[FWC 16] Inner demons

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Jarlath
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[FWC 16] Inner demons

#1 Post by Jarlath »

      Small drops of clear liquid explode on the hardwood floors like miniature volcanic eruptions. The damp rings add even more darkness to the wood’s patina and seem to highlight the infrequent dents and nicks that have been worn into the aged planks. For a second or two the faint sound of steel scraping on wood echoed in the otherwise quiet room, followed by a soft click as the katana is secured into its sheath. The dozen of wall mounted candles cast flickering shadows across the man’s shirtless form. The sweat makes his body sparkle as his breathing slows back to normal.

      Standing still, his black hair plastered against his scalp and across his shoulders, his eyes still closed from concentration, the man takes a long deep breath. Without a sound he calmly walks towards the small altar on the wall next to the sole entrance of the room while unfastening the scabbard from him. With deliberate and practiced ease the man kneels on the mat before the altar and reverently places it on the lowest of the three racks. Despite the nearly a quarter day of losing himself in kenjutsu, battoujutsu, and iaijutsu, thoughts of the past came unbidden once again.

      It was almost four years ago now when the authorities came to the mansion, the servant hurriedly pushing him to the front door as the uniformed officers refused to give any information to anyone not of Spirto lineage. The corporate jet had been lost over the Balearic Sea on the way back to Spain from Italy. All eight crew and passengers had been lost, including corporation CEO and owner, Marcos Spirto. He had stood in shock for several seconds as he processed the information, the sudden realization that only he and his older sister remained of the family. Tears came regardless of all attempts contrary and for what seemed like an eternity he remained locked in his room ignoring all others before sleep finally came. It was less than a month later that his sister, Adrianna, has disappeared as authorities began searching for her in connection with the plane crash. Being the last of the Spirto family meant he also inherited the responsibility of running his father’s holding company, Spirto Acquisitions Incorporated. No more playboy lifestyle, no more gallivanting across the globe to go clubbing, no more martial arts training from his father, no more sparring with his sister… No more family… No more joy…

      He had spent nearly a whole year and millions of dollars to find out the whereabouts of Adrianna, and the company had suffered. Seeing his father’s legacy failing, he had then quickly learned to delegate and rebuilt SAI’s base, image, and market shares to a new level that his hoped would have made his father proud. His accomplishments and status were the envy of many; multi-millionaire, able to speak several languages, a lean body of an Olympic athlete, and an avid practitioner of martial arts. There was however no pride in his work, no ego to congratulate, only a sense of duty to his family heritage, and the driving need to live up to what he perceived as his father’s expectations. Despite his personable demeanour and easy going attitude, he was nothing but a shell, empty inside except for the demons he held in check...

      A light female voice broke through his thoughts, “Mr. Spirto. As per your instructions, Mr. Crane is coming up for his one o’clock appointment with you.”

      He silently cursed himself, he gotten engrossed in the past again and lost track of time. No time for a shower, much less get dressed out of his Gi. Pressing the button on his watch, he replied back. “Thank you Anne.” Eyes still closed, he marshalled his thoughts and counted the seconds. Ten. Eleven. Twelve. Thir…

      The knock on the Dojo door was firm, fractions of a second before it opened. The middle aged man stepping in had seen him at his emotional worst, and walking in and seeing him sitting seiza-style, in front of his memorial to his father and sister would not faze the visitor in the least. The door quietly closed behind him.

      A couple seconds passed as the newcomer gazed out the window of the dojo. “James, every time I come here I am always amazed by the breath taking view you have here, even with the storm outside.”

      “It is one of the only places I can be at peace here.”

      “Forty four stories up. That is about as far away from civilization as you can get here in Madrid.” A flash of lightening briefly illuminates the two, but no sound comes through the windows. The seconds that followed stretched into a minute.

      “Pete. Why are you here? It’s been nearly two years since I last talked to you.”

      “We’ve found a lead to Adrianna.”

      James Spirto’s eyes snapped open and he leapt to his feet, his hands grabbing both of Pete’s shoulders and forcing him against the door in an instant. “What lead! Twenty five months ago you said that there was nothing left to follow! No leads, no contacts, no NOTHING! You told me she was likely DEAD!”

      Pete averted his gaze from James’ piercing green eyes. They held nothing but anger and rage. “OK, it wasn’t us that has the lead. It was a man, and he would not tell us any details, he said to just give this to you. That is was regarding your sister. And that you would know the code needed.” Pete fished out a business card from his inside pocket and held it out to James.

      James stepped back and took the card, staring at it like it was some holy artifact. For how long he had done it he was unsure, but when he finally looked away from the card, Pete had already left unnoticed. The card was a newer style polycarbonate business card and it was pure white and completely featureless except for the matrix bar code on one side. He picked up his phone from the altar and scanned the QR tag. It opened to a browser window with a single prompt.

      ‘Please enter the date it all changed…’ James wondered briefly how many times Pete and the authorities had attempted to access this page. But they would never have been able to guess what the proper date would have been. He typed in the date that his step-brother Jose had died in a car crash nearly 15 years ago. The small screen displayed a grainy picture, obviously zoomed in from a distance, but those eyes were unmistakable… They were Adrianna’s. The text at the bottom stated simply, ‘This was three days ago in New York City. If interested, please call the number and extension listed below.’

      For several minutes James conflicted with himself. Adrianna had disappeared as soon as the authorities had wanted her for questioning regarding their father’s death. The evidence had pointed towards her having wanted the whole company to herself and ties to some mafia crime syndicate. All the time he had spent, all the money he had doled out for information. It had all amounted to zero. He had never trusted anyone as much as Adrianna and the tears threatened to come once again. Choking back emotions that threatened to overwhelm him and wiping his eyes, James calmed himself again, thanking his father for teaching him all these ways of centering oneself. He dialed the number.

      The automated voice on the other end of the line chirped, “Please enter the extension of the party you wish to reach.” He keyed in the 6 digit extension and waited as it began to ring through.

      A deep masculine voice answered. “Mister Spirto. How good of you to call. My name is Mr. Ryan Frankes, and I work for the National Security Council. I will get straight to the point, your sister is alive and I know you have questions. But first please tell me; have you ever heard of an organization called Shadowloo?”

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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#2 Post by Jarlath »

So this was the jist of an intro to one of my old Street Fighter RPG games that we played nearly two decades ago. It was a cheesy fun combat RPG, but we all loved the characters and were fully involved with the storyline. Hope you enjoy.

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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#3 Post by Welsh halfwit »

For me it reads well. It gets you into the story fairly quickly and easily. I have a few minor quibbles though. For the description of the character (millionaire, martial artist, driven by demons and by something that happened in his childhood) you may as well have said 'Batman'. Batty's flaw is that he's just human in a world of superhumans so your guy may need a flaw. A 'blind spot' maybe. To make the guy more interesting in any potential long run.

My second's really minor.

A sword may travel along wood. It may cut through it, plane it or run through it. I'm not sure it would ever scrape it noisily.
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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#4 Post by Jarlath »

Welsh halfwit wrote:For me it reads well. It gets you into the story fairly quickly and easily. I have a few minor quibbles though. For the description of the character (millionaire, martial artist, driven by demons and by something that happened in his childhood) you may as well have said 'Batman'. Batty's flaw is that he's just human in a world of superhumans so your guy may need a flaw. A 'blind spot' maybe. To make the guy more interesting in any potential long run.

My second's really minor.

A sword may travel along wood. It may cut through it, plane it or run through it. I'm not sure it would ever scrape it noisily.
Laugh. Maybe Batman-ish in origin, but definitely not some super crime solving brain with techno gadgets and some super tech empire. No it is just the intro. Besides... When has Batman ever cried as an adult? :)

As for the sword noise, I'll add in 'faint'.

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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons - Continued if you want to keep reading :)

#5 Post by Jarlath »

      It took James a moment to answer as the shock of hearing that his sister was alive. “Mister Frankes was it? No, I have not heard of Shadowloo. Now, I have answered your question so please tell me about my sister.” The last words were clipped as the simmering anger threatened to change this from a civil conversation to a one sided yelling match.

      One could almost imagine the smile on the other end of the line. “Ahh Mr. Sprito, the reason I asked you about Shadowloo was very simple. Adrianna Spirto has been in their employ for many years, and they have connections across the globe. If fact you could think of them as a global cartel for criminal activities. When the authorities came for her several years ago, Shadowloo helped her to disappear.”

      James had hoped for a bit more information, but there was nothing but silence after that statement. After a handful of seconds, his patience eroded, he snapped, “Why tell me this!? If you know where she is, why have you not arrested her for murdering our father!?” The last few words were a yell that echoed in the dojo.

      “Mister Spirto. I would have thought that obvious, but we want your help. We want you to…”

      “Hold on, you want my help?” interrupted James. “What possible reason can the NSC need me for? WHY!”

      The voice continued after James’ outburst. “As I was about to explain to you; we want you to help us in bringing down Shadowloo. Please let me continue…”

      James held his tongue… “Thank you.” Frankes continued, “I please ask that you let me finish what I am about to say… You may not have known it as your father never brought his work home. He made sure to separate business from family life. Suffice to say that your father had rebuked many advances from Shadowloo operatives regarding Spirto Acquisitions. Your father’s death was a direct result of his refusal to deal with them. So Mister Spirto, the only things which I can promise you if you help us are these. First. This endeavour at best will allow us to severely disrupt Shadowloo’s power base and influence around the world for decades to come, possibly permanently. Second. This will test your resolve and abilities to their utmost. Third. There is a significant risk to you and everything you value. You could lose everything, including your life. You may find answers, and you may even find yourself face to face with your sister, but we cannot guarantee those. Regardless, you will be committing to this endeavour and it may take a very long time, possibly years. Please do not answer now. If you chose to help, your life will never be the same. You know where the Ten Con Ten is in Barrio de Salamanca?”

      Shocked, James stammered out, “I’ve been there a couple times, so yes.”

      “We know. I will be there for Noon on Saturday. That is four days from now. If you do not show up by quarter after twelve, I will assume you do not want to help us and we will never speak again Mister Spirto. As you likely expect, we ask that you say nothing regarding this to anyone. I will bid you good day Mister Spirto as it is now four o’clock and you will need to change and have a shower before your dinner appointment tonight.” With an audible click the other end hung up.

      The suddenness of the hang up left James in disarray. So many questions, but what… The last statement clicked in James’ thoughts and he ran to the window and looked outside… The closest high rise building was about a kilometre south and there was no way to see through the storm unassisted. ‘They have been watching me… But for how long…’ Lost in his thoughts James left the dojo and went to shower and change for tonight’s dinner.

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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#6 Post by Jarlath »

      The next couple days had been a blur, and James could barely remember going through the motions of being the Chief Executive Officer of the company. Piecing together the information that Frankes had provided him, James ran through the points in his head. Shadowloo had wanted Spirto Acquisitions for something years ago. They engineered his father’s death and then helped Adrianna flee when the authorities got too close. Was Peter Crane part of it? Is that why they never had any trace of Adrianna? Who could he trust? It was a pretty moot point however, it was not like James had any close friends to confide in. Sure he had many professional individuals he could rely on for corporate operations and secrecy, but Adrianna’s betrayal had ended all desire to put trust into others at the personal level. Over three days his desire to immediately find and run his sword through that [censored] of a sister had lessened to a degree. The thoughts growing in his head was what did Shadowloo want with SAI? Why did his sister help Shadowloo, for what reward? So many unknown questions of why remained outstanding. He would find out by making her talk or through other means, but he would know why. She would still pay for her actions, and James was steadfast in his conviction of being the deliverer and executor of the butcher’s bill.

      The storm had passed and the sky was a bright blue with sparse clouds trying to be noticed in the vast sky. It was just before noon on the designated Saturday, and James stood outside of Ten Con Ten. He had decided to arrive in very low key fashion, having parked his Audi several blocks away, finishing the trip on foot. The area was surprisingly devoid of people and traffic, aside from the occasional bicycle rider cruising past. Dressed in dark jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt and a black, long sleeved hoodie, he was definitely a far cry from his Antonio Ciongoli business wear. He once again adjusted the sleeves of the hoodie, as he had worn tailored clothing now for years and it was definitely snugger than he recalled. This was the last chance of turning back… ‘She is still free,’ he thought to himself, and while it was supposedly not a valid reason to do anything, vengeance would be enough reason for him. He stepped into the restaurant as he closed off all dissenting thoughts.

      As he entered, he noted that the entire restaurant was empty except for one small, table for two, in the middle of the main dining area, occupied by a single figure reading the menu. James was not a tall by any means at one hundred and seventy centimeters, but the red headed man, dressed in black pants and a subdued amber short sleeve dress shirt, appeared to be at least fifteen centimetres shorter. As James approached he also noted that the man appeared to be very thin as well, maybe two thirds of James’ sixty five kilogram frame. Without looking up from his menu the man spoke out in the same deep voice.

      “Señor Spirto, usted se sorprendería de saber lo conflictivo que estoy por verte aquí.” The man said in a perfect, Madrid accent. “Please come have a seat.” Frankes gestured towards the second chair at the table.

      Taking the chair, James sat himself down and asked, “Why are you conflicted about me coming?”

      “You being here means that you have committed yourself to a future of peril and conflict. You realise that you can no longer back out of this?”

      With a calm that surprised even himself, James replied, “I will not stop until that woman pays for her crimes against the Spirto name. What do you want me to do?”

      “We will talk after lunch. I have taken the liberty of ordering for both of us, I hope you don’t mind but I ordered the Langostinos al Panko con Alioli de Ají, and the Risotto de Sémola con Trufa.”

      “Both good appetizers. I must say that your Spanish is very good for someone from the United Kingdom.”

      “Was it the hair colour that gave it away?” Frankes asked with a smile as the food was brought to the table.

      “It was a guess, and yes the hair did make it a fairly obvious.” James stated putting some of the Risotto on his plate.

      “Pretty obvious, eh?” Frankes put his hands under his chin and gave a smug look at James. “Would you be surprised to know that I am a third generation citizen of the United States?” While the surprised look was still on James’ face, Frankes took the Risotto and helped himself to a fair portion as well. “You must always look at the facts, as appearances can be fraught with misdirection and supposition.”

      “Tell me about my sister.”

      “You must understand Mister Spirto. I am merely the messenger. I do not know the circumstances of your sister’s sudden appearance, or even exactly where it was taken in New York. That was all provided to me.”

      Taking a drink of water to calm himself, “So you have no information then…”

      “I have plenty of information, just no specifics. This is where we will be relying on you and some other operatives. As I stated, the NSC’s goal is to cripple, if not remove the Shadowloo organization. It just happens to be a mutual connection between you and the NSC that your sister is involved. If you succeed in this, you may be able to get your questions answered, and you may even be able to put your demons to rest. It sure will not be a cake walk. In fact I bet it will be nothing like you have ever known before.”

      A few minutes passed as both finished the food on the tablet with polite gusto. James finished his glass of water, and began to set it down. “So when do we begin?”

      “We did as soon as you left your car a few blocks away. I am truly sorry James, as this whole endeavour is not something I would wish upon anyone,” Frankes said with a sad smile. “However orders are orders.”

      Surprised at the change in tone and being addressed by his first name, he barely noticed dropping his water glass onto the floor. “Ordersh? Wha ordersh?” James slurred as he fell face first onto his empty plate. The world went black before the sound followed it into the void.

      “I’ll do my best to limit the damage James…”

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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#7 Post by Welsh halfwit »

This is reading well. Decent character, a decent misdirection with regards to his meeting (put in to show he's not Batman?) and it flows well.

What you need to do now, though, is 'tie it off'. Use a line like 'Your new life begins' at the end because you're in danger of moving out of the 'short' story length. In A4 here, written as for competition with correct spacing and everything, you probably have six to eight pages here and that's usually pushing it for length.

So my advice, which you can take if you wish, is to pin it and use the time to go over what you've written and see if you can streamline and improve. After the competition? THEN continue on, my friend. You have a winner here.
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Re: [FWC 16] Inner demons

#8 Post by Jarlath »

Welsh halfwit wrote:This is reading well. Decent character, a decent misdirection with regards to his meeting (put in to show he's not Batman?) and it flows well.

What you need to do now, though, is 'tie it off'. Use a line like 'Your new life begins' at the end because you're in danger of moving out of the 'short' story length. In A4 here, written as for competition with correct spacing and everything, you probably have six to eight pages here and that's usually pushing it for length.

So my advice, which you can take if you wish, is to pin it and use the time to go over what you've written and see if you can streamline and improve. After the competition? THEN continue on, my friend. You have a winner here.
Laugh. As I said before. This was the intro I did for one of the players for my old Street fighter campaign. so no it wasn't added for the Batman comment. His intro would actually be another couple posts worth like above. I'm gonna leave it here for the competition. And once that is over I'll keep fleshing it out. Each character got a one-two hour solo intro before we got together. Four of us played this campaign weekly for almost two years. Suffice to say that when I ran the campaign I had places, people and ultimate goals in mind, but otherwise was a giant story that revolved around the characters. It was also when I always rolled dice in front of the players, they swore my dice were loaded...

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