ic Golden Gloves

[Nerdzul]

Luke strolled through the bustling casino floor, doing his best to blend in with the gangsters who roamed the labyrynth of slot machines and poker tables. He mirrored their leisurely pace, nodding back casually to those who glanced his way. A dragon, among the sheep, it was almost too easy...

 

But of course, it couln't last. A guard, well, he could not expect that the boss would allow anyone to get to the hoard without opposition.

 

Luke held his ground, maintaining a confident posture, relaxed with a light smirk on his lips.

 

"Yeah, I am aware." Luke responded, meeting the bruiser's gaze head-on. In the short moment when their eyes crossed, his emerald irises flickered, briefly revealing glimpses of a realm filled with primordial dread. The man was a killer, sure, but to a dragon, the lamb and the wolf, they were all equally prey in the grand scheme of things.

 

"Boss wants extra security tonight," Luke continued matter-of-factly. "Can't trust a bunch of sissies to protect the jackpot, you know?" He chuckled playfully. 

 

"I happen to be just that." He added, as if he was explaining a rudimentary concept to a child. "If it wasn't glaringly obvious."

 

He let the last sentences sink in for a few moments, his heart racing under the facade of arrogance as he prayed his words would be enough. Then, seemingly uncaring of the guard's actions, he walked past the man.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Extra Security..."

 

The Thugs eyes seemed to swish around lazy, caught in a haze of uncaring bliss. 

 

"Yes, thats right... extra security.... that sweet jackpot needs security. Like me. Like You..."

 

The thugs seemed totally content with the outlandish story; maybe it was magic, maybe it was tiredness, maybe it was the bravado of Luke. 

 

And the suit helped. 

 

Luke walked straight past the man and into the private area. 

 

Drinks bar, with waiter. Serving olives and a variety of drinks. Lamentably, everyone was drinking whiskey. So the fine vodka, wine and port all went untouched. 

 

Four men sat around a table with a green vlevet finish, playing poker. The men all wore suits, open shirts, and had thick cuban cigars jammed between their lips. From the angle he came in, Luke could see one thugs - a heavily jowled man - had a pair of kings, and the cards on the table looked pretty much in his favour - a king, a two of clubs. One card yet to be turned. The stakes looked high; large piles of tokens sliding into each other in the centre of the table. 

 

Four other men - large, silent, armed, stood around the room. All bodyguards, all alert for trouble. 

 

At the other end of the room was a large vault door. Luke could sense the high density gold loitering just on the other side of the solid steel...

 

 

[Nerdzul]

Luke had to wait until he was no longer in sight from the guard to manifest his relief with a deep sigh. He was winging it and he knew it. The crew behind the upcoming heist, likely had a much better plan. One not relying on bravado or luck. Whatever. 

 

There you are!  

 

His grin widened as he felt the presence of the hoard. It was so close, yet far at the same time. He wondered even if his unnatural strength would be enough to break trough the solid steel. Perhaps later. He needed a bit more intel first. 

 

The young man headed for the bar.

 

"Whiskey. Neat. Make it double." He saluted the waiter with a nod. Now in theory, the boy was too young too drink (not that anyone would likely mind here), but that also meant that he was far from an expert on the matter. Deep down, he hoped that by keeping his order simple he hadn't made a fool of himself.

 

"Slow night?" He asked, his gaze shifting lazily back to the game, perhaps, he could spice things up with a magic trick. That would make a good distraction, in case he needed one. 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Barkeeper gave a noncholant shrug and said not a ward. He poured a conservative double that looked rather stingy; it was more like a shot and a half, if that. 

 

The game continued. A final king was turned. 

 

The man with the pocket pair sat stony faced, despite having four kings. He had a poker face, no doubt. The bets started collecting in the middle, and the man with four kings didnt bat an eyelid. 

 

"Pfft..." he hissed. A tic; blowing out air that made his cheeks expand like a big band trumpeter. 

 

"That's yer tell, Blowfish" laughed one of the other players, nervously. "Yer bluffing, ain't ya?"

 

"He always does that. I reckon he got a killer hand" said a second player. 

 

"Yeah, but maybe he does it more when he's bluffing. I reckon he's bluffing. He ain't got nuthin'. I'm all in!"

 

Despite the chitter chatter and the raised stakes, Blowfish - the man with a thick nexk, heavy jowels, and four kings, didn't give any indication of his hand. He calmly matched the enormous bet. He gave another tic... "Pfft..."

 

The room was silent, and Luke could just make out the rumbling sound of drilling coming from the other side of the vault door. The players, and now the body guards, were all too engrossed in the high tension of the game to pay attention to anything else. 

[Nerdzul]

Cheapskate... Whatever. Luke still left a tip (gently provided by the previous owner of his suit) and nodded a "'nks" to the waiter. He, then took his shot in one go, trying to play it out how he expected that mobsters would go for it. Now, while despite his young age this wasn't his first time tasting alcohol, the boy was by far not accustomed to drinking. "Woah..." He tried to recover some composure, hoping that the rest of the gangsters were too focused on the game to notice him. 

 

His attention shifted to poker table, as well, the young dragon almost missed the persistent drilling sound. It made sense, but somehow he was expecting some elaborate casino heist, of the like to make Ocean's Eleven (or any of the million sequels) proud. Then again... Grabber" Gibbins Yeah...  He shook hos head. He needed to take a look at that door and for that all eyes in the room had to be away from it.

 

He waited for the game to reach its climax, the hidden hands now revealed. Once that was set, he relied once again on his gift for illusion. "Hey... That's cheating..." A voice shouted when the game was set roughly from the direction of the group of bodyguards, in a tone that was hopefully generic enough that its origin would stay undefined. Then he introduced another small change, shifting card second from the top left in the deck into one of the kings that Mr. Blowfish had just revealed. 

Edited July 3, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Whiskey was smooth, by the standards of a whiskey conneseur. By the standards of a young man unused to it, it tasted like sandpaper on the throat. Smooth sandpaper, perhaps. But still, sandpaper was sandpaper. 

 

The final card was turned. Another king. 

 

Blowfish could not help but raise his eyebrows. His jowels wobbled with another tic. 

 

Five kings. Two in his hand. three on the table. 

 

Blowfish looked left and right. Whilst he was no cheating, he realised he looked like he was cheating. Someone was setting him up. His eyes worked their way back to the massive pot of chips. His forehead did the calculations - getting caught "cheating", getting his hands on the cash. 

 

He tossed his King into the centre of the table. 

 

"Four kings, boys. Pots mine!"

 

Greed had won. And Luke could sense greed flowing around the table. 

 

"Cheat! Show us your other card!"

 

"Calling me a liar?"

 

It escalated in seconds. Fortunately no guns were drawn, but suddenly all four gamblers and all four bodyguards were wrestling with each other, trying to grab cards, trying to grav poker chips, trying to strangle, slap and spit at each other, all to the tune of insults and counter insults. 

 

The barkeeper had wisely ducked underneath the bar...

[Nerdzul]

Luke sighed and then threw a playful smirk at the barkeeper. "Good choice." He muttered. Well... time to check the big door. Unfortunately he would have to let his illusion fade if he wanted to rely on his full power, but... well... it felt like the mobsters were a tiny bit too busy to check. He took a few stride toward the door and then inspected it.

 

How hard would it be to pry it open? He wondered... 

 

And if there wasn't any... Which even with the strength of a creature of myth was not unlikely. Well, perhaps he could find a way to convince the ones that emerged victorious from the brawl to help him out. 

[Nerdzul]

The vault proved to be heavy, but as far as he was concerned, the young dragon was confident that he could try to pry it open like a tin can. A very noisy tin can, unfortunately. He threw a glance at he mobsters that were still brawling for their prize, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Perhaps he could wait to see if they managed to knock each other down and then deal with the winners (If he had to bet, Mr. Blowfish seemed like he would have the edge, if only for being the boss), the faint drilling sound from the other side of the wall though, reminded him that he didn't have all day. 

 

Whatever...  He shrugged.

 

Now bunched as they were, his dragonfire could have probably done wonders. Tempting, but, then again, they were criminal perhaps, but not of the super-kinda that he had grown accustomed to face, they didn't deserve it. Plus... fire... inside a building... Yeah... 

 

Still, he just needed to keep them occupied a little bit longer didn't him?

 

Drawing upon his ancestral connection to the sin that was now brutally on display, Luke shaped out of nothing golden chains made of pure greed and unleashed them on the small crowd of criminals. Hopefully that would be enough.... 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Greed is good!

 

Except when it is bad. Like now. Bad for the thugs!

 

Perhaps the chains were attracted to the spike in greed from cheating gamblers. Perhaps the vast amount of gold nearby added an additional strength to every link. Maybe the thugs were just doing busy wrestling each other and trying to pull aces tucked in sleeves. Whatever the reason, the golden chains looped and spun, and in a (golden) flash, every thug in the room was tied up like an egyptian mummy. 

 

Eight figures, standing tall, wrapped in loops of golden chain. 

 

"What the....?" came eight cries, almost in unison, followed by eight thuds. Completely unable to move, all the goons tumbled to the floor, rolling around like snakes in a pipe. 

 

The man with the jowels and the tic seemed to recover from his fury and shock quicker than the others. Blowfish was his name. 

 

"Pfffft.... Get me out of this!" he yelled at Nightscale. 

 

"Wait... who are you?" he said, squinting. "I don't recognise you... who the hell are you? And what did you do?"

[Nerdzul]

Luke smirked as his spell enveloped the mobsters. Now, won't last forever. But it definitely was something. 

 

"Who am I... is my business... I'm sorry mate." He chuckled, resisting the temptation to reveal himself as Nightscale, or the Soutshide dragon, for now at least. "And as for what I am up to... Well... I am here to preempt a crime. Feels like I am in the right place." He chuckled. Turning to face the vault door. "Do you hear that?" He mentioned, raising one hand close to his ear, as he pointed at the drilling, wondering how far the crew was from breaking in.

 

"Now. I presume that none of you is gonna tell me the combination right?" He shrugged.

 

"So... let me work... will you?" He stretched his muscles and then started to try and force the massive door open.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

"That's my Gold!" yelled Blowfish. 

 

"No, its mine, yah cheat!" yelled another. 

 

No matter the truth, the ensnared and impotent mobsters starting screaming and shouting at Luke, at each other, and the divinities in a ghastly cacophony of accusation and counter accusation. 

 

Meanwhile, the giant reinforced steel vault door started to bend, and crumple, under the merely magnificent might of Nightscale...

 

CREAK! 

 

And then, with a final groan, the door came of the hinges!

 

The gangsters stopped, lost for words. Except Blowfish. 

 

"Pfft.... It's gone!"

 

It had indeed. Whilst a few bricks of gold lay on the floor in a disorganised fashion, the bulk of the treasure had been taken. At the other end of the vault, a tunnel. 

 

Someone had drilled through the earth and the vault walls, and made off with the lions share of the gold!

 

And in the distance, up the tunnel, Luke could hear a stomping, whining sound. 

[Nerdzul]

Luke whistled playfully as he applied all of his considerable strength to force open the massive vault.

 

"It's a toughie... this one. Good choice of safe, mate..." He teased the group of trapped mobsters, as the tension grew in his muscles.

Gone! The young man's eyes widened. Those guys are fast. Damn.

 

"Well... that's something." He sighed. Now he is gonna have to chase them. 

 

"If the mountain doesn't go..." He shook his head.

 

"Stay where you are, will you?" The young dragon addressed the trapped gangsters without turning to face the mobsters and darted into the darkness.

 

Now, sure the spell will not last forever, but hopefully it would buy him enough of a headstart to deal with the heist.  

 

Guided by his enhanced senses and the scent of gold and riches, he navigated the tunnel dashing fast, but slowing down once he felt confident that he was close enough to the loot. 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

The tunnel was roughly hewn and jagged, but easy enough to travel down. Light streamed down the slope, faint but present. The colour of the city. 

 

Luke could the sound of lapping waves, the rumble of night time traffic. The tunnel must have been drilled down from the shoreline. 

 

Ahead, he could hear the crunch crunch steps of a lumbering figure. A big figure, a big shadow. With every step, the figure made a whirring sound. The figure dragged, via a metal cord, a huge sack of gold. Luke could hear the clinking of gold on gold - and the sack was brimming so much that every few steps a gold bar would fall loose onto the tunnel floor. 

 

As he got closer, Luke could see the figure more clearly - although the figure could not see Luke. No eyes on the back of the head, and too engaged in his task. And besides, Luke was as quiet as a mouse with woolen slippers. 

 

The figure?

 

None other than a sweating Grabber Gibbons...

 

Around his huge body was an exoskeleton of wires and poles - like a cage. Except the cage moved, powered by advanced power cells on its back. Grabber Gibbons was already a strong man, but with the exoskeleton frame round his body, he was clearly massively strong. And his hands? Two giant claws, claws that could spin and rotate so fast that they could drill through solid rock!

Edited July 11, 2023 by Supercape

[Nerdzul]

Well that was definitely something... An exoskeleton to dig through the wall of the casino. Admittedly that felt a bit more like Grabber Gibbons bag of tricks than a high level casino heist. He wondered how exactly the guy had managed to get access to that piece of tech.

 

Then again, perhaps an explanation could wait after the robbery (and the fate of the gold) was decided. From a pocket, he pulled out a balaclava to conceal his features, now the mobsters didn't know him well enough, but Grabber had been at the trailer park for long enough to have bumped into Luke more than a few times, there was no point in risking being recolonized. It wasn't his costume, of course, but unfortunately he lacked the time to put it on properly.

 

Still as light as a shadow, Luke navigated the tunnel until he was close enough to the armored brute. I wonder if you like just a tad more gold... He thought, smirking playfully as he conjured another trick one that he had only recently learned how to perform. He lounged to touch the battery pack on the suit's back. Now, with the product of super-science, you never know what is going to happen, but if it worked, the device would turn into gold and with a little bit of luck, drain at least a bit of the offensive power of Mr. Gibbons. 

 

"Going somewhere?" He teased playfully. 

 

 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Bzzzzzzzt!

 

As soon as Luke touched the exoskeleton, sparks flew! And electric shock, like a taser, ran up Lukes hand, tingling all the nerves. 

 

"What? What?...." gasped Grabber Gibbons. 

 

He started to run - a clumsy affair in the exoskeleton, and even more clumsy now... for the entire machine had turned to gold!

 

In but a second the whole thing had ground to a halt. Even with Grabber's prostigious size and equally prostigious strength, he could not make the machine move. It was out of power. Although arguably, now it was solid gold, he had even more loot to play with. 

 

With a grunt of effort, he managed to bend the arms to the solid gold "EMERGENCY RELEASE" handle, and unlock the bars that held him in the machine. He fell flat on his face, starting to crawl away. 

 

And maybe he would do so - although without his prize. the golden machine blocked the tunnel in between Luke and Grabber Gibbons. 

 

And now they were almost in complete darkness, for the exterior lights of the exoskeleton had gone out. They just the faint street lights fifty feet away from them, shining down the tunnel and glinting on the newly minted gold!

[Nerdzul]

Woah... Luke shook his head and stretched his arms as he let his body weather the shock of the electric discharge. At least, he had managed to keep his magic going for long enough to Grabber to consider escaping. 

 

"Hey! Where are you going man? We haven't finished talking..." He shouted at the escaping criminal from the tunnel. Unfortunately, there was now an obstacle between them, cutting the way. "Stop! I just want to talk." Not that it was likely that Grabber would listen... "Trust me, I want this gold out of the grasp of those gangsters too..." He suggested.

 

Luke sighed, taking a quick look at the now transformed exoskeleton before he began doing his best to dislodge the metal contraption or at least move it out of the way enough to create an opening for him to crawl through. That thing was heavy though, perhaps even more now that he had turned it into solid gold...

[Supercape]

GM

 

Grabber was a large man, but the tunnel was larger. For some reason, he seemed to scrabble up the tunnel with remarkable agility - perhaps he was more comfortable on four limbs than two, given the expanse of his midriff. Perhaps it was that he was not merely fat, but under that adipose tissue lay generous amounts of muscle. 

 

Out of shape, perhaps. Because he started breathing hard, started sweating. 

 

Luke tore the golden exoskeleton aside with effort. It was jammed in, and the only way he could squeeze past was by both breathing in and beding solid gold bars..

 

...and even then there was a hideous chance he would get stuck!

 

And the clock was ticking...

 

"You belch-bottom!" yelled Grabber down the tunnel. the light may not have penetrated far, but the walls of the tunnel carried sound, and echoes, extremely well. "You know how much gold that is? I can split it with you.... fifty fifty!"

 

The yell was from the top of the tunnel, street level, and interspaced with violent pants. Grabber Gibbons was out of breath, but nearly out of the tunnel. 

 

And Luke was trying to squeeze, stretch, and squash....

[Nerdzul]

Damn! That freakin' exoskeleton was truly struck and somehow, Luke wasn't confident that he would be able to pass through even if he returned the contraption back to normal, besides, squeezing past it while the electricity was on didn't sound like the smartest plan anyway.

 

"Not exactly what I have in mind... But I am sure that we can reach an agreement... Before the mobsters that I have trapped in the vault room break free." He added. "My bet is, they won't be happy..." 

 

"Here is my offer..." He shouted. "You help me out carry the gold and then we discuss how to split it in front of a cold beer..." Yeah and maybe he can also explain him where he got that fancy tech of his. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Grabber Gibbons looked behind him, peering into the darkness, past the glinting gold into the eyes of Luke. 

 

A wiser man would have cut his losses. But Grabber Gibbons was not a wiser man. Not even a wise man. Nor even a man of average wisdom. No, for Grabber Gibbons was a man of greed, and when greed ruled the castle, wisdom was drowned in the moat. 

 

"Cold beer, eh? Sounds good...."

 

He started crawling back, before Greed gave birth to a desperate sort of cunning. 

 

"Wait... sixty fourty split. No, wait... mmmm best try my luck..." he mumbled out loud. "Seventy-thirty I mean. Looks like a can carry a lot more than you, so fairs fair, right?"

 

He wiped his brow, still panting heavily. 

 

Behind him, back by the vault, Luke caught the faint sounds of activity. The kind of activity and sound that would be tantamount to guns be cocked and curses being proclaimed. The gold chains would not hold the goons forever, and the alarm had been raised...

[Nerdzul]

"My man..." Luke replied with a friendly smile, albeit one that much likely wasn't that noticeable in the darkness. "I just turned your contraption into gold, trust me I can carry a lot..." He chuckled.

 

"Let's get the jackpot safe first ok?" He suggested. "Grab as much as you can carry I'll do the same..." He asked, a moment later.

 

Then, once they both had gathered as much god as it was reasonably possible. "Now give me a hand will you?" Luke added. "No need to run, I can bring us somewhere safe where we can split up the loot in peace." Yeah and where you can start xplain' who is behind all of this. Now, of course, Grabber could have, like, stolen the gear, or something, but even if that was the case, it was worthy to know where. Plus, to be honest. The young man needed some time to figure out what to do with the gold anyway. 

 

Now, hopefully, Grabber would accept his offer, so that Luke can transport the both of them into his lair. For some proper, dragonic interrogation act.

[Supercape]

GM

 

"You just screwed my loader" complained Grabber Gibbons, although he was big and strong enough to carry plenty on his own. His hands, however, did not have the rotating characteristic of the loader, which had managed to drill right down to the vault - and through it. 

 

"...And what did you do to it anyway? Looks like you turned it to Gold? What are you? Midas Man? I bets its fools gold, hahahaha! You cant fool me. Grabber Gibbons is too smart for that. Wait... is it real gold? Wow... we could make a fortune!"

 

He tapped the still golden loader exoskeleton. "I mean, if you can do that, why even bother with the jackpot, eh? I got some great rocks I could sell you. We could make a fortune... I supply the rocks, you turn em to gold!"

 

He tapped his forehead and have Luke a wink. "Old Grabber Gibbons got plenty of brains, you see!"

 

Irrespective of Grabber Gibbons brain power, or lack of it, he was not so foolish as to pass up any oppurtunity if it involved gold. He still started picking up the vault gold and hauling it to the surface. 

 

And the clock was ticking. 

 

Because the goons by the vault had broken free of golden chains and were on the march. 

 

"Pffft! Thieves! Vagabonds! Crooks!" yelled Blowfish, the fat goon with the tic. Luke could just make him out at the bottom of the tunnel, tommy gun in hand. And he was not alone...

[Nerdzul]

"Nop not gonna happen." Luke honestly sighed, he wished that his gold would last more than a few minutes, it would help fixing a lot of stuff, but alas, it did not work that way. "You got me, it's real gold, but it's not gonna stay like that forever." He chuckled. 

 

"No need to run away though... Don't worry, just gather the stuff, my way out is a lot faster than walking..." He grinned. Sure, perhaps Grabber would not like a visit to his Hoard, but then again, gangsters couldn't get there (unless they had like an evil mob wizards on their side... which... was not impossible... after all there were mob doctors... why not mob sorcerors, right?). 

 

Himself, he did his best to gather as much of the gold as he could. Now, it was not a superhero job to help with a robbery, but leaving the Jackpot with someone like Mr.  Blowfish wasn't exactly better, right? 

 

"Time to go, man." He told, once he realized that the band of gangsters was nearby. "Now give me a hand... will you?" He offered Grabber his. Then, assuming that everything went right. He would bring them both into his private realm, an impossibly vast cave (he wasn't exactly sure what his Hoard was made of, but if he had to guess, it was a place whose nature was similar to a dream or a tale than actual reality), filled to the brim with coins of any size of shape, none, unfortunately that was real or material enough to be brought into the real world. 

 

"Bye Bye." He waved at the mobsters, with a cocky smirk on his lips. 

[Supercape]

GM

 

Grabber Gibbons did indeed give a hand, his limited brain working overtime to make the best of a bad situation. 

 

Zing!

 

And there they were, in another place filled with gold.

 

"What the hock-a-tootin darnation cottoncakes is this?" he gasped, spinning around to take in the cave full of gold. Lots of cave, and lots of gold. 

 

"Where the dandy are we? What did you do? What sorcery is this?"

 

He knelt in reverence, brushing the gold beneath his feet, feeling it with his fingertips, his eyes wide as saucers. 

 

"Look man... I don't know who you are or what you can do. But if this is yours, then count me in. Whatever you need Grabbin', I'm your man, They don't call me Grabber Gibbons for nuthin!"

[Nerdzul]

Luke chuckled at Grabber's colorful expletives. Himself, he had a similar reaction the first time he saw this place.

 

"Indeed it's mine. All of it." He grinned.

 

"This..." He made an ample gesture toward piles of treasures. "...is my hoard."

 

"And, my bet bet..., this is just the least fk-ed up thing you're gonna see today." He grinned playfully.

 

Then his eyes began to glow again as he shed his human form. Obsidian scales flowed like glass on his skin, rows of golden crests formed on his back as wings erupted from his shoulders. His body grew at an impressive speed and soon, the nineteen years old in an ill fitting stolen mobster suit was gone, replaced by a black-scaled, bus-sized lizard with glowing golden eyes. The young dragon stretched his wings and neck, lazily, adapting to his true form.

 

"Now... Perhaps... I can use your help. Grabbing, though, is not what I need, it's giving that I'd rather do..."

 

"But first... there is something I want to know. Where did you get fancy exoskeleton of yours? And don't tell me that it fell off a truck." He smiled, revealing the rows upon rows of sharp fangs in his mouth. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Nerdzul

[Supercape]

GM

 

Grabber Gibbons dropped to his knees. He was a tough guy, but he was no dragon, and he wasn't ashamed to admit it.

 

"It fell of a tru --- no wait, I can't use that excuse. How about my long lost grandfather gifted it to me in a will? No? I can't use that excuse either? How about it was buried under my lawn and I found it with a metal detector? No? Dang, I am running out of excuses...."

 

He clucked and flexed his fingers, eyes darting left and right. 

 

"Alright, alright. It was some mad scientist guy. I mean, I dont know if he was a scientist, or mad for that matter. But he loaned it to me, on the basis that I would get half the gold. Which was quite a lot - even if it isn't this much..." he explained, waving his arms around the chasm of treasure. 

 

"If you come from where I come from, it was a lot. More than a man can dream of, even if you are me."

 

He shook himself out of his wistful thinking. 

 

"Yeah. Some engineer, inventor, kind of guy. Had lot of computers and stuff. Wasn't even playing Shoot em dead until they die ... that's my favourite game by the way. Was doing proper science on them. Lives out of town, by the sea front."