Origins

Chapter 1: Prologue

It was a normal day in Fremont, California. The streets filled with the usual sounds of traffic and the trains that come in and out from some of the neighborhoods.

Oh, you're probably wondering who I am. The name's Drake, Drake Young; or Drake Globus in some cases. I would say I am your friendly neighborhood, but I still want to get into Disneyland, so I will settle for the most awesome hero in Fremont, or even California.

So if you ever saw something flying over your head while your were in Fremont, the chances were that was me, Shadow! You might mistake me for an airplane though, air traffic was getting tighter, but, hey, if you had good enough eyes to spot me in my costume, then just knew that I was watching over you.

I always dreamed of being a Superhero... like the Justice League when they save the day, and here I am!

It was kind of like living a dream. Wearing bright colored stylish costumes, have a cool alias, and of course saving the people.

This isn't just about Shadow, though. It's also about the person behind the mask. So sit back and enjoy the long, long story.

This is the story of my life, about how I became the greatest superhero ever!

Years ago, in the year 2009.

"Five... Four... Three... Two... One... Ready or not, here I come!" A kid opened his eyes to look around the room to try and find his mom.

Drake and his mother were playing hide and seek, and it was the boy's turn. He looked around, trying to see if he could find his mother hiding spot. The young boy's gaze fell upon a pair of shoes underneath the curtain. Thinking that it was his mom, he pulled fabric away.

"Boo!" He shouted, but was only greeted by a coat stand with a hat hanging on one of its arms and a pair of shoes right under it.

"Aw..." the boy muttered. As he continued his search, he walked into the living room. He took a glance at the TV, which was still on, and saw the news featuring the Lordcorp. He ignored it and moved on.

The child moved pass a hanging picture of him and his parents and toward the open door. He slowly entered his mother's office, and stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing the current state it was in. The boy carefully made his way toward the desk, before noticing the open window that suddenly closing by itself.

"M-mom," the boy stuttered, unsure what to make of the scene. His voice quivered as he turned toward the door and shouted, "M-mom!"

A figure rushed into the room, his mother. "Drake, is everything alright?" asked the woman. "Hey, what's up hon-" She froze as she came upon the scene of her ransacked office. Her eyes widened as she muttered, "Oh god..."

"Mom," Drake asked his mom. "Why is your office like this?"

Drake's mother didn't reply as she looked around her workspace, as if trying to find something. Eventually, she gave up on her search and picked her son up. She quickly closed the window curtains, before pulling a drawer to reveal a document folder. As she was quickly skimming through the paper to see if anything is missing, a male figure ran into the room

"Anna?" The man asked his wife upon seeing the mess and his scared son.

Anna didn't answer her husband. All she did was grab the folder and put it into a bag. "Sabrina!" She shouted. Anna turned to her husband as they waited for their daughter. A teen, no older than sixteen, quickly came in the room.

"Yes, mom?" She asked, confused.

"Grab your brother, pack up your suitcase, and get in the car," she commanded as she passed Drake to his sister. "We're leaving."

Sabrina looks around the room and sees the mess. "Oh my god," she muttered, horror filled her eyes. "It's happening isn't it?"

"Sabrina. We have to hurry. Go pack up and go wait with Drake in the car," their father reaffirmed the order, with sterner but calmer voice.

"Mom," Drake asked his mother with fear in his voice. "What's happening?"

Anna cupped her son's cheeks and kissed him on the forehead, "It's nothing sweetheart. We're just going on a vacation."

Anna steered away from her children and let them go off to get packing. She and her husband, Ben, erased every date they could while taking whatever researches that they deemed important enough.

Within ten minutes, the family moved out of the house and got in the car. Ben moved in to occupy the driver's seat while Anna took the front seat and the two siblings were in the backseats.

Ben took off, almost breaking the speed limit while doing so. They soon arrived at an apartment not far from their home.

The parents took Drake out of the car and walked towards the apartment. Ben knocked on a door, which quickly opened in a few heartbeats, revealing a man a woman in their thirties. The man had short black hair with a beard while the woman had long red hair. They were Travis and Carla Globus, their friends.

"Ben?" asked Travis as he saw the couple.

"Hey Travis. Is Noah up?" Ben asked. Travis noticed Drake behind his friend and nodded, believing this is just another normal visit. "Yeah."

"Good," Ben looked at his son, "Drake go play with Noah while the grown ups talk. You go with them as well, Sabrina." The daughter nodded as her and her little brother walked inside the apartment. Ben looks at Travis in the eyes, "We need to talk."

What happened next was a blur to Drake. It was so good to see his best friend again, but he wondered what was going on as two families arguing about something. He wanted to find out. He wanted to know. But he couldn't. All that happened to him was getting left in the dark.

"Anna, you can't be serious!" argued Carla as her eyes widened.

"Look if you and Ben are in trouble, then why not call the police?" Travis added.

Anna shook her head. "The police can't help us, not with something like this, and neither can you or Travis."

"Well at least tell us where you're going!" Carla urged.

"We can't tell you that either..."

"Why not?!" Carla yelled. "Don't you trust us!?"

"For God's sake, we do! It's because there are people who will do anything to find out about our whereabouts!" Anna shouted, tears were starting to run down her cheeks. "Our entire family is in danger! Some are still hiding, while others are already dead! By the Lord, if I told you where we will be going, then we might as well take everybody here with us! Now I only ask you, just please... Trust me, and promise you'll take care of our son..."

Trevor and Carla turned to each other, feeling a little reluctant but finally nodded.

By the late evening, Ben, Anna and Sabrina walked toward the front door while Travis and Carla saw them out with Drake stood beside Carla as they said their goodbyes.

"Mommy," the boy asked with a mixture of confusion and fear in his voice. "What's happening?"

Anna knelt down his level, smiling as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's okay honey... your Father, Sister and I just have to go on a very long trip, so you're gonna stay here with Noah for a while."

"But I wanna go with you all."

"I know..." Anna sobbed as she pulled her son closer and hugged him "But, this is something we have to do on our own..."

"Will you be back?"

Anna paused for a moment before answering. "We….. we will. I promise."

"Is there anything we can do?" Carla asked, putting her hands on her newly adoptive son's shoulders.

"Um, Drake likes to eat pizza roses and he really like Coke. He also likes to sleep with the lamp on at night..." Anna sniffs as she looks at her son one more time. "I love you, Drake." With her final goodbye said, the front door closed between the two groups. Drake quickly ran to the apartment window and looked out of the window, watching as his parents and sister leave in the middle of a rainy night.

And there Drake was, a third-year-old, looking out the window, watching as his parents and sister went on a journey that they never came back from... Drake watched on as tears started to roll down his eyes. His new adoptive brother, Noah, gave him a hug to confront him.

Drake never really knew what was going on then, but as time passed, He realized that the night they left him with Noah, would be the last time he had ever seen them again.