It had been a good night.

The shadowy being sat in his rented room and looked over the haul.  It had been easy, almost pathetically easy.  These strange powers he now found himself possessing made him the perfect thief.  Of course, it wasn’t the same challenge it had been, but he told himself the money would console him.

As he sat on the floor, his attention focused on reviewing the evening's take, wisps of shadow drifted from his body.  The shadowy vapors twisted in the air, taking strange and horrifying forms.  They seemed to have a life of their own.  They drifted and danced around the room.

Strangely, the shadows avoided one spot in the room.  They circled around it as if there was something there… some presence that could not be seen.

From that spot a voice spoke…

"That's not bad for an amateur, but you really are capable of so much more."

Yikes! Scooting back towards the opposite corner, Nightshyft attempted to go shadow.

While in shadow form, he slid up the wall and onto the ceiling. From that vantage point, he looked down to "see" what was talking...regretablly, he realized that my loot is still on the floor.

As Nightshyft looked down from ceiling, he noticed a figure sitting comfortably in one of the chairs.  Nightshyft felt a panicked confusion; he was certain that the room was empty when he had returned, and it seemed impossible that this stranger could have entered without him noticing.

The figure smiled slightly, obviously amused by Nightshyft's startled reaction.  He was a large black man, well over six and a half feet tall and solidly built.  He would have looked like a prizefighter except for his fine, black silk suit and cane.  He wore dark sunglasses and his long dreadlocks were pulled back in a ponytail.

"There's no need to fear, my good man.  Please come down... Mr. Night, isn't it?  Funny how our names so often reflect our natures..."

The stranger mused over this thought for a moment.

"Allow me to introduce myself.  I am Mr. Talent.  As you may have surmised by now, I am like you... Gifted, as we say.  I'm sure you have little knowledge of just what that means.  Given your current activites, I doubt you've had much contact with others.  However, I may be able to provide you with some bit of knowledge, as well as certain financial rewards, if you might be willing to help me with a little task."

With a cold and distant voice, Derek said, "Mr. Talent? Why should I trust you? If you know who I am and what I am capable of, why should I trust you? After all, YOU are in my place without being invited... breaking and entering."

Derek slid down the wall and animated two serpentine shadows as watch dogs... they had heads like a clawed hands, with eyes where the wrists would be and a mouth in the palm. They entwined his body and made snapping motions towards Mr. Talent.

A look of amusement crossed the stranger's face.  Clearly he did not find Nightshyft's posturing to be intimitading.

"Come now, Mr. Night, I think we can dispense with the attack dogs.  If I truly wanted to cause you harm, you wouldn't be alive right now to have this conversation."

With that, the man called Mr. Talent casually waved his hand and the two summoned shadows dissipated into nothingness.

"Now, if you be so kind as to join me on the ground, perhaps we can discuss my proposal."

With a weary shrug of his shoulders, Derek became three-dimensional next to the wall. He kept the room's window in his peripheral vision. If the shit hit the fan, it was out the window he'd go... preferablly as a shadow.

"OK... you obviously hold all of the cards here. So... what exactly is your proposition?"

He looked closer at Mr. Talent... trying to determine how "menacing" he was.

The man called Mr. Talent smiled at the response.  Nightshyft didn't notice anything in the stranger's tone that suggested he was being threatened or lied to... simply an overwhelming confidence.

"Excellent.  I suspect that I was correct in seeking you out.  Unfortunately, all that I may tell you now is that I am offering knowledge and substantial financial rewards in exchange for your assistance in accomplishing a task that suits your particular talents.  I will discuss the details of my proposal tomorrow evening at my offices."

He handed a card to Nightshyft.  On one side was typed simply "Mr. Talent".  On the reverse side an address had been written with a time: 9:00 PM.

"At that time you will meet the other individuals who will be assisting in this task.  I will explain the requirements and your compensation.  I understand that someone in your line of work isn't prone to loose conversation, but I wish to stress that your complete discretion in this matter is expected."

"If I do not see you tomorrow evening, I will assume you have changed your mind and that our paths will not cross again."

With that, Mr. Talent gave a slight bow with his head, turned and strolled out of the room.  The sound of his footsteps and the cane tapping the floor could be heard fading down the hall.

All words, pictures, characters, tiles and just about everything else was created by and is copyright Stephen Rice and Electric Comics, 1996

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