Jade Hood and Stone Fist Issue #1 (System Tryout)

ooc: I'm pretty sure Cut Throat is in no condition to talk, probably forever.

"So heading over to observe this new guy sounds like our best plan," Stone Fist says. "Probably a good idea to go as ourselves instead of as our masked selves. At least until we get an idea of their layout. So do we stick together, showing our faces to one another or split up and then meet there in our new personas?"

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc: I'm pretty sure Cut Throat is in no condition to talk, probably forever.

"So heading over to observe this new guy sounds like our best plan," Stone Fist says. "Probably a good idea to go as ourselves instead of as our masked selves. At least until we get an idea of their layout. So do we stick together, showing our faces to one another or split up and then meet there in our new personas?"

Jade Hood removed his hood and ceremonial mask "Friend Stone Fist, I am a stranger to the shores of America, I came to help those who couldn't help themselves. I very much need friends. And friends need trust."

Jade Hood waited for his friend to make the next move, eager as he was not to loose their lead.

Sj

Stone Fist takes off his hood. 'I'm a dock worker that got a whiff of the gas that seems to harm or kill everyone else. So I have a personal stake in this. Let's go find some crooks and show them that they can't keep doing this to folks!"

And ready to go off to the next scene.

As well as the truck full of bodies - not all of which were living, but all were afflicted with the strange gas' effects - there was a car parked alongside the back of the building, which served the vigilantes needs perfectly.

CRRRUNCH!

"Yeah, I seen it done. Just need ta... yeah..." said Stone Fist, before he screeched the car away and yanked hard on the wheel to avoid a wall. "Ah... yeah. Let's see. Another gear."

CRUNCH!

They threaded their way through the streets, paused and waited as a string of police cars shot past to investigate the strange goings on, then pulled out and headed towards the swankier part of town where the Sheridan was located.

The sights and the sounds of the city filled Jade Hoods' senses, but he was determined to put a stop to this fellows immoral and brutal experiments. Finally, they parked up on a street corner and looked across the busy street at the large sheridan hotel. A doormen met and greeted the patrons as they came and went, but all had a 'theme' about them. They oozed money and class. Stone Fist glanced at his soiled jeans, vest and scuffed boots. His companion was little better. They stood out like a sore thumb. This guy would be alerted whenever a pair of scruffs like them came near, assuming they would even be let into the place!

A glance up and down the street revealed rows of shops, shoppers, and the hustle and bustle of the city. It seemed that here, at least, the ravage of the financial crash had passed for the most part - a far cry from many other areas of the city and country as a whole!

As they watched the front of the hotel, a car passed with a pair of well dressed men in the front. They pulled up in front of the hotel, and got out. Jade Hood, the sharper eyed of the pair, spotted guns worn in holsters inside of the pairs jacket. They were entering the hotel. What now?

Admin wrote:As they watched the front of the hotel, a car passed with a pair of well dressed men in the front. They pulled up in front of the hotel, and got out. Jade Hood, the sharper eyed of the pair, spotted guns worn in holsters inside of the pairs jacket. They were entering the hotel. What now?

Jade Hood nodded at the arrivals, "Looks like trouble, they carry guns? Perhaps if we take them first, we can strip them and at least appear not to stand out. Perhaps if we enter via the tradesmens entrance, we might be able to get close enough to intercept them. What do you think?

Jade Hood looked from the men, back to Stone Fist.


OOC:Either we could go in the back and get decked out as trade, steal some uniforms, etc. Or and we could take these guys out and take their suits. But to my mind, how invisible are staff within a swish hotel?

I've been playing Batman Arkham City on my xbox, got to say one of my favourite games ever, loving the way they handle things and so far a great story. Love the whole street level, with gadgets thing, If I got to do another hero, Bats would be the way I'd go - straight up clone. I don't always like that it seems most of his villains are loonies, I like the more serious ones like Ras and Bane etc, Joker is ok, but its the fact you've got so many joker wannabe's like Mad Hatter and Calendar Man, and Tally man etc. Anyway I can highly recommend.

Sj

"I think maybe the trade entance might work best," Stone Fist suggested. "We could steal some uniforms out of a locker or something and move around a bit more freely inside. After all, you being ... er ... Oriental, they wouldn't let you in a place like this as a customer, only as staff."

ooc: Got to remember, this is pretty much a whites only society in that day. Everyone else had their own places to go to which is why there were Chinatowns all over the place.

OOC tried playing Arkham Asylum on the PS3, had to turn it off whenever the kid came in the room - definitely not for 8 year olds! And that was just sitting through the beginning trailer...

The vigilantes glanced at one another, came to an agreement, and paced around the block, down an alley, and to where a loading dock was being used. A truck was backed up to a set of doors at the back of the hotel and it was a simple matter to grab boxes and head in.

Minutes later Stone Fist grumbled, pulling the white servants jacket as tight as he could across a broad chest and shoulders, whilst Jade Hood looked positively swallowed by his serving attire. They glanced at one another, at what the other was wearing, and nodded, swapping.

=========

Peering around the corner Jade Hood (in servant guise) counted four.. no, five goons stationed outside the two doors leading to the adjoining suites...

They'd already seen two servants wheel trolleys up and be frisked, the trolleys checked thoroughly, then allowed entry.

Security was tight.

Whoever this guy was, he valued his privacy, had plenty of money for hired, armed, muscle, and didn't mind people knowing it. He smacked of arrogance, and something else, though it was difficult to nail down. Assuredness? He knew, or had something that made him untouchable? Jade Hood turned to Stone Fist, and the pair went over their options:

1) take their trolleys/trays for food and drink and try to bluff their way into the room.
2) take out the goons, but there was no quiet way of doing that
3) enter the rooms by a different way. A ledge, from another room?
4) start a fire, or at least set off a fire alarm, get the guy (and doubtless a large entourage) out of his room
5) play it straight. Walk up to the door, demand to speak to teh fellow, see what happens...
6) wait and watch, possibly follow if need be
7) try something else...

They'd gotten through the hotel easily enough, blending in as waiters, but this was something else. Stone Fist, having been raised on the streets, could smell a rat - or a dressed up one in this case - from a lifetime of experience. "Feds." he muttered, glancing at the guys in the corridor. "They look, and seem, to be feds." he said, coming to a conclusion he felt, if not bang on the money, was certainly in the ballpark.

It stank of something rotten, and that was for sure...

Admin wrote:They'd gotten through the hotel easily enough, blending in as waiters, but this was something else. Stone Fist, having been raised on the streets, could smell a rat - or a dressed up one in this case - from a lifetime of experience. "Feds." he muttered, glancing at the guys in the corridor. "They look, and seem, to be feds." he said, coming to a conclusion he felt, if not bang on the money, was certainly in the ballpark.

It stank of something rotten, and that was for sure...

Jade Hood looked speculatively at his new found friend. "Feds?" You mean Government agents are protecting this criminal? If that is so, what can we do?

Being new to the country, Jade Hood was suddenly uncertain as to where they stood. What if the German was working with the American Government? Or was there some corrupt official or dept at work here, doing their own thing? Jade and Stone Fist were not going to find out standing about, they had to make a decision. Perhaps play up their rolls and see what else they could find out.

OOC:

1) take their trolleys/trays for food and drink and try to bluff their way into the room.
2) take out the goons, but there was no quiet way of doing that
3) enter the rooms by a different way. A ledge, from another room?
4) start a fire, or at least set off a fire alarm, get the guy (and doubtless a large entourage) out of his room
5) play it straight. Walk up to the door, demand to speak to the fellow, see what happens...
6) wait and watch, possibly follow if need be
7) try something else...

How do you want to play this Dave? Personally I'm for going in, with our disguise, if things get nasty at the door, we take out the guards and rush em, whilst we have the element of surprise. Be good to test out the straight up attack rules after all.

But if you've got a better idea, I'm all ears.

Sj

"G-Men huh," Stone Fist mused. "Maybe we can find out who is in this room if one of us goes to the desk and looks at the register?"

ooc: What's our bluff skills like compared to an average person? If decent, I suggest trying to bluff our way in. Sleight of hand or something like that to get a look at the register at the desk? If either of us is any good at that, we should try that first just to find out what or who we are dealing with.



History
In 1886, the Supreme Court, in Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois, found that the states had no power to regulate interstate commerce. The resulting Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 created a Federal responsibility for interstate law enforcement. The Justice Department made little effort to relieve its staff shortage until the turn of the century, when Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte reached out to other agencies, including the Secret Service, for investigators. But the Congress forbade this use of Treasury employees by Justice, passing a law to that effect in 1908. So the Attorney General moved to organize a formal Bureau of Investigation (BOI or BI), complete with its own staff of special agents. The Secret Service provided the Department of Justice 12 Special Agents and these agents became the first Agents in the new BOI. Thus, the first FBI agents were actually Secret Service agents. Its jurisdiction derived from the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887.[17][18] The FBI grew out of this force of special agents created on July 26, 1908 during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt. The first Chief (the title has since been changed to Director) was Stanley W. Finch. Its first official task was visiting and making surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the "White Slave Traffic Act," or Mann Act, passed on June 25, 1910. In 1932, it was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. The following year it was linked to the Bureau of Prohibition and rechristened the Division of Investigation (DOI) before finally becoming an independent service within the Department of Justice in 1935.[17] In the same year, its name was officially changed from the Division of Investigation to the present-day Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI.

[edit] J. Edgar Hoover as director
J. Edgar Hoover, FBI Director from 1924 to 1972.The Director of the BOI, J. Edgar Hoover, was an FBI Director who served from 1924-1972, a combined 48 years with the BOI, DOI, and FBI. He was chiefly responsible for creating the Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory, or the FBI Laboratory, which officially opened in 1932, as part of his work to professionalize investigations by the government. Hoover had substantial involvement in most major cases and projects which the FBI handled during his tenure. After Hoover's death, Congress passed legislation limiting the tenure of future FBI Directors to a maximum of ten years.

During the "War on Crime" of the 1930s, FBI agents apprehended or killed a number of notorious criminals who carried out kidnappings, robberies, and murders throughout the nation, including John Dillinger, "Baby Face" Nelson, Kate "Ma" Barker, Alvin "Creepy" Karpis, and George "Machine Gun" Kelly.

Other activities of its early decades included a decisive role in reducing the scope and influence of the Ku Klux Klan. Additionally, through the work of Edwin Atherton, the FBI claimed success in apprehending an entire army of Mexican neo-revolutionaries along the California border in the 1920s.

G-Man (short for Government Man) is a slang term for Special agents of the United States Government. It is specifically used as a term for a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent. In FBI mythology, the nickname is held to have originated during the arrest of gangster George "Machine Gun" Kelly by agents of the Bureau of Investigation (BOI), a forerunner of the FBI, in September 1933. Finding himself unarmed, Kelly supposedly shouted "Don't shoot, G-Men! Don't shoot, G-Men!"[1] This event is dramatized in the 1959 film, The FBI Story. The earliest cite in OED for the American usage is 1930 from a book on Al Capone by FD Pasley.

With the popularity of "Film Noir" and gangster films during the 1940s and 50s, 'G-Men' became a popular slang term for the FBI.

Would prefer to go to the front desk and find out who is behind that door. or an employee break area to do the same. Gather gossip and hard information before trying the G-Men.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Would prefer to go to the front desk and find out who is behind that door. or an employee break area to do the same. Gather gossip and hard information before trying the G-Men.

Conferring with Stone Fist, Jade nodded. It seemed good to him that with such security the man obviously felt secure, perhaps he wasn't going anywhere fast. But from staff and reception who knows what gossip might be going down. Clearly gossip wasn't necessarily gospel, but it might contain elements of truth, enough to be going on with.

Whilst Stone First chatted with staff, Jade Hood was going to see if he could get any further information about roots into the room, was there a room next door they could listen in from, balcony or some other means to get close and work out what as well as who was going on behind that closed door.

Sj

"You new here?" asked one of the staff in the break area. "Want coffee?" Stone Fist nodded, taking the coffee with thanks.

"So, what's with the room on the 8th floor?" asked the undercover vigilante.

"Huh?" responded the waiter. "Oh, that. Some foreign guy. I went up there the other day. Man, he don't tip at all! Maybe they don't do it over there. Anyway, I guess he's some kind of important guy, because people come and go all the time. There's these guys in suits stop you when you get near the place and frisk you. I think there's a really important guy comes up the back fire escape with a whole entourage of guys. The manager knows about it. The rest of us? Told to shut up and get on with our job, if you know what I mean."

"I think I saw a guy get into a fancy car with a bunch of suits. He was familiar. Maybe some Senator or somethin' I seen in the papers. He didn't stick around fer long, and this nosy reporter got his face punched in and camera smashed too. After that I made myself scarce. I mean, sure, the pay is lousy here, but it's a job, right?"

=========

"Room service!" said Jade Hood down the hall from where the Feds were stood outside...

A man opened the door. He was wearing a bathrobe and had just gotten out of the bath. "I didn't..." he smelt the food that Jade Hood had wheeled up from the lift having darted into the kitchen and out before anyone had noticed. "But what the hell. That smells good. Bring it in." The fellow shrugged, then headed for the bathroom. "I'll be out in five. Oh, you want a tip... ah, clean the place up a little, I'll make it worth ya while." Jade Hood looked at the clothes strewn about the place. Moving with silky fluidity he scooped the clothes up and laid them into a neat pile on the bed, glanced at the bathroom and opened a window out onto the ledge. A heartbeat later he was pacing along the ledge, ignoring the drop to street below and moving to the end of the ledge before leaping the short gap to the next ledge. There leaps later he was at the window to the executive suite, and pressed himself as close to the window as he dare go without being in view...

"...paid you to get results! And we hear there's a mess to clean up!"

"I em doing the job you told me to do. You cannot... as you say, make an omelette without breaking ze eggs, nein?"

"Yeah well people are askin' questions. Is all this... testing necessary? I mean, how do we know you're not leadin' us up the garden path?"

"I em not, as you say, in ze business of leading people up garden pathways. I em a scientist, not a tour guide. However, I vill explain ze problem in laymans terms. You see, ze formula, to be successful, must be specifically matched to a person to change zem. So far ve have found zis to be the case in one in say, a thousand people. Without further experimentation and analysis, ve cannot reduce this factor."

"A thousand! Geez! People are gonna get win of this! If the press find out... You have one day. Get it done! After that, the project is done, finished! I want have the blood of people on my hands, even if they are... look, I don't care where they are from. Just stop killing people!"

"Most of zem are still alive."

"Alive? ha! One day Herr Bloot. After that, we're done. Kapeesh?"

"Is zat some kind of cabbage?"

Jade Hood pulled back. How much did the authorities know about what was going on? If they were up to their necks in it, going to the police would be pointless - they'd quickly silence him! If they only had one day to get the project finished, that meant they'd have to get a whole bunch of people in one place and gas the lot! Any who survived would be... changed, somehow. He'd seen the power in Stone Fists hands. More like him, under the control of unscrupulous people would be disastrous!

Moments later he was back in the room, waiting patiently for his tip. The man was less than generous, but Jade Hood nodded and thanked him anyway, and left to find Stone Fist.

=========

The pair compared notes

Something big was going to go down. They would need hundreds of 'volunteers'. Stone Fist racked his brains, then swore. "They'll go down the docks, to the factories, anywhere that men queue for work! With a promise of a days pay and food, men will line up to be guinea pigs in their experiment! It'll be a bloodbath!"

They had a dilemma though. These were powerful people, with the authorities in their pocket, seemingly! Could two men beat the system, save a bunch of innocent lives, and shut down an illegal operation in time before a tragedy occurred?

"We need to get the press involved in this," Stone Fist said finally. "We ... no, we can't go to them. They would want to know who we are. Instead ... we send envelopes to the biggest six papers with the information we have. Stuff that didn't get released in the news, about the fight at the warehouse and Cut Throat's place. We tell them that it is going down today or tonight. That the newest "recruits" will come from the docks and factory area, any place large group of men might gather."

"We tell them to send investigative reporters and cameramen to cover those areas and watch. Maybe send a few, who will know that it is dangerous and they could die, to go undercover to try and get recruited for the experiment. We let them know about Herr Blot and the rogue goverment agents. Then we get ourselves picked up as recruits ourselves and break this from the inside once we get to wherever the last experiment will be held. We will have to move fast so that they don't get a chance to release the gas on everyone."

"Or can you think of a better idea?"

DavidMcMahon wrote:"We need to get the press involved in this," Stone Fist said finally. "We ... no, we can't go to them. They would want to know who we are. Instead ... we send envelopes to the biggest six papers with the information we have. Stuff that didn't get released in the news, about the fight at the warehouse and Cut Throat's place. We tell them that it is going down today or tonight. That the newest "recruits" will come from the docks and factory area, any place large group of men might gather."

"We tell them to send investigative reporters and cameramen to cover those areas and watch. Maybe send a few, who will know that it is dangerous and they could die, to go undercover to try and get recruited for the experiment. We let them know about Herr Blot and the rogue goverment agents. Then we get ourselves picked up as recruits ourselves and break this from the inside once we get to wherever the last experiment will be held. We will have to move fast so that they don't get a chance to release the gas on everyone."

"Or can you think of a better idea?"

"Better Idea! No I think not my friend. I am new to these shores and still unsure of the customs and ways of your people. I will follow you, as you seem far more aware of the ways in which these men might seek to exploit those who are desperate."

Jade Hood was so glad he and Stone Fist found a common cause and common help in one another. As things had turned out, he'd been naive to imagine he could have cracked this case on his own.

OOC:

OK I agree with Dave, in truth you know a lot more about America and the depression era than I do, so it all makes sense. I am happy to do leg work and run about town dropping off notes to the press, while we try and find out where the most likely place to hit for men, might be.

Sj

ooc: This is the day when the press actually was a crusading journal. And had real investigative reporters, which is why Clark Kent became a newspaperman, to find out what's going on so he could help as Superman.

Admin wrote:OOC I take it the pair of you are:

1) Leaving the hotel, and whatever is going on inside the room
2) writing notes for half a dozen large newspapers - if someone wants to give me an idea what you'll put down, I'll make a roll to see which papers believe you, and which think you're crazy
3) finding out where the unemployed/desperate/downtrodden are going - shouldn't be too hard to find that out just by asking about
4) staying together or working separate (to cover different locations?)
5) anything else you want to add before we put this plan into action (may need to post separately for you depending on your plans)

OOC:
As I understood it when it came to no 3 we are back together, otherwise covering more ground by going about the news paper thing separately. I don't mind running around, but Jade is a total stranger to the place so reliant on Stone Fist to help him know where to go, what to do etc.

Sj

ooc: Stick together but widely together when we are in a group. That way we have a better chance of one of us spotting something.

Cover the details including two masked men attacking crooks. And mention even if they do think we are crazy, what can it hurt to have an investigative reporter hanging around in disguise.

News Desk at the NY Tribune newspaper...

The editor of the 'Tribune' read the note and shrugged. "So? We get 'tips' like this all the time in here Lamont! We want real news stories! I didn't make you the only female reporter on the news beat to chase wild geese y'know!"

Lara Lamont smiled, unperturbed. "Chief, it's quiet, and I'm fed up of chasing baseball stars around to see who's sleeping with who for the gossip columns! If it's a false lead, I'll do a piece on the downtrodden and homeless, how things are in the city right now..."

"Oh great, like everyone don't already know that..."

"BUT... if it's on the level... Chief... any other newspapers that got this will have done the same as you've done - toss it in the trash! That leaves US with an exclusive! What have you got to lose?"

"An afternoon of paying you?"

"HA! On my wage? Knock it off! If this comes off, I want a raise AND my own desk!"

"And if it don't...?"

Lamont licked her lips nervously. Only the thick bottle bottom glasses prevented her from turning heads everywhere she went - and she preferred it that way! Her friends, parents, anyone who knew her had advised her to get into modelling, or acting, and no one had taken her seriously until she'd 'dressed down' to look the plainest that she could. Of course, some things couldn't be disguised, but she wanted to be judged on her talent rather than her looks, and something... some nose for news - or trouble - told her this was a story worth following!

"Chief... if it's a wild goose chase I'll leave the tribune. NO! Don't protest..." she said, cutting the Editor off. "I want to be taken seriously as a journalist, that means I take responsibility for the good AND the bad. I'm going down to the ..." she frowned, then thought for a moment, nibbling on the end of her pen. "The east side welfare centre." She shrugged. "Worth a try. I'll visit the others if i get chance..."

=========

"This is the third place we've visited." said Jade Hood as he and his crime fighting team mate pulled up in the car...

"It's bigger than the others, and none of the other places had a big line o people round the block" said Stone Fist at the wheel of the car. "Plus it's covered. Looks like rain. I reckon there'll be a good, what, hundred, hundred fifty guys in there?"

Jade Hood shrugged, and the pair got out. They'd done their best to look down and out, ready for a hand out. Crossing the road quickly, they glanced at the sky and sighed as the heavens opened, and took their place in the line.

=========

Nearby the East Side Welfare centre...

"Herr Bloot, are you sure this is a good idea?"

The tall thin German raised an eyebrow, peeling off white gloves and tucking them in his immaculate suit pocket. "Good idea? Nein. Necessary? Of course, otherwise I would have continued with my experiments on the immigrants. It seems Herr 'Cut-throat' has failed us - and paid the price for that failure. His men know nothing of the grand scheme, so anything they say will be a desperate attempt to stay out of jail, plus... ve hef a men in ze police department who is making sure no one knows too much. If they do, vell... zere vill be an accident."

His aide, a short dumpy man with a monocle and thinning hair, adjusted his collar nervously. "The Americans are paying you a lot of money but... the risk!"

Bloot shrugged. "Ze Americans believe we are giving zem a 'super soldier', a new breed of human with physical attributes beyond anything that can be imagined! We are... in a way. The slow acting antidote will see to that, and by the time they discover ze deception ve vill be long gone. And ze Americans can hardly complain - think of ze scandal!"

"Vot of... ze other thing?"

Bloot smiled. "Zere must be nothing to cause an incident. Ve vill see to zet."

"But... a disease? You vill turn ze candidate into a plague carrier, and wipe out all ze senators and anyone zey encounter! Before it can be detected and the affected people quarantined, thousands could die!"

"One cannot make ze omelette without breaking ze Eier, Ronald. Now hurry along. You paid ze welfare people well?"

"Indeed. They have taken ze afternoon off, and suspect nothing."

"Jolly good. As ze British vould say. Ve shell proceed."

=========

Jade Hood and Stone Fist were drenched and bored by the time the line reached the double doors...

The two burly fellows in suits and holding umbrellas looked somewhat out of place, but handed the pair soggy tickets anyway and ushered them in. Inside the place, it was crowded to the point of being difficult to move and the place hummed with conversation. ten or so people deep were a row of tables doling out soup and bread. Behind them were metal stairs leading to a walkway running around the warehouse looking down on the ground floor, with several offices off it, blinds concealing the occupants.

"Hey watch it!" squealed a distinctly feminine voice nearby.

Jade Hood and Stone Fist glanced over to where a diminutive 'man' adjusted a hat and what looked to be a false moustache. The 'fellow' had a writing pad and pen in one hand - at least the press seemed to be here, but were rather closer to the action than they might want to be!

OOC Anything you want to do before I move on to the next part of the proceedings?

Admin wrote:OOC Anything you want to do before I move on to the next part of the proceedings?

Jade Hood looked about he didn't like the set up of this place, the goons at the front and the interior suggested someone was using this place alright and perhaps in a hurry. There were certainly lots of desperate people here ready to exploit.

OOC:

1. Ok I have my Jade hood stuff, stuffed away in a small sack tied around my waist as if its my worldly possessions. When things kick off I want to be able to change.

2. I'll take some of the soap but not eat it, I'll be looking out for the 'helpers' and any that might be packing guns or anything suspicious looking.

3. I'll also be trying to guess the layout of the place, exits, anything funny or suspicious about the way the place is set up - much as was the case with Cut Throat's Building.

4. I don't mind letting Stone Fist getting closer to the 'woman' whilst I circulate around, but keeping my friend within line of sight, if anything kicks off I want to be able to help him, or he me etc.

5. Otherwise I think we are good to go, and want to get on with finding any suspicious booted and suited German sounding scientists or goons.

Sj

4. I don't mind letting Stone Fist getting closer to the 'woman' whilst I circulate around, but keeping my friend within line of sight, if anything kicks off I want to be able to help him, or he me etc.

Yeah, I'll get close to the woman.
Split from Jade Fist. We want to cover separate areas of the place. Since it is a gas we are supposedly dealing with, assuming it wasn't a liquid, this time, in the soup, looking for any possible gas nozzles around the place.

Grabbing the soup too and try to determine if there is anything in it that shouldn't be in it, like a secret formula. Taste a bit on the tip of my tongue, that sort of thing.

"Hey buddy," Stone Fist says quietly to the "man" after he worked his way over to him, "hide that pad and pen. People here find out you are a reporter, and female too boot, they will not just kick you out, you will ... disappear. Capishe?"

"Hope you didn't eat any of that soup," he continues. "It might have that German's formula in it. But I'm hoping that they are planning on gassing us instead, otherwise, we are too late."

"But... a disease? You vill turn ze candidate into a plague carrier, and wipe out all ze senators and anyone zey encounter! Before it can be detected and the affected people quarantined, thousands could die!"

ooc: Holy Crap! I hope this is a later adjustment and not something already in the gas Stone Fist and all those other folks have taken, otherwise we got an epidemic all over the city already!!!!!!!

OOC Key:

Red dot - goon serving food (apron, shirt, jeans, boots, no sign of weapons - that the heroes can see)
Blue dot - suited goon, hat, shoes, no sign of weapon, again at least not in sight. Each has a small rucksack near their feet...
Green dots - our heroes, lost in the crowd? Green dot next to pink is stone fist
Pink dot - Miss Lara Lamont, intrepid reporter, in disguise at the moment.
Long brown rectangle - table with pots, bowls, spoons, bread to hand out to the needy
Smaller brown squares - back exits
EDIT: Oops. Grey 'sludge' is the massed men waiting for hand outs
The stairs leading to the second floor walkway are along the back wall. The walkway is some 20' off ground level - well within Stone Fists jumping range. No one visible at moment. Along back wall is an office with blinds obscuring the view inside.

Jade Hood looked about. The look on the faces of the men queueing for food was depressing enough, but having an idea of what might be about to happen to them was worse! It was getting harder to move with the press of bodies all about...

Stone Fist said his piece to the young disguised woman and she adjusted her moustache, self consciously. "I'm..." she said, then put on a deeper voice, though still less than convincing. "I'm here for..." she looked about. "We got an anonymous tip off about dodgy goings on at these places. Was it you?"

"Wait. Formula? Soup? German? gas?" she hissed, eyes wide in alarm. "What's going on here?" She was jostled as the crowd move forward some, those with soup and bread asked to move to the sides of the hall to find somewhere to sit and eat. The crowd moved steadily forward, and the vigilante pair kept an eye on one another, though it was getting harder.

=========

"Wait until zey hef eaten." said the man lifting a slat on a blind and peering down.

His associates nodded, then made ready themselves. "Vill zis pump ze required amounts at the correct pressure?" asked the German. A scientist nodded, checking the connection to several cannisters to a pumping machine.

=========

Stone Fist glanced across. Jade Hood was next to be served, and he would be a moment or two after.

All around the hall were clumps of men sat eating and enjoying - apparently - soup and bread. A welcome feast for many down and outs. Could this be on the level? "Here" said a man in front of Stone Fist. "Take yer bowl an hold it out. Make sure to eat it all cause we don't know when we can get to you guys with more. Might be your last meal fer a few days."

All along the line Stone Fist saw the soup servers saying the same thing, making sure the message got through. Eat this. It might be your last meal for days. Appealing to starving mens hunger, which would overrule just about anything else!

The server slopped some soup in a bowl and tore off a hunk of bread. Stone Fist glanced at the rucksack near the mans feet.

They all had rucksacks close by.

Sniffing at the bread, then touching it to the soup, he moved it to his tongue, seemingly testing how hot it was. Tomato. Pretty hot. The 'man' beside him hissed "What was all that before? It looks like soup. Smells like soup. I'm betting it IS soup. And there have been food riots lately, so I'm not surprised they got a few heavies in to make sure there was no trouble. Looks like they are doing a great public service. So what was all that about gas?"

Stone Fist frowned. The soup tasted like... soup. Though there was something... spicy, in it? A glance about saw men tucking in with gusto, tearing bread off and shovelling it down. Some were even joining the line for seconds. Had they been wrong?

Jade Hood came over with his soup.

The small group sat down, and even the 'man' (Lamont) said "I hate to say it, but this looks like a wild goose chase. I'm going to be out of a job...May as well enjoy the soup!"

OOC Eating the soup, making a move, waiting it out? Your call...

Admin wrote: They all had rucksacks close by.

OOC Eating the soup, making a move, waiting it out? Your call...

Jade Hood moved to Stone Fist's side, a quick sideways glance at his 'companion' before saying to his friend, under his breath,

"If I were a betting man, which being a poor immigrant, I am not, but I'd lay good odds those bags contain gas masks, like that which was saw at the house".

Jade Hood let the words sink in, if he was right, then they were all vulnerable and that meant the gas would be released on them all. He continued, "Of course if you released gas, everyone would stampede, unless you drugged them first so they didn't run out." And with a conspiratorial look at the bowl he had still untouched in his hand, he looked back at Stone Fist.

OOC:

Dave I think we've got several options, but I think we ought to do something before the gas gets released which cuts down on a number of them.

1. Either we stage a fight, use it as a cover to get to the office upstairs, the only likely place from the gas to come from.
2. Or one of us stumbles into the men and pulls out the gas mask from the ground, but in so doing we risk them releasing the gas anyway.
3. We start a fire or some other tactic to get people out, before they are too addled to do anything.

The other thing in all this is going on to protect our identities whilst we set about trying to stop and massive disaster and tragic loss of life - so what do you think? Jade will follow your lead.

Sj

ooc: Since no one knows our names and only the girl reporter has seen Stone Fist's real face, not too worried about pulling a burlap sack over my head to fight crime. She and I don't tend to run in the same crowds so its not like she will ever see me again.

[famous last words.]

I didn't even think that those sacks might be gas masks. I was thinking gas grenades of some sort in the bags but then they would need gas masks wouldn't they if they were tossing gas grenades around.

"There's something in the soup," Stone Fist hisses to the disguised woman. "I can barely taste it. Don't eat it. Probably a sedative of some kind so that this large a group of men wouldn't stampede if something goes wrong.."

He puts his food to the side, letting some poor unfortunate man snatch it up to eat. He also pretends he didn't hear Jade Fist, so the woman wouldn't know that they are together.

"If one of us was to be a little bit too drunk," he said a bit conversationally so both could hear him, "got in line and stumbled over to one of the men with the burlap bags, we would know if gas masks were in them or not and would know better what to do and when to do it."

"Any volunteers?"

ooc: What skill or stat could be used to do that kind of acting or bluffing and who of the three of us is best at it? Once Stone Fist knows that there are gas masks in those bags, he would then act. By pulling his burlap bag hood over his head and leaping to the offices upstairs and barging in to see what's going on inside there. Ah the glories of being a masked vigilante who doesn't need to obey the law so much.