[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/OL5UVhe.png[/img][/center] [center][h2][color=Black][b][u]WHO KNOWS...[/u][/b][/color][/h2] [color=Black][b]CHAPTER ONE[/b][/color][/center] [hr] [i]The sun has fallen down, and the billboards are all leering. And the the flags are all dead At the tops of their poles. [/i] [hr] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Welcome back to the most glorious hour of enlightenment to come into your homes via a television set! I am, as always, your humble host, G. Gordon Godfrey, and I'd like to take a moment to talk about a story that most of the mainstream media has conveniently buried: the murder of NYPD officer Donald Skaggs. A long-serving detective on vice squad investigating a child-trafficking ring, Skaggs was found literally crucified in the streets after having been shot execution-style. And who was it that took credit for the killing of this man? One of the city's criminal syndicates? A member of the trafficking ring Skaggs had been investigating? A deranged serial killer? No-- the murderer in question left a calling card as one of New York's oldest so-called 'superheroes,' an old vigilante called The Shadow. Do we have a copycat on the loose? A sick prank? Or has one of the first costumed crime-fighters come out of retirement in a murderous craze? Joining me tonight is a senior reporter from [u]The Daily Bugle[/u], Frederick Foswell. Thank you for joining me, Frederick."[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]"My pleasure, Godfrey."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Frederick, why do you think so many news outlets are hesitant to report on this story?"[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]"Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't know if there's much of a story at all. I mean, yes, the killing of a police officer is tragic and the killer should be brought to justice of course, but come on....The Shadow? Who even remembers the Shadow these days? Even if this is the real deal, and he's somehow up and about at over a hundred years old, he's old news- the guy was a big deal when my grandfather was in grade school. He was out of style before Captain America got his first injection of serum."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Certainly a blast from the past, I'll give you that. Nevertheless, the Shadow set the example for the countless vigilantes and crime-fighters who subvert due process by taking the law into their own hands. Everyone from Batman to the Punisher has borrowed from his playbook at one point or another. And now someone claiming to be the Shadow is killing cops? What's going to happen if the other caped interlopers start following [u]that[/u] example, too?"[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]"Well, Godfrey, you know that I've always agreed with you on the dangers that these lawless individuals pose to our society-- my chief editor's made no secret of his own similar views in the past. However, I think the current crop of 'super-heroes' is a lot more image-conscious than the ones who were busting skulls through the Depression. Again, if this really is legitimate and not some nut reciting old catchphrases, don't be surprised if some of the other capes start going after him for giving them a bad reputation. I think the Shadow being on the loose could be the beginning of the superhero community starting to eat their own."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Interesting. Let's go to the phones, shall we? First, we've got Natalie from Boston."[/i][/color] [color=Cornsilk][i]"Hi, Godfrey! Long time viewer, first time caller. It's like you've always said- these super-types don't answer to anyone. What's to stop them from just bumping off anyone they don't like? And where does it stop?"[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Thank you, Natalie, and I'll tell you exactly where it will stop. It will stop at the moment the American people wake up and demand their leaders hold these tights-wearing lunatics accountable for the destruction they cause! They're not forces of nature, everyone, they're people-- well, [u]some[/u] of them are people, unless you count all the aliens and robots and mutant freaks to be 'people' like you and me-- who actively decide to lead violent lives and hide behind masks to avoid responsibility! It all started with this Shadow madman, and now it looks as if it's starting again! Next, we've got David from Long Island."[/i][/color] [color=Goldenrod][i]"Hey, yeah, what about this thumb drive they're sayin' was found at the murder site? They're sayin' it had pictures an' stuff on it, that proved Donnie Skaggs was actually in on the kiddie-porn ring he was supposed to be busting. What if the Shadow's just--"[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]"Are you referring to the thumb drive allegedly discovered by Officer Troy Vincent, an ex-partner of Donald Skaggs? The one that was 'anonymously' leaked online and reported by known conspiracy theorist Glen Woodburn? Because so far, that's been discredited by both high-ranking officials in the NYPD and the FBI."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"I won't have you coming onto my show and smearing the name of an officer of the law, especially with baseless tin-foil-hat nonsense! Now, next caller!"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"......hahahahahahahahahahaaaaaa........"[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"......erm, hello? Are you there, caller?"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"HA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA-HAAAAAAAAAA......."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"O-kayyy, sounds like we've got one of the crazies on the line. Next--"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"Crazy? Hardly. I am one of the few sane people left in this rotting society, one of a dying breed who has the eyes to see evil for what it is and the means to destroy it. I see the truth of things before men like you twist and mold it to fit whatever narrative suits your depraved needs. I find those who sow the seeds of corruption, who nurture the weeds of crime and let them grow....and I choke them on their bitter fruit."[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]"...I'm sorry, are you--"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"I have seen the truth of you, Frederick Foswell. I know your sins, the nature of the monster that hides in the shape of an unassuming journalist. You use your position to decide what stories the people hear and which remain hidden.....and I have such stories to tell about you......"[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"Now you listen here! I don't care who you claim to be, if you think you can threaten a guest and personal friend of G. Gordon Godfrey, you--"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"G. Gordon Godfrey, yes, hahaha.....you have spent so many years acting as the shield and sword for evil men, protecting scum because they line your pockets, and striking at those who would bring them to justice. And even as the predators and perverts flock to you for protection, even they would flee from you in revulsion if they knew even the smallest part of what you truly are."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"I will not stand for--"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"You love to be seen and heard, G. Gordon Godfrey. You love the camera on your face, the microphone carrying your voice across the air. Trust me, it will not be long before the whole world sees your true face. And hears your dying screams."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]".......I......you......"[/i][/color] [color=FireBrick][i]"You have kept your evil hidden in plain sight for too long, confident no one could ever know the sinister urges you indulge in when you believe no one to be looking. But the Shadow knows what you are. The Shadow knows what you've done. Every. Last. One of you. The Shadow Knows."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]"........."[/i][/color] [color=LawnGreen][i]".........."[/i][/color] [color=DarkTurquoise][i]".....cut to commercial. CUT TO COMMERCIAL, DAMMIT, RIGHT NO--"[/i][/color]