Chapter 1
Zionne was running down an alley, HYDRA agents hot on his tail, his shadow falling in front of him.
He was well aware that the alley was a dead end, but he continued running, until he reached the end, at which he ran straight through the wall, vanishing.
Zionne was now in a world of blackness, a black void, that cared for none; none but him.
The scrapes and cuts along his body were covered with black, dull white light seeping through, and fading in the void.
Zionne felt power surge through his body, his energy sources replenishing.
The void receded, leaving him in a grey version of the world he had been in.
Zionne watched as the 6 HYDRA agents searched the area for him, in another alley, unaware of his extra-dimensionality.
Zionne walked up to one agent, and slowly wrapped his fingers around their wrist, his –now icy cold— fingers burning the skin, and at the same time, shoved his other hand into their mouth, gripping the tongue –which burned under his touch—and tore it out.
Zionne leapt at the wall beside him, where the sun's light fell directly, his shadow appearing on it, and he slowly stepped out.
Zionne pulled a knife from his pocket, and stabbed it into the skull of the tongueless agent, before throwing it at the ground near another agent, striking the ground where his shadow's head was, and instantly, he collapsed. Dead.
Zionne rushed at the 3rd, pulling another knife from his pocket. He threw the knife from the opposite side to the hand holding it, watching it embed itself in the agent's arm before slamming his foot into it, pushing it in further.
Zionne tore out the knife, and slammed it into the agent's neck with such force, that the tip of the blade broke from the impact with the spine, and remained there as he pulled it out.
Zionne whipped his body around, the knife acting as a saw as he released it, flying towards the 4th agent, embedding itself in their chest, the hand they had used to try and block it was missing 3 fingers, which were lying on the ground, right underneath the body that they had once belonged to as it fell on top of them, forcing the knife even deeper.
Zionne grabbed the lid off a nearby bin, and threw it like a Frisbee, right at the head of the 5th agent, who crumpled, just as a loud gunshot echoed through the alley, and unimaginable pain burst through Zionne's shoulder.
Zionne's whole body was screaming with pain, and he ran for the wall where the sunlight fell, numerous bullets being fired, bursts of pain exploding across his body, and just when he made it to the wall, a red and gold robot-like figure appeared.
Zionne whipped out another knife from his seemingly endless supply in his pocket, and held in his right hand, which, surprisingly, had sustained no damage whatsoever.
The famous Captain America appeared with the Black Widow.
Zionne was surprised that the agent had stopped shooting, and took the moment to sprint down the alley, knowing that he couldn't reveal his abilities to the avengers. Not yet.
Zionne heard various sounds at once, but did not stop. He only stopped once Iron Man appeared right in front of him.
"Are you here to arrest me?" Zionne demanded "You should already know I killed them"
"It was self-defence though, wasn't it?" was the answer.
"Does it matter!?" Zionne snapped "I killed them, that's all there is to it"
"You're injured, badly. You need immediate medical help" Ironman said, as if Zionne hadn't said anything.
"Just throw me at a goddamned wall!" Zionne shouted.
"Alright, if you say so" Came the reply from the infamous Black Widow, who effortlessly picked him up, and throw him towards the nearest wall; through which Zionne vanished.
The three avengers stared blankly at the wall, as if expecting him to pop back out.
Meanwhile; Zionne sat in the shadow realm, the void tending to his wounds.
The 7 bullets that had been shot into him were slowly popping out from his body, the wounds healing. After the bullets had all been purged from his body, the darkness around Zionne faded, leaving him in the grey world, in which he raised both his arms, balls formed from shadows at his fingertips, alerting the avengers to his presence.
"Shadowflame" Zionne uttered, as flames danced over the shadows, merging with them to create shadowy flames, which stretched out in tendrils, shooting around the avengers, creating a ring of black fire around them.
Zionne leapt back at the wall, instantly rebounding, the world becoming coloured.
"We want to help you" Iron man said, ignoring the flames around them that could easily kill him.
"Why would you want to help me?" Zionne asked.
"Because we're the avengers, we help people" Captain America answered.
"Sure. How do I know you won't kill me the moment I remove these flames?"
"Because we would've done that already?"
"Are you really that stupid?" Zionne asked "you cannot get past shadowflame"
Just to try and prove him wrong, Black Widow pulled out a gun, and shot a bullet at the wall, at which the flames leapt up and destroyed the bullet upon contact.
"See?" Zionne asked "Fine, I'll believe you"
As he spoke, the flames faded away.
"How did you heal yourself?" Iron man asked.
"I didn't" Zionne said "The shadow realm did"
"The shadow realm?" Captain America asked "come back to the tower with us, we'll protect you"
"Fine" Zionne walked over to them, and they all went back to the tower.
At the tower, Zionne was immediately given a room, and the avengers went to discuss the 14 year-old's living situation.
Unaware of the conversations happening, Zionne focused on new ways he could utilise his shadow abilities. He shaped shadow into a claw, and slashed the air in front of him, the claw dissipating as Tony Stark walked in.
"Alright, kid. We're sending you to Midtown middle school" Tony said, handing Zionne a Stark phone with the school's webpage up "Keep the phone"
"Right, so… why can't I just become an avenger?" Zionne asked.
"1. You're 13. 2. HYDRA seems to be after you, we can't have you on the front lines" Tony said.
"Of course they're after me" Zionne sighed "Project Shadow; Model T, I was the first to survive"
"Is that how you got your powers?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, I escaped thanks to a fault in their systems locking me in, I used my powers to escape, and get here" Zionne sighed.