Ghost Arrow

[ShadowHands]

Ghost Arrow Begins :chuckle:

Johnathan sat expressionless as he watched the other kids run about the yard. No child payed mind to him and Johnathan preferred it that way. He avoided interaction with the other kids at all costs. He brushed his shaggy red hair out of his face as the wind blew. He was in his own world, trapped amognst his thoughts.......
He watched as all the children ran back in side then slowly walked his way there too. He went to class and did his work as expected then went on to prepare for bed. The next day came without a dreams interruption. Normal as all the rest, an occasional couple would pass through to take a look at the kids, but like all the rest, they had to think about it and would probably never return....at least not for Johnathan.

He sat on a swing pushing himself about for a few minutes and then something caught his eye outside of the orphanage gates. It wasnt an icecream truck or anything of the sort. It was a mother and father walking out of the orphanage with another child. It was just a toddler like most the adopters brought back. Johnathan felt enraged as he saw them imediately excepting the child into their lifes. He walked to the fence and looked out at the street.......

In class the teacher had allready begun role call. "Henry Edgar?"
"Here"
"Roger Fillaps?"
"Here"
"Johnathan Gregory?"............. there came no answer. "Ehem, Johnathan Gregory?!" still there was no answer. "Has anyone seen Johnathan?" a few kids shrugged or said no. Her eyes darted around the class a few times, then she began to walk to the phone.

Johnathan felt amazing, he had done something horable and he knew it, but he felt awesome! He ran past people almost knocking them out of his way! His legs felt numb from running so far, so he stopped and walked on with no general direction on where he was going. He finally stopped at a store window. In the window there were rows and rows of comic books and toys. He was almost hesitant to go in, but he remembered he was now free! Inside he picked up the comic nearest to him. It was titled "Frankenstein!" with a drawing of a green skinned man with a square head. He placed it back on the shelf and picked up another. This comic had an amazing picture of a man wearing a red and blue suit perched atop a building. It was entitled "Spiderman". The pages were filled with colorful drawings of the hero fighting off villains. Johnathan had never seen something so brilliant!

Outside a police car rolled up and out walked a policeman staring inside at Johnathan taking out his radio. Johnathan began to go and hide, but he knew it was too late. His freedom had been snatched from under his nose! The policeman seemed nice enough, assuring Johnathan that he wasnt in too deep of trouble. John didnt believe he was either. He would just be deprived of recess for a couple weeks, but it he preferred to be inside alone then outside with the kids.


(to be continued.....it will eventually speed up.... ;) )

[ShadowHands]

Years went by in the orphanage without the slightest excitment. Johnathan lost hope of ever being adopted long ago. He had now grown out of his adolesence and into a teenager. He was 13 years old.....

He sat on his bed pulling on his socks to get ready for the day ahead of him. What he didnt know was that a married couple happened to stroll into the orphanage, they began to talk with a lady holding a clipboard and papers in her hands.

"Well, what kind of child did you have in mind?" she asked as politely as possible.
"We decided that we wanted to go with a older child." the tall gray haired man replied.
"We have several fine older children. Follow me and Ill let you see them." she montioned for the two adults to follow. She led them to a door with a window on it, inside there were several boys playing and laughing, but one red haired boy sat alone on his bed.
"Whats that ones name?" the wife asked, pointing to Johnathan.
The woman flipped through her papers, "Ah! That is Johnathan Gregory, 13 years old. He came to us as an infant. Never even saw the mother or father.Would you like to meet him?"
"Sure!" the husband smiled at his wife and scratched his mustach. They went through the doorway and went up to Johnathan.
The woman put her hand on Johnathan's shoulder and introduced him to the couple. "Hello Johnathan, this is Mr and Mrs. Rogers."
"Hey there John!" the husband put out his hand for Johnathan to shake it. He was a little hesitant, but returned the shake.

That day Johnathan met his two parents and a few hours later he came home with them. In the car ride to there house they drove past green fields and rolling hills. Atop one of the hills sat a huge mantion. And as they drove on they came closer to it, when finally they parked in the drive way.
"Cmon John, let me show you around your new home." John's new father led him around the yard of the house as his mother followed. John was in awe! He had never seen something so beautiful!

[ShadowHands]

The yard was filled with patches of flowers and well groomed greenery. John already adored his well mannered father, William. The way he looked back and smiled at John as he let him around the grounds made John feel right at home. Mary Rogers just watched them both, smiling.

William finally stopped at a old looking barn and then led John inside. The barn was actually well taken care of inside. Only a fe cobwebs here and there. William came to a table, and on the table sat a large black case. The case had a large lock on it and Will began to put in the combination. When he opened it inside was large black bow, with a quiver beside it. The bow looked amazing! John's eyes lit up. The bow had engravings on it, weird swirls and a what looked like a face, almost that of a ghouls. It was sad looking...

"Maybe one day I can teach you how to shoot this thing. When your old enough..." Will offered John.
"Really?! That would be great!" and with the reply, Will chuckled.
"Beautiful isnt it? Its been passed down from generation to generation in my family. It probably dates back to the middle-ages John!"
"Amazing! Can I hold it?" Johnathan asked.
"Sure, just be very careful."He handed John the bow, it was very heavy, John almost dropped it, but quickly recovered. John put his fingers over the engravings, wide eyed. He then handed it back to his father.

.......(to be continued)

[ShadowHands]

John quickly learned his way around the huge mansion. His bedroom was already filled with all sorts of stuff. William had even took John down to the comic shop to pick out some comics. John was quite happy at his new home. The time came for him to start school up again. His parents were sending him to a private school. On the first day he put on his uniform and got together his school supplies. Willaim dropped John off on his way to work. He was the CEO at a large company called "Armament Corp.", which specialized in designing military equiptment.

When William got to work he stared at the large building in front of him. Then out of the building came a man wearing a white lab coat and glasses.

"Will! We got a major prolem!"he yelled.
William sighed, "And whats that?"
"The...the Decimator suit is gone! It...its gone!"
"What do you mean?! It was stolen?!"
"Well...you see we dont know. Theres no sign that anyone broke in. Thats why we didnt call you."the man looked frightened.
"Markus....what else do you know?"
Markus stared at William,then spoke, "Umm...Justin Stacy was the last one to go into the security chamber last night. And we made several calls to his hom and theres no answer!"
"So you believe Justin has the suit?"
"Well..yeah Will, hes the only one that could."
William sighed again, "What do our security cameras show?"
"Nothing...they were shut off all last night."
"Lets not get frightened yet. Justin is pretty trustworthy, maybe he brought it out for testing."
"Yeah right! Not in public! If he did then that rules out the whole "trustworthy thing". Cmon Will, we need to call someone in on this. Whatever he plans to do with the suit, its not gonna be good." Markus pleaded.
"Your quite right...yes call the authorities immediately. Tell them of the exact situation!"


At that exact moment Justin Stacy stomped along in a large metal suit. He was no longer a puny nerd, he was now a god! He knew that the staff had probably already alerted the police, but that mattered not to him he was unstoppable. Justin decided he should get a feel for the suit better first so he took it out in the country and started firing blasts of energy at trees, which totally disinegrated them!

William ran to his car and sped straight home. He jumped out of the car and sprinted toward the barn. Inside the barn he stopped at a bale of hay, he pushed it aside and underneath was a trapdoor. Beneath the trapdoor there was a small space, inside the space William picked up a grey and black suit. He quickly changed. When he stood back up he was fully covered from head to toe. His mask had a ripped design, part black, part grey. Along his body was a black streak, all the way down to his boots. The suited figure emerged from the trapdoor with a fist full of different arrows. He then came to the black case and began putting in the combination. He picked up the bow inside and loaded the quiver full of arrows and ran off, out of the barn......

[ShadowHands]

The Decimator had all sorts of tubes around the body. A white crystal sat on the chest. Atop the shoulders were two large guns that were shooting white energy. On the right hand was a blaster which was smoking after throwing energy at a tree. The left hand was a menacing claw that Justin opened and closed. He was used to the suit now, so he made his way back to Paragon city for some fun...

The clothed figure ran across the plains with incredible speed! Willaim knew exactly what Justin planned to do with the Decimator. Him and Justin were quite close. He knew Justin was not a happy young man. Justin was not popular, was ignored most of the time and was probably thought of as your average nerd. It was likely that Justin planned to return the favor of what people in general had done to him all his life.

The arrows shook around in the quiver as Willaim ran. In the distance he could see train tracks and a train riding along them. With his quick thinking he immediately ran faster to catch the train. It was passing just as William came to the tracks, so he grabbed ahold of a bar and was pulled on. The train sped toward the heart of Paragon city. (a place that William avoided at all costs).

William was a retired hero, he went under the alias of Ghost Arrow, the name that was passed from generation to generation in his family along with the bow. When he heard of Justin stealing the Decimator he knew he had to put on the costume one last time to get his own situation under control. Williams skill with a bow and arrow was almost unmatched. Though he had no superhuman abilities, his mere human skill cept him alive in the warzone known as Paragon city.

The train came to a stop at a Green Line station in the Steel Canyon district. Ghost Arrow hopped off and took a look at the city. It was almost unchanged since the last time he saw it. Goon's taunted passing citizens, screams were heard in the distance, it was a place some even called home! It was far from that in Ghost Arrow's eyes, just a side job, the pay: making maybe a few more civilains feel a bit safer.

The Ghost ran to a building and went up the fire escape. On top of the building he peered out. And explosion could be seen in the distance. That was a bit much for your average crime... So he jumped from rooftop to rooftop heading in that direction. When he came to where the blast had come from he saw the Decimator. Already heroes were working together to fight it off, but obviously they were no match, because many were getting blown away and teleported to the hospital. Williams hero ID had expired awhile ago, so it was unlikely that he would be ported to safety when hurt. But he feared not, the Decimator was still in its testing stages and had many flaws, flaws that William knew about.

The suits weak spot was its back, the guns could not turn around. But William also did not want to kill Justin, but he had an idea. He reached into the quiver searching for a specific arrow. The arrow was a flash arrow, it would temporarily blind Justin which would allow William to get in range to eject him out of the suit.

Ghost Arrow brought out the arrow and unhooked his bow from a strap. He aimed carefully at the ground by the Decimators feet and shot. The arrow exploded spilling light in all directions! The Decimator stumbled about and while it was doing so, Ghost Arrow lept to the ground and ran up to the suit, he came close enough to get a good view of two latches near Justin's face. The Decimator shot blasts of energy wildly! Ghost arrow dodged a blast which shatter the asfault and advanced toward The Decimators back. He then hopped on top and struggled to stay on with the suit stumbling. He reached for one of the latched but was shook off of the suit. Justin could see again!

"Who's that?! Another hero?! Your a bit smarter then the rest! Not quick enough though!" Justin laughed. Ghost Arrow shook of the surging pain in his knee from falling and got up. He picked up his bow and pulled a fistfull of arrows out, brought them to the bow, aimed and shot at the cannon on the Decimators hand just as it was about to shoot. The arrows flew staight in and blocked the blast, which backfired, causing electricity to burst out. The whole suit started to shake and the smoke and finally collapsed. Ghost Arrow walked up to the Justin, who now had burst into tears. He unhooked both latches and Justin fell out.
"Pl....please dont hurt me!" Justin blubbered.
"I'm not gonna hurt ya pal, but I cant say the same for the boys in jail." Ghost Arrow patted Justin on the head.

Several cop's walked up to Ghost Arrow and one spoke. "That was amazing! Thank you...uh..."
"Names Ghost Arrow sir.."
"Thankyou...uh...Ghost Arrow."
"Now dont be too hard on that kid." Ghost Arrow pointed at Justin."He's just a bit angry."
"Yeah..we wont be TOO hard on him." the cop laughed and so did Ghost Arrow. "So who are you anyways? I dont remember hearing of a hero like you lately." and just like that Ghost Arrow had vanished. "Yeah...well thanks again where ever you are." He looked around the area.

((editted a bit))

[ShadowHands]

William sat on a box inside the old barn. He held his other identity in his hand, his mask. His stomach throbed with pain. He suspected it was his ulcer, but would never admit it. His bones felt brittle and his knee still hurt like hell! He was old...there was a reason he had retired. His once neately commed grey hair was now messed up and beads of sweat slid down his face. He looked down at his chest and thought "Man....I sure dont look as good as I used to..."

He went back through the trapdoor and left "Ghost Arrow" there. Possibly for good. William felt depressed, he had reached the tip of his life, the glory day's were over...He thought about his reason's for adopting Johnathan and felt guilty. The true reason why he agreed to adopt him was so that one day he could pass that name down to him. Why should he want that life for his new son? Why should a father WANT to risk his own son's life?! His father did the same for him. Was it an honor?! He knew he had to do it though, the name had to live on. John would have to be told soon enough...


School was as school should be for John, boring...but John didnt feel the same as he did back in the orphanage. He was a bit more outgoing now and made even a few friends. His mother picked him up and asked "How was your day?" and he answered like every other teenager would "Good." and his mother just laughed and drove on home. When he arrived at the mansion William called Mary into the room to talk with her and closed the door. John leaned against the door to hear what they were speaking of and only caught a few words, "retirement", "its the right time" and a question from his mother, "Is this because of the disaster today?" and William answered, "well, yes..".

What disaster?! John had no idea. As a matter of fact, he didnt know much to anything about his fathers work. So he went to the TV, turned it on and flipped through the channels. He came to the news and watched. From a helicopter view he could see what looked like a smoking robot and the reporter spoke of his fathers company! The reporter said there was no casualties, 3 civilians mildly wounded and 5 heroes that were wounded badly, but seemed to recovering at the hospital. Apparently a hero named Ghost Arrow had brought the robotic suit down. And a scientist at Armament Corp. named Justin Stacy was operating the machine.

So that was the disaster! His fathers company had created that suit! John turned off the TV as his father and mother walked into the room.

"So you found out for yourself didnt ya!" his father laughed.
"Well..yeah I had to."
"Just so you know John, I had little to do with that. Just a bad seed in the staff!" William explained. John simply nodded."Well hey John, how would you like it if I taught ya how to shoot that bow out there tomorrow?"
"That would be awesome!" John's face lit up.
"Ok then...tomorrow it is..."

[ShadowHands]

It was Saturday and William woke John up at the crack of dawn and took him out to the fields. They Bow was leaning against an old wooden fence with arrows dumped next to it. John rubbed his eyes as he followed his father.

"Well son. I was gonna wait a bit longer to show you how to shoot this, but I guess nows a good time as any. Let me show you how to hold it." William pointed at the bow and Joh picked it up. He adjusted Johns arms to the correct position and John struggled to hold it straight. "This is the proper way to hold it when you shoot. I know it feels a bit ackward now, but once you build up some strength in your arms it will be easyier."

John nodded, "Want to show me how to shoot now?"
"Yeah....pick up any of those arrows there." and John picked up one and brought it against the bow. "Now hold it the way I showed you, but with the arrow against it." and John did so. "Bring the arrow back with the string and aim for that hay bale down there, then release. Its ok if you miss."
John did what his father asked and shot. The arrow flew toward the bale and just barely stuck into its corner.

"Not bad. Why dont you try again." William smiled. He was reminded of the day his own father had taight him how to shoot....They practiced for about an hour and John was getting the hang of it pretty fast. When they gathered up the equiptment William placed his hand on John's shoulder and spoke, "Now dont be afraid to come out here on your own and practice, you just gotta be careful. I trust you."

John smiled. He loved his father alot. He took him into his family and treated him like his own flesh and blood. They walked back into their home and John went up into his room and layed on his bed, still tired. He slowly drifted off to sleep and awoke again around 10 am.

[ShadowHands]

John practiced much more then his father thought he would. He was out there every day! He was already very good with the bow. William would just stand and watch John, smiling. He could tell that John would be able to bear the weight that was waiting for him.

3 years passed...and William had yet to retire from his job like he said he would. John was now eighteen years old and had graduated from highschool. On the night of his graduation his father handed him a large rapped gift. When John opened it what he found was the case which held his fathers bow. Him and his father just smiled at eachother.

"Im too old to shoot that thing anyways. Youll make more use of it Im sure." his father explained. And later that night when Mary had went to bed, William led John into the living room and sat him down on the couch.

"John, theres something Ive been waiting years to tell you..."
"And whats that pop?" John asked.
"Well, theres alot Ive never told you about myself....That bow I gave you. Remember how I told you its been passed down from generation to generation?"
"yeah...."
"Thats not the only thing thats been passed in my family. The day I graduated from highschool my father talked to me the same way I am now."
"What are you talking about?" John asked, confused.
"Im sure you know of Paragon city son...and the heroes too..."
"Yeah?" John pushed his father to continue.
"I am a hero John...or was...and so was my father befor me! Our family has went under the hero alias of "Ghost Arrow" for hundreds of years. We vowed to protect to the innocent as long as our name lived. This might come as a shock, I know...but its your turn to take up the name Johnny."
John didnt know what to say. He had no idea all these years! He wasnt in shock, but more proud. His father wanted to pass this honor...this gift down to him.
"Your skill is already much greater then mine ever was John. Your destined for great things...Dont you have anything to say?"
"Uh...well pop, I dont what to say. Im honored that you would pass the name of your family to me!''
"You know Johnny, Im not gonna force you to do this. In fact I feel quite guilty that Im doing this. Along with that name comes alot of danger with it!"
"I understand. And dont feel guilty, Im quite confident in my skill."
"well the real world is alot different then target practice. Your skill will grow on the field and you will learn to adapt to unique situations."William explained, his eyes were glazed over with tears.

"I cannot thank you enough for everything youve given me pop! You gave me a life! I had nothing, now, now I have everything! Youve given me your name, your honor!" a tear rolled down John's face as he spoke.

"Johnny. Ill get you and apartment down in the city if thats what you truly want." William had carried the tradition on and passed the torch to John. John would be from then on, only known as Ghost Arrow. John was gone and he would never be the same again...

[ShadowHands]

William led John out to the old barn after their little talk. When they arrived inside he brought John to the hay bale and oushed it aside to reveal the trapdoor. John lifted it open and crawled inside. He found himself dark, cramped up room. His hands felt around until he found a lantern and he turned it on.
The room was filled with many things, medal's, newspaper clippings, boxes of arrows and the grey/black suit lay sprawled on the floor. John picked it up and felt the material. It was rough, almost leather-like. William looked at his son from outside, "Thats it! That suit has saved my life on many occasions John. It can take the force of a bullet and only leave you with a small bruise!"

"Some of those papers date back to the 60's. Those medals were awarded to me by Statesman himself, for various reasons. They are all yours John! Im not Ghost Arrow anymore. You are..."
"This is amazing! Some of things you've done! This paper here says you single-handedly stopped the destruction of one of the tallest buildings in Paragon!"
"Yeah it came at a price, I left that place with a bunch of broken bones. You see we arent like the rest of them heroes. Our "power" is our skill. You just gotta be careful out there. Things will get hairy an you have to be able to keep everything under control!"