Prologue: Darkness and Shadows

"And you are?" His tone condescending as ever, the God of Symbiotes asked the passing shadow-stranger.

"More than a Master of Shadows, I became the Shadow itself. Your bridge to the Great Darkness." authoritatively, the shadow-stranger replied. "You don't want to get in my way, Knull."

Knull (the God of Symbiotes) lowered his black eyebrows, slightly covering his crimson eyes, as if in contemplation of something. 

"You are not of this world." He figured it out, referring to the shadow-stranger. Slowly deciphering the shadow-stranger's identity, Knull continued, "you are centuries old, for a Millennial."

"I can feel the darkness within you. But don't brag about your coming here. Access must have let you in. - the only bridge that exists." Knull continued, even detecting the energy exuding from this shadowed, astral traveler. "What brings you to my world of Darkness?"

"Eternal Darkness." the shadow-stranger pointed out. "I figured it is the best place for the ritual I'm about to perform."

"Even though you are one of the most powerful," Knull acknowledged the power of the shadow-stranger. "What makes you think you have the right to be here?"

"What makes you think that I will let you leave in one piece." Knull said, threat in his tone.

"Mhha-ha-ha." The shadow-stranger chuckled at something Knull had said.

"Having a last laugh?" Knull, though tempered, managed to smoothen his words abit.

"I just remembered something." The shadow-stranger said, calmly.

Knull refused to follow up, but the shadow-stranger continued to explain. "Something about the One Piece."

"The funny thing is, it's actually One." The shadow-stranger continued. "It's One. Mh, mh."

"That's where you got the Interface (System) you desire to give away with your power?" Knull had deciphered as much as he could about the shadow-stranger intruding in his Darkness. In his Darkness, nothing could keep a secret from him.

"The ritual will happen, Knull." The shadow-stranger switched to a formal tone that was nothing but darkness, and caused endless blood loss anytime he became that serious. "You know better than to stand in my way. You know better than to use your Celestials against me."

"Why would you want to give away your Darkness?" Knull asked the question that interested him the most. "You let him mislead you into doing so, didn't you?"

"Who?" the shadow-stranger feigned lack of knowledge.

"You-Know-Who." Knull replied.

"Strange?" the shadow-stranger hinted.

"Sure. Let's call him that." Knull effectively declined further inquiries.

"Because. I'm tired of the Ten Shadows." The shadow-stranger elaborated as far as he ever did, before the ritual commenced and completed as the new weilder of the Ten Shadows was chosen.

---

"No. I will not serve him on a silver platter. He must work for it, and get exactly what I have (Even if he tried, he can't go beyond). His name shall be, Kaiji Tenshiko, my Shadow Apprentice."