From the Shadows

Once upon a time, there were a pair of twin brothers.

They were little hamsters, growing up in a nice little hamster home with their lovely hamster parents. Handsome boys they were; the elder had sleek, dark fur, whilst the younger had fur of snow white. And the boys were always together, being the best of friends and doing everything together wherever they went. The elder twin was in charge, feeling responsible for his quiet younger twin, and would defend him from enemies on the playground. It seemed like it was them against the world. Neighbors of their mountain community remarked on how strong the boys' bond was.

However, upon a closer look, the elder one was certainly in charge. Maybe a little too in charge. Whatever he said, goes, and that as twins they must do everything together--even if his little bro wanted to do something else, or play with someone else, or even just wanted to be alone. Elder twin was adamant that twins are best friends, and that he was the only one that little bro could count on. You can't control what other people do, so you can't trust them, period. And as best friends, they needed to have the same hobbies, same favorite color, same clothing and music and even food tastes...

"Hey, why do you like spinach? You can't like spinach, because I don't like spinach! If I had my way, spinach would be illegal!"

If little bro protests, he gets a punch to the face.

Their parents at first bought that they were best friends; but, eventually, they noticed this really bossy behavior, and tried to get him to rein it in and let the younger twin have his space. Indeed, they even made sure that they had separate rooms, asked the school to put them in separate classes, and even encouraged them to have different hobbies from each other.

The younger twin was shy in his class at first, but as he warmed up, he showed promise in being a good student and leader to his classmates, often helming projects and figuring out how his group members can work together. But the elder twin in his class still showed controlling behavior, but towards his classmates. His project was done his way, and he'd criticize everyone who didn't do things right like he did. He was often defiant of the teacher, and thought his classmates were stupid. That everyone was stupid.

Their parents found their elder son exhausting, and hoped that if they just held on and kept persisting in discouraging this controlling bully behavior, he'd eventually grow out of it.

Then, the Great Comet came. As a family, they went out to view it, having a little campfire and picnic with their extended family. As the comet showered magic beams on the Earth, a couple of those beams came to them--the younger chewing on the ice cubes of his lemonade when he was hit by one, and the elder's shadow getting a hit of this magic as well.

Things seemed normal when they returned home and went to bed. However, the elder brother would wake up to himself fusing to his shadow. Though frightened at first, and wanting to scream and cry for his parents, the shadow assured him that they were friends, and that it was here to make his deepest, darkest desires come true...

Embracing the shadow that consumed him, he set to work on ridding himself on two prominent obstacles. Two people that he was happy to have his darkness consume and drop into a shadowy realm to suffocate, in such a way that there was no trace of them left. The two people who dared to restrain his duty to steer others--especially little bro--onto the right path.

When the little brother woke up, their parents were gone, and his brother was a shadow monster chasing him in an attempt to snatch his shadow and make him his puppet. To both's surprise, little brother was firing ice beams from his paws, defending himself from the bully that wanted nothing more than to control him. Indeed, freezing the shadow monster slowed it down enough for little brother to escape the house--with cuts and bruises, most notably a nick on the ear, but alive. He ran away, hoping to find someone--police, firefighter, army, anyone--who could help.

The police could not find any trace of his family, both immediate and extended that were staying. As he had developed superpowers, they put him in a special sort of children's home--for orphaned supercritters--and told him to wait while they investigated. However, he knew they'd never find his family. His brother consumed them, and it was only him left.

Over time, he got to know the other kids, most of whom were younger than him, and he, as well as the rabbit a couple years older than him, took to looking out for them and their elderly caretakers--and later the mouse who'd adopt them and make them official family. All the while, he repressed his fear of the shadow monster of a brother that is still out there, wondering why he hadn't come after him yet.

Elder twin, meanwhile, had been snatched up by the Jackalope soon after that night, and kept prisoner in the ice fortress of Jack's friend, Winter. They recognized how dangerous he was, and unfortunately, haven't found a way to remove his powers without killing him--he's too thoroughly merged with his enchanted shadow. And they do not want to kill a kid.

But as they try to figure this guy out, he'll plan his escape, he'll get back home, and he'll use his powers to take control of not just his brother, but the entire city... and perhaps beyond that. After all, Darkhall knows best.

Never mind that he's just a teenager.

And that's the story of Iceham and his biological brother Asher--aka Darkhall. Like his brother, the latter was also created by my brother (though he was originally called "Darkball", as another Fireball rip-off...) as a tough and dangerous villain for the Squad.