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The Shadow Knows! (Final Update 6/3/04)
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<blockquote data-quote="The Shadow" data-source="post: 1370629" data-attributes="member: 16760"><p>This first session occurred about five months after the events in "A Night Off", game time. It's mid-November 2003 in Los Angeles.</p><p></p><p>---------</p><p></p><p>Alex strode purposefully toward the base. A Friday night, and David had asked permission to stay out late with the gang watching movies and eating pizza. They'd made an early start of it - he should be able to get a lot done. Perhaps he'd be able to get a lead on those mysterious black cars. </p><p></p><p>Long, pricey, and with tinted windows, they'd been causing a lot of talk on the street of late - talk that gave the Shadow pause. They weren't the first group to try to muscle in on the power vacuum he and the Forbidden had left in the area, but the first to use tactics like these. Local underworld leaders would get taken for a ride, in which the benefits of mutual cooperation were supposedly discussed. Upon their return, they would be... different. Colder, more purposeful... and, the Shadow had found to his shock, with a mental shield about their memories that was difficult to pierce. They didn't seem to have it in for him personally, so he was at a loss to decide what it was all about. </p><p></p><p>Worse yet, when he'd seen one of the cars himself last week, it had registered blank to his inner sight - something that shouldn't be possible, unless robot cars had been suddenly perfected. He'd tried getting a better fix on it by sending out a pulse of psychic energies, but got only that whatever was in the car was even blanker than empty space. To say he didn't like it was an understatement. </p><p></p><p>Alex ghosted into the building, went down the steps, and let the Shadow take over as he put on his hat. The lights were out... oh, right, he was early. Carlos would still be sleeping. He put on his cloak quietly and checked his weapons. Should he wait? </p><p></p><p>Nah. He'd been getting spoiled lately, with all the commlinks and security systems and even Garrity's latest toy, a hovercycle immune to radar (among other features). A night out on foot would be like old times, and perhaps keep his edge from being blunted. </p><p></p><p>He left a note on the keyboard, "Went out on my own," and suited actions to words. Sticking relatively close to the base, it was a quiet night, save for a loud domestic disturbance down the block. He waited to see if it would get violent; when it didn't, and the husband stormed out in a huff to go get his drink, he dismissed it as not worth his time. </p><p></p><p>While patrolling, one of those cars came motoring past - blank as ever to his mindsight. He tried "pinging" it again... and his flesh crept when it slowed down and stopped. He stepped back into an alleyway - if they could sense his regard, perhaps they could sense other things... after an interminable time, the car powered up again and moved on. </p><p></p><p>The Shadow eyed it in frustration as it sped away, unable to give effective pursuit. "Nostalgia has its limitations," he muttered as he memorized the license plate. </p><p></p><p>Keeping an eye peeled for members of his network, he caught sight of Hands stepping out of a bar to go to the john. Perfect. </p><p></p><p>"Malone." The man started badly. "Who's there!" The Shadow did the chuckle, throaty and rich with mockery. "I would think you'd be used to me by now, Malone. The Shadow knows!" He permitted Hands to see him, then, and the man's face spasmed. </p><p></p><p>"Shadow, I, uh, what do you want to know?" "Everything, Malone. Everything. But especially about these black cars. You know the ones I mean." </p><p></p><p>Malone spilled his guts feverishly while the Shadow slipped into the upper reaches of his mind to help spot evasions and the like. The man's hatred for him washed over him, overmatched only by his gut-wrenching terror. "Nobody knows much about them. They invite you for a ride, cut you a deal, and you're not quite the same when you get back. Hell, this one guy with the Blue Stars swore he'd never go with them, but he went meek as a lamb when they came! They say he's making money hand over fist now, but, you know, ain't quite the guy he was." "Who says?" "I don't know! People." </p><p></p><p>"Who else is in with them around here?" "The biggest guy around here would be Carlos. You know, El Bandito of the Red Shivs?" </p><p></p><p>The Shadow filed that away and handed the man a ten dollar bill. "Anything else?" A variety of things flashed through the man's mind in a panic, including an imperfectly-hidden reference to a crime he'd committed recently. That brought an unpleasant smile. "You've been a good boy lately, haven't you Malone?" "YES!" Hands squeaked. "I even turned down a B&E job recently!" "And why was that?" "I wanted to take it, but I knew what you'd -" "You lie poorly, Malone. The Shadow knows!" </p><p></p><p>"All RIGHT! I was all set to buy a whore that night!" The Shadow tsked. "Malone, Malone, Malone..." Defensively, the young man said, "I didn't break the law THAT much, it wasn't something BIG..." "Never mind that. What else do you have for me?" He watched Hands come to a decision. "There's these other guys around..." The Shadow was amused to discover the man's fervent hope that they and the Shadow would manage to do each other in. "Go on." </p><p></p><p>Malone shivered. "There's just something WRONG with them! No, wait... wrong with their suitcases." He seemed puzzled. "Their suitcases?" the Shadow prompted. "I don't know how to describe it... I just now remembered. They're just guys, big guys, dressed a little classy for the street, you know? I don't know what they're out doing. But they've got these big aluminum suitcases, and somehow I forgot all about them. They just... look really weird. They give me the creeps!" </p><p></p><p>"Interesting," the Shadow observed, "now be a good boy and don't fight." He went deeper into Hands' mind. The man stiffened as he caught on to what was happening, looking ready to bolt. The Shadow examined the memory, but there was little more there than what Hands had told him. As long as he was in there anyway, he followed the associations of that earlier hint of crime, and found a small-time break-in Hands had done in a company's cafeteria vending machines. </p><p></p><p>"All right, Malone. That was most interesting." He held out another couple tens, then pulled them back when Hands reached out for them. "Anything else you'd care to confess?" "No..." The Shadow smiled nastily, "What about the vending machine job a couple weeks ago?" Hands' face curdled and he moaned in fright as the Shadow gently pushed him up against the wall. </p><p></p><p>"It isn't nice to steal other people's money, Malone," the Shadow observed in deceptively mild tones. The man was still speechless, so the Shadow went on, "I think an anonymous donation to that company is in order, don't you? With a little extra thrown in for the damage to their locks." Malone nodded frantically in approval. "I'm so glad you agree," the Shadow noted, as he patted the man's cheek and tucked the tens in his jacket pocket. </p><p></p><p>As he turned to go, the Shadow paused and asked, "Malone, have you ever TRIED to get a legitimate job?" "Yes! But... they don't seem to want me." He got in reply only a snort of contempt and an acidic, "I can't imagine why..." </p><p></p><p>After leaving Malone, the Shadow heard the telltale rustlings that meant Carlos was putting in his commlink and coming on-line. "Good morning, Mr. Castaneda. I trust you slept well." "Evening, sir. Yeah. Why didn't you wake me?" "Nostalgia. What have we got on the Blue Stars and the Red Shivs?" Carlos' innocent voice responded, "One's Crips and the other's Bloods?" earning a dry, "Thank you, Carlos, I couldn't possibly have figured that out without your help." Carlos added, "The Shivs have a thing for knives..." then gave it up when he saw the Shadow wasn't buying any. "While you're at it, run this license plate number. Big black stretch model." </p><p></p><p>Tappity-tappity-tappity, he heard faintly through the commlink. "The car's supposed to be a brown Suburban - must be a stolen plate. We don't have much on the Blue Stars in the database, they seem to be one of the newer splinter groups. They don't have anything near your current location, sir. We have a little on the Red Shivs and El Bandito." "What have they got nearby?" "There's the crackhouse on 18th..." </p><p></p><p>"It's back already?!" the Shadow said incredulously. He'd cleaned the place out thoroughly not a month ago. "You know what they say, sir - supply and demand." "We'll see about that!" </p><p></p><p>Annoyance warred with a warm sense of satisfaction as the Shadow surveyed the place. Bars on the windows, deadbolts on the doors, guards posted all around the place... you'd think they were afraid of something, imagine that. "At times, a reputation has its rewards," he said to Carlos. "I'll have to come back sometime soon and give Garrity's new 'Shaolin Doohickey' a try, he'll like that - and no doubt it'll give the Shivs something to talk about for a while. But for now... I suppose finding El Bandito and the black cars is the top priority." </p><p></p><p>Most of the guards were in pairs, but there was one all by his lonesome at one of the corners. The Shadow tsked - poor planning, these gang members have never been the sharpest knives in the drawer, whatever they call themselves. He leveled his gun at the hapless young man (noting with minute discomfort that he was barely David's age, if that) and spread his invisibility over him, meanwhile letting him see through the illusion so he didn't realize he was invisible. This, of course, had the side effect of letting him see the Shadow. </p><p></p><p>The boy tensed, his jaw going slack in shock. "Keep your hands where I can see them," the Shadow warned as he approached. "You're not the Shadow!" the boy blurted out, "The Shadow can't be spotted!" That worthy suppressed a grin - yes, he did have a reputation with this gang - and did the chuckle, spreading it out into a malicious laugh. "All right, I am not the Shadow. You have nothing at all to worry about. Except, oh, wait, I'm pointing a gun at you." Close enough now to reach out and touch, he added, "And you are going to tell me what I wish to know." </p><p></p><p>The laugh did it. The boy froze like a rabbit caught in headlights. My word, the cloaked crusader thought, I didn't even have to "push" fear at him to do that. Shrugging, he plunged into the lad's mind, keeping the gun leveled on his chest. </p><p></p><p>Aloud, he asked, "Tell me about the black cars," meanwhile reading the associations and responses that leapt up mentally. But he had to wrestle with the boy's raw inner strength, greater than he'd guessed. [Yes, I was rolling incredibly badly that night, and the GM was blessed by the dice gods.] For a moment, the gang member got the upper hand, seeking to know what the Shadow's plans were. The truth - that he wanted information and wasn't planning on killing him YET - did not do much to assuage fear. </p><p></p><p>Enough of this! He pointed the gun directly between the boy's eyes and said mildly, "I suggest you play nice," but to his astonishment realized he'd made a misstep - the boy actually feared mental invasion more than death! His revulsion for it was overpowering - with a moan, he tried to bolt, gun or no. </p><p></p><p>The Shadow swept his legs out from under him, then pinned him to the ground. [Finally, some decent rolls!] Twisting the boy's arm up behind his back and holding the gun to his temple, he said, "If you don't tell me what I wish to know, or if you lie, I will have to go into your mind again. You'll like it even less the second time." "I'll tell you anything!" "Where is Carlos?" "At the Hangout, man!" A local arcade, popular among certain shady circles. "What do you know about the black cars?" "Carlos is the only one who talks to them! He said we'd make a lot more money!" "And have you?" the Shadow inquired scornfully. "I dunno!" "What about the men with the suitcases?" "Huh?! You mean the couriers...?" He knew nothing. </p><p></p><p>During this time, the hapless gangbanger's comrades noticed his "absence" from his post, and started coming to see what the trouble was. The Shadow cursed silently, and rapidly dipped into the boy's mind to erase the substance of his questions so as not to tip El Bandito off to his next move. It took longer than he expected, too long. The other gang members were on him by then, and they had guns out. He let the boy become visible to give them something to think about, then couldn't resist telling him, "I suggest you find another line of work if you want to grow up." (Not his most inspired line, but not bad under pressure.) When Carlos (HIS Carlos) shouted at him, "Get out of there!" he complied. </p><p></p><p>It took some fancy moves and dodging to get out of the sudden mass of bodies. He bumped into one, but even with that "clue" the man saw nothing. But another stumbled into him from behind and his eyes flew wide when the Shadow whirled on him. The Shadow dropped his shields, letting his seething emotions boil outward. "Get out of my sight!" he hissed, and the man fled as if demons were cackling after him. [That was actually an ordinary Intimidate check with a +21 bonus. I rolled a 2. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> ] </p><p></p><p>As he jogged toward the Hangout, the Shadow said calmly, "Make a note for the weekly calendar, Carlos. 'Clear out crackhouse on 18th street.' And remind me to look up that kid I reamed tonight..." </p><p></p><p>"He could perhaps be useful one day."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="The Shadow, post: 1370629, member: 16760"] This first session occurred about five months after the events in "A Night Off", game time. It's mid-November 2003 in Los Angeles. --------- Alex strode purposefully toward the base. A Friday night, and David had asked permission to stay out late with the gang watching movies and eating pizza. They'd made an early start of it - he should be able to get a lot done. Perhaps he'd be able to get a lead on those mysterious black cars. Long, pricey, and with tinted windows, they'd been causing a lot of talk on the street of late - talk that gave the Shadow pause. They weren't the first group to try to muscle in on the power vacuum he and the Forbidden had left in the area, but the first to use tactics like these. Local underworld leaders would get taken for a ride, in which the benefits of mutual cooperation were supposedly discussed. Upon their return, they would be... different. Colder, more purposeful... and, the Shadow had found to his shock, with a mental shield about their memories that was difficult to pierce. They didn't seem to have it in for him personally, so he was at a loss to decide what it was all about. Worse yet, when he'd seen one of the cars himself last week, it had registered blank to his inner sight - something that shouldn't be possible, unless robot cars had been suddenly perfected. He'd tried getting a better fix on it by sending out a pulse of psychic energies, but got only that whatever was in the car was even blanker than empty space. To say he didn't like it was an understatement. Alex ghosted into the building, went down the steps, and let the Shadow take over as he put on his hat. The lights were out... oh, right, he was early. Carlos would still be sleeping. He put on his cloak quietly and checked his weapons. Should he wait? Nah. He'd been getting spoiled lately, with all the commlinks and security systems and even Garrity's latest toy, a hovercycle immune to radar (among other features). A night out on foot would be like old times, and perhaps keep his edge from being blunted. He left a note on the keyboard, "Went out on my own," and suited actions to words. Sticking relatively close to the base, it was a quiet night, save for a loud domestic disturbance down the block. He waited to see if it would get violent; when it didn't, and the husband stormed out in a huff to go get his drink, he dismissed it as not worth his time. While patrolling, one of those cars came motoring past - blank as ever to his mindsight. He tried "pinging" it again... and his flesh crept when it slowed down and stopped. He stepped back into an alleyway - if they could sense his regard, perhaps they could sense other things... after an interminable time, the car powered up again and moved on. The Shadow eyed it in frustration as it sped away, unable to give effective pursuit. "Nostalgia has its limitations," he muttered as he memorized the license plate. Keeping an eye peeled for members of his network, he caught sight of Hands stepping out of a bar to go to the john. Perfect. "Malone." The man started badly. "Who's there!" The Shadow did the chuckle, throaty and rich with mockery. "I would think you'd be used to me by now, Malone. The Shadow knows!" He permitted Hands to see him, then, and the man's face spasmed. "Shadow, I, uh, what do you want to know?" "Everything, Malone. Everything. But especially about these black cars. You know the ones I mean." Malone spilled his guts feverishly while the Shadow slipped into the upper reaches of his mind to help spot evasions and the like. The man's hatred for him washed over him, overmatched only by his gut-wrenching terror. "Nobody knows much about them. They invite you for a ride, cut you a deal, and you're not quite the same when you get back. Hell, this one guy with the Blue Stars swore he'd never go with them, but he went meek as a lamb when they came! They say he's making money hand over fist now, but, you know, ain't quite the guy he was." "Who says?" "I don't know! People." "Who else is in with them around here?" "The biggest guy around here would be Carlos. You know, El Bandito of the Red Shivs?" The Shadow filed that away and handed the man a ten dollar bill. "Anything else?" A variety of things flashed through the man's mind in a panic, including an imperfectly-hidden reference to a crime he'd committed recently. That brought an unpleasant smile. "You've been a good boy lately, haven't you Malone?" "YES!" Hands squeaked. "I even turned down a B&E job recently!" "And why was that?" "I wanted to take it, but I knew what you'd -" "You lie poorly, Malone. The Shadow knows!" "All RIGHT! I was all set to buy a whore that night!" The Shadow tsked. "Malone, Malone, Malone..." Defensively, the young man said, "I didn't break the law THAT much, it wasn't something BIG..." "Never mind that. What else do you have for me?" He watched Hands come to a decision. "There's these other guys around..." The Shadow was amused to discover the man's fervent hope that they and the Shadow would manage to do each other in. "Go on." Malone shivered. "There's just something WRONG with them! No, wait... wrong with their suitcases." He seemed puzzled. "Their suitcases?" the Shadow prompted. "I don't know how to describe it... I just now remembered. They're just guys, big guys, dressed a little classy for the street, you know? I don't know what they're out doing. But they've got these big aluminum suitcases, and somehow I forgot all about them. They just... look really weird. They give me the creeps!" "Interesting," the Shadow observed, "now be a good boy and don't fight." He went deeper into Hands' mind. The man stiffened as he caught on to what was happening, looking ready to bolt. The Shadow examined the memory, but there was little more there than what Hands had told him. As long as he was in there anyway, he followed the associations of that earlier hint of crime, and found a small-time break-in Hands had done in a company's cafeteria vending machines. "All right, Malone. That was most interesting." He held out another couple tens, then pulled them back when Hands reached out for them. "Anything else you'd care to confess?" "No..." The Shadow smiled nastily, "What about the vending machine job a couple weeks ago?" Hands' face curdled and he moaned in fright as the Shadow gently pushed him up against the wall. "It isn't nice to steal other people's money, Malone," the Shadow observed in deceptively mild tones. The man was still speechless, so the Shadow went on, "I think an anonymous donation to that company is in order, don't you? With a little extra thrown in for the damage to their locks." Malone nodded frantically in approval. "I'm so glad you agree," the Shadow noted, as he patted the man's cheek and tucked the tens in his jacket pocket. As he turned to go, the Shadow paused and asked, "Malone, have you ever TRIED to get a legitimate job?" "Yes! But... they don't seem to want me." He got in reply only a snort of contempt and an acidic, "I can't imagine why..." After leaving Malone, the Shadow heard the telltale rustlings that meant Carlos was putting in his commlink and coming on-line. "Good morning, Mr. Castaneda. I trust you slept well." "Evening, sir. Yeah. Why didn't you wake me?" "Nostalgia. What have we got on the Blue Stars and the Red Shivs?" Carlos' innocent voice responded, "One's Crips and the other's Bloods?" earning a dry, "Thank you, Carlos, I couldn't possibly have figured that out without your help." Carlos added, "The Shivs have a thing for knives..." then gave it up when he saw the Shadow wasn't buying any. "While you're at it, run this license plate number. Big black stretch model." Tappity-tappity-tappity, he heard faintly through the commlink. "The car's supposed to be a brown Suburban - must be a stolen plate. We don't have much on the Blue Stars in the database, they seem to be one of the newer splinter groups. They don't have anything near your current location, sir. We have a little on the Red Shivs and El Bandito." "What have they got nearby?" "There's the crackhouse on 18th..." "It's back already?!" the Shadow said incredulously. He'd cleaned the place out thoroughly not a month ago. "You know what they say, sir - supply and demand." "We'll see about that!" Annoyance warred with a warm sense of satisfaction as the Shadow surveyed the place. Bars on the windows, deadbolts on the doors, guards posted all around the place... you'd think they were afraid of something, imagine that. "At times, a reputation has its rewards," he said to Carlos. "I'll have to come back sometime soon and give Garrity's new 'Shaolin Doohickey' a try, he'll like that - and no doubt it'll give the Shivs something to talk about for a while. But for now... I suppose finding El Bandito and the black cars is the top priority." Most of the guards were in pairs, but there was one all by his lonesome at one of the corners. The Shadow tsked - poor planning, these gang members have never been the sharpest knives in the drawer, whatever they call themselves. He leveled his gun at the hapless young man (noting with minute discomfort that he was barely David's age, if that) and spread his invisibility over him, meanwhile letting him see through the illusion so he didn't realize he was invisible. This, of course, had the side effect of letting him see the Shadow. The boy tensed, his jaw going slack in shock. "Keep your hands where I can see them," the Shadow warned as he approached. "You're not the Shadow!" the boy blurted out, "The Shadow can't be spotted!" That worthy suppressed a grin - yes, he did have a reputation with this gang - and did the chuckle, spreading it out into a malicious laugh. "All right, I am not the Shadow. You have nothing at all to worry about. Except, oh, wait, I'm pointing a gun at you." Close enough now to reach out and touch, he added, "And you are going to tell me what I wish to know." The laugh did it. The boy froze like a rabbit caught in headlights. My word, the cloaked crusader thought, I didn't even have to "push" fear at him to do that. Shrugging, he plunged into the lad's mind, keeping the gun leveled on his chest. Aloud, he asked, "Tell me about the black cars," meanwhile reading the associations and responses that leapt up mentally. But he had to wrestle with the boy's raw inner strength, greater than he'd guessed. [Yes, I was rolling incredibly badly that night, and the GM was blessed by the dice gods.] For a moment, the gang member got the upper hand, seeking to know what the Shadow's plans were. The truth - that he wanted information and wasn't planning on killing him YET - did not do much to assuage fear. Enough of this! He pointed the gun directly between the boy's eyes and said mildly, "I suggest you play nice," but to his astonishment realized he'd made a misstep - the boy actually feared mental invasion more than death! His revulsion for it was overpowering - with a moan, he tried to bolt, gun or no. The Shadow swept his legs out from under him, then pinned him to the ground. [Finally, some decent rolls!] Twisting the boy's arm up behind his back and holding the gun to his temple, he said, "If you don't tell me what I wish to know, or if you lie, I will have to go into your mind again. You'll like it even less the second time." "I'll tell you anything!" "Where is Carlos?" "At the Hangout, man!" A local arcade, popular among certain shady circles. "What do you know about the black cars?" "Carlos is the only one who talks to them! He said we'd make a lot more money!" "And have you?" the Shadow inquired scornfully. "I dunno!" "What about the men with the suitcases?" "Huh?! You mean the couriers...?" He knew nothing. During this time, the hapless gangbanger's comrades noticed his "absence" from his post, and started coming to see what the trouble was. The Shadow cursed silently, and rapidly dipped into the boy's mind to erase the substance of his questions so as not to tip El Bandito off to his next move. It took longer than he expected, too long. The other gang members were on him by then, and they had guns out. He let the boy become visible to give them something to think about, then couldn't resist telling him, "I suggest you find another line of work if you want to grow up." (Not his most inspired line, but not bad under pressure.) When Carlos (HIS Carlos) shouted at him, "Get out of there!" he complied. It took some fancy moves and dodging to get out of the sudden mass of bodies. He bumped into one, but even with that "clue" the man saw nothing. But another stumbled into him from behind and his eyes flew wide when the Shadow whirled on him. The Shadow dropped his shields, letting his seething emotions boil outward. "Get out of my sight!" he hissed, and the man fled as if demons were cackling after him. [That was actually an ordinary Intimidate check with a +21 bonus. I rolled a 2. :) ] As he jogged toward the Hangout, the Shadow said calmly, "Make a note for the weekly calendar, Carlos. 'Clear out crackhouse on 18th street.' And remind me to look up that kid I reamed tonight..." "He could perhaps be useful one day." [/QUOTE]
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