Things that go BOOM in the night… Ah, my friends… back again for another look into the less-than-professional side of the Shadows? Well, get your flak jackets on, because once again the Clueless have managed to find some explosives… Sigh. It just gets better and better… or worse and worse. Whatever. Mr. Frost fancied himself as one of Seattle's best hit men. True, his skill with a firearm was truly munchkin in its scope, and his body was incredibly enhanced by bioware and cyber, but when it came to actually getting away with the crime in question, he proved sadly lacking. He had two apartments, one upscale place downtown, to use as a place to relax when the heat was off, and one lower class apartment for general use, which he shared with his fellow teammate, a crazed mage named Firebug. The other members of this group were a journalist named Brian Pinhead (pronounced Pinead, dammit, Pinead!) and a large, but mentally stillborn, troll Sammie whose name nobody really knew because he himself had long ago forgotten it. As to why on God's green earth a TV journalist was hanging out with runner scum is another story. Both these fellows had their own addresses. This team found themselves in competition against another team of runners, to see which was better suited for a job. Winner gets the job, loser either gives up or gets dead. Each team was given a full printout on their opponent, including skills of note and places of residence. Frost's team decided to go to a bar for the evening to look over the material. They hung out there until last call (about 2 a.m.) and then headed home. They also decided to stick together, just in case the opposing force planned to ambush them one at a time. The team felt Brian's place would be the least likely to be attacked (I mean, he's only a TV reporter for God's sake) so headed there to rest. Now, it had been made abundantly clear that one of the enemy runners was a demolitions expert, and the group in general liked to blow things up. The team had also been told that the run had started the moment they received the printout on their opponents. With the six hours Frost and his cronies had spent at the bar, the enemy team had had plenty of time to rig up a plan. The team arrived at Brian's building and headed up to the apartment, while Firebug parked the van. When they got to his place, they noticed that someone had been messing with his door (they didn't actually check, but the GM was sympathetic and didn't want them to die without a chance). So what did they do? Examine the door more carefully? Leave? None of the above? You guessed it, none of the above. Mr. Frost took command of the situation, drew his weapon, and told the Troll to bust down the door. BOOM! Miraculously, they all survived, but Brian and Frost took a bit of a beating (medium wounds). The troll wasn't even scratched. The team quickly gathered themselves up and fled the scene before the Star showed. Next stop: the Troll's pad. Firebug wisely decided to stay downstairs with the car once again, while the others went up to do recon. Once again, the door showed signs of criminal activity. Frost: OK, I back down the hall about ten feet and tell the Troll to open the door. Troll: Hell, No! I'm not gonna push my luck. You open it! Frost: No way, it's your place, you open the door. Brian: Ah, hell, I only took a medium wound last time. I kick open the door. BOOM!! Brian was blasted into a coma, Troll took a light, and Frost was boosted up to a serious. They dropped Brian off at the hospital, then went over to Frost's low class pad, and guess what?? They got blowed up. AGAIN!!! Anyway, after a long convoluted story they finally managed to beat out the other team. The job they were rewarded with was a full-time payroll position for Renraku, which the team turned down (much to the disgust of the GM, who watched his hook for the next several runs go down the drain). So the team went to the hospital to check on Brian, only to find him missing (the enemy team was pissed about losing). After a half-hearted investigation, Frost & Co. gave him up for dead. Several days later, there was a knock on the door of Frost's upscale apartment (the team was all staying there as the other abodes had been blasted to bits). When they opened the door they found two garbage bags full of Brian's dismembered corpse. Quickly Frost decided to get rid of the body… Frost: Is there a window in this hallway? GM: Of course. Frost: OK, I'll open it up. GM: (groaning quietly) It's a solid plate of Plexiglas. It doesn't open. Frost: Dammit. OK, I'll break it. GM: It's Plexiglas! How are you going to break it? Frost: I'll shoot it! GM: Ooookay. You punch several holes through the Plexiglas window, weakening it, but it stays in place. Firebug: I leave. Frost: Now I kick the window out, and then pitch the bags after it. GM: With a terrific kick you send the plate sailing out into the air, the bags of Brian follow, and plummet seven stories to the ground, where they break open with a splat. Behind you, you hear a door slam shut. Frost: Whatever. I go back inside. Firebug: I'm going to a bar. So it seems that one of Mr. Frost's neighbors heard the gunfire and came outside to investigate. Upon seeing Frost, smoking gun in hand, pitching body parts out the window, he quickly went back inside and called the Star. They arrived shortly, and following a brief struggle, took Mr. Master-Hit-Man to prison for a murder he didn't even commit.. Ahhhhh, poetic justice, no? Ciao for Now, Karen PS: It's confirmed, folks. I'm goin' ta Gencon! Woo hoo! I'd love to chat with readers, get feedback, etc. If you see a shortish, wavy brown hair, mid-thirties, glasses, kinda round J woman walking around with a CLUE T-shirt on, stop me and say hi! Karen - karenmr@shadowrun.html.com