Editing Getting the Band Together (section)

==Rafe's Mission==
When the crowds are gone, Rafe slipped out of his chair and walked over to the bar to tip Lucky a 'C Note'. He then headed outside to wander the area... to keep on eye on things, just in case.

He had already informed his crew they were staying for two or three days to keep on eye on things, and that they were to remain low key as they were playing the part of 'plain-clothes security'. He told them not to interact with Gadget or the band unless Gadget initiated the contact. Rafe had also worked a bit of TechnoMagic to give everyone unlimited access to the local cell network on their Society SmartPhones so they could use the local Google Maps to find their way around and not get lost. Rafe also added the location of a few motels and hotels not too far away from the bar; low rent for sure, but not the sleazy hourly kind.

Once Rafe was away from the bar a little ways, he slipped into the shadows of an alley while drawing up the hood of his field jacket. He Changed his Shape to his Elf Form; a full foot shorter, a hundred pounds lighter, better night vision, better hearing, better sense of smell, and more graceful/stealthy movements. He stalked the 'neighborhood' unseen and unheard; sticking to the shadows, moving like a cat on padded feet. He gave the area around The Station a wide berth, watching carefully for Gadget's Pack and making sure to not enter their territory. The night was uneventful; the 'neighborhood' was oddly quiet with only a little random crime around the edges where it butted up against other 'neighborhoods'. 

A couple of hours before dawn, Rafe Changed back to his Human Form then made his way to one of the low rent hotels he had suggested to his crew and got a room for the night, paying with the cash Wrecker had given him. His room was on the 4th floor, near the ice machine. The room was small; bed, chair, nightstand, standing wardrobe, single window with a fire escape. The bathroom was the size of a closet with a toilet, a sink and a shower crammed in so tightly there was almost no walk-able floor space. Rafe didn't care; he only needed a place to crash for a few hours. He hung his field jacket over the back of the chair then dropped onto the bed without bothering to undress or pull back the covers. 
Rafe oddly felt comfortable in this place where no one knew him, and no one was looking for him. The sounds of the city lulled him to sleep rather quickly.

Rafe awoke to the sound of someone knocking on his door, followed by a female voice saying: “Check out; one hour.” He had overslept. He smiled. It had felt good to sleep soundly. He rose and stretched and decided to skip the morning workout today. He pulled back the covers and rumpled the sheets to make the bed look slept in. He left his clothing wrinkled so they also looked slept in. He used a few reversed Clean Cantrips to dirty up his clothing and shoes. He pulled on his field jacket, added a few stains to it, then turned his attention to his hair and beard. Using his Change Elemental Powers, he lightened his hair color and added streaks of gray to hair and beard. He also added a few more wrinkles to his face and a few liver spots to the backs of his hands. He looked himself over in the mirror over the sink in the tiny water closet, then headed downstairs. He left his key at the front desk then pulled up his hood as he headed out into the streets. His head was down, his shoulders hunched, his hands in his jacket pockets. His gait was slow with a slight limp. He didn't make eye contact with anyone he passed and stayed out of the middle of the sidewalks, closer to the buildings. He went as unnoticed as any other homeless person on the streets that morning.

He made his way to The Ugly Ferret Tavern. Across the street from the bar was a homeless guy sleeping in the doorway of a boarded up building. It took Rafe a few moments to realize it was Gunner in his Human Form; so used to seeing him as a Dwarf, Rafe didn't recognize him, at first. Rafe nodded his head ever so slightly in the direction of Gunner, who 'shifted in his sleep', but made no other outward signs of being conscious... he must have drawn the short straw for morning watch over the bar. 

When Rafe entered the tavern he didn't see Reggy and Wrecker in the bar area, but wasn't too worried about seeing them today; he knew if they needed him, they would call him. Lucky was behind the bar, he looked half asleep. Rafe waved for him to not get up, before he could. Rafe headed over to the club side of the building, looking the place over sans people, sans band, sans explosives and assassins. He smiled as he admired the artwork on the walls made by the patrons and fans, artwork he had only read about on his Personal Wiki, until now. 

He looked at the now empty stage, then smiled. He pulled his D Harmonica from his jacket pocket as he mounted the stage. He turned to face 'the crowd' as he brought the harmonica to his mouth. He drew in on the number two hole producing a clean sounding G note in the now empty club. He bent the note into an F#, held it a moment, back down to G, bent back to F# then ended abruptly. A brief pause, then he repeats the same four notes. Another brief pause, then Rafe launches into the familiar harmonica intro of The Wizard by Black Sabbath. Ordinarily, Rafe would Technopathically queue up his special karaoke version of the song, to back up his harmonica and singing with guitars and drums.... but this time, he didn't. Instead, he just imagined he was playing with Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler and Bill Ward. His eyes were closed as he 'listened' to the music in his head and played and sang his parts, Ozzy's, parts. For the first time, he really 'felt' the music, and perhaps, even understood the lyrics better. Not too long ago Rafe had adopted the song as his Personal Theme Song, but suddenly he realized that the song might just be about Mesob. And that Ozzy might have met him, knew him.... could possibly be a Mesobian himself. He shook his head. Something to ponder.

As he pocketed his harmonica, and sat down on the edge of the stage, he recalled something else he had read about on his Personal Wiki. His plans for the day changed in that moment. To an outside observer it appeared that Rafe was staring off into space, perhaps lost in thought, but only for a few moments, then he hopped off the stage with a broad smile on his face...

However, in those short moments, what he actually did was Technopathically access Google Maps via his Society SmartPhone to find local pawn shops that carry musical instruments, then he used Google Earth Street View on each one until he found the one nestled between a laundromat and a convenience store, the one with its window cluttered with guitars, amplifiers, and other instruments. He mapped out a walking route using both public buses and subways to get there. He also included extra stops at other pawn shops that offered 'top dollar' for precious metals; their reviews seemed to back their claims. Rafe needed some extra cash and he didn't feel right about using the money Wrecker gave him, Gadgets's money, for his purchases. When Rafe snapped out of his Techno Trance, he marveled at how little time had passed; his powers as a Technomancer had grown. Being back in a technological world with technology he was familiar with and could mentally access with ease, made Rafe feel, well, almost god-like. He smiled pridefully.

As he left the Ugly Ferret he waved goodbye to Lucky then donned a green baseball cap instead of pulling up the hood of his field jacket as he did before. His posture was now upright instead of slumped. His gait was now quick and purposeful, instead of slow and seemingly aimless with a limp. 
He was looking around and making eye contact to show that he was fully aware of his surroundings, instead of looking down and avoiding eye contact. Though he still looked like a dirty, homeless, late middle aged man, he also looked more confident, aware and possibly dangerous; someone to avoid.

As Rafe neared the first stop on his long list of stops that day, a pawnshop, he looked at everyone near the place, he looked at adjacent buildings and alleys, escape routes, dangers and hazards. He did not try to hide what he was doing, in fact, he was purposefully displaying it, but not in a fearful manner, but in the manner of a hunter, a warrior, an 'Apex Predator'. There were a couple of low life Takers hanging around the place, not too close though. When they made eye contact with Rafe, and he make it back, unbroken and unwavering, they looked away quickly, pretending they didn't see him seeing them. He entered the pawnshop unmolested.

Once inside, Rafe saw the usual low dollar items that a pawnshop might have up front, more useful items closer to the cage, expensive stuff behind the bars. The proprietor eyed Rafe as he entered and approached the window.

“How can I help you?” he asked in a not so friendly tone, thinking the 'homeless man' had come to pawn trinkets or trash.

“You buy gold, yes?” Rafe asked, though it didn't sound like a question. He pulled up the brim of his baseball cap as he raised his head and smiled.

The proprietor looked up at Rafe and saw someone he was not expecting; an middle-aged man, hardened by the years, dirty from working, NOT the dirty old homeless man he thought he saw entering his establishment.

“Yes, I buy gold; whatcha got?” he asked, expecting jewelry of some sort; maybe family 'heirlooms'.

Rafe placed two, one ounce gold ingots with the seal of India stamped upon them on the counter between them. The proprietor's eyes bugged out and his mouth fell open.

“You were expecting jewelry, right? Me too.” Rafe chuckled. “When I inherited my dad's piece of shit house with an unpaid mortgage and back taxes and found his hidden safe, I thought it would be jewelry too. Maybe some stocks or bonds. Nope. Pure gold ingots from India. My dad was a secret gold hoarder; who knew? Certainly not me or any of the family. And certainly not the IRS. And I'm willing to take less than market value to keep it that way.”

After a few moments of silence, the proprietor caught on and asked: “How much less?”

“Fifty percent less, but not a penny less... or as close as you can get with the cash you have on hand.” Rafe replied with a smile.

The proprietor did some quick mental math and said: “I've got enough to cover what you've got here.”

Rafe smiled again. “This isn't all I've got here.”

The proprietor's eyes narrowed. “How much have you got?”

Rafe's eyes narrowed. “How much cash you got?”

They both laughed. Twenty minutes later Rafe had five grand in cash, mostly hundreds, and the proprietor had four, one ounce ingots of 99.99999% pure gold, getting the better end on the deal by far. But Rafe wasn't worried about the loss; he was on a mission to spread the wealth.

As he left the pawn shop he saw the pair of Takers 'hiding' in a nearby alley. Rafe took note of them, but not outwardly, and continued on his route to the next pawnshop several blocks away. He made it obvious that he was alert and aware of his surroundings, and when he turned a corner he looked back the way he came... and saw the that two Takers were following him, as he expected, and that they had become four. Rafe was careful not to make eye contact with them, allowing them to think they had gone unseen. Another three blocks and another turn and the four Takers had closed the gap. Up ahead he saw two more Takers look past him, then quickly dart into an alley; the four had become six. Rafe smiled. A few years ago, if he had been in this situation, he would have been scared, maybe even panicked. He would have ran across the street or tried to find a cop, or tried to find some way to escape or find safety. But that was a lifetime ago. He turned into the alley and waited for the prey that thought they were predators to come to him.

The alley was empty. Ahead on the right about fifty feet away was a dumpster, just beyond it a recessed doorway; Rafe knew they were waiting for him there. When he passed the dumpster the two Takers stepped out of the doorway to block Rafe's way. Both were boys in their late teens. One was tall, over six feet, lanky, with long arms. The other boy was about 5'8”, thick, but not fat.

“Where you goin', old man?” the tall one asked Rafe. “This is our Territory. You gotta pay to travel here.”

“Yeah, you gotta pay” the shorter one echoed.

Rafe knew the four Takers following him would be entering the alley soon. He looked past the two blocking his way, to the other end of the alley; two more youths entered the alley from that end, and upon seeing Rafe, began moving quickly towards him. Rafe heard the other Takers enter the alley behind him. He knew this could get messy. Eight to one was never good odds. But he had faced those odds before, in Agalat's Red Room when he fought to prove his worthiness to become a Dufiro. And those Orc-Lizards were way tougher than these punk-ass kids. Still, it could get messy.

Rafe knew he could end them all in an instant, if he so desired. He could Summon his .50cal Desert Eagle to hand and head-shot each of them before any of them could even draw a weapon. But that would be noisy and messy. He knew once they get in close he could end them all quickly and silently, with his Red Dagger; his time in the arenas and fighting pits of Ang Ri and his Movement Powers made him a lethal fighter at close quarters. But this option was also messy. And Rafe didn't really want to kill them, just teach them a lesson they would never forget.

“I don't have any money” Rafe lied as he looked the tall boy in the eyes.

“Why you lyin', old man?” Rafe heard a youthful voice taunt him from behind. Rafe turned to look, acting mildly surprised at the group of boys behind him.

“We saw you at the pawn shop. We know you got money, old man. Hand it over and we let you go without a beating.” This from the boy Rafe had eyed down outside the pawn shop.

Rafe acted like he was nervous, letting it show to the boys to give them a false sense of security. Still facing the four that had just entered the alley, Rafe moved to his right, their left, looking like he was trying to get past them and out the way he had come in; they spread out and move to block his escape. He back up as they moved in, he turned back to the two that had blocked his passage initially and made like he was trying to get past them; they backed up a bit and moved to block Rafe as the other two coming down the alley from the other end arrived, slightly winded; they moved to block Rafe as well. Rafe backed away a bit, he looked all around; he was surrounded. And they were closing in. Exactly as Rafe had wanted.

“There's nowhere to go, old man.” One of the winded boys said.

“Yeah. Nowhere to go.” The thick boy echoed, then laughed. “OLD man.”

Rafe kept looking around at the faces of the boys, looking nervous, even a bit scared. He was waiting for them to close in a little bit more.... and they did.

“You're trapped, old man” the youth from the pawn shop said. “Just hand over the ca—”

Rafe channeled all of his Movement Powers into Speed, but was careful to control his Strength so as to not seriously harm or even kill these Normal Humans. His movements were all but a blur to the eyes of those viewing him. Rafe took a step forward and delivered a jab to the chin of the boy speaking; a perfect knockout punch. He dropped in his tracks, but not before Rafe had delivered a punch with his other hand to the temple of the boy to his left and a kick to the jaw of the boy to his right, knocking them out and off their feet as well. The others fell just as quickly from precisely delivered knockout punches and kicks, the last two falling from having their heads bashed together. It was all over in a matter of seconds. Rafe hadn't even broken a sweat... and it was already a rather humid day.

Rafe checks each for a pulse and when he does he also enters their mind. He leaves a False Memory of their death at his hands and a Psychic Suggestion to 'change your life path'. He leaves the alley the way he came in and heads for the next pawn shop on his list.

By mid afternoon, Rafe had unloaded a little over four pounds of gold ingots and had nearly one hundred thousand dollars in cash. More than enough for his needs. He headed to the last stop on his list; the pawn shop where Gadget had gotten her and Cali's new basses.

(more to come)