Rumble! ~ Crackle! ~

As a lighting strike appeared in the cloudy night sky of Central City.

” *Huff* Huff* ” the person jolted awake from his bed as he started panting hard. He then looks around the room. He was frightened from realization that this room is very familiar, It was his room from a small apartment he rented for $150 a month until he was 28 years old.

“What happened? How come I’m here?” the man immediately tried to calm down as he murmured to himself as he suddenly looked dazed and slowly lied on the bed.

He is Michael Smith, an orphan who had no knowledge about who his parents are since the day he started to become more aware of how the world works. When he was 18, he left the orphanage, where he had lived for almost half of his life. He rented a small apartment from his savings doing part time jobs. He started living his new chapter of life since the day he left the place he can call home, he became a service crew from a fast food restaurant, to a delivery guy from washing cars, until that one incident that thoroughly changed his life happened.

He accidentally killed the son of a very powerful person, surprisingly this “son” didn’t bring any of his bodyguards that night. He was all drunk as he forcefully dragged the woman while threatening her with his status at which the woman didn’t have any choice but to comply.

Fortunately or..Unfortunately, Michael coincidentally saw all this happening while on his way home. He planned to ignore it as this kind of thing happens almost every time within the City.

But when he saw who the woman was, he knows he can’t ignore it this time. The woman was his boss at the restaurant he works at. She was a kind and nice woman to almost everyone and also whom he secretly fancied. So he followed them, arriving at a dark alley which is a suitable place to do a rush “deed” with someone. He just observed them with gritted teeth as the man fondled every part of the woman he loves. When it was finally for the man to do the “deed”, Michael charged at him as he punched him at the back of his head, which made the man stumble forward, tripping himself as his head collided hard with a stone block at which it killed him immediately from a broken head and continuous blood loss.

Michael immediately freaked out when he realized that the person is already dead. He feared the thought of going to jail because of this and more so when he found out who this guy is! Going to jail is scary but you can still get out from it after you’re able to finish your sentence but Michael knows he won’t even last two days before being killed.

But the woman, his boss, Amanda, surprisingly said something to him, ” This is all my fault, this wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t succumbed to his threats. Let’s just run away from somewhere they won’t be able to find us” she said with reddish eyes, trying to hold back her tears as she looked at him. Michael just subconsciously agreed to it without even giving it any thought.

From that day on, they hid from place to place as their pursuers would always find them every time.

On those days, he was able to hone his fighting abilities slowly, even finding out that he was an absolutely genius on learning every killing technique from using guns, sword wielding, dagger wielding even killing someone from a small needle and at the same time both of them, Amanda and Michael slowly started to have deep feelings for each other that they even started to treat each other as husband and wife.

But because of this, he grew too much overconfidence at himself, which resulted in him losing something that can’t be replaced. His wife, Amanda died because of it, and as he looked at the woman lying on her own pool of blood and the surrounding men laughing at him in disdain.

“Ahh!!!”

His eyes turned crimson red from rage as he started a massacre, ignoring every injury inflicted to him and just killed and killed like a mad dog.

After killing all the men around him, he finally snapped out of his trance like state and just stood there surrounded by blood and gore as a rain suddenly started pouring above him.

His head turned to his wife and walked over and knelt in front of her as he caressed her face softly with a smile. It was then that his eyes turned cold and made a ruthless vow to the heavens.

“Amanda, I promise you. I will deliver VENGEANCE to that person. I will annihilate his entire family, entirely erasing them from the face of this planet and be forgotten on the flow of time. I make this vow to the heavens as my witness!” as he yelled those words to sky with a voice full of pain as tears streamed down his face!

The entire stormy sky rumbled loudly as thunder and sharp lightning strikes appeared on the sky. It was like the end of the world is coming. He stood up and picked up a sharp stone and slowly dig at the ground until a deep pit came into sight. Afterwards, he carried his wife and buried her beneath the muddy and wet ground before silently walking away.

From then henceforth, he started taking every assassination missions for 15 years through the dark web as he deemed it as a great deed for the populace from killing corrupt government officials to politicians and even successfully killing the president of a well-known country. From those events, he slowly mastered or became well verse at every killing arts he deemed to be useful, he even mastered espionage and disguising.

And with his recent successful mission of killing even the president of country A. He became so well-known and feared in the entire world that they even termed him as Shadow, the more reason being that no one, not even once, had they seen a shadow of him at every job that he did.

He was so good at erasing his tracks that even well-known figures that he had made deals with before don’t even know what he looks like or more like they can’t find even a single trace of him at all and from the 100% success rate at every job he accepted, he was the most sought assassin with every deals reaching hundreds of millions in USD.

But out of the blue, he just disappeared like a wisp of smoke and people just thought that he probably died from a job but no!

It was because he finally decided that it’s finally time to collect some overdue debts.

He immediately returned back to his home country after nursing his injuries from the recent job as he carried all the things he will need on this last mission of his. He just threw all of his things at the back of the car, he had just recently bought and drove towards his destination.

He stood there while gazing at the huge mansion surrounded by tens of armed guards, smiling. He took out a rocket launcher that he loaded earlier from the back of his car and a rifle held by his left hand and he covered his body with tens of rifle mags.

“Vengeance is here! Bastard!” he shouted as the rocket flew and blew up the entire wall sending debris everywhere killing the guards near it while the bystanders screamed in panic as they escaped from every direction!

Michael had no plans at all because the only thing he knows is that, that bastard’s entire family are inside the mansion today!

Michael wasn’t afraid of the consequences that will happen because he doesn’t plan to come back alive from this!

It’s either them or him who dies first!

A shootout happened, as he killed every single guard that appeared in his sight, with no wastage of bullets as he would just recklessly shoots back at them with no regards to his life.

“Hahaha! Your end is coming!”

He laughed coldly as the muzzle of his rifle release some smoke, he then strode towards the gate heading towards the mansion, killing every hostile that appears within his sight.

After a while, he arrived in front of a heavily decorated door.

He just stood in front of the door and then he shot a barrage of bullets towards it before giving it a ruthless kicks and then after doing that, he heard the distant siren outside, heading this way.

“About time” he said in a low voice while smiling as he strode towards a group of people cowering in a corner.

“Hal-” tried to yell one of the guards before being shot to death. Michael killed every single guard around. They are either dead or they escaped but in exchange, his body are covered in blood from his enemies and from his own and some even trickled out of his mouth. Ignoring it, he shot every person beside the fat elderly man with no regards to how old they are.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! ~

Pointing the muzzle on the head of the shivering fat man, he smiled before saying.

“Remember me?” he grinned so wide that he looks like a maniac.

“W-who a-are you?” he said trembling.

“Remember the people whom you wanted dead from accidentally killing your son?”

“It’s you! You’re still alive!” he yelled in rage as he tried to stand up but when he felt the cold muzzle on his forehead he slumps back powerlessly.

And then the police armed in heavy firearms entered and pointed at Michael.

“Drop your weapons and come with us peacefully. You are already surrounded!” yelled what looks like to be the leader.

“Yo-you won’t be able to get away this time. I will torture you to death once your in jail” the fat man shouted hysterically when he saw the police coming to he’s rescue. When the surrounding police heard him, they cringed in disgust but they knew that he can really do it without them having the ability to stop him.

“There’s no “you”. It’s only “us” this time” Michael said in a deep flat tone as a cold glint flash across his eyes and then he calmly pulled the trigger at the same time as the police shot him.

“No!!” shouted the fat man before he died.

Michael slump to the ground, his body riddled with bullet holes. Instead of grimacing from pain, he had a peaceful smile on his face like he was finally liberated from pain.

‘Amanda, I’m coming Honey’ was his last thought as darkness consumed him.

This incident was like a huge bomb that was suddenly dropped without warning on the heads of every single influential person around the world. Not because of a Senator getting killed, it was because the identity of the person that caused this mess.

When their men found out the identity of the other person, all of them screamed in shock as they only had one thought that came into their minds was “Shadow!” the most fearsome assassin whom they thought already died. But that is not what scared them the most, it was his life before he became an assassin, he was just an ordinary guy!

All of them stood rigidly in fear when they read that part of the report and where they immediately ordered all their men for a clean up on hostile families with one of the most ruthless orders they had issued “no survivor, no mercy!”

Even exiled members of a hostile family wasn’t spared. It was like the world turned to War World III with shootouts happening between big families causing unrest to the populace, all because of the influential people with their selfishness, greed and most of all, the fear of a vengeful person as they finally realized how scary they can be as they would lay in wait for years just for the right time to come and all for just Vengeance!

While these huge families fights each other almost everyday, charity foundation from all around the world, big or small are all celebrating as they received anonymous donations worth of millions of USD. They are so happy that they even shed tears of joy as they can use the money to help those people in need. Of course there are also people who coveted it but when they remembered the letter that came with it, all of them shuddered with an unknown fear.

“I’m watching”

Michael had tears flowing from his eyes as he dazely looked at the ceiling above, as those pain scenes appeared in front of his eyes one by one.

Due to his past and future memories suddenly rushing back to his head, it caused an intense headache which…he probably didn’t even feel it at all.

He wiped his eyes using both of his hands before murmuring” This time..” he stopped as he stood up from his bed and slowly walked towards the window as he stared into the distance before continuing “time has flowed backwards and the wheels of fate have changed. This time, I will control my own destiny, because I…Am…Back!” Michael said with a heavy emotion as a cold glint flashed across his eyes.