ic Golden Gloves

[Supercape]

4th June, 2023 (Saturday)

 

Around midday. Hot, clear skies. Sweat in the air, rot on the ground. 

 

Southside Trailer Park

 

A festering sore on the flesh of Freedom City. A hive of homelessness, alcoholism, poverty and despair. And, on occasion, crime.

 

There was little to be gained by the big crime gangs here, so instead the petty thief, the petty drug pusher, the petty mugger thrived. Luke Landers knew them all.

 

He knew Billy Wiggins.

 

Billy wiggins was currently sprawled over a rotten discarded sofa, the rusted springs threatening to impale his corpulent flesh with every wobble of his body. Billy Wiggins was forty, fat, and alcoholic. For some reason, his dog, Snuffler, sat by his legs, the only living creature who seemed to tolerate Billy for more than brief encounters. Aside from the mosquitoes that dined on Billy Wiggins flesh. The sunburnt neck, the sunburnt arms, the belly that wrestled free from the bottom of a stained t shirt. 

 

As normal, Billy Wiggins was drunk. Crushed tins of beers littered the broken earth around the sofa, and he held a half empty one on his hand.

 

“Fatso being snoring!” laughed Huckleberry Sin, the 8 year old barefoot redneck who darted around the trailer park stealing and pranking. Many people would like to tank Huckle’s hide, but he was faster than a cockroach on wheels.

 

Huckles pointed at Billy Wiggins and laughed again, encouraging Luke Landers to join in.

 

“Saying he gonna be rich. Say’s his brother going to steal a mountain of gold! Haha! In his fat bottomed dreams!”

[Nerdzul]

Ahh... Home sweet home.

 

Just a few years before, Luke had sworn to leave the park, never to return. It didn't last. 

 

Sure, his family still lived there, but it wasn't just that...  There was some sort of gravity pulling him back, of the kind that even his wings could not defeat. So there he was, patrolling the dirt paths between rusted trailers and rundown shacks, alone, not as the aspiring super-hero, or the bus-sized flying lizard with an attitude, but as the local kid, in faded sweatpants, battered sneakers and of course, the trademark t-shirt with the ripped sleeves.

 

It was way easier that way.

 

There wasn't a day that the park free of some kind of misdeed. As for himself, the Soutshide Dragon, had done his best to keep the worst out of his 'territory', admittedly, frequently choosing to close an eye to let the least harmful violations... He was there to make life in the place he grew up better after all, not harder. 

 

Crime at the park was rarely a matter of grand heists and mountains of gold, though. Those belonged to the glittering casinos just a couple of roads ahead or to mansions perched on Baywiew above.  

Now, most of the time the bragging of Billy Wiggins meant nothing. Deluded, drunken dreams? Perhaps, but Huckles' words were enough to pique Luke's curiosity. 

 

"A mountain? You mean his whole weight in gold?" He chuckled.  "Yeah definitely believable..." He continued sarcastically.

 

"Did you hear it from the man himself?" Huckles, had a way of knowing things around camp. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Sue did!" laughed Huckles. He picked up an (almost) empty Tin can, with the last dregs of now warm beer inside, a threw it with admirable aim. 

 

TIng!

 

The can bounced of the shiny forehead of Billy Wiggins, bouncing off into some other pile of trash. 

 

"Wha...wha...wha...." gasped Billy, rubbing his forehead. The warm beer dribbled down his nose and onto his lips. Billy's reflexes kicked in (no slouch when it came to drinking beer) and he licked his lips, greedy for the last few drops. 

 

"Ya little runt! I'm gonna put my boot so far up yer arse yerl be tasting bootstraps!" he yelled, livid for one moment. He got up - tried to get up. He got dizzy, and fell on his rump, dizzy from exhertion. 

 

Nevertheless, fury might have propelled him upwards to some boot - on - ass action, but he caught sight of Luke and decided better of it. It was one thing to spank an eight year old boy, quite another to spank a nearly fully grown man. 

 

"Whatcha want?" he asked defensively. 

 

"You sez you going to be rich!" laughed Huckles (who nevertheless was prudent enough to get ready to run if need be). "You and yer loozer brother! What a joke! Mountains of gold! In yer dreamz!"

 

"Shut it, puppy!" yelled Billy, red faced. "I'll show ya! Mountains of gold, 'struth!"

 

Everyone knew Billy Wiggins was no good. But his brother had stayed off the booze and was more able. A construction worker. Fat, like Billy, but the kind of fat that blended with layers of muscle. Few people were stronger than "Grabber" Gibbins, Billy's brother. 

[Nerdzul]

As Billy Wiggins, tried to stand up from his perch, Luke gave him a 'don't do anything you are gonna regret' kind of stare, clenching his fists a little. It wasn't needed perhaps, as Billy didn't look like the type that went after people who could fight back, but then again... 

 

As they started discussing the 'mountains of gold' again, Luke felt a growing sense of curiosity, on one side, sure, the young superhero wanted to know if a big heist was gonna happen, on the other, the dragon in him had far less altruistic instincts. In fact, an acute observer, could notice, that for a split second Nightscale's golden eyes had flashed underneath Luke's natural green.

 

"And how are you gonna get all that gold?" Nightscale teased. "Your 'bro got the freakin' lottery or somethin'?" He chuckled. Grabber Gibbins was perhaps far more competent than his brother and in fact, in the days when Luke's life wasn't that different from Hukles' he himself was careful to buy himself a good head-start when dealing with that mountain of a man, but he never once thought of him as a master criminal...

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Gamblin' I mean... gamblin'... I mean... Gamblin' casino..." belched Billly Wiggins, happy smile on his face. 

 

The two solitary talents Billy Wiggins had was firstly absorbing every rumour in Freedom City, and secondly acting on absolutely none of them. Unless you could count drunken blabbering as action. 

 

"He gonna rob a Gamblin' casino! Stealing from  thieves, that's what it is. Like robbin...flirgrin hood! That will show em, the thievin' scum!"

 

It was entirely clear if Billy Wiggins was talking about politics; for he had often rambled upon how the rich preyed on the weak, the wealthy on the poor, or if he was talking about actual crooks. Organised crime had plenty of stranglehold on the Gambling joints of Freedom City. One could make an argument that Billy Wiggins was talking about both. 

 

"Gonna rob the vault tonight! Got himself some flamchy shlupershlzzzzzszzzzz"

 

And then Billy Wiggins felt asleep from booze and exertion, and started a profoundly tremulous snore. 

[Nerdzul]

"Well... they freakin' deserve it, right?" Luke grinned, it wasn't hard to lie on the matter, assuming he was actually lying at all. In truth, Luke wound't have minded if the fat purses of the gangsters that owned the Casino's that infested the wealthier regions of Soutshide got a bit thinner ... They could afford it after all. Although... somehow... he doubted that Billy's brother, or whoever had arranged for the actual heist, had planned to share any of the loot. 

 

Unfortunately there were plenty of casinos in town... "Did your..." He fell asleep? Great... "Which one?" He raised his voice and gave Billy a forceful nudge. "Which Casino?" He repeated, if the robbery was planned for that night, Luke definitely didn't have the time to check all the gambling dens one by one...

Edited June 11, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

Billy Wiggins was fast asleep, and the nudges of Luke only made him briefly rouse and fall back asleep again, muttering a dribble of words each time. 

 

"Gnfff...Southside Palace..."

 

"Gnnnf....Fowered Aarmmm...."

 

"Gnnff...Smashngrablffniwibble..."

 

Billy turned over once more, shouted "Walrus! Two Times! With a Pencil!" in a shrill clear voice, some random artifact of booze-sozzled dreams, before falling into a deep slumber once again. 

 

Huckleberry Sin leapt from foot to foot with excitement. 

 

"Whaddya think? Whaddya think? Grabber Gibbons going to steal a heap of gold and make us all rich, eh?"

 

He looked around the trailer park, the detritus, the flotsam and jetsam, the garbage bin of humanity. 

 

"I mean... screw this place, right? Gotta get out somehow, and school sucks!"

[Nerdzul]

"Southside Palace... Awesome..." It was Blowfish's turf... He knew the guy, a violent type, quick with the shotgun... He wondered, if perhaps Grabber Gibbons wasn't getting himself, his brother and perhaps plenty more of the innocents (as a figure of speech at least) inhabitants of the trailer park in trouble. 

 

"I wish..." Luke chuckled. "My bet... No chance that a single coin is gonna get out of that vault, much less a freakin' mountain of gold..."

 

"I'm sorry, but you are gonna have to find your own way to get rich... Right scamp?" He grinned and gave Huk a friendly nudge (one much lighter of course, than the ones he had given BIlly). Yep and not take 'Grabber's Gibbons example if possible... Nor Luke Landers' to be honest. 

 

"Speaking of which... Next time you hear something like this, come pay me a visit, deal?" Yeah, the boy deserved a bit of a reward, unfortunately, it was not like Luke could spare much... He searched the pockets of his sweatpants managing to muster a few crumpled bucks and gave them to Huckles. Now it wasn't exactly a king's ransom, but that was the best of what he could do... 

 

"Anyway... got to go buddy... Don't get yourself into too much troubles while I'm gone." He smirked... Yeah, like if there was any chance of that being true. 

 

Time to pay a visit to the casino... 

[Supercape]

GM

 

And so...

 

...later....

 

...at the Casino

 

From the outside, it was fabulous, full of gold and marble and lights. On closer examination, the gold and marble was paint, and chipped paint at that. It was an illusion, but was it any less magnificent for the scar tissue?

 

Black tie and black dress walked in and out. The dress code was somewhat leniant, perhaps even unforced, for no businessman it his (or her) business to turn away sources of income. But there was no doubt that turning up in sneakers and jeans would catch a lot of attention. And if one turned up in rags and spent not a coin, one would probably be ejected. If unlucky, one would be ruffed up and ejected. Or worse. 

 

Outside the entrance were two big men with bigger suits that could easily conceal firearms. Dark glasses, bow ties, shaved heads, and a few strategic scars, broken noses, and cauliflowe ears. They looked like thugs painted with respectability, and they looked like that because that was exactly what they were. 

 

The sun was setting, and as it did, the excitement of gambling rose to take its place. Inside, dice were being rolled, cars were being drawn, and tears of ruination were falling from faces. But who cared? Money was being made by crunching on the bones of the desperate, so it was all good...

 

[Nerdzul]

When Luke got to the hive of scum and villainy', the boy felt a pang of adrenaline rushing in his veins, the beast within having sensed the vast amount of wealth hiding inside the building, being extracted and hoarded past its wall, a locus of greed, it pushed his avaricious impulses to the surface.

 

Woah.

 

It was only after he managed to reign in his draconic instincts, that he quickly realized that Southside Palace was fancier than the other gambling holes that infested the neighborhood... There even his 'best' shirt (definitely not his only one... nop... not at all), least worn jeans, Nikes (one of the last vestiges of his wanna-be gangster times) and ballcap, weren't exactly in tune with the local dress code.

 

So much for blending in.

 

Now he couldn't exactly spurge on the gambling tables to make up for it... The few bucks in his pockets wouldn't last much. Well... without evening the odds a bit with his powers, at least. 

 

Maybe an illusion...  He thought, as he  absent-mindedly conjured a few of the coins from his 'hoard' toying with the golden disks for the few moments before they ceased to exist. Why aren't you freakin' real! It would have made his life much easier, wouldn't it? Being able to pull gold out of thin air... They must have freakin' cameras, anyway...  And those were unfortunately immune to his mind tricks.

 

Still that was a problem for later.

 

First, he needed to learn the lay of the land a bit better...  He took a casual stroll around the perimeter of the Casino, trying his best to appear natural and using a convoluted route, just in case, he looked for potential alternative entrances, escape routes or, in general, for anything that might feel out of place... 

 

Spoiler

Nightscale has skill mastery on Notice at 20 if that can help

 

Edited June 13, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Casino was solid - bricks, paint, windows. Its front face looked considerably more ostentatious than the dingy sides, where the fumes of cooking and  the hiss of steam came. It was three stories high... and presumably it was the top floor where the big boys (and girls) played with big monies in private rooms. Plenty of noise - music, chatter. 

 

The Windows were reinforced, but Luke would have no problem smashing them. The alarms however, would need a different approach. 

 

Side doors? Yes, plenty. Some locked. One, outside the kitchens, kept open with a fire extinguisher. A young, lad with a thin moustache and a chef's hat stood outside, grabbing a cheeky cigarrette. He hadn't noticed Luke. Not yet. 

 

Luke could see a few ventilation shafts. Squeezing through would be difficult... or get him stuck. 

 

How many pizza's and Cherrybomb! lollipops had he had recently? If he tried squeezing through, that question might become very pertinent...

[Nerdzul]

Luke threw just a quick glance to the ventilation shaft. Yep no way I'm fitting into that...  He was, after all built like a professional boxer and while he could, in theory shapeshift, his true form definitely wouldn't fit into a vent.

 

So yeah. He was gonna have to use a door.

 

Now, the idea of knocking the cook down and stealing his uniform and hat was a tempting one, he had to admit it, but... then again, as far as Luke knew, the fellow wasn't a villain, he didn't deserve a concussion... Or to be sent into another dimension... He could create a distraction though... Nightscale closed his eyes and instinctively called to his magic.

 

"Sir...? Can you help me sir?" A figure waved from the end of the street, a young woman one shaped by the fervent imagination of a teenage boy. "I am soo... lost here..."

 

Now, the image had no substance, but hopefully the trick would distract the chef for long enough... After all Luke just needed to sneak inside...

 

Spoiler

Once he has his opening to walk inside, Luke will have the image of the girl leave with an excuse and vanish behind a corner

 

Edited June 19, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Hey, lost, hmmm? wha...?"

 

The cook dropped his cigarrette and screwed it into the ground with his shoe. Perhaps the girl was a distraction. But what really distracted him was being a chef and smoking. Even outside. 

 

"Yeah, sure. Lost. Right...." he continued, slowly getting control of his tongue as he adjusted to being caught. "I mean. Lost, sure. How can I help? Where do you want to get to, ma'am? This here is the Kitchens. You don't want to go in their unless you fancy getting truffle fat on your dress."

 

"Sure" copied the girl, as if the word was infectious. "I mean, sure, I don't want to get the dress ruined. But my, sure does smell good?"

 

"It does? I mean... yes it does. Can't smell it myself, nose full of tobac...I mean, can't smell it myself, it all blends into one after a days work." shrugged the Chef. 

 

The illusion gave a cheery wave and a "thankyou" and walked off around the corner, only to dissapear in a puff of illusionary smoke. For Nightscale had made his way into the Kitchens. 

 

It did indeed smell like an orchestra of flavours, for the most part good. This was an expensive place that served expensive food. In front of him was a flurry of waiters and chefs all busy at work. To engrossed to notice Luke sneak in, but... for how long?

 

On the other side of the kitchen Luke saw the door to the main gambling floor, swinging wildly with activity, offering glimpses of the glitz, glamour, and fortunes beyond. 

[Nerdzul]

F- Yeah... Luke grinned as he slipped inside.

 

He quickly came under assault, not by armies of goons though, but by the sublime scent of the luxurious meals being prepared in front of him. Now, Luke was more of an burger and coke, kind of guy (beer when he could manage to convince the people behind the counter that he was 21), but this was definitely on another level. Fortunately, the kitchen staff was too busy to notice the grumbling of his stomach.

 

That, was not gonna last for long though. Eventually someone would look in his direction.

 

Light on his feet and barely avoiding a pile of cutlery that was resting on a tray nearby, the young man dashed into the first door that he found. 

 

Finally away from prying eyes, he had a few moments to catch his breath. Now... He needed a way to blend in and, at least, for now, it felt like fate had provide him with one. He was in a small locker room now, one belonging to the staff, empty, at least at the moment. Breaking into few lockers wouldn't be too hard... It was only a matter to find something that he could slip into... 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The locker room smelled of old clothes, spices, herbs, and detergent, all fighting for supremacy. It would take quite a well to disentangle all the odours as they battled in the nostril, and other things were afoot. 

 

The lockers were locked, but made of metal so thin it that for Luke, they could be torn and warped like tin foil. Breaking in did not require effort, and was relatively subtle - a tear here, a bend there. Sure, if someone looked carefully, it would look broken. To a casual glance, it looked innocuous. 

 

Fortunately, it took only three "adjustments" to the lockers until Luke found something his side. Maybe the chef's hat was a little too big, maybe the chef's jacket had sleeves a little too short. But it was a minor thing, and the costume looked entirely reasonable when on. 

 

Luke was now a chef, complete with puffed up hat and a clean white robe. 

 

There was even a rolling pin and a spatula in the locker, if he wanted to complete the image...

[Nerdzul]

Luke spent a few moment to look at his image. Perfect. He chuckled lightly. As a member of the staff, he should be able to move more more freely.

 

Although, passing himself as a chef, while his culinary experience barely extended to flippling burgers, might not he the easiest of task.

 

Maybe I should find a waiter uniform or somethin'. Yeah that would have gratned him even more freedom, he decided to keep an eye for a chance to get one. 

 

He strolled out of the locker room, walking like he owned the place and went toward the door leading out of the kitchen. Like if a customer has called to congratulate him, or somethign'  and hoping that the confident pace and the chaos in the room would complement his disguise. 

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

Nobody bothered the new chef. If he was walkin', he had business. And nobody wanted to interrupt business. They were too busy frying, backing, roasting, and chopping. If Luke was so inclined, he would have a vast array of kitchen knives to pilfer, and possibly to stab and cut his way through the casino hall. But Luke had plenty of other weapons of a less obvious nature - claw and fang among them. 

 

The Main Casino Hall was dimly lit by chandeliers and spinning disco balls. It had an orange tone; maybe the lighting, maybe the carpet, maybe the paints of gold and red. Poker, Blackjack, Roullette. Rows of one armed bandits lining the wall. 

 

The gamblers were all wearing neat suits; but there was a slight air of faux-style dotted here and there. Thugs, Mafia, what have you. They might wear bow ties but they could not disguise a lingering awkwardness, a need to over compensate by gaudy flashes of ill gotten wealth. Men and women with brains and cruelty, backed up by larger men  with big hands, ready to deliver pugilistic violence at a word from their bosses. 

 

There were vigilant security guards too, dressed to blend in, eyes darting left right and centre - not so much to avoid a brawl or gunfight, but for a more serious crime; cheating the house. 

 

Their were stairs up, to the restaurant, a door to the stage were a crooner was crooning a  love song, and stairs down - to the belly of the beast, were the casino management were presumably based. Complete with a "STAFF ONLY" sign. 

[Nerdzul]

The Casino unfolded in front of Luke, a well oiled machine to separate the fools from their wealth. At least, for once, with a clientele of mobsters and thugs, the house was stealing from thieves and scoundrels as well. Yeah not just those. I bet. 

 

The symphony of the slot machines filled the air as orange glow bathed the scene. Everything felt, so well fake... That was the point wasn't it? Still, the dragon did not feel unease within those all of unchecked greed, in fact, while Luke would have hated to admit it, there was perhaps a sense of familiarity slowly sinking in. 

 

Clad in his stolen uniform, Luke did his best to appear busy as he navigated the labyrinthine establishment. His gaze shifted among the crowd, trying to identify if anyone felt out of place. 

 

Where are they hiding the jackpot? 

 

Now, if had to bet, there was likely a vault somewhere deep underneath the structure. But perhaps he had a way to make sure. He unleashed his draconic instincts, inhaling generously wondering if he could catch the scent of hidden riches. 

 

Spoiler

He is trying to use this power to locate the vault (gold, or whatever big concentration of money).

Super-Senses 5 (Valuable Object Awareness; Descriptor Frequency: Very Common; Sense Type: Olfactory, Default: Radius, Ranged; Extras: Acute, Tracking)

 

Edited June 20, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

Greed is good!

 

Came the whispers from the infinite Gods of greed, envy, and gold. And they were not wrong - greed was in this case very good for locating the gold. As Luke had expected, it was on the lower level. And...

 

...the Size!

 

It was indeed a fortune. Highest quality solid gold. Heaps of it. 

 

"I say, boy." said short short, fat, man with a Cigar and a Zoot suit. He had backcombed hair and heavy jowels, but Luke could tell he had plenty of muscles under his suit, and plenty of callouses on his knuckles. "I order my Lobster sandwiches 10 minutes ago. Still not here. What are you doing loitering about? Get to the boiling!"

 

The man tapped his cigar into his empty champagne glass, eyeing one of the crapshoot tables and pondering how lucky he felt. 

[Nerdzul]

Woah. Woah. Woah. 

 

That was a freakin' hoard. Hidden beneath the casino. More gold that he could have imagined. Heaps of it. His dragon-eyes emerged for a split second, coloring his irises of solid gold as he basked in the scent. What if... He could imagine himself resting on the pile of ill-gotten gains... Ehrm... spending it for the good of the community... Of course... Obviously... That's what he meant... Besides, there was no chance that Mr. Blowfish had a ton of gold stored under the casino for legal reasons right? It would be a white crime...  Yeah... No... He was... 

 

The man hars words interrupted his moral conundrum. Fortunately perhaps. 

 

"Of course sir." He lowered his eyes and tried to regain his composure. "I am sure that it is on the way... You will be served in no time." ... served what you deserve...

"Perhaps you can push your luck while I check it for you?" He suggested.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Hrmph..." muttered the man. "I  guess a throw of the dice then..."

 

The man strutted off, shoulders squared, leaning forward, trying to project the image of a tough guy. Too add to the effect, he loudly muttered something about betting more money that the "damn waiters make in a year". 

 

A man in a white dinner jacket, observing the interaction, gave a tsk of dissaproval as he passed by. 

 

"Never mind him. Dice is a game of luck, about the only game a man like that can play. What a cesspool this place is, huh? But I gotta check out the competition. Say, if you ever want a better job, come to the High Steaks. I'll see what I can do... but just watch your step round here, kid. Don't want to be on the wrong end of a tommy gun when you finish your shift."

 

The man gave a little salute and passed Luke by, sitting down at a poker table and expertly flipping cards. 

 

Meanwhile, the golden hoard was still golden and still a hoard. 

 

Luke could see a few stair cases downwards, but this seemed to be where the big name thugs came and went, some drunk, some flush, some broke. It was also where the gold was piled high. Ready to be plucked...

 

...but who would do the plucking???

Edited June 26, 2023 by Supercape

[Nerdzul]

"Good luck sir." Luke bowed his head a little, before going his own way.

 

"Thanks sir. Will stay away from tommy guns... Sir." He grinned and nodded at the newcomer as well. He did feel a bit out of place didn't him? Perhaps he could be part of the heist? No way of knowing though and he didn't feel like tailing a random stranger, especially with the hoard of gold waiting for him downstairs... 

 

Now, somehow he doubted that they would let a random cook inside... Yep. Perhaps he needed a new change of clothing, one that would help commanding some respect... And for that he was gonna find someone with roughly the same build that was 'willing' to provide. He threw a glance at the big guy who had just interrupted him... Pondering if perhaps he could be the lucky 'donor'. 

 

Spoiler

Luke is gonna try and look for someone roughly of his size who is also possibly that is isolated enough, that looks like he is a thug that he could mug for a proper attire... (He has skill mastery on Notice with +10 if needed). 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

As luck would have it, the Big guy was about the right size. Maybe a bit to big round the belly - for it had sagged with age, booze and fine dining. But it would be close enough. 

 

The man was throwing dice, and failing. 

 

"Snake Eyes!"

 

"Screw this! Dang it!" the man cursed, finishing off the entire glass of champagne. Perhaps the alcohol had reached his bladder, for the thug loosened his belt...

 

"I need a whizz..." he mumbled, waddling off to the Gentleman's toilets to relieve himself. His gait revealed a very full bladder indeed, for it seemed he was reluctant to apply any more pressure or jolt to his bladder for fear of setting of an embarrassing chain reaction. 

 

The toilers were mercifully near, and mercifully empty. Pretty clean, with that same faux-gold finish that permeated the whole casino. No doubt dozens had wept at their losses in quiet in one of the cubicles, but not so today. 

 

With a quick look around, Luke could see that nobody else was approaching the toilets... it would be just him and the thug...

 

For now...

[Nerdzul]

Luke smirked as he realized he found a good mark. Sure, it wasn't perfect, the guy was somewhat taller and definitely packed a few extra pounds compared to him... Too many sandwiches maybe?  Beggars can't be choosy, though.

 

Now, he just needed for the right occasion... Luck seemed to be on his side when the man disappeared into the bathrooms.

 

He waited a few moments, just to be safe, grabbed a tray that laid abandoned on a table nearby and walked inside as well, light on his feet. Now, sure, a dragon might not have much need of stealth, but as a kid born and bred at Southside's trailer perk, Luke had learned how to thread lightly. 

 

The young man gave the thug all the time he needed to finish his business, then he gently tapped the mobster on a shoulder. "Pardon me sir... May I serve you some... "

 

As the man began to turn and grunted a response, Luke, with a fluid movement, cut it short with a well placed swing of the tray. "... karma..." 

 

Now, in a cartoon world, that blow would have left a perfect imprint of the thug's face on the faux silver, in the real one, it was still, more than enough to knock him out cold.

 

Guess... it's too late to discuss my tip... 

 

Luke smirked. As he surveyed the man unconscious form.  

 

Gonna have to help myself. 

 

After quickly trading clothes with the unlucky thug, Luke took a moment to admire his new appearance in one of the mirrors. A mischievous grin spread across his face. Admittedly the 'mobster' style seemed to fit him.

 

When he was done, he called on a little bit of his magic and open a gateway toward his own 'Hoard'.

 

I bet you are not gonna enjoy this when you wake up. 

 

He chuckled, as he deposited the fellow in his personal realm. Can't allow you to go out telling everyone what happened, sorry... 

 

Spoiler

Nightscale is going to use Dimensional Movement 1 (Extra: Affect Others+1, Flaws: Limited [Only to the Dragon's Hoard and Back]) to deposit the poor guy in his pocket plane. The place looks like a massive dragon lair, full of treasure, that unfortunately aren't real and can't be brought into the material realm.

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The suit fitted, by and large. Maybe the pants were a little too short, but unless one was really scrutinising the fashion, it was a good match. 

 

Walking back to the casino floor, little had changed. Maybe one or two gansters gave a nod, maybe a few thick set bodyguards stiffened, maybe a few molls eyes him up, but such was the power of threads. 

 

Walking down the stairs, Luke caught the wiff of smoke. Cigar smoke. Cuban, if one had the nose and the experience to detect the subtle differences in flavour. 

 

A pair of wooden doors stood at the bottom. And beside them, in a chair, a very large man. 

 

A very large man indeed. He must have been over six and a half feet and gave the impression of being twice as wide. A scar ran across one blind eye, his nose was broken, and both ears had a cauliflower look. This was clearly no regular thug. This was a bruiser, a warrior, a killer. 

 

And he was in the way. 

 

"Huh. Who you?" he asked, scratching his nose. "This is private members only..."