A month has past since Shade had become wanted by the police, and now not only does he have to think a few steps ahead of the criminal element but also those that he was considered allies on his war on crime, he had to remain in the shadows of the city, no longer able to lower his guard when in the presence of law enforcement, he could no longer trust even those that he had feelings for. No matter how many times he had stopped criminals, no matter how mature, or adult he had acted in the past, deep down he was still a child and over time even he found him self longing for even a kind word.

The rainy season had come again, and Shade stood looking over the city from the roof tops, he had forgotten how lonely it could get when fighting in the shadows, but then again not much happened on nights like this, not to many people wanted to get soaked to the bone, then again there was always that small group of people that didn’t seem to care, and wanted to make a fast buck.

As Shade went on his rounds he noticed a figure that he hadn’t seen in a while. It was Rebecca, she was rushing, he noticed a few feet behind her a few tough looking men following her, 3 thugs following close behind laughing slightly, but something seemed odd about them, something that he couldn’t put his finger on for a few second, until he noticed it. Thought their hair was messed up and looked filthy, it was cleanly cut, their cloths covered in dirt and grease made them look like street pirates at first glance but there was no holes, no tares and the cloths didn’t even look badly worn in, their was no strings and the seems looked still fresh from the factory. “So I wonder how much your getting paid Ms. Cunningham.” Shade said, as he watched the scene unfold. Rebecca ran into an ally and the thugs followed as they slowly walked up making rude comments and gestures for several minutes before Rebecca let out a scream, Shade remained in his position watching as he glared down at Rebecca. After a few minutes of him not stepping in the thugs walked up to Rebecca menacingly before they stopped a few feet from her and threw up their arms.

“WHERE THE HECK IS HE!?!” One of the thugs yelled, as he looked at the others.

“Come on Kevin give it some time, I mean we know the Ghost comes running when he hears a scream, and we know that some how he always comes to the aid of Ms. Cunningham and her family, we just need to try again.”

“TRY AGAIN!! Are you serious, that scream nearly broke my ear drums. If that didn’t get him running to her then nothing will, he’s ether not out tonight.”

“Or he has his hands full somewhere else, even the Ghost can’t be in two places at once.” with that the street thug took off his shirt and revealed himself to be a cop. “That was some really good acting Ma-am, but it seems that the Ghost isn’t coming to your rescue tonight.” With that Rebecca nodded.

“Even though he didn’t come out, we still have a deal right?”

“Yes Ma-am, are deal is still in place.” with that Rebecca smiled and started to walk away. “Do you need an escort home ma-am?”

“No thank you, I only live a few blocks from here.” with that the officers nodded and started to pile into a squad car letting Rebecca make her own way home. As for Shade he felt slightly hurt, as he tightened his fist and started to make his own way around.

“So even they would sell me out. I knew she liked money but I never thought she would try and cash in on me.” Shade said to him self as he leapt from one roof top to another. “Who am I kidding, I’m not related to her, or them, I knew she would sell me out.” As he made the final comment he stopped before jumping to another roof. “But if she was going to sell me out, why didn’t she just tell them what I looked like, or make Kit tell them where my hide out is.” with that Shade looked in the direction of the Cunningham home before shacking the thoughts and started to move again, it was the sound of sirens that got Shade to change his direction and head for smoke, seemed there was a fire, another apartment building ablaze. As he started to make his way towards it he knew the cops would be waiting like they always do recently, waiting for him to make his move so that they might be able to arrest him. Sure enough once he got close enough he could see them from the roof top police officers waiting for him to jump into the fire, waiting for him to be the hero.

“MY BABY PLEASE SOME ONE SAVE MY BABY!!” a woman cried out, Shade looked down and saw a female fox screaming for help, but also standing near a cop.

‘Was this another trick, were they really stooping this low to get him to make a move, did the officer tell this woman to cry out for help?’ Shade didn’t move as he watched from above, not knowing what to do until he heard the sound of a baby crying from the burning building. “Crude it wasn’t a trick.” Shade said, as he jumped into action jumping off the roof and using a small grappling hook to swing into a window of the burning building he quickly ran up to the floor the child was screaming from, as he kicked in the door he was able find the baby fox still screaming and chocking from the smoke that was filling the room. “Sorry I’m late kiddo but things have gotten rather tricky as of late.” Shade said, as he took off his jacket still soaked from the rain but quickly drying out, and wrapped the baby in it before turning to find the doorway had been consumed in fire. As he turned and ran towards the window Shade reached down to his belt and started to turn a small valve, as he crashed through it he could feel his shirt starting to expand, while at the same time his decent started to slow, by the time he cleared three floors he was almost hovering in mid air. As he reached the grieving mother the building started to cave in on itself. But as soon as he handed the infant off to the mother he was slammed from behind by the fire hoses now turned on him pinning into another building as the water pressure started to tear his shirt away.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HE JUST SAVED MY BABY!!” the woman yelled, as she started to hit the fire men. Soon followed by other people in the crowed.

“Are you kidding, he’s a wanted man, he just flew, and right now we don’t even know if he might have been the cause of this fire.” These final words started to tick Shade off as he started to force him self off the building. It wasn’t until the streams of water stopped pinning Shade to the wall that he was able to turn himself around and found that the firefighters had been subdued as well as the officers being held back, the woman ran up and handed Shade back his jacket and smiled slightly.

“I know this might not mean a lot, with the rest of the city after you and all, but just know that a lot of us really appreciate what your doing for us.” As Shade made his escape he knew that the people that helped him might be getting pulled up on charges of aiding him but then again it was good to know that there was a few people in the city that still had his back. It wasn’t until Shade found himself in front of Rebecca’s house that he stopped once more, this time wondering what deal they cut with her, what price was she willing to sell him out for.

The next morning Rebecca sat at her desk listening to the radio, smiling slightly as she heard about Shade’s part in the fire. It’s the way it had been going for the past week, thought she hated what she did the night before though she didn’t have much choice, but knowing that Shade was still doing the right thing, and helping people, was enough to make her feel better. Just then a grown Bore walked into the hire for higher office and looked at Rebecca.

“Cunningham we need to talk.” Rebecca turned her attention at the bore with a distasteful look on her face. “Last night was a bust and we’re going to need you to keep doing it, until we are able to capture the Ghost is that understood.”

“Mr. Slade need I remind you that this is my place of business and as such you will act accordingly.”

“And need I remind you that if you don’t do as I tell you, I can have your children taken from you.” with that Rebecca froze, this officer knew a lot about her and family. “Or do you think it would look good for people to know you have an ex pirate for a worker, as well as the same person that gave Don Karnage the power to start blasting Cape Suzette over a year ago.”

“Kit’s a good boy, and he’s mended his ways so why don’t you just back off.”

“Oh really, how about your husband, just how many traffic tickets has he gotten, Laws he’s broken?”

“Baloo is unorthodox at times, but he’s always done the right thing, and has always made up for his mistakes.”

“Then we’ll just stick with the fact that you have some kind of connection with the Ghost, something draws him to you, and your family to help, and that’s what I’m trying to exploit and if you don’t help me then I will make your nice fair tale of a life into a living nightmare, your daughter taken from you and put in an orphanage, your son sent to a detention center until his 18th birthday where he will then be sent to jail, for the number of lives lost and property destroyed on that dark day, oh and let’s not forget your husband grounded and your business license stripped from you, all for aiding a wanted criminal, now you have until three this afternoon to think this over, and if I don’t hear from you,