He stood waiting for someone, listening to his MP3 player. He was fourteen years old, average height and very athletic. He had dark coloured hair that was almost black, with small, thin red stripes and was always spiked back. He wore a black T-shirt with dark blue jeans, as well as two wrist bands, one of which was white with a thick, black stripe around the edge and a thin grey stripe beside it, while the other was all black with white skull and crossbones on it. He was also wearing white Ben Sherman trainers. He was sometimes a little dark, rarely speaking and keeping to himself a lot. He preferred to be called Shadow, and few people called him by his real name. He looked down the street, seeing the crowds of people walking to and fro, doing their shopping. He noticed one girl in particular, pacing back and forth in front of him. She looked like she had Asian features and long black hair, wearing a dark blue hoodie and blue jeans. She looked particularly worried about something, her eyes wide with fear of something. Shadow sighed a little, knowing he couldn't just stand by and do nothing, turned off his MP3 player and walked over to her.

She looked up at him, at least the same age and height. "You look like something's troubling you. Maybe I can help," Shadow said as the girl stopped pacing. With a trace of worry, she said "My boyfriend is after one of my friends. I want to warn him, but my boyfriend might kill me if I do. Could you help me warn him?" Shadow said calmly "Ok, where does your friend live?" The girl pointed down the street, making her way in that direction. Shadow followed as they ran through the crowds, ignoring people shouting at them as they pushed their way through. As they ran, Shadow asked "So, what's your name anyway?" The girl answered "My name is Serena, and you would be?" "Just call me Shadow," he replied.

After a while, Serena froze dead, almost making Shadow run into her. He was about to ask why they'd stopped, when Serena pointed to someone in front of them. He had a shaved head, and also appeared to be Asian. He wore a T-shirt with a skull and crossbones on the front, along with black jeans. What made things worse for Shadow was that the guy had a tattoo of a scorpion, pincers open with the tail curled aggressively. It was the symbol of the Snakeheads, and Shadow knew all too well what they were capable of. He grabbed Serena's arm, but the guy had seen them, already coming towards them. Shadow stepped in front of Serena, the boy laughing. He said something in Chinese, and though Shadow didn't know any of the language, he guessed what he meant and said calmly and deathly "Wanna bet?" and struck out with a powerful kick to the neck, knocking the boy to the ground. He grabbed Serena's arm, pulling her through the crowds as her boyfriend, the guy Shadow had knocked to the ground, shouted to his friends, ordering them to get Shadow.

Shadow had heard the shout, and could see the guys chasing them. Serena was in front of him, pushing past anyone who was in their way. There were constant shouts, but Shadow and Serena kept running. Serena looked to a shopping centre entrance, grabbing Shadow's arm and leading him to the entrance. The two of them hid behind a wall, watching as the guys chasing them ran right past them. Serena pulled out her mobile, telling Shadow that she was going to warn her friend. She spoke in frantic Chinese, hoping to warn her friend quickly. Shadow watched as she put her phone away, walking slowly towards the door. He stepped out, hoping the guys after them were far away from them. His eyes widened as he looked to the other side of the street, seeing Serena's boyfriend running towards them. Serena started running into the crowd, with Shadow not too far behind. As they dodged people walking around with shopping, Shadow followed Serena towards an alley. They crouched down, hoping they had escaped. Serena got up, saying she was going to see if it was safe. Shadow tried to pull her back, but one of the boys chasing them knocked him back into the alley.

Shadow got to his feet, narrowly dodging a punch from one of the boys that was chasing him. There were three of them and Serena. "What are you doing? I thought they were trying to kill you," he exclaimed as the three boys laughed. Serena said mockingly "Do you really think this happened by accident? How do you think I knew my boyfriend was a Snakehead?" and with that, took off her hoodie, revealing a dark red T-shirt and a tattoo of a scorpion, similar to her boyfriend's, on her right arm. Shadow stood there, stunned and speechless as one of the boys knocked him backwards. He tried to fight back, but one of them produced a knife, using the handle to knock him in the head. As Shadow clutched his head, Serena walked over to him, whispering "You forgot one important thing last time you and Alex stopped our plans, and it's that Scorpia never forgive, and they never forget. And now you won't live to regret it." She kicked him, knocking him onto his back. The blow knocked him unconscious, so he didn't feel a thing as the boys started kicking him.

He lay there, motionless as kicks and punches rained down on him, barely feeling a thing. Serena looked out towards the streets, starting to think about what they were doing. She knew Shadow had helped her because he possibly trusted her, and she had completely betrayed him. It had been the plan, but she was having second thoughts. She looked back, watching as her accomplices walked over to her. They were about to walk off, but there was a groan behind them. They turned around to see Shadow try to get up, covered in blood and looking close to death, but there was something about him that was different. It was in his eyes, a fire that burned within him. He started getting to his feet, all the while, growing stronger. When he was fully upright, he looked up, and he looked as if to become engulfed in flames. The four of them froze, shaking as he came closer to them. One of the boys tried to attack, but once he stepped too close, Shadow unleashed a jet of flames, knocking the attacker off his feet. Serena tried to attack, but Shadow grabbed her arm as she tried to punch him. She tried to hit him with her other arm, but he grabbed it just as easily. She looked to the three accomplices, who had started to run away. She looked back to Shadow, whose eyes looked like they were on fire. She tried to break free, but couldn't escape from his vice like grip. Her eyes widened in fear, almost trying to beg for mercy. It seemed to work, for Shadow started to calm down as he became aware of what he was doing.

He let go, running into the streets. Serena watched as he narrowly avoided getting knocked down by a car. Her eyes started to water, making her think it was just because of the slight burn marks on her arms, but she couldn't avoid the fact that she had caused all this. She had gained Shadow's trust and had betrayed him. It was something she had been trained to do, but it had only been on adult targets, making them believe she was an innocent street child. It had never been anyone her age, and, in some strange way, she had liked him. She walked out into the streets, seeing the endless rush of everyone shopping, completely unaware of what had just happened. She started to make her way home, worried about what her "parents" would say when they found out she had failed her mission.