Walking through the wreckage spread throughout Penspot Tower was a finely dressed woman flanked by two huge men in equally fine clothing.

Walking through the wreckage spread throughout Penspot Tower was a finely dressed woman flanked by two huge men in equally fine clothing.

|X|

She was a woman of Western European descent, and her ornate clothing was of a Lolita gothic design. This woman appeared to be in her mid to late thirties, but with the amount of wealth obviously at her fingertips, she could have been ten or twenty years older.

|X|

The bared-off front door had been smashed as easily as a sheet of ice with a hammer. Lining the floor were paths of scorch marks and size 14 footprints pressed into stone. Papers, office supplies, and specks of blood were strewn about the floors while ricocheted and cut-up bullets were buried in the walls. Finally, at the end of the path of destruction, halfway up the building, a perfectly symmetrical and vertical line of holes went upward to Sally Penspot’s private office.

Once she made her way through the tower and stepped into the office, the woman and her bodyguards saw a sharply handsome and fit man with five bodyguards dressed similarly to the woman’s.

|X|

The man appeared African-American and was dressed in a custom-tailored suit of Spain tailorship. He seemed to be in his mid-forties but was extraordinarily well built, his outfit designed to accentuate this feature.

|X|

Crouching down, the man examined the pit left in the floor as his guards kept an eye on the new arrival. Past them, four others were standing by the remains of Penspot’s desk, two more bodyguards and a man and a woman in casual attire.

Putting on a smile in the man’s presence, the woman said, “Austin. I should have expected you’d beat me here. Penspot was one of your top officers, after all.”

Looking up, the man named Austin nodded and replied, “Heather. You arrived later than I’d anticipated.”

Rolling her eyes in amusement, Heather said, “It took more preparations than I’d expected to get my double ready for Congress. But you don’t want to hear about any of that.”

Smirking, Austin answered, “You know me so well.”

Despite the unending glares of Austin’s bodyguards, Heather smiled without concern. Even as she walked toward their boss, the one they were meant to protect at all costs, none of them made a move to stop her.

Approaching the hole Austin was crouched above, Heather asked, “Onto the juicy news. What have you uncovered about this Shiny Shadow figure?”

“Shining Darkness,” Austin corrected as he focused back on the debris.

“Oh, I know, I know. Why so serious? He’s just some plebian who got his hands on some advanced weaponry, after all… right?” Heather replied.

Standing up and straightening his suitcoat, Austin answered, “I made similar assumptions at first, but no. Trust me. We’re all going to need to take this one seriously.”

A hint of fear entering her eyes, Heather asked, “Are… Are you serious?”

Looking toward the ruins of Penspot’s desk, Austin pocketed his hands and answered, “Whatever power this Mask has, it’s the real deal. Penspot used two second-tier spells on him, and they hardly slowed him down.”

Fear fully enveloping her, Heather exclaimed, “What?! That… That’s not possible! No Human being could survive attack-magic of that tier! Even the strongest body armor on Earth wouldn’t save you!”

“Check the security camera footage. It’s all there… Speaking of which, I’ll need to have Penspot punished for utilizing magic so openly.”

Biting her nails, Heather asked, “So… That jumping trick of his on this rundown city’s news wasn’t… well, a trick? What do you think this Shining Darkness is exactly?”

Running a hand across his scalp, Austin said, “The way I see it, there are three possibilities that are most likely. One, he has technology on par with our most advanced secret developments. Two, he’s been enhanced by unheard-of chemical or genetic mutagens. Or, three, he somehow is able to cast 3rd tier magic.”

Composing herself slightly, Heather pulled her nails from her teeth and said, “But there are only two people on Earth capable of that. And we keep them well paid enough to keep to themselves…

“Well, we’ll know if it has anything to do with magic or biological agents soon enough.” Pointing at the people working by the ruined desk, Austin explained, “Penspot’s magic did do some damage to the Shining Darkness, so I’m working on gathering up the blood and skin cells he left behind. As soon as I can get that back to our labs, we’ll have an answer in no time. And maybe we’ll even be able to use whatever he is for ourselves somewhere down the line. Once we perfect DNA splicing in clones, of course.”

“That’s good… Do you think we can pay this Mask to retire if disposing of him proves too difficult?” Heather asked.

Bringing his hand to his chin, Austin said, “Maybe. But considering the fact that we’re dealing with a Mask, there’s a decent chance he’s a zealot for whatever cause he fights for. We should focus on ruining his public reputation and merchandise sales before we try bribery.”

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Nodding, Heather folded her hands and said, “That’s fair enough… So, we should know the what soon enough, but do we know the who yet?”

“Actually… No, surprisingly enough. His physical features aren’t a match for any US citizen we have on record. Hopefully, his DNA will solve that mystery.”

“Another clue pointing toward magic, then? Changes from biological enhancements wouldn’t go unnoticed in our public records, and they aren’t as easy to reverse,” Heather postulated.

“Exactly,” Austin replied while watching his henchmen finish packing up all the samples they could collect from the rubble. “Regardless, this Super Mask destroyed one of our top operations.”

Averting her eyes, Heather stated, “There’s too much physical evidence to claim it’s all fake in courts. Even for us. It seems that Penspot won’t be running any of your operations again.”

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s a shame. She was actually very good at her job… I’ll probably still be able to find other uses for her and her lackeys somewhere down the line. Until then, they can sit in jail and cool off.”

Feeling restless simultaneously, Austin and Heather walked to the glass wall of Penspot’s office.

They both glanced at the bullet hole left behind by the armor-piercing round before Austin said, “We need to make sure the rest of the Shadow Council knows of the full severity of this situation. If he keeps disrupting our operations at this pace, the Shining Darkness could prove to be our greatest threat to date.”

Tightening her glare, Heather stated, “I don’t care how strong he is. The Shining Darkness is still just a man. Even if direct force proves ineffective, we have countless other methods at our disposal. He’ll either fall in line or fall into a grave. No one can stand against the Shadow Council.”

Nodding approvingly, Austin replied, “Too true… Many have tried, but all have been swallowed by the shadows. And that trend won’t change anytime soon.”

She was a woman of Western European descent, and her ornate clothing was of a Lolita gothic design. This woman appeared to be in her mid to late thirties, but with the amount of wealth obviously at her fingertips, she could have been ten or twenty years older.

The bared-off front door had been smashed as easily as a sheet of ice with a hammer. Lining the floor were paths of scorch marks and size 14 footprints pressed into stone. Papers, office supplies, and specks of blood were strewn about the floors while ricocheted and cut-up bullets were buried in the walls. Finally, at the end of the path of destruction, halfway up the building, a perfectly symmetrical and vertical line of holes went upward to Sally Penspot’s private office.

Once she made her way through the tower and stepped into the office, the woman and her bodyguards saw a sharply handsome and fit man with five bodyguards dressed similarly to the woman’s.

The man appeared African-American and was dressed in a custom-tailored suit of Spain tailorship. He seemed to be in his mid-forties but was extraordinarily well built, his outfit designed to accentuate this feature.

Crouching down, the man examined the pit left in the floor as his guards kept an eye on the new arrival. Past them, four others were standing by the remains of Penspot’s desk, two more bodyguards and a man and a woman in casual attire.

Putting on a smile in the man’s presence, the woman said, “Austin. I should have expected you’d beat me here. Penspot was one of your top officers, after all.”

Looking up, the man named Austin nodded and replied, “Heather. You arrived later than I’d anticipated.”

Rolling her eyes in amusement, Heather said, “It took more preparations than I’d expected to get my double ready for Congress. But you don’t want to hear about any of that.”

Smirking, Austin answered, “You know me so well.”

Despite the unending glares of Austin’s bodyguards, Heather smiled without concern. Even as she walked toward their boss, the one they were meant to protect at all costs, none of them made a move to stop her.

Approaching the hole Austin was crouched above, Heather asked, “Onto the juicy news. What have you uncovered about this Shiny Shadow figure?”

“Shining Darkness,” Austin corrected as he focused back on the debris.

“Oh, I know, I know. Why so serious? He’s just some plebian who got his hands on some advanced weaponry, after all… right?” Heather replied.

Standing up and straightening his suitcoat, Austin answered, “I made similar assumptions at first, but no. Trust me. We’re all going to need to take this one seriously.”

A hint of fear entering her eyes, Heather asked, “Are… Are you serious?”

Looking toward the ruins of Penspot’s desk, Austin pocketed his hands and answered, “Whatever power this Mask has, it’s the real deal. Penspot used two second-tier spells on him, and they hardly slowed him down.”

Fear fully enveloping her, Heather exclaimed, “What?! That… That’s not possible! No Human being could survive attack-magic of that tier! Even the strongest body armor on Earth wouldn’t save you!”

“Check the security camera footage. It’s all there… Speaking of which, I’ll need to have Penspot punished for utilizing magic so openly.”

Biting her nails, Heather asked, “So… That jumping trick of his on this rundown city’s news wasn’t… well, a trick? What do you think this Shining Darkness is exactly?”

Running a hand across his scalp, Austin said, “The way I see it, there are three possibilities that are most likely. One, he has technology on par with our most advanced secret developments. Two, he’s been enhanced by unheard-of chemical or genetic mutagens. Or, three, he somehow is able to cast 3rd tier magic.”

Composing herself slightly, Heather pulled her nails from her teeth and said, “But there are only two people on Earth capable of that. And we keep them well paid enough to keep to themselves…

“Well, we’ll know if it has anything to do with magic or biological agents soon enough.” Pointing at the people working by the ruined desk, Austin explained, “Penspot’s magic did do some damage to the Shining Darkness, so I’m working on gathering up the blood and skin cells he left behind. As soon as I can get that back to our labs, we’ll have an answer in no time. And maybe we’ll even be able to use whatever he is for ourselves somewhere down the line. Once we perfect DNA splicing in clones, of course.”

“That’s good… Do you think we can pay this Mask to retire if disposing of him proves too difficult?” Heather asked.

Bringing his hand to his chin, Austin said, “Maybe. But considering the fact that we’re dealing with a Mask, there’s a decent chance he’s a zealot for whatever cause he fights for. We should focus on ruining his public reputation and merchandise sales before we try bribery.”

Nodding, Heather folded her hands and said, “That’s fair enough… So, we should know the what soon enough, but do we know the who yet?”

“Actually… No, surprisingly enough. His physical features aren’t a match for any US citizen we have on record. Hopefully, his DNA will solve that mystery.”

“Another clue pointing toward magic, then? Changes from biological enhancements wouldn’t go unnoticed in our public records, and they aren’t as easy to reverse,” Heather postulated.

“Exactly,” Austin replied while watching his henchmen finish packing up all the samples they could collect from the rubble. “Regardless, this Super Mask destroyed one of our top operations.”

Averting her eyes, Heather stated, “There’s too much physical evidence to claim it’s all fake in courts. Even for us. It seems that Penspot won’t be running any of your operations again.”

“Unfortunately, yes. It’s a shame. She was actually very good at her job… I’ll probably still be able to find other uses for her and her lackeys somewhere down the line. Until then, they can sit in jail and cool off.”

Feeling restless simultaneously, Austin and Heather walked to the glass wall of Penspot’s office.

They both glanced at the bullet hole left behind by the armor-piercing round before Austin said, “We need to make sure the rest of the Shadow Council knows of the full severity of this situation. If he keeps disrupting our operations at this pace, the Shining Darkness could prove to be our greatest threat to date.”

Tightening her glare, Heather stated, “I don’t care how strong he is. The Shining Darkness is still just a man. Even if direct force proves ineffective, we have countless other methods at our disposal. He’ll either fall in line or fall into a grave. No one can stand against the Shadow Council.”

Nodding approvingly, Austin replied, “Too true… Many have tried, but all have been swallowed by the shadows. And that trend won’t change anytime soon.”