident.

Even one of Ariana's friends almost got caught by an overspeeding car about a week ago. I was there to save the day though, as Shadow Man.

"Those attacks are not random coincidences, Jude. Someone wants Shadow Man dead, and the person is going after high schoolers. Not just in your school, but in every other school!."

I shrugged. "That's not right. No one knows if Shadow Man is a boy or a man, a highschooler or a college graduate..."

"Seriously?!" He screamed. "Have you seen yourself on TV? You, my friend, have done very stupid, stupid things that only a teenager would do! Of course everyone knows you're an highschooler."

I had to admit he had a point. But that did not mean I believed him. He was still an imposter and he had no evidence for his claims.

"And besides, are you not going to change to Shadow Man? You are never going to beat me in your human form!"

He should never have said that, it really pissed me off when anyone undermined my strength in my human form. But he was right and I knew it, he was too strong for my human side. So I decided to change. There was nobody around to see me anyways.

Loosening the grip of my arm bracelet, my body transitioned into the shadowy figure that I always became at night. My second nature, my secret identity, the only part of my life which gave me happiness - Shadow Man.

It happened in a flash. And before the imposter could know it, my shadowy flair had consumed the air around him, hitting bombshells at him from every direction. He tried to dodge them as usual, but not this time.

"Take this! And this! And this!"

I gave it all to him. Seconds later, I was standing above him, about to deliver the last blow.

"Why don't you understand?" He coughed, obviously feeling the pain of my bombshells all around his dark body. "We are on the same side here. He is coming for you, just like he came for me. He is coming for everyone."

For the first time, his words sank into my soul.

"What are you talking about?" I quizzed, not ready to believe anyone of his stories yet.

"In the past six months, you have become the most celebrated mutant ever since the explosions three years ago. You are his next target!"

I was a target? Maybe this dude was forgetting that I was Shadow Man. I literally had the powers of a shadow, to become a shadow. How would anyone target a shadow?

"He is built different." He continued. "And he has the power to counter any mutant. Their plan is to remove every good mutant, and right now you are on the top of that list."

"This is bullshit!" I rose away, returning to my human form.

"It is not, I have seen him. He is the most dangerous mutant I have ever known."

His words were nonsense to my ears.

I picked up my bag, about to leave. I had had enough of today's ridiculous stories. First it was Ariana, now it was this imposter telling me creepy tales about an imaginary anti good mutant guy who wants to kill me.

"You have to believe me before it's too late, unless you may end up like your mother!"

I was stuck for a moment, pausing to properly digest that.

"What did you just say?"

"I know what happened to your mother. Including the things you saw and the things you didn't see. You just need to follow me now and I will show you everything."

My mother died a long time ago, in my arms. I was just ten when it happened. I had always tried to forget her, to forget what happened to her. I was not ready to revisit that day...

"No thank you". I declined. "Leave me alone."