[center][img]https://images.cooltext.com/4817128.png[/img][/center] [center][img]https://d30y9cdsu7xlg0.cloudfront.net/png/236032-200.png[/img][/center] [center]Undisclosed Hideout[/center] [u][b][center]Two months after Bounty's Rest[/center][/b][/u] [center][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkHsJazkObw]"There's a way, for everyone."[/url][/center] [hider=Updates] [b][color=#6B6969]Name:[/color][/b] [s]Milo.[/s] Shadow. [b][color=#6B6969]Alignment:[/color][/b] [s]Walking the line.[/s] Hero. [b][color=#6B6969]Day Job:[/color][/b] Tea Shop clerk. [b][color=#6B6969]Night Job:[/color][/b] Hero. [color=#6B6969]Color:[/color] [s][color=ec008c]ec008c[/color][/s] [color=#6B6969]#6B6969[/color] [/hider] [hider=Weapons] [b][color=#6B6969]Main Weapons:[/color][/b] High Frequency Electro Blade. [b][color=#6B6969]Offhand Weapon:[/color][/b] High Frequency Electro Knife. [b][color=#6B6969]Ranged Weapon:[/color][/b] High Frequency Electro Shuriken. [/hider] Feeling his vision returning, Milo traced the pads of his fingers across the foundation of a soft, wooden floor beneath his frame. The light was still quite challenging to meet with tired eyes, his attention shifting back and forth from the thick, wooden bars keeping him within the cage he had so profoundly found himself in. The confines were an unexpected addition, but he would recall losing consciousness quite abruptly due to a well-planned ambush. Thinking back on the matter yielded little success however, as he could not see nor sense the attackers beforehand. A pain had echoed through the back of his head, followed by an immediate darkness blanketing sight and sound, forcing him to yield beneath the weight of force. Truly, what had struck him was strong enough to surpass his cellular regeneration and knocked him out, leaving the boy defenseless. It was no wonder then, that he found himself in a wooden cell not long after. Peculiar as it was, Milo had only to peer beyond the bars to disregard what they had been made of. As if an image frozen in time, framed from an old movie dating back to the samurai, Milo's eyes recognized his surroundings as a quaint [url=https://images-ext-2.discordapp.net/eyJ1cmwiOiJodHRwOi8vY3Jvb2tzbG9nLndlZWJseS5jb20vdXBsb2Fkcy80LzMvNC85LzQzNDk5NzkxLzI4ODEwNjFfb3JpZy5qcGcifQ.MENwz1CHeeEolFSkkJHdYbmGls4]home[/url] of oriental birth. The warm, bright colors were enough to ease an otherwise troubled mind, but Milo would soon return to reality, his focus shifting to the bars steadily barring his path. Without an utterance leaving his lips, the boy sat up and leaned against the wall opposite the bars, breathing out as he found himself disarmed and without a chance for escape. Lucky then that he didn't have to wait long before the sound of footsteps snapped him back from getting too comfortable. "Good morning, sleeping kitten." A voice echoed through the otherwise empty home, the words belonging to an [url=https://thenullset.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/spring1128018.jpg]elderly woman[/url] who found great pleasure in the pipe between her lips. "For someone who can't die, you're sure easy to smack down." She continued, exhaling a puff of smoke with a not so unexpected smirk making its way to her visage. [b][color=#6B6969]"Who are you?"[/color][/b] Milo returned, his eyes narrowing at the sight. A frail old lady stood before him, her height equal to that of his own. Indeed, this woman had not warranted any amount of intimidation, her appearance anything but menacing. "Straight to the point, aren't you?" She shot back, taking another long puff of the pipe, breathing out the smoke before her oriental eyes found home on the prisoner. "You never were one for talking, after all." [b][color=#6B6969]"Do I know you?"[/color][/b] For someone he had never seen before, this woman sure knew a thing or two about Milo. The way she bore herself, her demeanor and her patient act drew the situation quite intriguing. She knew more than she let on, and she enjoyed taking her time with spilling the beans, as it was. "You do not." The woman continued in response. "I know you, though." She delighted herself on the pipe, breathing out smoke between sentences as she spoke. "I know that you're a weapon manufactured in 1984 by a Bionic Weapons Lab. Subject Name: M110, Male 110, as it was." She moved the pipe away for a second, gazing down to the shocked expression on Milo's face, her own grin widening as a result. "You were designed to be an assassin able to hide in plain sight and use innocence as concealment." The boy's silence clearly indicated his interest in what this woman had to say, encouraging her to continue. "You were made to look like your creator's son. Someone had issues." She chuckled softly, bringing the pipe back to her lips. "Things went south, the project was shut down, lab was destroyed, you went out on your own and started killing bad boys, am I right so far?" Milo offered her a faint frown in response, causing the elderly woman to chuckle once more before she continued on. "See, I have been looking into you for quite some time, Edge." Sounding out his alias, the woman could clearly see how Milo's frown deepened. "You have been a very, very bad kid, Milo." She finally dropped his name. [b][color=#6B6969]"What's it to you?"[/color][/b] The boy returned, crossing his arms as he remained in place against the wall. "Killing people left and right, it's not a path which will leave you whole for very long. My name is Matsumei, and I am going to offer you an ultimatum." [b][color=#6B6969]"I don't do well with those."[/color][/b] "Well..." Matsumei began, approaching the bars. "See, I've been where you are, Milo. You think that chopping people into hamburgers will end well. You think that it's making a difference, a good one. You're leaving an endless wake of blood behind you, and deem yourself justified in doing so. Why is that?" [b][color=#6B6969]"You seem to know everything about me. You tell me."[/color][/b] Milo sighed, shaking his head slightly. He never expected to get into a philosophical debate with an old lady. "The answer is quite simple. You've been hardwired to consider killing a first resort. You were born and bred in a test tube, kid. Killing was what you were made for. That's why I am offering you another chance, a new life." For the first time yet, Matsumei cracked what appeared to be a smile, though it was quickly smothered as the pipe returned to her lips. [b][color=#6B6969]"Why would I join you?"[/color][/b] Milo considered his situation, but it was still a question he would like answered. With bars in the way, he didn't have anywhere to go. "You were created as a weapon. Naturally, a weapon kills. You on the other hand, are a weapon with a mind. You can be taught anew, and you can be redeemed." Matsumei turned to lean against the wall as she spoke, breathing out smoke as she had displayed previously. "I'll show you a new path. The alternative is a maximum-security prison. Probably isolation, or the death penalty since you're technically not human so human rights is a bit of a grey zone with you." [b][color=#6B6969]"Nice options."[/color][/b] The boy shot back, raising an eyebrow at the options put before him. [b][color=#6B6969]"Join you, or die, pretty much."[/color][/b] "No." Matsumei shook her head. "Join me, or the legal system will deal with you. Either way, I can't have you out there and killing, anymore. See, any other person would probably have been left for the cops to deal with but I have been looking into you ever since Lost Haven, Milo." She elaborated. "In truth, there are a few reasons as to why you're in this position. Firstly, your creation didn't exactly leave you with many other options. Secondly, your skillset makes you a very plausible student." [b][color=#6B6969]"Fine."[/color][/b] Milo finished, ascending to his feet and approached the bars. "Oh, that easy to convince you?" [b][color=#6B6969]"The alternative's a deterrent."[/color][/b] "As it should be." Matsumei chuckled. "Well then, go on and leave that cell." Raising his eyebrow in confusion, Milo placed his hand on the cell door and pushed it open. It had never been locked. [b][u][center]Four months after Bounty's Rest[/center][/u][/b] Expertly blocking each strike thrown at her, Matsumei remained with a pipe in hand and her other maintaining a stretched out, defensive posture. Though Milo attempted his best to land a successful hit, the old woman danced between his inhumanly graceful movements as if she had a sixth sense, as if she could tell exactly what he was about to do before the boy brought thought into action. With her heartbeat maintaining a calm beat, the woman smoked her beloved pipe as her right hand countered and nullified Milo's strikes with rapidity and ease. After a short while, Matsumei moved forth with a powerful strike to Milo's chest, her palm sending him to his back as if a paper weight. "Again." The woman exclaimed, only having moved an inch throughout the ordeal before her imminent attack. Milo clenched his teeth before jolting back to his feet and attempted to start the dance anew, his quick strikes which would have been far too fast for most easily dodged and blocked by Matsumei with a single arm. Yet again, and again still, and a fourth time, a fifth and on it went, Milo found himself thrown to the carpeted floor. Matsumei was a master of martial arts, her abilities far surpassing Milo who himself had been specifically designed for this. It was safe to say that her skills faded the mortal realm in their wake. "Get up." The old lady commanded, tossing a bokken, a wooden blade, to Milo. "Let's try again." Despite the boy's new weapon, he had little luck in landing a strike on the woman moving as if she was wind itself, her middle and index finger extended with each strike to cancel her target's pressure points with fluidity. Each strike stole a large portion of energy from Milo as well dealing a respectable amount of internal damage which healed in turn, stealing even more energy in the process. These sessions continued for a long, arduous amount of time. Milo found himself acquainted with the floor more than he'd care to share, his body only able to keep standing due to his mutation which Matsumei could end at any given moment with her godly martial prowess. Milo would however lie, if he claimed that Matsumei's gruesome training did not yield results. [u][b][center]Nine months after Bounty's Rest, Present Day.[/center][/b][/u] Shadow, it was the name Matsumei had claimed long ago when she was still jumping on rooftops and keeping New York's streets safe. It was a name she could no longer hold onto, her age preventing her from prolonged endeavors in the crusade against villainy. Indeed, her overwhelming prowess stood far and beyond even Milo who had now grown exponentially thanks to her, but the woman had grown more static with age. Milo, with the option he had sealed many months ago, agreed to take her place on the streets. Calling Matsumei Sensei, the boy would hear her words constantly echo through his mind, not in a spiritual manner but rather through the mask he wore. Though Matsumei's home was of a delicate, old oriental style, the woman had displayed yet another amazing skill in computers. Located within the Asian house hidden from sight beneath a tea shop, Matsumei possessed an impressive array of technological gadgets and screens allowing for full time surveillance of her progeny while he roamed the streets. Picking up Matsumei's old codename and her [url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/cd/a2/e2/cda2e2f0d132702d21fc8eccddbd4f36.jpg]attire[/url], Milo would continue the woman's legacy. Armed with a [url=http://img09.deviantart.net/54e2/i/2012/024/f/f/jinroh_catana_and_combat_knife_by_mukkelkatze-d4ngdkc.jpg]High Frequency Electro Blade[/url] along with a matching knife, Milo, or Shadow, now deployyed a non-lethal variant to an otherwise powerful sword. Mimicking the slashing motions of an actual blade, the blunted edge of his high frequency sword left electrical shocks on his enemies, stunning and paralyzing them rather than critically wounding and killing a target. Following up on the promise he had made not to kill, Shadow also uses shuriken, or throwing stars, deploying the same kind of technology. "You've got a mission!" Mitsumei exclaimed, lightly hitting Shadow in the back of his head as the boy was more than content with a cat on his lap and his eyes glued to the television. [b][color=#6B6969]"Fine..."[/color][/b] He sighed softly, scratching Soy, the cat, behind her ears. He lowered his feet to the floor with a stretch, starting towards the armory and wasted little time before suiting up for the mission at hand. A common everyday robbery, something to get the blood going for the remainder of the night. With quick and graceful movements living up to his new name of Shadow, the boy hurried out of the hideout and tea shop, making his way into the night of New York.