1 Week Earlier
Helsan had been getting suspicious as of late as to where he was going all those times he got crime alerts, the Shadowlord would usually tell him that there wasn't enough time to explain but that didn't do anymore. He wanted answers and the Shadowlord was running out of ideas, that's when he met the Spy, he was crafty, cunning, fully devoted to his role, bewitchingly charismatic and charming. The Shadowlord left Helsan at the diner without answering the question he had been repeating for days and returned home, all that afternoon he tried to think of viable alibis for where he was and why he was there but in the end he came out with nothing. The doorbell rang and a voice yelled through the door something about the chance of a lifetime, he got irritated because he knew it would be some salesperson trying to get him to buy something.
He opened the door ready to tell him to bug off when he began to speak so fast the Shadowlord didn't even have time to talk, "Hey, how would you like to go on a cruise out in space? You don't have to answer, take your time, do you mind?"He said stepping in, "What a lovely house you've got here, I recognize some models that you've bought from our exclusive firm but tell me do you really like it here 24/7? Of course not, so what you need is a vacation but not just any vacation, a trip to the beautiful paradise that is Jascus Prime, the rolling hills, the ocean breeze, feel the wind in your hair, do you feel that? I haven't even gotten to the best part yet, you've won this completely free of charge, no contract, no fine print, no problems, we don't even need your signature just grab this ticket I've got here and you'll be on your way!"
The Shadowlord began to make sense of it all as the Spy stopped his auctioneer fast rambling, he started to like the sound of it, there was just one thing in the way, if he left and there was a crime Shadowlord wouldn't be there to stop it. "No thank you, it sounds very nice but I've got far too much work to do as it is, no time for vacations" the Spy's face seemed to twitch momentarily with desperation then regained it's former welcoming smile. "That's alright, it's just a shame really, I'm your biggest fan and you seem like you needed a break but I'll just tell the bots that Shadowlord won't actually be leaving-" "how do you know who I am?!" the Shadowlord interrupted angrily.
A sly grim played across the Spy's face as he explained, "I'm not really part of any sales firm but I am a great actor, it's a talent that I've always had, one of my two best talents, the other is my powers of observation, you see I noticed your radio had been retrofitted to hear police lines. You have a candlestick right here that has collected less dust than the others, I can guess that's because it's not a candlestick at all but a lever which opens this wall that has a faint breeze wafting from its general direction. It must have your famous suit of armor hidden behind it, I'd been hearing rumors around town of you, a vigilante that is never sensed by even the most secure protective measures, I still haven't figured out that puzzle. Yet that no longer matters because I have only the single most incriminating piece of information I could find about you and thus a hefty bit of leverage over you, wouldn't you say?"
The Shadowlord stumbled back into his chair, after all the work to keep his identity a secret and one stranger with the gift of observation walks in and unmasks everything. "Why are you doing this to me?" He asked quietly after calming a bit, "It's really nothing personal, I just need your home to lie low in for a while then I'll be out of your hair and your secret will be safe with me," the Shadowlord thought about this then retorted "wait, if you're hiding from the authorities then how do you have any leverage? Only they would try to unmask me for what I've done" "yes, but I'm just crazy enough to turn myself in if it means getting you arrested right along with me, now quit trying to get out of this because you're not gonna." the Spy seemed sure of it, the Shadowlord looked the other man up and down, he had black hair, a long slim face, and long hair that reached just down to the top of his neck, and he had it tucked behind his ear.
He wore an expensive looking suit and had a briefcase with what appeared to be little black spheres sticking out the side, the Shadowlord said "Why is someone dressed so nicely running from the police, you don't seem like the type of person to steal, or kill, or even dress wrong for a party so why the trickery?" the Spy looked him up and down to see if he really wanted to know or if he was just stalling for time, he concluded that he genuinely cared, it caught him by surprise but it was refreshing to find someone with no alterior motives. "It all began when I got fired as an actor, before the shoot began for my first big movie a new director stepped in and began to change the whole thing, it crushed me but I left in peace, the next morning the papers all read 'Local actor fired, goes on murderous rampage' apparently three fellow actors had been murdered that last night, I knew then that I had to get out of that city. The only problem was the bots, they had swarmed the whole area overnight, I had enough trouble getting out the front door let alone the entire city, so I found my stash of stage props and devised my first costume. It was crude but it worked well enough to get me out of there, now I'm on the run and I need somewhere to wait for the frenzy to die down."
The Shadowlord saw that he was telling the truth, though why someone would frame him was beyond him, so he let him stay with him the next few days and then he was on his way. He didn't see him for some time after that, the only thing that this coincidental meeting left any trace of was the ticket that actually would have taken him to Jascus Prime. Part of him wished that he'd gone but he later decided that it was worth the time to stay, after all you don't meet a friend like that but once in a lifetime.