The Shadow Man

 Prologue: Wait what Sharen said as he was sent to the main area of the inky blackness, and soon all the memories came rushing back.

Chapter one: Sharen present day

Sharen sighed; he was so bored sitting at home doing nothing. His parents were outside studying the newly found material, Sagoamber. Legend says it could give the user elemental powers. Sharen knew this was not true, but sometimes he doubted himself. He did not know why, but he felt a strange pull to the material. Sometimes he felt like it wished him away. He did not like it. Sharen lived in the Arctic with his parents., who were explorers born in the Arctic, just like him. But unlike Sharen, his parents had gone from the Arctic to bring news of the Sagoamber to their company. Sharen had to survive in the arctic for a day or two by himself. He was a 10 year old boy, and he was strong, smart, fast, curious and clumsy but he was also a vegetarian, so survival was harder than normal. Suddenly, Sharen had an idea.

Chapter two: Enumer 10 years earlier

Eight feet under NASA base, a secret base was blossoming, but this base was not good; no it was evil. Enumer was happy his evil company below N.A.S.A was close to finishing its work. Mostly because he was a high ranking official leading his own team, he would get most of the benefits to the company. Their goal was to give everyone the element of fire so they could throw fireballs and take over the world, but so far, everyone who tested it had died. This time, Enumer hoped things would be different. He tossed a slave in the vat of a newly found material only known only to him and his company, but his throw was off. The slave hit the side, and all his blood fell into the vat, and it turned black. Then, Enumer tripped and fell in the vat of the strange material, and his life flashed before his eyes. Black-that's all he saw then a strange light, and suddenly he found himself behind his colleague. And then it hit him: “I have shadow powers,” he said. 

Chapter 3: Sharen present day

Sharen was still bored. He always had something to do, but he had already done it all. Worst of all, he had no Wi-Fi, and he had beaten all the video games his parents picked up from Japan for his birthday. So, Sharen decided to do some exploring. As Sharen headed out, he tripped on the carpet. "Strange," Sharen said to no one in particular. "The carpet seems higher than normal." “I must be delusional,” he thought. But then, Sharen remembered that one of the properties of Sagoamber was that it helped you see better, and he was surrounded by tons of it. So, he decided to lift the carpet.

Chapter 4: Enumer 9 years earlier 

Enumer was considering taking over his company. Now, before you ask why, I will tell you: he was now the most powerful person in his company, but they all treated him like a test subject because the Sagoamber had only worked for him, and he hated it. But it would still be a long time before he tried to destroy the company. One long year had passed since he had last considered mutiny, but now he decided that he would obliterate his company since he had shadow powers and wanted no competition to take over the world by himself. So, he entered his shadow, slowly assassinating members of his company over the course of one year. By the time they realized, they were already dead.

Chapter 5: Sharen present day

Right before Sharen lifted the rug, he remembered his idea: to stow away on his parents' trip to Japan. But he lifted the rug anyway, and beneath it was a trapdoor! Curious as ever, Sharen opened the trapdoor and found a mountain of notes. He immediately grabbed one and started reading. It talked about a Shadow Realm and how it was the only way to defeat the Shadow Man. Then he read another note that mentioned Sagoamber being the only way to cross into the Shadow Realm. Sharen was disappointed; he thought it would be true, but it was all a bunch of baloney. Sad and disappointed, he hung his head and left the secret room full of notes that might have just been important.

Chapter 6: Enumer present day

Enumer had finished killing all of his own company and was now his own leader. However, that wasn't what was on his mind right now. He had just discovered the Shadow Realm and beings even more powerful than him. He discovered it because his powers had grown more stable, and that endless black had morphed from black blurs into a more detailed darkness. Then there were beings and eggs, and finally, the black became a hollow void where he could maneuver like a combination of flying and walking. It came to him naturally. Best of all, moving in the Shadow Realm felt like running in the real world. But he had to be careful not to materialize in a wall and suffocate, or be seen by a human when returning to the real world.

Chapter 7: Sharen present day

It was the night his parents were leaving for Japan, and Sharen had finalized his decision to stow away aboard the airplane going to Japan. He still didn't really know why, but his home was overrated anyway. That night, his heart beating with tension, he crept into one of the bins (since they ran out of crates) full of Sagoamber. True to all the bins in the world and countless universes that exist, it was gross in there. But because it was a short flight, he only had to stay in for 16 hours. During the flight, he felt nauseous and scared. He almost tried to parachute off the plane to get back home because he regretted his idea and wanted to return. But that idea was gone when he lifted the bin's lid and saw they were flying over the ocean. When he looked down, the bright light above made it hard to see, and he gasped because he saw no shadow. But when he landed, it was all worth it.

             Chapter 8: Enumer present day

Enumer was having fun pranking people. He had almost forgotten his plans for world domination—almost. To be fair, he had even created rumors of a being from a game world coming forth into the real world. Hilarious. Although, he had only mixed up some shadows with others, nothing serious. "I am so bored," Enumer said. "I need a minion to entertain me and maybe even help me defeat my enemies." Eventually, he decided on a brute and an assassin, but no more, so they wouldn’t assassinate him. With these sidekicks, he could wipe out countries. First, he landed a major blow on Earth by killing the president of America. Then he went to Japan to destroy their cutting-edge tech, about the same time that Sharen was arriving.

Chapter 9: Sharen present day

Even though Sharen knew he should stay on the plane, he had made it this far, and he wasn’t stopping now! He clambered out of the plane, and even though he felt immense heat, he didn’t notice it at all amidst all the technology surrounding him in the wonderful, tech-savvy world of Japan. “Where do I start?” said Sharen. “Where do I even go now?” But then he decided to go to the most entertaining place in the world: Universal Studios. When he arrived, he was captivated by all the rides and attractions. There were so many bright lights and screens, but Sharen knew where he had to go first—his favorite: V.R.

Chapter 10: Enumer present day

Enumer also didn’t know where to start. Then he realized that without fun, there would be less motivation, and he could destroy Earth even easier. So, he decided to start at Universal Studios, specifically the V.R. But when he got to the V.R. place, he felt a strange presence pulling him closer. He decided he needed to kill this person. But as he honed in on this individual, he had an idea: he would use this person to see if people could survive in the Shadow Realm. So, Enumer dragged Sharen down his shadow and into the Shadow Realm.

Chapter 11: Sharen present day

One moment, Sharen was about to play on V.R., and the next moment he was in a dark abyss of nothingness. “What am I doing here?” thought Sharen. “Why am I here?” Suddenly, Sharen heard a deep voice. “You have survived, so now I shall kill you.”  

“No, please don't,” said Sharen. “I am just an ordinary boy.”  

“But that's just the thing—you aren't,” said Enumer. “I feel something about you.”  

“What do you mean?” asked Sharen, effortlessly moving through the Shadow Realm and even dodging the eggs.  

“What feeling?” asked Sharen.  

“You can move through the Shadow Realm,” said Enumer.  

“Really? Maybe you should be my test subject.”  

“Yay,” said Sharen. “I get to be the lab rat of a deranged lunatic…”

“What was that?” said Enumer.

“Nothing,” said Sharen “I'm just happy I get to live. Oh, and you never answered my question!”  

“Power,” said Enumer. “I felt power; more importantly, shadow magic and more elemental magic. You are different, Sharen. You are different.”

Chapter 12: Enumer present day

Enumer was so annoyed that this kid was soooooo annoying. And the worst thing about it was that he was actually going to be a helpful lab rat. That meant Enumer couldn't constantly insult him. Suddenly, Sharen disappeared—gone just like that. "Where is that child and how did he escape me?" Enumer said. "It should be impossible. I have to get rid of him. He poses a threat to my domain." And with that, Enumer went to find and kill Sharen. "Argh!" said Enumer, 24 hours later. "Where is that ignorant child? He deserves to die." So he set off searching once again.

Chapter 13: Sharen present day

Sharen was confused; he had teleported twice now and didn't know why. Maybe the creature had to do it to live, but he needed to focus on the present. He looked around and saw that he was in an obsidian room. Then he turned around and screamed. Behind him was a giant black centipede-like monster with shadow tentacles, opal black eyes, and a dragon-like face, who actually looked kind of peaceful. "W-w-who are you?" Sharen said. "And what do you want with me?"  

"I want you to come home, and that's also why I saved you from that shadow mage."  

"W-well thanks about that, but about coming home, do you mean Antarctica?"  

"God, they really wiped your memory," it shook its head. "No, I mean here, the shadow realm, my child."

Chapter 14: Enumer present day

Sharen had searched for 10 days straight and he still had no luck. Even though he had discovered that he didn't need sleep, he was still infuriated. But suddenly, as Enumer entered, he felt a hiccup in the connection he had to Sharen. "Hmmmm, theoretically there may be gods or powerful beings in this realm that are keeping this kid safe for whatever reason, and maybe that's why I can feel him. I know," Enumer said. "Maybe I should attack his parents." So Enumer continued his assault on Japan so he could hack into Sharen's parents' phones and learn where they were. Then he hired a hacker to see if they had a history with sagoamber—they did. So he began planning his assault.

Chapter 15: Sharen present day

"What do you mean?" said Sharen. "I was born in Antarctica and I will die in Antarctica, and my parents are my parents."  

"No," said the centipede monster. "He wiped your memory."  

"No," said Sharen. "That's impossible!?"  

"You're talking to a god," said the god.  

"But I want to stay with my parents," said Sharen.  

"Well, your parents are about to die."  

"WHAAT!? What did you do!?"  

"I did nothing, but your kidnapper is trying to trap you by killing your parents to lure you there."  

"Well, I have to go to save them."  

"BUT IT'S A TRAP! YOU'LL DIE!"  

"Well, who cares?" said Sharen.  

"Fine, I see there will be no arguing with you, so I will make you super powerful if you come with me."  

"Deal," said Sharen. He was so rage-driven that he was not really listening.  

"Deal," said the god. "And by the way," said Sharen, "who wiped my memory?"  

"Sigh," said the god.

Chapter 16: Enumer present day

Enumer was scared. Yes, he was fighting normal people, but if his theory was correct, then he would be fighting a god. Maybe even a god of the source of his power; he just had to hope that it was fake or that the god didn't interfere. But right as Enumer started thinking more about that, his assassin servant came in and told him that their battle strategy was complete. Then he laid out a scroll, saying that Enumer's brute servant was going to smash the front door down to create a distraction long enough for the assassin to stab one, and Enumer could drag one to the shadow realm to maul them.  

"Who kills who?" asked Enumer.  

"Well," said the assassin, "I kill the dad and you kill the mom because you have no weapons."  

"Ok," said Sharen. "Let's get going." But when they arrived and the brute smashed open the door, there was no one there.

Chapter 17: Sharen present day

Sharen had just arrived at his house and hid his parents away in the trapdoor area below the carpet, but his enemy was already here, so he decided to try out his new strength. He climbed out of the secret room, and in front of him were all three of his enemies. “So it worked,” said the one with knives. “You were hiding there,” said the one with the 8-pack. “It doesn't matter because we can kill you,” said the person who appeared to be the leader—Sharen's kidnapper—and then the fight began. Suddenly, the brute charged at him without warning, but since Sharen was supercharged, he managed to barely backflip over him and land right behind him. But then the assassin tried to backstab him. Luckily, as I said before, sagoamber improves your eyesight, so he saw it coming from a mile away. He dodged the strike, but then Enumer popped out from beneath him and propelled him up in the air. Then he landed on the assassin, grabbed his knife, and you know what happened next. So there Sharen was, a 10-year-old boy with blood on his hands, and his parents weren't even his own parents.

Chapter 18: Enumer present day

Enumer was fuming with anger and rage. Yes, the “god” didn't come, but the boy had been buffed by him. He had already killed one of Enumer's servants, and Enumer hoped he wasn't next. But Enumer told himself that he was more powerful than the boy; his servants just weren't, so Enumer decided to take matters into his own hands. He popped up behind Sharen and grabbed his knife. Then he tried to stab Sharen; he hit him, but the knife went through a black gooey substance. Suddenly, a booming voice rang out. “You dare try to hurt my son?” it said. Then two shadowy tentacles reached out of the ground and grabbed Enumer and his remaining servant, dragging them down into the water and into their death.

Chapter 19 Sharen present day

Suddenly, Sharen found himself back in the Shadow Realm, specifically that obsidian room in which he had met his “mother,” and she was there. “Why am I back here?” said Sharen.  

“You made a deal with me,” said the god.  

“No, I didn't,” said Sharen.  

“Well, it appears you were so rage-driven that you said yes without noticing.”  

“No!” roared Sharen.  

“Yes,” said the god, “and now you have to come with me.”  

“Fine,” said Sharen, “but can I at least say goodbye to my family?”  

“Okay,” said the god. Then Sharen was back at his house.  

“Mom! Dad!” said Sharen. “I made a deal with a god and now I have to go to another realm.”  

“You know I always knew this would happen,” said Sharen's mom.  

“Same,” said Sharen's dad.  

“How?” asked Sharen.  

“Well, since we were the first humans to discover Sagoamber and connect with it, it improved our eyesight so much we saw the future, and all of this.”  

“Yeah,” said Sharen's dad. “But I still wish we could have stopped it.”  

“Yeah. Will you stop it?” said Sharen's mom, slapping Sharen's dad. “Our son is leaving.”  

“Okay.” Ten seconds later, Sharen's dad was in tons of pain.  

“Ow,” said Sharen's dad.  

“Anyway, bye forever, guys,” said Sharen, tearing up.  

“Bye,” said Sharen's dad and mom, and then Sharen was gone. Now, Sharen was back in the obsidian room. “Welp, you've said bye, and now here are your memories. It will be a bit dangerous and maybe kill you, but you will be your old self again.”  

“Wait, what?” Sharen said as he was sent to the main area of the inky blackness, and soon all the memories came rushing back.