The Strike of the Union - vol. 1

Susan shakes her head. "All the old haunts are gone. I was hoping to shake the rust off my skee ball skills but no such luck. The arcade was boarded up. That old pizza place I used to love is now a seafood buffet. I had to hold my nose when we walked by it. It was practically a ghost town but I felt like people were watching us the whole time we were there. It's such a shame. I have no many great memories of dates on the pier."

Ana’s jaw drops so hard you can practically hear it. Susan realizes her mistake and tries to back it up. "Please don’t start, Ana."

"You--" Ana catches herself before she can put her foot in her mouth. She’s clearly making an effort here. "You are lucky a place like that existed when you were a kid. It sounds like a lot of fun." Susan seems surprised at this response. She finishes up her breakfast and excuses herself to get ready for work.

"I can’t believe her!" Ana remarks once her mother is out of earshot. "She went out with creepy dudes on the super dangerous pier all the time but last month when I went bowling with friends she rented the lane right next to us to make sure I didn’t so much as hold hands with a boy." She mocks fainting at the scandal this would cause.

"I really hope things go well when you talk to Lance. I’m dying to get a real chance to show mom that I can be responsible, Uncle Stephen."

"Just to put things into perspective, back in the day the pier was family friendly and lots of fun and not dangerous at all; and I know that your Mom usually had a good time on those dates because Grandpa made it my responsibility to 'observe from a distance' and report any 'funny business'. Also there was a 9 o'clock curfew."

Stephen fills a small thermos with oatmeal and travel mug with coffee, then grabs his lunch from the fridge and says

"I'll let you know what Lance says."

then he kisses Isabelle and Carmen's heads and nods to Ana as he heads out the door.

Stephen buys the latest edition of the city newspaper and reads it at the Union Hiring Hall while eating his breakfast. He pays particular attention to the crime section and any stories about the Deep.

Ana rolls her eyes. "So I guess parental paranoia runs in the family." She laughs and wishes you a good day at work.

---

You arrive at the hiring hall a little while later. The main headline in the crime section of the paper details a sharp drop in violent crime as the heatwave has finally broken. The late summer weather is still mildly hot and humid but at least it no longer seems to be driving abnormal behavior. One article related to the Deep catches your eye.

It is not directly about crime, but does mention a legendary criminal: Coffinstrike. The international freelance assassin who is widely considered one of the most deadly men in the world. The article talks about a third sighting of him this month inside the Deep. This is highly unusual considering the man is best known for his unrivaled stealth abilities. Usually it only becomes known that he was in town after someone shows up dead with a coffin and a number burned into their skin. The number representing the number of people he has killed.

The writer of the article speculates on the sightings and what it could mean. Could it be someone simply dressing up as the well known villain? Or maybe Coffinstrike is allowing people to spot him to try and draw out a particularly elusive target so he can take them out when they try and flee the city. All three sightings were in three different parts of the Deep and each individual claims to have seen him watching the street from a rooftop.

You finish the article just as Lance walks up and gives you a pat on the back. "Morning, pal. Bright and early as always, I see." He yawns and takes another sip from his coffee thermos.

"Yeah, I get a wake up call each morning from the the bill collectors. When i finally get that hospital bill paid off maybe I can sleep later, eh?

Speaking of money, Ana is looking for a part time job and wanted me to ask you if you know of any entry level office type jobs on the docks. And before you think about it too hard and give yourself a stroke, just know that it wouldn't break my heart if the answer was 'no'. Dock work attracts all kinds of men and Ana is young... makes me nervous. I'd rather see her waiting tables or working at the hospital with Suze."

Lance thinks of it for a minute and nods his head. "I can think of a few places she could help out. But if Ana and Suze are keen on her waiting tables, I might have an idea there too. You know the girl I’m seeing? Amira? The one that keeps trying to have us all go out on a double date and I keep telling her you aren’t seeing anyone?"

You’ve met Amira a handful of times. They’ve been dating for almost a year. You remember being there when they met at the diner across the street from the hospital Suze works at. Amira is a few years younger than Lance and you. She was working on her doctorate when her father got ill. The expenses of fighting his illness have been very high. Amira is his only child and her mother died when she was little. Amira cut back on the hours she was putting in working on her doctoral thesis and started working at the diner to help pay the bills.

"I’m sure Amira could put in a good word for her. Susan would have to be happy with that arrangement too, right? Not only would a trusted friend be able to watch over Ana while she works, but Suze would be right across the street and could pop in whenever she wants."

Stephen studiously ignores any mention of his non-existent love life

"Great idea! Thanks. Is Amira working tonight? Maybe we could stop by the diner after work and ask her about it? I don't want to mention it to Ana unless it is a real possibility.

Then later tonight I thought I might wander over to the Pier while I keeping an eye on the rooftops."

As he mentions rooftops he deliberately looks down at his hand resting on the newspaper with an outstretched index finger pointing to the Coffinstrike article.

"Sure thing. She starts a shift around 4. I’m sure she will be glad to see us."

Lance follows your outstretched finger to the article. He smirks. "I was going to ask if you saw that." He looks around to make sure no one is paying attention to the two of you. "You don’t think you’re jumping right up to the major leagues with that? Not doubting your abilities, buddy, but that guy killed Deadnite. Like 3 times. Do you have any leads beyond what the paper said? The Deep seems like such a strange place for him to show up. Sure, we got people with grudges that run deep, but they usually don’t have the pockets to match. Who could afford to hire him here?"

Stephen continues looking at the paper as he says

"The strangeness of sightings in the Deep is what concerns me so much. I wouldn't leave the neighborhood looking for him just to prove myself because you're right that he might be out of my league, but if he's here in the Deep I gotta look into it. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't look try to protect the people.

I don't have any leads and the paper isn't much help, but I'll feel better if I at least walk around and look. I can't even guess who might have hired him, but the whole thing is strange enough maybe this is a personal thing."

he looks up at Lance and smiles, saying

"Let's go find out what jobs are available today. I was thinking if they show up I'll try to work a job with the Reynolds brothers, maybe they'll say talk about last night ."

Lance shakes his head in worry. "Let’s hope its nothing personal. I’d hate to be the guy that made that maniac angry enough to come at them pro bono."

---

As expected, neither of the Reynolds are in today. A few of their cronies are and you spend most of the day working alongside them. They all move pretty sluggishly and it is clear that the crew was out pretty late partying after they got off work last night.

At the end of the day everyone is in a rush to get home and crawl into bed. Except for one of the men, who says he’s going to grab a smoke before heading out. Oddly, he makes his way toward warehouse B where the vandalism took place last night. Not exactly the usual place for someone to take a smoke break.

Stephen follows at a distance, he walks casually but he keeps the guy in sight and stays far enough back that his steps can't be heard.

Your co-worker, who goes by the odd nickname of Toddy, lights a cigarette as he rounds the corner of Warehouse B. He’s been on the docks for 2 or 3 years now. Hard worker that shows up early and is always willing to take on any extra work available. He doesn’t talk about his home life too much, but you remember him mentioning a large amount of debt from a failed restaurant he tried to launch. It has put a lot of strain on his marriage and he’s now working multiple jobs around the clock to try and get his finances in order.

Toddy stops briefly to look around, but luckily you are taking the necessary precautions to avoid his casual scan. He continues on and you move forward to the next safe vantage point.

You position yourself near the corner of the warehouse to watch as he makes his way over to the extra security guard stationed at the hole in the fence. Toddy strikes up a conversation with the security guard but you are too far away to hear the brief exchange. He reaches out to shake the guard’s hand and for a split second you think you see the light of the sun glint off of something metallic in Toddy’s hand. When the shake finishes, the guard balls up his hand and puts it in his pocket.

Toddy starts walking back in your direction.

Stephen steps back, waits a few moments, and then walks casually around the corner towards Toddy. He lifts his hand in a halfhearted wave

"Hey Toddy. Got a minute?"

When he and Toddy are standing next to each other, Stephen looks at the ground and with some awkwardness he says

"I, uh, I guess you know what happened to me during the strike last year? I was stuck in the hospital for a long time and now the bills are... well... its not easy. I'm trying to pick up extra work wherever I can and, uh... I remember you saying something about a restaurant that didn't work out and that you're picking up odd jobs too. I was hoping we could help each other out... like... if you hear about a job that needs more than you can handle, or you're already committed and can't do two jobs at the same time, then maybe you could give me a call. I'll do the same for you too. What do you think?"

Toddy comes to a sudden stop. He seems surprised at your sudden appearance, but this quickly smooths over and he welcomes you with a firm handshake. Nothing is being passed between hands with this one.

He gives you a sympathetic look as you explain the issue. "I never really thanked you for sticking up for us, man, but we all appreciate it. Of course I’ll keep you updated. My cousin owns a moving company. We’re doing a pretty big job this weekend and could use an extra pair of hands. My main source--" he stops suddenly. He looks up at you and tries to cover with a smile. "That’s my main source of extra income right now. Do I got your number? You know what, I’ll get it from Lance." He gives you a tap on the shoulder. "Hang in there, buddy. We’ll all get through this eventually."

He seems in a hurry to get out of here all of a sudden.

Stephen quickly scans the surrounding structures and then walks back to the Union Hall at a casual pace to find Lance.

While they walk to the diner to see Amira, Stephen fills him in on his exchange with Toddy. "I think something might go down tonight. I wanna come back here tonight and stake out the hole in the fence."

You don’t notice anything else out of the ordinary in the area. When you return to the Union Hall things are pretty quiet. Most people have already left and Lance is wrapping up some paperwork.

He listens attentively as you fill in him on the way to the diner. "Toddy never came and asked for your number. I’m inclined to agree with you that something might be going down." The frustration in his voice is clear. He doesn’t want this type of thing happening anywhere in the Deep, let alone right under his nose. "If you need a second pair of eyes to watch your back, let me know." Normally Lance does not volunteer to involve himself in your super heroics beyond passing along information. He clearly feels responsible for whatever might be going on.

The bell rings as you walk through the door of The Doctor’s Orders diner. The hostess is familiar with you and points to Amira’s section. Luckily things aren’t too busy. She holds onto the menus since you are familiar with what they serve and with how incredibly useless the menus are. The owners thought it would be hilarious if they made all the writing look like illegible doctor’s handwriting on a prescription.

"Didn’t expect to see you lads in here today. What a welcome surprise. Should I put in for the usual?"

"The usual would be great and can I get big favor on the side? My niece Ana is 15 and looking for a first job; I was hoping there might be an opening here. Getting a job is her idea and she is highly motivated."

Amira gives a surprised smile upon hearing your request. She scoots Lance down further into the booth so she can have a seat across from you. "Oh that’s great. Never too young to get a little experience and show your work ethic, am I right? Ha! Like I have to tell you two that. You guys work a little less hard I might actually get to see Lance on occasion and Steven here might actually have a chance to date every once and awhile.

"I absolutely think Ana could get a job here. The manager is all about giving back to the city and would love to give someone like Ana a chance to get their first entry on their resume. I’ll put in a good word and pass along any info to Lance." She gets up from the table so she can put in your order and go back to work. Before she gets too far, Amira turns and says, "I could put in a good word with Nicole too." Amira weeks at Steven and nods in the direction of the hostess she has tried to set you up with a few times.

Lance quickly tries to change the subject. "You said you think Toddy passed something to the guard? Any guess as to what it could be?"

Stephen smiles and shakes his head at Amira's persistence.

Someday, when I'm not up to my ears in debt, living with my sister, and not scared that a romantic interest would get hurt by my strength

Speaking softly to Lance "It was small enough to palm and glinted like metal. Maybe a key?"

Lance nods his head and thinks it over. Even though the diner is mostly empty, he replies in a quiet voice as well. "I wish I had done an assessment of the keys we have in the office. First thing I’m doing in the morning, for sure. Off the top of my head, I cannot think of anyone in the Reynolds’ circle that has access to any secure areas on the docks. If it was a key, they either stole one or it goes to something unrelated to dock business. Right?" He taps his fingers on the table as he tries to think things over again.

"If they are responsible for the hole in the fence, I feel that is already their way in. So I doubt it would be a key to bypass any exterior barrier of entry. It would have to give them access to something on the property. Which would mean as long as you can catch them sneaking in, they could lead you right to whatever it is they are after. Assuming all of these assumptions are true.

"You know, I always thought being a cape was just punching baddies and thinking up clever one-liners. You got your work cut out for you."

After dinner Stephen thanks Lance and says "Don't wait up"

Stephen stops home to change his nondescript work clothes into a different set of nondescript work clothes with the addition of a hooded sweatshirt, a blanket, a couple baseball size rocks, and a brown bag snack. He waits until dusk and then walks to the docks with his hood up and his head down.

Stephen started working the docks years ago and he knows how thin the security patrols have become (cost cutting measures) and which are the darkest and most remote stretches of fence. He walks an indirect path from his home to an area of fence that he knows will be relatively dark and deserted.

He paces his walk so that he arrives when the sun has set and he carefully checks the area for security guards or witnesses, then he leaps over the fence in a single bound. Once inside the fence he leaps onto a shipping container and puts on his mask, becoming the Union.

Moving across the tops of containers as much as possible he heads towards the hole in the fence. When he can see the hole in the fence and the guard posted there he begins ducking and even crawling to get closer. When he is on a container maybe 50 feet away he rolls out the blanket and lays down to begin his stake out. He is up there for the night or until something happens. If at any point he starts to nod off he will put the rocks under his body in uncomfortable places so the pain will keep him awake.