AUTHOR'S NOTE: I should warn you ahead of time, this story is a bit more intense than some of my previous Impossibles stories, but it doesn't get intense until later chapters. In any case, The Impossibles, Big D, The Spinner, Televisitron, Cronella Critch, and the Infamous Mr. Instant belong to Hanna-Barbera. Anyone else you encounter is my own creation. Big D's real name is also my own creation, because the original cartoon never gave mention of it.
It was a late night at the wharf. A group of crooks were sitting around a table in an old shack, dividing up the loot from their latest heist. The ringleader of the group was a mysterious man dressed completely in black. Nobody could see his face. He was known only as The Shadow, and nobody knew his identity.
"Pretty good haul, eh, boss?" one of the Shadow's henchmen asked.
"Yes, it was," the Shadow said. "But it's only a trifle, compared to what's coming up."
"What's coming up?" another henchman asked.
"I'm intending on taking over the world," the Shadow said. "But we first need to take out the Secret Security Headquarters, first. And to do so, we must eliminate their chief."
"How do we do that?" the first henchman asked. "You know that chief of the SSHQ ain't easy to get to."
"We'll have to plan this carefully," the Shadow said. "But we'll do it. Once the chief falls, the rest of the agency will crumble!"
The Shadow began to laugh maniacally, until a gunshot rang out, and a bullet was shot right into the window. The door suddenly flew open, and there stood a man with brown hair, possibly in his mid-thirties. He held up a gun and aimed it at the group.
"Freeze!" he shouted. "You're all under arrest!"
"Aw crud," one of the Shadow's henchmen groaned.
"Agent Dawson," the Shadow said, standing up. "Why must you and the SSHQ always show up at the worst possible times?"
"It's part of my job," Agent Dawson said, as other agents from the Secret Security Headquarters came into the old shack. "Now, Shadow, are you going to come along quietly, or am I going to have to get rough?"
"You'll never catch me, Dawson!" the Shadow shouted. "Get 'em, boys!"
The Shadow's henchmen charged the SSHQ agents with knives, pistols, and tommy guns. Some of the agents began firing their own guns. Agent Dawson used another tactic. He was a black belt in karate. He began taking the Shadow's henchmen out with his karate moves, and threw in some jujitsu in as well, giving the Shadow's henchmen a thourough clock cleaning. He was about to do the same to the Shadow, but he had disappeared through a trap door some time before.
"You may have won this round, Dawson!" he shouted from a motorboat underneath the shack, and he was already speeding away. "But you haven't bested me yet!"
"Enjoy freedom while you can, Shadow!" Agent Dawson shouted. "Mark my words, I'll get you!"
The Shadow disappeared into the night. Agent Dawson just let him go for the moment. As the SSHQ agents were rounding up the Shadow's henchmen, the chief of the agency, known only as C, came onto the scene.
"Exceptional work, Agent Dawson," he said. "No wonder you're the SSHQ's top agent!"
"Thank you, sir," Agent Dawson replied, saluting his superior. "I'm just sorry the Shadow got away again."
"Don't worry about the Shadow, Davis," C said, using Agent Dawson's first name. "One day, he'll slip up, and we'll be ready for him."
Two years passed. C had called an assembly of the Secret Security Headquarters to make a very important announcement.
"Men," he said (at the time, the SSHQ agents were all men, and the only woman there was Hazel, who was C's secretary).
"As you know, I am planning on retiring as the chief of the Secret Security Headquarters in two years," C said. "And I will have to name my successor. I have decided to name Agent Davis Philip Dawson as my successor."
Several agents began applauding and cheering as Agent Dawson stood up. He was very well-liked at the agency. Everyone knew he'd become chief one day. As the agents were all applauding, a gunshot was heard from the auditorium door, and C suddenly collapsed. A lot of the rookie agents began panicking. Agent Dawson remained calm, and looked toward the doors. A shadowy figure was running from the scene. It was none other than The Shadow, and Agent Dawson knew it.
"Stop that Shadow!" he ordered. Another agent, Tim Reilly, pushed a button on the wall immediately, which caused an alarm to sound, and the entire facility to lock all doors and windows.
"Drat it!" the Shadow shouted, as he skidded to a halt in front of the titanium steel alloy that blocked the door.
"We've got you now, Shadow," Agent Dawson said, and the Shadow was immediately taken to the facility's holding cells. Once the Shadow was taken care of, Agent Dawson ran back to the auditorium, but it was secured off by the SSHQ medical team.
"What's the status on the chief, Tim?" he asked.
"Not so good, Dave," Agent Reilly said. "Dr. Cranston's looking at the damage now. No one except the medical team is allowed in."
Agent Dawson nodded, and he and Agent Reilly decided to wait it out. It was about all they could do. About an hour later, Dr. Cranston approached the two agents, with a grim look on his face.
"By the look on your face, doc, is it safe to say it's bad?" Agent Reilly asked.
"I'm afraid so," Dr. Cranston said. "Looks like you'll be taking over the agency sooner than you anticipated, Dawson."
Agent Dawson just nodded, knowing that being an agent for a super secret organization meant being ready for anything, and he certainly was. Agent Reilly had to admit C made the right choice. He knew Agent Dawson was a rock when it came to potential crises.
Within the following week, Agent Dawson was inducted as chief of the agency (now going by Big D), and the Shadow was being tried on murder charges (among other things). He was convicted, and sentenced to life in prison, without the possibility of parole.
"You haven't won, yet, Dawson," the Shadow said as he was being escorted out of the court room. "You're making the biggest mistake of your life by locking me up!"
"I'm afraid you're the one who's made the mistake, Shadow," Big D said. "I don't know how in the world you thought you could get away with sneaking into the agency like you did."
The Shadow said nothing, and allowed himself to be locked up, with the key thrown away.
Another three years had gone by. The Shadow was still in jail, but he had a plan on getting out. Late one night, a guard was making his rounds when he passed the Shadow's cell. It appeared to be empty.
"Okay, Shadow, come on out so I can see ya," the guard said. There was no answer. The guard then took his keyring off his belt and looked closely into the cell. It didn't look like anyone was inside.
"You ain't foolin' me one minute, Shadow!" the guard shouted. "I know you're in there! Don't think you can make me think you got outta there! I know you're hiding in the shadows in the cell!"
There was still no answer. The guard didn't even hear the Shadow breathing. Finally, he decided to open the cell door, and investigate. He didn't see anyone, or anything.
"He's gotta be in here somewhere," he said, as he turned around to leave the cell. "I just don't see how in the world he could've . . . . "
Suddenly, the guard was grabbed from behind, and a chloroformed soaked rag was pressed over his nose and mouth. He was unconscious in a matter of seconds. Then, he was dragged into the shadows of the cell. The Shadow snickered, bound and gagged the guard, and then simply walked out of the cell. He knew the rest of the guards would find out about his escape in the morning, but he would be long gone by then.
"I'd better lay low for awhile," he said. "It will give me more time to plan an adequate revenge against Dawson."
The Shadow ran to the wharf then, and hopped into a rowboat. Then, he cast off, planning on rowing as far away as he possibly could.
"I'll get you, Dawson," he said as he rowed. "You'll get what's coming to you. You won't know how, and you won't know when. But it's coming."