Part 4:
Offerings
Max
I was sitting in the box, the interrogation room, chained to a cheap metal table. Above me, the standard fluorescent tube buzzed its cold light downward. The standard 'mirror' was there too, on the wall, hiding God knew how many accusing pairs of eyes, glaring at me from behind its silvery sheen. The only eyes I saw were my own, staring back. I hardly recognize the face. I never realized I looked THAT menacing. No wonder I was death row. If I was someone else, I'd probably want to execute me too.
To steel door creaked open, and in stepped a sparkling pasty-white smile clad in a spotless black suit. The used car salesman stench reeked from the guy like a quart of cheap cologne, and there was something behind the icy blue eyes that told me that his personality was just as flammable. His face seemed permanently cramped in a smile so false it made my eyes ache.
"Ah, Mister Payne, I've been looking forward to meeting you. My name is Andrew Tompkinson "
He probably expected a response of some sort, but I wasn't delivering. His voice was like a sugar-coated dagger, making the hair on my neck rise and my muscles tense. His eyes didn't blink and his smile didn't waver in the following silence. After a while he continued unfazed.
"The inner circle formally wishes to express our gratitude for your part in taking down Vladimir Lem."
I snorted. "Part? I did all the dirty work, remember? As far as I knew you were all dead"
He waved dismissingly "Of course, of course. Nonetheless, you have proven to be a true friend to the inner circle, and as such, we would like to repay you for services rendered."
"Hooray, what have I won, the right to wear black suits and act mysterious?"
Impossiby, his smile widened.
"Actually, we were thinking more along the lines of getting you out of here"
Now THAT caught my attention
"How?"
"As you might know, we are quite adept at pulling strings, and considering that the warden is an associate if ours, it should be fairly easy. However…"
I cringed. Here comes the catch…
"…there is one small task that we need you accomplish before we can grant you your freedom"
His voice took the 'you are my pawn' tone, and my blood warmed with anger.
"It seems that your cellmate, this…Punisher, had been causing quite a lot of trouble for one of our highest-ranking members. We need you to take him out"
He looked like he had just told me he could resurrect my family. I don't know if he's expected me to whoop with joy and lick his shoes in gratitude. Guess I disappointed him.
"Why am I not surprised?" I snarled. "Everytime I'm in some kind of trouble, you come dancing in, offering to be my hero and solve all my troubles. All I have to do is kill everyone who defies you and I'm a free man right? I've had it with being your lapdog. If you're all so happy I killed Vlad, why don't you just get me out? Why? Because some whiner wants to exploit me first. Some bastard wants to show who has the biggest dick! Who is this 'highest ranking member' anyway?"
I never raised my voice, but it felt good to let out some of the steam that had been building up pressure inside me. Tompkinsons' façade also crumbled like a deuce before a royal flush, finally relieving the world of his phony friendliness. The smile faded, exposing his true face to me. His true self.
"Why don't you just do as your told Payne?" Tompkinson yelled. "I offer you freedom, and you spit it right back at me! Who cares who this person is? I have the power to make you a free man, AND I have the power to let you rot here for all eternity!"
Jack Lupino's basement and the old Address unknown funhouse. Being at the receiving end of Frankie's bat and Vlad's gun. Those two places had taught me something about myself. I always had to push. When people were dangling my life in front of my eyes like some sort of prize I HAD to push. Take them to the edge. It was a dangerous gamble, especially with hot-headed brats such as this one, but I was a few years and a thousand bullets beyond caring. When people get angry they make mistakes. They trip over themselves, leaving them vulnerable to attacks. It usually warranted plenty of pain, but pain had become a second skin to me; I never felt it unless I chose to.
"So who is this member?"
Tompkinson looked like a rhino ready to charge, nostrils flaring and eyes wild. He tried to compose himself, correcting his tie with trembling hands and franticly smoothing his blonde hair, succeeding in making it more tangled than ever.
"That's none of your business, Payne!" He all but snarled. Looks like he was used to everything going by his head, like a spoiled brat who never grew out of it. He let out a sigh.
"Wilson Fisk"
Figures.
"The Kingpin?"
"The entrepreneur! You're straining my patience, Payne. I will be back in two weeks. Then we will se if you're willing to take our generous offer into consideration."
He departed with a huff of indignity. Like a guardian angel he had come down to offer me salvation at the price of blood. The serpents of the circle were venomous and they were very likely to sink their fangs into my back once I'd served their purpose.
Still, they had proved trustworthy before.
"Frank, you've got a talent for pissing off the wrong people"
Frank
The bad vibes in the master's dungeon hung heavily in the air, like a black curtain had been pulled over the window, blocking out all warmth and light. Angry eyes followed me as I went, fuelling my already sizable paranoia. Angry eyes hounded my every step, and had they not been on DeZantes' leach, half the prison would probably be on top of me now. What possessed creatures awaited me in the bowels of these mazes?
Old. That is the first word that comes to mind when laying eyes on what's left of the mighty DeZantes. Or ancient, even. His skin looked like crumbled paper, yellowed and calloused with age, and his stick-like limbs looked like they would break at the slightest pressure. Many had made the mistake of believing his mind was as fragile as the body. All who did were dead now. I could almost taste the serpentine manipulation streaming from him in thick waves, making my mouth dry and my knuckles white. Had the grotesque Biggs and hundreds of other prisoners not been here, he would be dead before he had time to formulate the first sentence.
No such luck
"You are the infamous Punisher, yes?" His voice had lost none of its potency, the rumbling growl resonating through the darkened cell, laced heavily with an Italian accent. I wondered how such frail lungs could harbour such a menacing voice. It was like watching a kitten roar like a lion. He was not to be underestimated.
"I have heard much about you. Most of it I did not like"
"I don't waste much time on PR"
I was rewarded with a phlegmy chuckle. Classic villain.
"Many see you as a hero. Even more see you as a lunatic. When I look at you, I see a mere man. A man who has caused me trouble."
My brain was already making slide-shows of various worst-case scenarios, and I tried formulating an escape plan for each of them. My 'knife' rested comfortable in my palm, smooth and deadly, ready to draw blood and take lives on my whim.
"It seems that you have gotten yourself involved in… some business that is not yours" He managed.
"That's what I do, get to the point"
"I see you have no patience for deceit and veiled threats. That's unfortunate, because that is the nature of my business, and if you wish to remain alive, you will play along. Now be silent."
The blade trembled eagerly in my hand. He was walking a thin line…
"I'm here to discuss your cellmate, Max Payne." He continued. "The boy he killed today happened to be my grandson. He tried to impress me by killing one of the most dangerous inmates here. Obviously, he failed at both. However, no matter how big a fool he was, he was still my grandson, and an insult like this cannot go unpaid."
Silence
"It seems you helped him in the following brawl, which does not surprise me considering your similarities. However, now that you have crossed me, I will have to kill you…"
I tensed like a bowstring, ready to propel myself away from danger…
"…IF, you should choose to reject the offer I brought you here to hear. Kill this Payne for me, and I will overlook your treason and let you live. Warn him, and I will kill you both. Capice?"
I couldn't fight the entire prison. They knew it, and I knew it. The masses of frenzied monsters would blood me like a tidal wave of rage, chocking me, crushing me and tearing me apart. Either he died or we both died. The blade felt heavy in my hand. I doubted I would have the strength to wield it against him.
This was the mother of all no-win situations.
"Max, you've got a talent for pissing off the wrong people"
