AN: This is my very first Fan Fic, let me know how I did
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the story
A Hero's Shadow
Chapter one: The Gauntlet
A large man in tattered dirty clothing is seen in the distance. He sports a tan battle worn cloak over his back and right arm, and is slowly making his way across a desolate wasteland. The earth beneath his feet appears as though it's dreadfully screaming to for a drop of fresh water it has never tasted. The vast land around him has long been uninhabitable by even the most tenacious of vegetation and beasts.
As the radiant sun high above reflects off the blond, almost golden, unruly locks atop the man's head he stops.
After days and nights of travel he has finally reached his destination. He has reached one of the three corner stones of the land he used to be certain of was, a nirvana, a paradise called Ooo.
He strips the cloak of his arm and reveals it to be a massive mechanical arm attached to the powerful tendons and muscles of his shoulder blade. The mechanics of his arm move like clockwork. Two large gears motion and grind like wheels off of a locomotive where his shoulder used to be. Reinforced belts and large bolts attach his used to be bicep and adjoining fore arm, made from countless other smaller gears and bars.
"Why do you cover that damn contraption anyways?" asks a disembodied husky low voice from an unknown source.
"Oh, you're awake?" asks the man in a chillingly deep nonchalant voice.
He receives no response and he knows it's because he has yet again asked a question which the presence deems unintelligent. He chuckles at his thought and moves on.
"It's because the iron over heats in the sun and stings like all hell." He explains opening his fist and revealing the ironclad gem rooted into his mechanical hand.
"You're still the same weenie I met twenty-two years ago, you know that?"
"And you're still the same secretly distressed girl with too much time on her hands." He shot back with a small smirk.
He ends the conversation by looking at the ground, and kicking some dirt around to uncover an ornate carving on the ground below. It's the same shape as the gem in his palm, a deltoid shape with the corners shaved off.
The man neals on one knee, and stretches his hand towards the hieroglyphics engraved in the ground; as he inches closer and closer to the mark, the purple gem in his hand begins to glow blindingly bright until he finally touches the engraving, and the light dims as the ground begins to tremor.
He lifted himself up as he watches a majestic architectural masterpiece erect out of the earth. It looked like an ancient citadel of some sort.
"What is that?" he asked intrigued by the colossal structure now visible to him.
"It's a pyramid… probably the final one in existence."
"What's its purpose?"
"Not even I know that Finn" she paused. "It was built long before even I came into existence."
"Well whatever the purpose may be, the artifact we're looking for is in there." He said with determination in his voice. "And we're going to retrieve it."
"Be careful, there doesn't seem to be much light in there" she proclaimed with worry in her voice. "And you know if it gets pitch black in there I won't be able to help you."
"I think I can handle myself, no need to worry." He said with a smirk.
The entrance to the pyramid was almost directly in front of him now, and she was right, there was almost no light. Only fifty feet into the dungeon and it was absolute darkness, but this was no longer a problem for Finn.
His eyes began to glow a faint red pigment, just enough to make his own night vision, but not enough to make even the slightest shadow.
"This passageway seems to stretch out forever." He said as all he saw was a hallway going deep into the dungeon.
"It's still a good week before you have to feed again so we can stay here as long as it takes."
"I'm not a blood sucking vampire, I don't feed, I eat."
"Whatever, let's just hurry and get the gauntlet." she said as she had the last word.
The path was simple for a few hundred yards, the only way to go was forward, but soon he reached a four way in the road, and stopped to ponder.
*Finn*
There are four symbols on the ground… a leopard, a bird, a dog with a pointed snout, and an odd looking eye...
"...You always seemed to point me in the right direction brother." He proclaimed to himself.
He chose the path of the dog and went forward.
Finn took one step down the path, and almost immediately noticed his right foot descend lower into the floor than before.
Half a second and two mechanical clicks later a harpoon like object was fired in his direction at high speed, but Finn promptly caught and crushed the harpoon with his automated arm moments before it impaled his chest. The harpoon spontaneously splintered under the massive force created by his arm and what was left of it hit the floor beneath him.
"Nice catch Finn." Finn's companion echoed with slight approval.
"I couldn't have done it without you hun."
"True, so you should probably choose another pathway before you get us both killed."
"Nope." He replied with a swift short remark.
She knew why he would not choose another path. The four way fork in the road was some sort of riddle, but he was never much for riddles or much of anything that required him to waste time thinking. It was one of those things she disliked about the boy, but one of the things that made her fall in love with the man. He simply took this road because it reminded him of his brother, and he wasn't about to turn his back to anything that made him feel closer to his brother….. His savior.
Finn skillfully maneuvered his way past three more guillotine traps and an arrow shooting wall with great agility coupled with precise timing. Finn reached the key chamber without a scratch.
This area was plagued with corpses long forgotten. Finns sense of smell was acute, and the smell in the room was atrocious! At the center of the ghastly room was a much smaller pyramid without a peek, and steps that lead to a silver gauntlet.
"There it is!" Finn said rapidly, as he ran up the steps to salvage it.
"Be care-" she exclaimed, but counsel was too late...