Description: The first step of the woman's journey into the past is taken under a city that never sleeps. In the darkest pitch where the fires never reach, the cold maze beneath the Capitol 7 Casino lies the final grave where the dream ended. She tries to piece together her memories and fill the gaps that she was not present for and receives help from an introloper. At the end of the dream she begins her journey. Ad finem.
Daniel Jack was sore. After the fiasco in The Jock Strip, the sharpest student of Master Todoh was short a suit and high for debt. And worse yet, the only thing he got from the whole deal was a busted chest and a red herring. A regular bad fish. There was no Mad Gear leads over in Southtown. But Daniel Jack knew something was going on. Just call it detective's intuition. That's what brought him back to the states. That same intuition.
Plus, his casino card was still good, apparently.
"Read it solid, scuzzies, four of a kind." Daniel Jack cooed, spreading the cards across the table. Up $300, including cost of tickets. The gumshoe was on a roll. Unfortunately, there were no new leads. Mad Gear was as they were before, it seemed. Nobodies. And yet, Daniel Jack just couldn't believe that what was once the most dangerous organized batch of thuggery was just not around. Collecting his winnings and his pork-pie, the man gave a ginger salute to the crowd. "Peace out, hominess of gees. Business calls, if you can dig it." Daniel Jack figured that he would drift in Metro City for a few more days to fish out some information, ANY information. But not too long. The city made him nervous. Too many beatings, too many bad memories. He began to head towards the buffet.
Might as well cash in on the free food.
"Let me show yo uboth.. How to keep a secret.."
The voice echos in her head like a memory, though she wasn't there, she saw the tapes. The casino had security cameras everywhere, like any casino, but they didn't bother changing the security system since the old management ran this place. Even back in those days, the red witch rarely used her security pass to get through doors, these days it would set off red flags. Even if the Casino was friendly toward old Blackjack operatives, it didn't mean they were wanted in the underbelly. It didn't mean Marise wanted them in the underbelly. Those words. Recorded off the tapes by Marise. She was the last, Naerose knew, and as the last she would be the first, the beginning of the turning of the clock. This would be the place, this building where the pilgrimage to the beginning starts, at the end. The security door is no trouble for her, nor the cameras. She had a hand in thses systems, having been one of the groups telecommunication agents. A little known fact, as hard as it may be to believe. There were backdoors, she knew what they were, to shut the system down, but not before reviewing some precious tapes. Even the security guards used the same routine they had used before and thus are no problem even for a brightly colored witch to sneak past. Others in the casino might of noticed her slip up to an employee's only door and then the next moment through.
Now in the concrete backhallways the witch stood and gazed down, trying to recall some of the tapes she reviewed. They were destroyed of course, but in the age of data you could reverse the process if you knew how. Unfortunately she only got bits and pieces of what happened that night. The plunge begins. She was likely following the same steps that RunningElk followed to the end.
Brown heeled boots click with every step as the air gets colder and more dank. It could be ghosts still linger down here, perhaps Marise herself someplace haunts these halls, but at the first staircase Naerose is fairly confident she won't run into the monster herself. The lights flicker over head as she continues down.
"..What's.. What's that way? Seems like she was either coming from there or they were headed that way. Maybe both.."
The words of RunningElk echo in her head from the recording she managed to salvage. Only bits and pieces. Yes the labryrith opened up around her beneath the casino. She hasn't looked back to see if she was followed. Naerose was certain no one would dare.
There were two things that made a Mad Gear member stand out. The first was their generally audacious approach to criminal activities. They didn't just steal a purse. They STOLE... YOUR... PURSE. They were blunt, loud, and very noticeable. And that led into the second portion. Mad Gear members usually looked really weird. They took anyone, and it reflected that.
Now, as Daniel Jack was working his way to the buffet, he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Someone dressed as a witch. Now, witches were not normal fair. That was the first red light. The second red light was slipping into an employee's only mark. Daniel sniffed the air. Something was rotten in Metro City. Another red herring? The detective shook his head. He couldn't pass up a suspicious activity like this. It would be an dishonor to his Associates Degree in Criminal Justice.
The man slipped discreetly behind Naerose, letting the door close behind him. He stared at the concrete backhalls. He was trespassing now. If he was on the force, he could lose his badge for this. Daniel just gently walked forward, keeping himself much quieter than the click-clack ahead of him. Thank goodness didn't rely on the law to keep the justice alive. This dame was being strange, that was for sure. Down they went, Daniel Jack keeping a shadow on his mark, poking around corners to keep an eye on her. Sometimes, he lost her, though a sharp ear and loud heels made up for those mistakes. All the time, he was contemplating what manner of business she was up to. Theft? Blackmail? Or possibly something far more insidious.
Whatever it was, Daniel wanted in on it.
A steaming furnace. This was the place. The witch had finally reached the deep section where the act happened. She clicks on a flashlight to look around the crime scene and running her fingers, red painted nails clicking, against the floor. There was nothing here now. Some signs of old damage still, but no body, no burnt fabric, one way or another that was cleared away and only second hand idea of what might of happened. There were no security cameras in Marise's domain. She knew where they fought though, the Guardian Kings and Blackjack's last stand. Why wasn't Naerose here? Well she was here. Now. Maybe a little late, but it was this place that the final stake was driven. The beast was killed in this room.
"And not just her."
Naerose murmurs to hersrelf, "What the heck happened here," the woman asks herself in the silence of the basement. She talked to herself like she was thinking out loud, but the truth was it had more to do with the silence. Deafening, the very darkness and soundless corridors could swallow a person whole and that was exactly what the witch was afraid of. She knew this part of the casino was not her field. It was cramped, there wasn't enough space to really swing her broom in many of the passages, she couldn't ride her broom to safety either. She was relatively powerless down here.
"It's cold," she comments to herself and blows on her hands. "What was she doing here," the witch asks herself, while looking around, "This seems like an odd place to stage a final battle." The witch licks her lips and drags her fingers on the ground.
"Even if she was still on there, this is totally where it all came to an end." Putting her flashlight on the bill of her hat the witch pulls something else out of her hat, a notebook and a red crayon. She begins to write in it, perhaps describing the area, but unaware that she was followed, it seems as if she isn't too worried about someone from the casino, but rather the devil lady herself. Now that would be bad. Her uneasy is mostly hidden. She doesn't look over her shoulder. She didn't check for other footsteps. In hindesight maybe that wasn't the best idea.
"What came to an end, Cherry?"
Daniel Jack had stood silently behind Naerose for her entire monologue. Hands dug his pockets, he just stared out from behind his rose glasses, glaring in a deadpan. He was sniffing something nasty here, and it was the whole mystery of the situation. Something huge happened here, and the red witch was investigating. He picked it up by how it was playing. The Casino must have been a hideout for someone... or something.
Daniel Jack took a step forward, his stony face unbroken as he rasped out a long, steady thought. "A fight, you mentioned. Judging by your threads..." The detective scanned her outfit over rapidly. "... Gang related. Better tell your tale, missy, it will do you a lot of good in the long run." Daniel just watched Naerose, frozen in place.
Something of an inkling inside of Naerose as if the very presence of this place gives off the old familiarity of the past, what to do, what to say. She could come clean, as the witch peers over the round rims of her spectacles at the new arrival, or had he been here the whole time..? Pause. No. No denizen of this place would ask the questions he had, unless the homeless had already begun to overtake the basement, but considering the reek.. The silence like a canon, it would be hard, to say the least, for just anyone to move down here. He must of followed her and he is clearly not staff.
"We didn't ask questions," echos another voice from the past in Naerose' mind. The staff. Yes, they didn't ask questions about Blackjack. This was an interloper to the pilgrimage and worse yet, he was an invader. She smiles, after all, Naerose was an invader too. Marise hated it when she came down here.
"Ah. huh?" Asks Naeroes, falling easily into her usual countenance. "Gangs? I dunno whatcha mean, but like, are you sure you're supposed to be down here mister?" She was pretty sure she knew the answer to that before even asking, but then, it took no rocket science to realize she probably didn't belong here eighter
"Don't know what I mean."
Daniel Jack repeated the sentence curtly, the sharp crack of his knuckles breaking from the depths of his pockets. His face was just as hard as it was before, but he was watching, analyzing. She gave the evasive answer, immediately whipping it back around to him.
"Sure, I am supposed to be down in this here joint, Cherry. Just like how you're supposed to be down here... isn't that right?" Daniel took another shuffling step, his body frame translating point from point, unshaken. "To sniff out quirky people doing quirky things, like dropping way down to the heart of an old Casino set in the outskirts of Metro City. Real blip, you figure? A big easy for all sorts of shindigs." The detective drew out his left pocket, gripping a chain tightly in the fist. At the end was bright, golden watch. Steadily, Daniel begin to spin it in place, his body remaining erect. His presence was growing more rigid, more intense. He spoke again, this time seething. "Now, if you know nothing about gangs, then why did someone you know personally, as you spoke, 'disappear here.' Friend? Sister? I need to know, Cherry."
The watch chain began to whirr as it accelerated to greater and greater speeds.
"Old..?" A brow raises above the top of the round black shades. Amusement plays on her features like a misty veil dancing around her face, but she does it at the same time looking clueless. How can failure incarnate look at all in control of a situation. Daniel, whose name she didn't know, certainly seemed to think he knew what he was doing. He was just a walking show of confidence. The man seemed to know what he was doing, he must of had a Past in this sort of thing. A past is another word for history which also plays into old, like this place? It certainly smells old. It FEELS old. But there was history here, recent or not that he lacked, despite whatever time he had in histories himself. It was time to give him a lesson.
"Actually this place is totally not that old, I mean like I think it was only built a couple years ago. Maybe not even that. Construction prolly only started, I mean floor plans about the time that the war in Thailand was going on. It was way over the news. Rockets and tanks and BOOOOOOM" Naerose spreads her arms like she's a plane, glides around and then spins and makes machine gun motions as if she is shooting something then holds both hands up to her heart.
"I'm hit!" she cries and starts to fall onto the frigid concrete ground.
"I'm dying.. mister.. could you .. do my last request." Pouring on the melodrama.
"Could you.. bring me.. a soda?"
Hah. Unlikly. She closes her eyes, put cracks one to peek at Daniel with her shades way down her nose.
Daniel's brow soften, then crinkled furiously. The detective actually was being confident out of necessity, not of talent. The woman was obviously insane. Or pretending to be insane, and just mocking him. Either were hallmarks of the Mad Gear. The spinning of the chain slows down slightly as Daniel composure relaxes a bit. Her show was reducing the perception of threat, and increasing the perception of annoyance.
On the other hand, she may have been a victim, perhaps connected with a rival gang. Gang activity near Metro City wasn't unusual, and was very widespread. Hence the weird mocking me-or-not mocking me vibe. She pointed out the conflict in Thailand as the major event of the area, not the Siege of Metro City. What was said and not said was important. For example, the most important thing was the evasion.
Danny sniffs once, looking down at Naerose. "Cherry, you're a very funny bree, I mean, you are the MEZZ." He cracks his neck to the left in a sharp motion. "But you are avoiding a very delicate question, which opens a whole new box of questions in itself. You know something happened right here in this very room. It was important enough for you to bypass security. Judging by your precise know-how, you understand this flat impeccably. In short, you know something, and you are purposely not telling me."
Daniel snatches the watch from midspin, and slips it back in his pocket. He carefully reaches up with both hands, and removes his hat, revealing his shock of hair combed over a short patch of dark hair. He inspects the pork-pie, pursing his lips thoughtfully. "I'll make the question very simple. 'Why are you here.' You got the count of five to answer. Answer correctly..." The man gives off a smug smile, replacing the hat on his head. "And then we can talk about those sodas. Maybe a burger or two. Bless it jesus, I miss Metro City food." Daniel gives a wink at Naerose's corpse, digging his hands right back into his pockets.
And right on the plasticuffs kept for opportunities like these.
Burgers were a sure way to get something out of Naerose. She was certainly getting perked up by the minute. All she has to do is answer a few questions about what happened here. This was where Naerose would play ball. The red witch stands up, straight from a laying down position and is grinning so big. So bright, it doesn't fit with these insanely gloomy surroundings. Still there were a lot of holes here, she didn't know everything, she didn't know close to everything, but she knew enough, for burgers.
"Someone died here. A dream died here. Someone was born here. And perhaps the conception of a new dream will happen here too. Or something." The witch breaks out into bright and airy laughter. Maybe she was being serious, maybe she wasn't, but the laughter echos and echos and after a while it echos back. Like a banshee in the distance joining chorus with her sisters to the laughter, but it is really just the echo of Naerose off the walls.
"She was a friend of mine, she was the devil lady, she was a daughter of a gun. That makes sense right?" The witch is practically drooling.
"I wasn't there, but .. " She looks over the area, the gloom returning as she is overtaken by a somber nostalgia. "You can feel it. Can't you?"
Daniel took the bone tossed to him, and begin to chew. His face went to 'stern neutral,' a careful, studious passover. Poems. Death. Madness. She was being cryptic on purpose, or because of her sickness. Insanity was a very sick game of poker, where nobody wears faces and everybody bluffs their hands. Her cackles echoed through the empty concrete halls, filling Daniel Jack with something. What was it. Oh yeah.
Pity.
The detective's face droops slightly, but stiffens up when he opens his mouth to give his judgement. "So far, you have earned a soda, but are awfully close to the burger. Not just any burger, either. Rich, free-range longhorn meat. So tender you could eat it with a spoon, so juicy you could fill it in a cup. That's Nebraska ground beef there, Cherry. You like cheddar? I prefer Swiss myself." Daniel licks his lips. He actually was only partially bluffing. All this talk of high-quality hamburger was making him hungry. He might just pass on that buffet. Sure, it was free. But that was some fiiiiiine meat there.
Shaking his head quickly, he looks square at the red witch, and nearly spits the words out. "How about this, Cherry. What gang was she part of. And who did her in. Five... Four...." Daniel began to clench the plasticuffs. He couldn't allow the thoughts of tasty burgers distract him.
Gangs where the wrong questions and as much as tasty burgers might distract her too, there was a purpose to being down here, even if it was only a sentimental one. She couldn't allow herself to be distracted either. Her head shakes. The floppy tip of her witches hat shifts to the other side while the witch expresses her exaperation. Cool exasperation and calm, she was't frustrated, at least not yet. That might change. Her broom became a staff to lean against, not literally, only she sets the tip into the concrete floor with an echoing click down the endless corridors of the labyrinth.
"No gang. The festering remains of a mercenary body once deemed an up and coming group. They could manage anything, but they had no friends. A rag tag group that were held together by a single thread and when that thread fell, the only rallying point choose to hold her last stand here. Now like I said, I wasn't there to see it.. I wasn't there to see what happened in this room. The unknown depths are totally not like surveyed.. I mean you could't get a good shot anyway right? No real lighting. But anyway, so What we know is the last time someone came this way, other than maintanance was the chief executive of this casino. He came. He left, he erased the tapes."
The witch licks her red painted lips and stares down through dark shades at Daniel. It's amazing she can see anything.
"I think you should be taking notes or something-"
But she doesn't wait.
"About four months or so ago, after the last thread fell, the single remaining strong pillars began to drop or vanish. One remained enough to hold the reins of power, at least somewhat and chose to use it to gather strong fighters, or at least relatively so. The aim was personal, where as before profits were shared for shared mutual benefit of the comapy, now it all filtered to a single source. Hands were tired of being bitten by the mouth they fed. A betrayal was emminent. One fateful night.."
Naerose holds up a hand by her flashlight and creates a hand puppet of walking legs.
"What we know is she had some trust, at least faith that fear would drive her subordinates to stay in line.. Until the ides of may, or whatever that thing was with Cesaer happened. March? Octoboer? I dunno, but there was many hands at work. A group of children came to oppose the evil that had built and infected the bloated body of the company you refer to as a gang. No, no gang. Legitimate illegitimate mercenaries."
The witch smiles.
Daniel Jack didn't need notes. His mind was like a beartrap when it came to facts and information. In some states, very illegal, and usually caught the wrong things. He could argue it was for big game, but when you have innocent strangers get their leg torn apart, it is really hard to justify the use. Right now, Daniel suspected that this was exactly.
The most important phrase in the whole response was 'mercenary body.' That brought up a strong potential of a paramilitary-type 'gang.' Daniel ran into a similar case out in Nebraska... and Metro City in 2005. The references to the Thailand incident coincided with that. This girl was part of a 'gang,' but more angled at forming a pseudo-military structure. This wasn't Mad Gear, nor was it a strong criminal organization. It was, at best, a low-level one... and likely gone forever.
Daniel Jack once again went down a peg on the Relax-o-Meter. The story was beginning to unfold. There was a gang. The witch was a member of the organization, and from it's conception, it was based on the charisma of a single leader. However, at the same time it had significant loyalty and organizational problems. It began to fall apart, and the leader tried to bring it back here. The disloyalty in the ranks snapped back, and this woman... this girl wasn't a part of it. This wasn't a major gang threat, but a eulogy to a dead, forgotten one.
"It was October. And good answer, Cherry." Daniel Jack stated, removing a hand from his pockets to adjust his own shades. "You're not in my way." Returning his hands back in his pockets, he gave an abrupt about face, looking towards the hallway. He began to walk out of the room, but stopped. Without looking back, he stated in a dead, forceful tone, "When you are done, we can hit those burgers. One burger. One soda. Unlimited fixin'. And that will be our final destination." Daniel Jack stepped out of there quietly. He was going to wait for her for two reasons. The first was that he had promised her a burger and a soda. And when he promised something to a dame, it would be ungentlemanly to break that bond.
The other was that he was absolutely lost, and he prayed to god that Naerose knew the way out.
Log created on 15:41:12 11/17/2008 by Naerose, and last modified on 13:21:05 11/18/2008.