Robert Murdoch was not necessarily a bad person. In fact, to many of the educated folk that ran the large corporations around the area, he was seen as a rather good person. He was someone that was not afraid to stand up to the mutant threat. He was not afraid to "Tell it as it is", no matter what the masses believed. Mr. Murdoch only presented the facts to people. If they chose not to see the reason behind it, well then they were doomed to become slaves to the coming mutant empire. Mr. Murdoch was the chairman and a founder member of the news organization known as Wolf News. And Mr. Murdoch was who Shade had been sent here to see.

The Orderling had heard of the news station in passing mostly. As a whole, he had probably seen a total of fifteen minutes of the program. It was rather blatant about its thoughts of mutants. Mostly, they had to do with how many problems the more destructive mutants caused, or the mutant attacks around town that always seemed to be tied to the Order somehow. Well it was time to show them exactly what the Order could do, and how different it was from a random killing on the street. Also, it appeared with all the mutant news that they had forgot about a certain shadow mutant, and he wanted some face time!

The higher ups from the Order had passed the information down the chain that they wanted Mr. Murdoch to be silenced. Not necessarily killed, just shown what the Order could do is necessary. Of course, the shadow assassin had jumped at the idea. His infiltration skills were second to none. All he was to do was visit the elderly man and inform him very politely that the Order was aware of his movements and were not afraid to use force if necessary.

It seemed like a very easy task for the shadow mutant to accomplish in the dead of night. However, Shade also knew that things could very easily take a turn for the worse. The Orderling had staked out the place for the past couple of nights and discovered the flaws and gaps in the almost pathetic security system. With the last bit of sunlight vanishing below the horizon, Shade went to work.

Robert Murdoch wasn't a bad person no. He made some terrible choices that reflected bad on others but his choices were only flawed due to the fact he was in fact human. A simple man that had simple needs that were not fulfilled by his loving wife, who hadn’t bedded with him in weeks. Like most men, he needed a little TLC to keep himself going and that was where the escort service came in. Many women from all across the county had been escorts to the wonderful charismatic man.

Of course, Robert had a wide taste in women so the women had to be different every time. Like today for instance he was getting a woman he had never seen before, everyone in the building was gone other than the security guards as well as the woman in question.

Or at least that’s what everyone thought, what they didn’t know was the escort, the real escort was currently unconscious inside of the ladies room a single needle hole in between her toes. For anyone who knew her that it looked like a normal night out for her. That she was just sleeping out the cascade of things coursing through her veins that knew better.

The only person that knew better was the other person that was in the building.

Sapphire Lupin was always prepared, every single thing was taken care of an there was no trace evidence of her presence at all. All actions were planned out everything was going all according to plan. The Darkness manipulator got a call about a possible assassination job with this guy ad with the heavy price on his head, she was more than willing to end his life. So here she was, carefully hidden within the darkness portal she had made for herself on the same floor as the man’s office. Sapphire knew there was going to be a security patrol coming by soon so she would have to wait in this swirling vortex in a broom closet until they left. While not the most glamorous of places, she was planning on exiting the darkness as soon as the cop sufficiently patrolled the hallways.

Now all she could do was wait.


((Sorry if it's a little strange, I hope it's okay!))

One 'jump' and Shade was across the street. Another and he was inside the building. Slipping behind the guards standing watch in the lobby, the shadow stalker checked the names glinting in the dim light in order to find the location of his target's office. Now knowing the correct floor and office number, Shade slid back into a shadow and 'jumped' his way up the darkness building. The chairman would, of course, have the corner office on the top floor in this establishment. Shade landing gently on the top floor and moved silently through the offices, his large, oversized coat trailing behind him. As he neared his target, the shadow stalker suddenly froze. Footsteps.

The sharp clicking of boots against polished tile rang through the empty floor like a gunshots. Quickly ducking into an empty office, Shade waited for the guard to disappear. A blade formed into the pale mutant's hand as insurance. God help the guard if he chose to come into this office, because he was not leaving it udner his own strength. Shade felt out with sense, trying to feel the presence of the guard. However, something else immediately drew his attention. He did not know what it was, only that he had never felt anything like it before.

Waiting in a broom closet for a fat guard to walk by is probably the most boring thing Sapphire had to do today. It was far more boring than watching paint dry and at least with that she could attempt to do something. The artist was sick of this, nothing was worth waiting around like this. With a quick shift in position, she pressed herself against the door, intaking a deep breath.

Outside a sudden grunting was heard and the man paroling floundered, hitting himself on all the walls, or at least that's what it sounded like from inside of the closet. Once the noises stopped, Sapphire emerged from her hiding spot, opening the door with her tendrils. The chubby guard was on the floor with his throat heavily bruised. Her tendril hadn't held him long enough to kill him, just knock him out from lack of oxygen. It might cause him brain damage but that was a small price for him to pay for what could have been a far worse fate.

Sapphire walked down the hallway, her eyes looking around curiously. Nothing seemed to be out of place, but the darkness manipulator felt as if something was near by. She couldn't do anything about it at the moment but she kept her guard up as she entered the slightly cracked door of the office.

"Hello Mr. Murdoch," Sapphire began, taking one quick look at the man behind the desk with an amused smile on her features. He looked her up and down with her slightly revealing white dress and immediately rose from his big leather chair, fiddling with his pants. The man wasn't ugly, no he was handsome for his age and that must have been why so many of the prostitutes had taken a liking to him. "I believe you requested entertainment tonight?"

Without a word the man walked toward Sapphire and wrapped his arms around her, capturing her lips in a kiss.Now, the real facade began.

Shade clutched his knife with white knucles. He was poised ready to strike. The sharp clicking continued for a second or two, but suddenly, it stopped. The shadow mutant froze. Had he made a mistake? Impossible. He had not been here long enough. What could the guard have found? Why was he not moving?

Then there was noise like he was getting attakced!? There was a pounding against a wall and grunting before the notable thud! as the guard hit the ground. Shade sent off his sense again expecting to find the attacker of the guard. However, there was nothing. Nothing except that weird feeling again, as if there was a darkness out there that he had never felt before. Then he felt it move. It moved fluently and with finesse. It felt like a curtain of silk sliding silently through the darkness. And it slid right into the same office Shade wanted. He had to figure out what this was and, more importantly, what it was doing here.

Reluctant to reveal his position again, Shade 'jumped' to the entrance of Mr. Murdoch's office. Peaking inside through the crack, the shadow stalker could hear the voice of a young woman. Was that the 'curtain of black silk' he had felt? Opening the door, Shade's body flickered into sight as he stepped into the lighted office. The scene before him was a rather awkward to walk in on.

Mr. Murdoch and a strikingly beautiful, black haired young woman were lipped locked. The business executive seemed in the process of removing his pants. Well, the woman in very revealing white dress seemed somewhat pleased with herself for some reason. Shade cleared his throat loudly, hoping it would be enough to separate the two.

"Mr. Murdoch, I presume?" Shade asked with a grin.

"Pardon my interruption, but you and I need to discuss some things in private."

The kiss was getting quite heated and Sapphire would be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying herself. After all, it was quite hard to find a man that treated a woman as well as Mr Murdoch was.

He clearly had a lot of love in him and it was quite a shame that his wife didn’t want anything to do with him. If he hadn’t started making these sort of decisions in the first place he probably would have avoided some of the problems he was in now.

A voice then echoed in the room and Sapphire broke away from the kiss, an irritated glance flashing across her pretty features. Of course they would be interrupted, of course but one look at the man Sapphire had a feeling it wasn’t someone Mr Murdoch knew.

Mr Murdoch surprisingly pushed Sapphire behind him, standing in front of her a little protectively. The business man fastened his pants as if he had nothing to worry about and would fiddle a little with his tie.

“Hello my good man, I am Mr. Murdoch, what is it you needed me for? As you can see I am quite busy and would like to get this over with sooner, rather than later.” He told Shade, his voice calm and even. "I wish to say all of this in front of my friend here. She gets quite lonely when I'm not around."

Sapphire watched from behind Mr Murdoch, her eyes showing fear in them. It was the look of a poor helpless woman who didn’t want to be caught with such a happy, wealthy man. She clung lightly to Murdoch’s arm and he returned the squeeze to her hand smiling evenly.

Murdoch cared for those he slept with but had yet to find the right one that he had the right spark with and to him, Sapphire was the perfect match. The Darkness manipulator remembered there was another reward other than killing him that she could gain. If she could find a way to control his assets, it might make things easier than just killing him. It would honestly depend on how he did tonight that would determine his true fate.

The passionately kissing couple quickly seperated when the uninvited guest made his presence known. Shade's mind was still lingering on the mysterious darkness from before and for a brief moment, he thought that the beautiful, black-haired buxom before him might have been the source. the young woman certainly looked silky smooth to the touch and there was a darkness about her that exciting Shade. However, he quickly dismissed that notion by the young woman's reaction.

At first, she appeared annoyed by the interruption. But fear flooded her face when her eyes discovered Shade in his long grey cloak and dagger in hand. She fled behind the old businessman, as if the old bat could do anything to stop Shade. The shadow stalker grinned at the response. He loved the way his appearance caused others to run at the very sight of him.

"If you so choose." Shade said offhandedly, in response to his escort remaining. The shadow mutant followed the business executive's gaze towards the blade in his right hand.

"And no worries. If I want you dead, you would already be laying in a pool of your own blood." Shade commented, waving the dagger in front of his face as it dissolved into smoke.

"Just precautionary measures. I'm sure you understand. Shall we sit then?" Shade gestured to the plush leather seats that were in front of the Mr. Murdoch's massive wooden desk with the high backed chair that was for the big shot himself. Spotting a bottle of whiskey on a table nearby, Shade turned to the young woman in the white dress.

"And doll, would you be so kind as to get a glass of brandy for your friend and I, please?" Shade asked, as sarcastic sweetness dripped off his words like honey from a honeycomb.

Of course there was a deviation in the plan, a near perfect plan with a deviation at the end. Sapphire knew she would just have to act as the shameless floozy until this man either left, or until something more interesting happened.

From what she was seeing, whoever this was thought he was the best thing on two legs. This was an amusing notion for it seemed that he seemed to believe that she wasn't a threat at all which was quite an accurate assumption by first glance.

Sapphire was beautiful, her voice was melodic and every one of her actions made it seem like she was flowing to some unknown melody of a song. She was thin and didn't seem like much of a threat, unlike her younger sister who was more or less an amazon.

The darkness manipulator gave a quick bow, flashing Murdoch a smile before she made her way to the liquor cabinet. As much as she hated not using her powers, Sapphire managed to uncork the bottle and pour two wonderful glasses of brandy in each glass and carry it over to the boys. Murdoch was sitting at the desk in his big chair, beckoning the "lady of the night" to bring them the drinks. Sapphire did so and calmly stood by Murdoch, her hand placed over his with a reassuring squeeze.

"So what is it you wanted to talk about," he asked, being surprisingly calm about this whole thing. He must get death threats often.

Shade's gaze followed the vixen in the white dress as she bowed and gracefully walked towards the liquor cabinet. The way she moved made it almost appear as if she were floating. Mr. Murdoch sure knew had to pick them. The shadow mutant wondered for a moment how much a woman like that would cost to enterain, probably more than Shade would ever see (well besides the time he had raided Fort Knox with the other Order members). As she busied herself with the drinks, Shade and the news tycoon silently made their way to their respected seats.

Taking his place in one of the plush leather chairs in front of the desk, the night stalker immediately kicked back and placed his heavy boots on top of the CEO's mahogany desk. It was a little inappropriate in the work place, but Shade needed to how Mr. Murdoch just how weak he was and how little Shade thought of any his high rank in human standards. Humans were weak and pathetic compared to mutants. Any of them who thought differently were quickly proven wrong, as evident by so many examples.

"Mr. Murdoch, I am here to represent an underground mutant organization which I'm sure you are all too familiar with." Shade began. He was surprised how casual the business executive was acting over the entire situation. It was very brave of the human. Stupid! But brave.

"Aw! Thank you, honey!" Shade commented, sarcastically as he flashed the black haired beauty an evil grin. Leaning forward slightly, the hooded mutant snagged the lowball glass from the top of the glass and swirled the sweet liquor for a moment as the escort took her position next to her employer. Taking a slip of the dark liquid, Shade savored the taste for a moment before returning his attention to the greying haired man.

"As you might have guessed, we have been watching your program and are very happy with all the publicity you provide us for free. Our only concern is we do not wish to take the credit of other...proactive mutants." Shade said, picking his words carefully in describing his fellow brethren that chose to rebel against the human oppression.

"So can we agree upon only linking our organization to crimes actually worthy of our merit? We are not mindless killers, Mr. Murdoch. We enjoy law and order as much as you do. We just differ on who should be ruling." Shade said before taking another sip of the intoxicating drink.

Elegant Ivory fingers lightly ran across Mr Murdoch's arm. It was as if his lady for the night was trying to soothe him into making the correct decision. Murdoch smiled up at his lady for a moment before looking back at the man who threatened him not so long ago.

"I will agree to that," Murdoch nodded thoughtfully. "After all as a press service we try out best to live in the truth and if we aren't giving credit where credit is due or giving too much credit we will be more than happy to rectify that."

While Murdoch was talking all about business, Sapphire began thinking of a strategy of how this little interference would change her game plan. She had about an hour or so left to get this job done and over with.This guy had two sorts of hits on him, one was for his head on a silver platter and the other was to manipulate him into a companies hands. The second plan was a little less messy and left much to be desired.

That said, it would all hinder on what in the world this young man was going to do with his time. Sapphire let out a soft, girlish yawn, fanning her hand against her mouth. This drew the attention of her "employer" who patted her lightly on the shoulder with a gentle smile.

"Now if that's all we are here to discuss I suppose we don't have anything else to talk about do we?" The Business man said, looking up at Sapphire in a kindhearted way.Sapphire returned his brilliant smile with her own and snuggled close to him on the arm rest of the chair.

Well, this man was perticularly snipping! After all that work Shade had to do to break into this high class joint, the business executive was just going to throw the shadow mutant out so quickly. How rude! He must have paid a small fortune for that delicate flower that was so eagerly attracted to his side. Fine, Shade could see when he was not wanted- well, that was a usual thing for a spy-, but obviously, these two had more important things to discuss than business information. Sliding his feet off the expensive desk, Shade placed his half-finished drink on the edge of the corner before rising.

"I guess we do not." Shade replied, standing up quickly. He swayed slightly as the blood rushed back into his legs. Yeah, that had to be it.

"Just remember, Mr. Murdoch. We will be watching you. Do not make me come back here." Shade said in a threatening voice before his vision of the couple before him doubled. He shook his head clear as he turned to leave. He must be tired. It wasn't...that late though. Taking three strides towards the door, the cloaked mutant suddenly halted.

"Oh and one more thing," Shade said, snapping as if he had forgot something and turned back to face Mr. Murdoch. "That redheaded mutant with the pens. You should give her a raise. And more airtime. She is the only one I can stand to watch on this pathetic news channel." He finished, muttering the last part almost to himself but loud enough for the two to hear him.

Returning to make his exit, Shade took a step before his knee gave out. Luckily, he was able to catch himself quickly. Man, he was sure feeling funny. Another step and he was almost to the door. He reached for the handle and it split into three different handles. The weight of what was occurring to him finally struck Shade, and he snapped his head back at the glass of whiskey still sitting on the edge of the large desk.

"You." Shade said, violence and distain in his voice as he directed his slurred speech at the black haired beauty. He tried to materalize a dagger but only managed to grab whisp of smoke. Everything was starting to cloud over with shadows. This was not good. He tried a desperate jump, but there was too much light. Shade stumbled back and slammed into the office door with his back. The shadow mutant felt sleep ebbing over him and there was nothing he could do to fight it. Suddenly, Shade was falling...falling through a veil of darkess, never landing. Just falling.

With a thud! Shade slammed into the marble floor. Out cold.

Well today was turning out to be far more hilarious that Sapphire expected. Not only did she give him a pretty strong dose of ruffies, but she also made sure she gave him just enough to knock him out for quite a while. Since he drank all of his booze, she knew it was only a matter of time till he did the inevitable.

Sapphire let out a soft chuckle to herself as the man stumbled and fell down. She gazed over at her "boss" with an amused grin and instead of acting shocked like she expected, he merely gave her a kiss on the forehead. This was briefly disorienting for the darkness manipulator because this seemed more like genuine affection than the lust he was displaying earlier.

"Thank you for helping me out dear," He told her, his hand grasping hers. "Now don't worry my security will dispose of him just like we dispose of all the other garbage around here."

Sapphire nodded gingerly to the words of her new partner in crime an amused grin crawling across her face when the formerly knocked out security guard stormed into the room. He took one look at Shade and dragged him outside, promptly throwing him in the dumpster. While Sapphire didn't see him do this, she could vaguely hear the clang of the dumpster lid slamming down on him. This day just kept getting better and better.

"Let's talk business shall we? Because I have a feeling you and I will be great allies," Sapphire told Mr. Murdoch, kissing him firmly on the lips. Now she could get on with her work without any more interruptions and besides, a press company in her back pocket could come quite in handy for later.

"Ugh..." Shade muttered when he awoke. The first thing he noticed was that he was freezing, like nothing he had ever felt in his life cold! Secondly, he was vaguely aware that he was covered in something. He had no idea what. It was too dark to see anything, except for a thin line of light. Thirdly, his back and legs felt very sore, like someone had beat him with a baton or something. Finally, the smell hit him. It was horrible! Like rotten garage mixed with urine. It invaded his nostrils and crept up the back of his throat so he could almost taste it.

"Urgh!" The shadow mutant repeated as he tried to move. He barely managed to wiggle beneath the piles of nastiness that surrounded him. However, after much wiggling, Shade was finally able to free a hand and push some of the stuff off of him. Reaching for the narrow gap of light, he tried to squeeze his hand through. The heavy roof resisted at first, but with a little more wiggling and pushing some of the gross piles of crap of off him, Shade was able to get a hand, then an arm and finally slide his body out of the container.

It was just around the break of dawn, and the shadow mutant had to shield his eyes from the sudden brightness. Looking at himself, Shade noticed he was covered in shredded paper confetti, half finished coffee, and other more disturbing them. Was that a spaghetti strand on his shoulder?

The night stalker tried his best to remove the worst of the garbage, but it was a losing battle. With dawn on him, Shade could not travel by his usual means, and it was a long walk back to the Sanctuary. He tried to haul a cab, but as soon as the driver caught a smell of him, the yellow taxi streaked off down the road, but not before splashing cold, rain all over Shade. The water amplified the smell of garbage.

Now, soaking wet, smelling like sewage, and bruised and battered, Shade started the long journey back to the Sanctuary. The mobs on the street covered their noses when ever they passed Shade. He stopped trying to haul taxis after the third one refused him service. So instead, the shadow stalker just walked. He had to walk seven miles back to the Sanctuary...with one boot soaked in half-drank coffee and freezing waters causing it to squish! on every other step.

"I need a vacation."