ic The Sun in the Shade

[Supercape]

GM

 

"Sure, honey!" said one of the girls. "Its public service, ain't it? I mean, its horrible and anything and you know really horrible..."

 

The other two nodded. 

 

The first continued. "Social media! Its going to be use in evidence and stuff. And we get tons of hits for this."

 

The other two nodded, eyes wide in delight at the thought of such a bounty. 

 

The smiles were wiped of their faces as Sunshade, now fully corpreal but still completely black jumped out from the bottom of the car. Everyone gasped - the street wasn't busy but it wasnt quiet either. The sight of a living shadow was strange, even for Freedom City. 

 

"Hey, are you some kind of super hero?" said the first girl. "The hits are going to be off the scale for this!" she said, barely believing her luck. 

 

"Thats right, ladies!" smiled Sunshade, his crafty burning orange eyes swinging to Jack. "I'm a superhero! Ill just pose for you all whilst this lady metes out justice to her husband for some vague and irrelevant reason!" he said, striking a faux-flying pose and laughing. 

 

"Pfftft!" said the woman in the car. "You need a superhero to save you!" she laughed at her husband. "You really are a pathetic excuse for a man!"

[Jack]

Jack let out a growl at Sunshade's appearance, but he turned towards the main woman. "Yous is the one beating another human being for fun on camera..." He said, shaking his head in disgust. "What could he have done to deserve dis?" Jack asked, looking between the husband and wife and trying to ignore the demon.

 

Jack did not understand the appeal of social media, and even less about views and whatever else they mentioned...but this all felt very off.

[Supercape]

GM

 

The woman in the car stepped out, and spat at Jack, apparently without fear. So blinded by rage, she didnt even notice the living shadow standing to one side, and orange smirk on his face. 

 

"Keep your nose out of this, musclehead!" she screamed. "Its a free country! You are oppressing me! Oppression!"

 

A small crowd was accumulating around them. A furious woman, a living shadow, and a huge young lad. Quite the spectacle, even for Freedom City. Jack could he whisperings and camera clicks circling around the crowd. 

 

"Oppression!" said Sunshade, orating to the crowd. "Oppression of women! Bullying! Harassment! Aren't you angry?" he asked. 

 

There was no doubt about it, Sunshade was looking fat now. Obese, even. It was impossible to make out the definition of pure blackness, but his torso had become very wide, and wobbled when he moved. Even Sunshades normally slim neck looked fat. 

Edited October 6 by Supercape

[Jack]

Jack tilted his head, generally curious what was going on here. This was beyond pointless and stupid now. He looked straight in the woman's face and calmly pointed at her husband. "I agree. You are oppressing and bullying this man, and when asked why, yous do not explain, but seem to think I am somehow at fault for yous actions." Jack shook his head. "If it truly is a free country, then I should be free to know why yous hurting someone else, and stop someone from hurting someone else." He casually wipes the spit from his face. "I have not raised hand to yous, yet you feel free to insult me."

[Supercape]

GM

 

The Crowd were starting to get riled up - Jack could smell it. Fear, adrenaline, rage. It was in the sweat, in the air. And Sunshade was savouring every morsel of it. 

 

Some of the crowd were shouting at Jack to leave the woman alone. He was three times her size. 

 

Some of the crowd - the wiser ones, or the ones that had seen the abuse of her husband - were trying to explain the situation. 

 

But nobody was really listening. Not any more. 

 

Who through the first punch? Who knew. But suddenly Jack, the snapchat girls, and the angry woman were being jostled by an angry crowd, a few seconds away from a full out riot, and already elbows, fists and knees where being used, amidst the screams and the shoves. 

[Jack]

Jack sighed heavily as the situation devolved into chaos. Nothing made sense anymore. His eyes darted around, taking in the frenzied crowd, their faces contorted with inexplicable anger. Then his gaze landed on Sunshade, and the demon's expression made everything click into place.

 

Rage flared within Jack. This spirit was manipulating innocent people, feeding off their emotions like a parasite. His first instinct was to let the bear out, to use its intimidating presence to quell the riot. But as quickly as the thought came, he pushed it away. That was exactly what Sunshade wanted - more anger to feast upon.

 

Jack took a deep breath, forcing the fury to dissipate. He wouldn't be the reason these people hurt each other. Not if he could help it.

 

With determination, he began pushing through the crowd. Bodies pressed against him, elbows jabbed his sides, but Jack kept moving. His eyes remained fixed on Sunshade's flickering form. He had to get away, to remove the demon's influence from these people.

 

"Out of my vay," Jack growled, his voice low but firm as he shouldered past the angry mob. He could feel Sunshade's hunger growing, feeding off the chaos around them. It only made Jack more resolute in his mission to leave.