1 Week Earlier
The Shadowlord was on his way home when he saw the Merc dressed in his intimidating armor, he was on the other side of the street running like he was being chased by somebody or something. He had a panicked look in his eye and kept stumbling blindly into people and objects, the Shadowlord was tired, he'd just rounded up an entire gang of criminals but he could hardly resist helping the fleeing man. With a sigh he dropped what he was doing and ducked into an alley, within seconds he had his suit on, the Merc hadn't gone far but he could now see the thing that was chasing him vaguely. It was barely visible and people didn't seemed to notice it at all but it was definitely there, why weren't they seeng this? That's when he realized that his suit had 5th dimensional vision, it wasn't always the most useful feature but it helpd him to avoid areas that he couldn't transport into, the figure had nearly caught up to him.
The Shadowlord jumped off the rooftops and hit the ground running, the Merc saw this and got even more frantic,"Great, now the Shadowlord is after me, it's like I'm public enemy number one over here, come on where are the bots and gunshots and sirens?" He thought. Sirens began blaring loudly in the distance, "I didn't mean it!" He yelled aloud, the Shadowlord tackled what looked like air behind him, unfortunately he knew that it wasn't air. He didn't know what it was but it had just jumped out of his last "client" and had been chasing him ever since, the Shadowlord was now out of sight the Merc began to hope that this whole nightmare was over.
Just as he began to slow down a barrel exploded behind him, the superhero was on top of it and it was throwing him around like a ragdoll, the Merc began to sprint with renewed vigor and this time he didn't look back. A little while later the adrenaline wore out and he stopped at a street corner to catch his breath, he was breathing hard and hunched over when the bots arrived, they said "Stop citizen, you're under arrest!" The Merc groaned with exasperation and pulled out his Slicers. The were a fusion of whip and daggers, they cut thought the bots' metal frames like butter then automatically returned to his wrists, he couln't help but grin even in a sitution like this.
More bots began to pour into the street and he continued he chase, he needed to get off the street, the only problem was finding a way out, the answer came bursting out of the shop nearby. The thing that had been chasing him must have been enormous so he reasoned that it must be tall enough to get him onto the roofops, the Shadowlord was nowhere to be seen. The Merc jumped blindly toward the hole in the wall of the shop, amazingly he landed on a rough surface and every step he took from then on was uphill, confidently he climbed toward the rooftops and jumped about six feet from the edge. He caught it with his upper body but the rest of him was hanging precariously from the ledge, he pulled himself up but when he stood he became unbalanced, that's when the Shadowlord reappeared. The Merc fell back for a second, he knew he would die if he hit the ground from this height, suddenly the feeling of freefall ended followed by a sharp pain in his arm and he looked up to see the Shadowlord holding his wrist.
He pulled him up and began to to help him to stand when the bots returned, he threw some sort of gas at the machines and sprnted away, the Merc followed after wondering why he would help someone like him. The Shadowlord stopped at the edge of the roof they were on and was staring at something intently when the Merc caught up, "The thing that's chasing you, it's down there, don't move" the Merc slid down to the ground immediately and tried to see it in vain. The Shadowlord watched for a few more moments then motioned him forward, the Merc jumped across the gap between the buildings, he followed him and they did this for a little while longer until they were certain that they were clear. Once they were inconspicuous again the Shadowlord asked "why was that thing following you and why were the bots involved?" The Merc replied "I don't know what that was or why the bots are after me, I didn't do anything" he couldn't see the Shadowlord's face through the helmet but he seemed to be smiling as if that were a joke. "Sure, you didn't do anything, that's why you're wearing armor and you've got blood literally on your hands" the Merc turned around and quickly scrubed his hands clean then turned back, "listen, you saved me so I owe you just don't turn me in, I'm on the verge of unmasking what's really going on in this city."
The Shadowlord seemed to consider this momentarily then responded by knocking him out, the Merc didn't see it but he shook his hand and held back tears afterward, "Memo to me, don't punch battle armor" he thought. He tied him up quickly then called the bots, they arrived as a brilliant flash of light disappeared behind the vent that had the criminal on it, the Merc was in jail for the rest of that day and the next but they couldn't find anything to incriminate him so they released him. He scowled at the empty rooftops as he exited the building, "that Shadowlord best keep to himself, no one betrays me and gets away with it, I'm coming after him and when I find him he'll wish that he never left his precious shadows."