Fan Fiction: First-Hand Accounts
The Life of an Agent

  New York City - April 1932

  A dozen well-dressed men crowded the spacious backroom of Fat Paulie's Pool Hall on the Southside of Manhattan. As rain began to lightly tap the windows, a large clock in the far corner of the room struck midnight. The group of burly henchmen, belonging to New York's largest and most wealthy crime family, the Grizeedos, were scattered about the place, waiting nervously as they had been called to the seedy establishment for an emergency meeting. From out of nowhere, the head of the family, James Grizeedo, entered the room. Standing front and center, the tall and stocky, middle-aged crime boss began to pace back and forth, stopping momentarily to light a thick cigar. Suddenly, he noticed one of his cronies nervously stepping forward.

  "We got the message, Boss. So why are we here?"

  "Oh, Anthony," Grizeedo finally spoke in a whisper, eyeing the young teenager up and down, "you're a good kid, like a son to me. Unfortunately boys," he began to eye everyone there, raising his brushy black eyebrows, "one of you is going to die tonight." He causally took another puff from his cigar.

  Instant chatter filled the room. The henchmen talked nervously amongst themselves, casting eyes back and forth, realizing a traitor was in their midst. Grizeedo looked on, growing increasingly annoyed. Finally, to cease the incessant noise, he pulled a pistol from his thick wool coat and raised it, firing a shot into the ceiling. Plaster fell in small shards, landing around the boss. His irritation grew.

  "Quiet, you slugs," the crime boss ordered furiously. "I found out yesterday that there is a turncoat amongst us. It is someone whom I have trusted for a long time. He has worked very hard for this family and it is quite disappointing..." His voice trailed off as if a surge of emotion came over him. Then, just as quickly, blind rage followed. "The problem is, we are one if the most powerful families in New York! We have access to anything we want." His beady eyes narrowed. "This person is using the family secrets for money," he growled. "He's playing us against some of the other families."

  Once again the crowd of goons began to go wild, not being able to fully take in what they had just heard. Having little patience, Grizeedo fired another shot that effortlessly ricocheted off the wall.

  "I know this is disturbing news," Grizeedo smiled synthetically. "Alright, boys lock all the doors. I don't want anybody escaping."

  The crowd laughed at the last statement by their boss as half dozen men proceeded to seal all the exits.

  "Now, somebody find, Cliff Marsland and bring him to me," the boss ordered, puffing his cigar and taking a seat in a nearby chair.

  The announcement came as a shock. Not Cliff, someone muttered to another as whispers erupted. Every goon in the place frantically tried to pinpoint the traitor until finally a young, scruffy looking mobster with matted brown hair was escorted to the front of the room. The man fought hard to escape but was held down by two brawny mobsters.

  "Ah, there you are, Cliff," Grizeedo greeted his quarry. "Give us the names of the families you sold our information to or we'll torture you until you do."

  "Joke's on you, Grizeedo. I also got the cops all over you as well," the traitorous man informed with a smile, trying to break free from the goons holding him.

  "The police?" Grizeedo moaned angrily, blowing cigar smoke all over the place.

  "That's right. They're gonna be all over you from now on."

  "Kill em'," Grizeedo spoke softly.

  With that, a sudden, sinister laughter overcame the room. The group of mobsters, including the burly men holding Cliff Marsland, all pulled their firearms and waited for something to happen. Nobody could tell where the sound was coming from, but the laughter kept getting louder and louder until finally, the room fell quiet.

  "What the hell?" Grizeedo muttered under his breath.

  All of a sudden a menacing black-cloaked form appeared in a back corner of the room. Every thug in the place noticed and before anyone could fire a shot, the dark and mysterious figure drew two large.45 automatic pistols and opened fire on the entire room. Shot after shot rang out all across the room, ultimately killing every thug in the place. The only men left standing were Cliff Marsland, Boss Grizeedo and the mysterious visitor.

  Boss Grizeedo quickly attempted an escape, racing to the door he had previously entered through. Cliff Marsland quickly gave chase and upon reaching him, grabbed the man's shoulder, turning the man to face him and knocking the mobster out with a swift blow to the skull.

  As Marsland turned around, he gasped at what he saw. The strange, black-cloaked man stood right in front of him. It was The Shadow. Marsland backed away in an effort to gain distance from the frightening stranger, but The Shadow moved closer until Marsland confronted him.

  "What do you want?"

  "You are not Cliff Marsland. That was not your name fourteen years ago when you were overseas. Perhaps you remember the village of Esternay in the spring of 1918 or perhaps the trip to Monte Carlo three weeks after the armistice? Do you recall Blanton the Frenchman?"

  "How do you know that? Who are you?" Marsland wondered, intrigued by the man that stood before him.

  "I also know what you did for the love of a woman. It is both noble and bold to serve a murder sentence for a killing you did not commit. But, we shall speak no more of years gone by. You are now Cliff Marsland and I am The Shadow," The Shadow announced, staring coldly at the man.

  "So, what do you want?"

  "You have a flair for deception and quite a status in the underworld of crime, though I know your reputation for murder to be false. I hope to use your skills to aid my pursuits against crime as payment for saving your life."

  "What do you require of me?" Marsland questioned.

  "Everything. I will employ you as one of my agents. I will use your powers of deception if and when I require them. You will infiltrate the underworld and report back to me what you find."

  "And what if I refuse?" Marsland shot back brazenly.

  "You are a decisive man of free will. The choice is yours, but I saved your life tonight. Know this, if you refuse me, I will not be around to do it again," The Shadow promised.

  "I see," Marsland understood. "Then I accept. My life is now yours."

  "Good. All that is required now is your pledge of full obedience. Absolute obedience to my cause."

  "You have it," Cliff Marsland agreed.

  "Then I must take my leave. Wait for a message. I will contact you when you are needed."

  "Understood," Marsland pronounced with a smile.

  With that, The Shadow turned and walked through the door at the back of the place where Boss Grizeedo's unconscious body was lying on the floor.