Pawns in the game

[golden_master]

Khan does not make any moves against The Shadow during the next 48 hours. Crime seems to subside, giving the police a much needed breather to catch up on paperwork and do some high quality investigating, but even the dependable instincts of Cardona are unable to turn up anything beyond the fact that crime was on the rise, and something sinister

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[golden_master]

There is little space between the buildings, it would be impossible for any car to hide in the short, skinny alleys that are formed in this neighborhood. They do afford men of crime excellent vantage points for an attack, as do the occasional sunken stairways that lead to basements.

Wandering thugs and lookouts peer from around corners and between threadbare drapes. There's easily a good dozen mobsters milling in the shadows in preparation for the heist.

In the room there are half as many, but it's still only what The Shadow can see. There may be more hidden around the neighborhood and elsewhere in the building. It's doubtful their numbers are any more than double what he's noted though, as such a large crew would already have drawn too much attention to its arrival.

As he watches from behind the grate, the light suddenly turns off of its own accord, and then slowly begins to blink in a strobe-like fashion. It's a common tool of Khan's to hypnotize new followers, and it makes reaching former victims that much easier. The light remains blinking as Khan's mental influence seems to flood the minds of those watching the bulb.

They are receiving detailed instructions that include the safe combination, what to take from the safe, and how they are to make their getaway. Each will take a share of the goods from the safe, ensuring a better chance of most of the articles within making it to Khan, and also, to help throw off police investigations. They have each already received directions for their drop-off points.

The far-off sound of a gong rings in their ears, and mechanically, they all stand. The light stops blinking, and they all look around for a moment, bewildered. There are two thugs that are apparently seasoned to this sort of experience, and they go about the room, shaking each man and rousing them to action.

[evillurks]

While he has taken the precaution of letting his alternate know he's there, the Old Tiger is not particularly expecting backup. The brief message is more a nod to keep from stepping on the younger man's toes, should he also be about.

When the light begins to flash his first instinct is to shut his eyes, but he quickly works at making his psychic presence a quiet one, while attempting to remain receptive. Without being one of Khan's minions, he's unlikely to receive much of the hypnotic suggestions, and he does not want Shiwan Khan to note an extra mind receptive to the instructions. He still feels very briefly, mildly dazed when the hypnosis ends, more from his own efforts than what the master criminal has done. Those few moments while the thugs rouse each other buy him his own opportunity to recover, and the moment they leave the room he is ready to remove the grate over the ventilation shaft and slip out to follow them.

[golden_master]

No guns are drawn as the gangsters leave the room, locking the door behind them. In the hallway, they are greeted with a leer from one of Khan's warriors, and the key is passed off. They continue onward to the stairway, taking it up to the roof that is even with the seventh floor of the apartment building they are targeting.

Khan's warrior takes his time once the thugs are preparing to break into the apartment and when he reaches the door of the room with the light bulb he is casual as he slides the key into the lock. Inside the apartment, the sound echoes.

[evillurks]

The sounds of a figure lingering in the hall give The Shadow pause, although even through the door he can mark by sound which way the thugs are headed. Having scoped out the building already, he accurately guesses their plan. He can afford to linger, at least a minute or two, pushing the ventilation grate deeper into the shaft at an angle, and positioning himself back in it. The removal of the grate is likely to escape immediate notice, since it's not lying loose in the room, and in this position he can leap out at a moment's notice. While the warrior's back is turned to relock the door, he draws a large knife from behind his back. A gunshot would attract too much attention.

Before the warrior even realizes a threat exists, The Shadow is upon him, aiming to pin his sword arm and put the knife at his throat.

[golden_master]

The warrior is not wholly unprepared, but he is certainly caught off guard. As The Shadow is upon him, he snarls and twists in the grip. His sword arm has been captured but he attempts to use the leverage it may grant him, to throw the Old Tiger.

He is a brute of a man, and though shorter than The Shadow, he is thick, stocky and powerful.

[evillurks]

No longer at the peak of his physical power, the old man gives ground, although this is partly because with so few furnishings or anything else to knock into he's not particularly fighting that. His grip on the warrior's arm remains firm, however, twisting it into a position of temporary uselessness. The knife begins to work it's way through armor and clothing to bite at flesh, deep enough to act as a warning. The brute had better be careful of thrashing around too much, lest he drive the point right into his own throat by it.
"Be still! What was your purpose in this room?" The words are hissed against his ear, and not in English. The Old Tiger doesn't have much expectation of a useful answer, but it's worth asking just in case.

[golden_master]

There's a pained grunt as his arm is cranked into the unnatural position, and then he feels the blade against his neck. As The Shadow hisses in his ear, he grits his teeth.

There's a betraying moment, where he glances toward the bulb and fixture, and then he thrashes, feeling the blade bite into his throat. As he starts to sputter and gag, he attempts to drive the elbow of his off-hand for The Shadow's ribs with his quickly waning strength.

[evillurks]

At such close grips with the other man, he feels the move coming. A blow to the ribs could be bad for his lungs, and he arches his lean body away from the elbow, but that move itself weakens his grip on the warrior's sword arm. He feels it slip, twists the knife point inwards, and holds on. Unless the warrior is agile enough to duck and twist completely out of his grip, he may be in for a quick and bloody death.

[golden_master]

Even weakened, the warrior is built for hand-to-hand combat of a brutal type, and is not as agile in his armor as a wiry naljorpa. He nearly has his sword arm free of The Shadow's grip when the knife slices neatly into his throat. Even mortally wounded, he continues to struggle, coughing and choking as he only hastens his own end. His attempts to free his sword, or strike at The Shadow grow more feeble with each passing moment.

[evillurks]

The gurgling coughs make even The Shadow wince, and he drives the knife deeper in a sharp slice. That sudden death is actually a form of mercy, in this case. He wipes the blade quickly clean against a scrap of the warrior's clothing, then slides it back into the sheath at his back. He locks the door behind him when he quits the room, pocketing the key the man carried.

It was an ugly battle, but brief, and he slips along the hall and up the roof access with stealthy speed to catch up to the other men working for Khan.

[golden_master]

There, the gangsters are mustered in the darkness, the window to the lit apartment has been opened, and a couple of them are crossing on a window-washing platform that has been turned into a temporary bridge. Already a couple are inside, and now, their forms show that guns have been drawn.

[evillurks]

The Shadow moves as close as he dares on silent feet, using whatever pieces of ventilation or other random architecture he finds on the roof for cover. He wants as good a look as possible at the men who have already entered the next building, to determine if they are already at work threatening someone, or merely keeping their guns out as a more wary advance now that they're close to their target. If no one's life is at stake yet, he's content to let the rest cross and follow. Better to catch them all lumped in one room, where they'll make easy targets.

[golden_master]

Four of them are inside the room when a muffled shout makes it to the ears of The Shadow. Unless another apartment above or below the victim has a window open, or thin floors/ceilings, it's unlikely the sound was heard. A middle-aged gentleman is shoved into the room that the thugs are entering, and shoved into a chair. Quiet words are being said with backs turned to the window. The two thugs still on the make-shift bridge keep post there in case of trouble, watching events, rather than the rooftop behind them.

[evillurks]

It's clear the situation isn't going to get any more ideal than this, and he'll have to make the best of the opportunity. A pair of automatics emerges from beneath the cloak, but are immediately flipped in his gloved hands for use as clubs. He bears down on the men on the platform, silent and nearly invisible in the darkness, and brings the heavy weight of a gun down on each of their heads simultaneously. The blows are precise and calculated to render them immediately and quietly unconscious. It should buy him plenty of time to deal with the remaining crooks, and if he's lucky he'll have time to return and tie them up after.

The fate that awaits those threatening the gentleman may not be so kind, as he's quick to shift his grip so he can use the automatics for their intended purpose...

[golden_master]

The thugs go down without a sound. Inside, their partners are oblivious to their absence, and continue talking, but from where The Shadow is, their words can be made out.

"He's not going to be happy about all this. You were supposed to have everything ready. I'll ask you for the last time, what's the hold up?" The man is menaced by a gun and quivers.

"I...I've worked for Mr. Tillson for years. I've never done anything wrong before! I don't wanna go to jail!"

"You'll have a lot worse things to worry about than jail for going back on Khan!"

From a door within the room that looks like a closet there is the sound of someone banging the door within. A muffled voice floats from it.

"Michael?! What's going on?!"

[evillurks]

((I had to finish laughing at your name choices before I could reply...))

This is all to The Shadow's advantage, as the man they are menacing has just been classed among the criminals. Now that he knows this man, too, is guilty of crime, he is no longer quite so worried about his position among men who are targets for his justice.

Knowing that there are men stationed throughout the area, waiting to entrap the police, The Shadow knows that gunfire will draw attention. On the other hand, he would rather they be drawn up here towards himself and away from men who are less prepared to face that onslaught. One man can escape them more easily, although two men may make things tricky. It's his intention to get the victim in all this out safely, after all.

From the window he launches himself into the midst of the thugs, straight for 'Michael', aiming another solid thump to the head. He does not seem deserving of death, and rendering him quickly unconscious will put him out of the line of fire from the thugs as well. With that lunge he has put himself squarely in the middle of their group and made himself an ideal target in the other man's place. Or so it seems.

If they get out a few cries of his name to draw their friends before the shooting begins, all the better.