Title: Lingering Shadows
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Mutant X characters, and may occasionally include a few of my own as the work progresses.
Feedback: Feedback and reviews are greatly appreciated. Please let me know if this sounds good so far. I'm sorry my tenses are back and forth. I have an idea of what I'm going to do with this story, unlike my last one.

Chapter 1: 1945

                Looking up at the sky, Ryuko grabbed his two children and ran for the house. Above, in a once crystal blue-sky three loud, gray planes flew overhead one of which was large. Normally there were smaller planes, often found in groups no fewer than five. However, today was different. This day would be remembered for all time by every civilization as a horrible day full of two unbelievable catastrophic events. Hiroshima and Nagasaki would never be the same, and the rest of the world would never forget their pain. Ryuko held onto his children while waiting for his wife to join them under the heavy piece of wood they had positioned for days just like this; days when the nation of the United States sent bombers out over Japan, treating civilians and militants the same. Finally together, the Kinku family huddled tightly awaiting the noise, earth shakes, and inevitable screams that accompanied every attack.

                As the seconds passed by, the noise of the planes began to fade. Looking up at her husband in confusion, Lin held her children more tightly to her chest. As the noise of the planes became so distant you could barely hear them, a loud whistle began to fill the ears of every occupant of Hiroshima. Becoming so loud it was painful, the Kinku children held their hands over their ears. Greatly unnerved, Lin began crying only to shed tears with her children. The final fifteen seconds to dropping were automatic. At seventeen seconds past 8:15, the bomb bay doors opened and "Little Boy" plummeted free. At 1,800 ft, the barometric pressure device triggered the detonating mechanism. In a few mil1iseconds a brief flash had become an engulfing ball of light and destructive energy. With this release of apocalyptic power 75,000 people were killed and 48,000 buildings destroyed. Strategic air power reached a terrifying new level of destruction in the smoldering ashes of Hiroshima.

Only silence filled the scene, no screams were heard, no birds could be seen flying overhead, and no clear water could be found. The rice paddies of an older Japan were forever contaminated, and the only remnants of a population that could be discerned within the upcoming days consisted of a melted and charred people. Those that lived were the unfortunate ones, deformed and poverty stricken. This day the US did not separate civilian from military, innocent from guilty, child from adult. This day, all the occupants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki paid the price, all suffered as a result of being the poor bastards fated to live in a city the US considered a "good target to try and end a war."

                The Kinku family suffered greatly, as did most families of those two cities. Lin managed to walk away deformed, while her husband and youngest child were not so fortunate. Lin's oldest son, Yang, lived to later marry and have a child of his own. Choosing to stay in the town of his birth, Yang took a wife who had also suffered great heartache and pain on that infamous day. Together, both vowed to raise their family with the knowledge of that terrible day, refusing to let the sins of the almighty US be forgotten or forgiven. The day they had their son, a beautiful boy who possessed chi surprising in strength, joy filled them both. They knew that one day he would make them proud.

                As the years passed, the second generation of Kinku's realized that their precious boy was sick. No medical care currently available in Japan could help him. Concerned for the care of their son, Ryuko, they decided to move to the US to seek out better medical care. Once they arrived in the US, they immediately filed papers with the US government to seek compensation for the destruction of their city and the deaths of their family members. They made it clear the compensation was not sought out of petty malice, but indeed it was something vital to the continuation of their family. Having reached the ears of a nervous politician scared of the results if they carried their story to the media, the Senator immediately called an old school buddy and arranged for a quiet settlement.

After receiving a large amount of money to keep quiet, the Kinku's moved to Canada after receiving a lead on cutting edge genetic research. More than eager to add another willing participant, the new administrator of Genomax quickly added Ryuko to the list of children already in his hands. Understanding perfectly that no doctor with any common sense would work on a child with a history of unstable DNA due to the long reaching effects of an atomic bomb, the administrator quickly buried the child's family history so deep that the records would not be found until years later.

                Unclear as to what Genomax did to Ryuko, the Kinku's expressed only gratitude to the doctors for the miraculous cure of their son. As Ryuko aged, he began developing abilities that at first concerned his parents and then quickly made them even more proud. Raising him to understand the history of their people, the Kinku's decided to claim Ryuko as their avenger. On his sixteenth birthday, the child-man was officially given his birthright.

BIRTHDAY DINNER

                "Ryuko, you have done us proud." Bowing before his son, Yang was pleased to see the boy's hands tight against the sides of his upper legs as he bowed low and deep in respect to his father. He has learned well, and one day, he will avenge us all and bring great honor to our family. Looking at the dinner his wife had carefully prepared and placed on the table, Yang walked over and clasped his son on the shoulder. "Today is a good day, let us eat."

                Smiling a thin, tight smile, Ryuko maintained his staunch expression throughout the meal. His parents were jovial, pleased with the progress of his powers. Containing telepathic and illusionist abilities associated with a psionic, the danger of these abilities were unnerving, even to his parents. Able to read the minds of others and then project onto them unreal visions or attitudes, his cunning is unmatched. Yet for all that those powers afforded him, he favored his molecular abilities more. Ryuko has the abilities to propel himself with great force and velocity at an object or another person. He also is able to go impervious, making him quite dangerous to anyone in his way. Preferring one on one contact over mind games, Ryuko understood the benefits of both and so he agreed when his parents insisted he work to control and increase his psionic powers as well as his molecular ones.

                As his parents laughed and joked, Ryuko could not restrain another smile. Meals like this were rare, a table full of food and two faces full of smiles, making this a day he would forever remember. Tomorrow he would leave to continue his training on his own. Content to sit and eat quietly listening to all his parents shared, Ryuko silently etched every word and smile onto his soul. Looking up after a minute of silence, Ryuko saw the serious expression on his father's face and knew it was time.

                Standing up, Yang quickly motioned for his wife to leave the plates on the table as is. Everyone walked into the ancestral room, where statues represented Ryuko's grandparents and other relatives. Picking up an incense stick and lighting it, Yang waved the aromatic stick around three times before placing it in a container. Turning around, Yang slowly bowed deep in front of his son, showing him great honor. Standing behind her son, Yang's wife walked forward and stood beside her husband. Also, bowing in respect to her son, Ryuko's eyes flickered at the solemnity of the occasion. This would be his last night here, in his family home. Now, this very second, is his last breath as a child.

                "You have trained hard and learned well, my son. It is time for you to leave to complete your training. It is time for you to avenge your ancestors. Ryuko is no more, from this breath on you are no longer our son. You will forever more be Kage Musuko, avenger of the family Kinku." Yang and his wife bowed deeply before Kage, leaving him with all the honor and grace befit their family. After his once parents silently walked out, Kage gracefully sat down to sit cross-legged on the floor to meditate.

                Deep in meditation, Kage Musuko pondered the name his father had chosen. Kage means Shadow and Musuko means Son, Shadow Son. A good name, since he is indeed their Shadow Son. Always growing up overshadowed by the past evils wrought against his family, Kage understood what he had to do to break that cycle. He would avenge his family and reclaim his name. Deep in his heart, he not only knows but feels that if he does not succeed, he will never be able to come home.

                Kage Musuko spent all night deep in meditation, getting up only at the break of dawn to begin his quest.