Castle and Cape

By Michael Weyer

The Coming Darkness

Max Malini had been in rough spots before. It came with the territory, after all, both as a circus performer and as a thief. This was hardly the first time he'd been bound to a chair or surrounded by a batch of armed and extremely dangerous men. However, he was not as young as he had once been and thus this wasn't as viable a situation as it might have been.

He shuffled in his chair, letting the tight ropes adjust around him. He licked his upper lip, tasting the blood from the blow he'd taken earlier. A few other aches shook his body, nothing he hadn't taken before far worse, of course. However, the various armed men standing around him were enough to subdue any attempt he might make at escaping. It wasn't helped by the presence of Scales, the man's suit ill-fitting on his huge frame, his eyes narrowed at Max.

Peter Fleming was nearby, his thick black mask on with red jacket, in full Chess mode. "I hope you're not too uncomfortable, Mr. Malini. I have questions for you. It would be a shame to have you die yet."

"Die?" Max grinned as he spat out a glob of blood. His face showed bruises from punches with his left eye starting to swell closed but he was still feisty as ever. "I'm just getting warmed up, sweetheart."

Chess frowned as he moved in. "Where's my money?"

"Depends," Max smirked. "Cash, stocks, bonds or other?" He gasped as Scales punched him in the jaw, drawing more blood. Chess's jaw was set, clearly doing his best to keep his cool, something Max knew he could use. "I am not joking here, Ms. Malini. You stole from me and I want it back."

"Well, sadly, much of it is gone," Max shrugged. "Sorry, but economy is rough, circus fees are expensive. I have to meet payroll, meals and the insurance, man…" He was prepared for another punch, rolling with it to smirk. "Sorry but much of it is gone. Plus, even if I gave you mine, can't speak for the rest of the crew. Rollo has an affinity for classic comic books."

Chess sighed. "I had really hoped to deal with this sensibly, Mr. Malini. Sadly, I am afraid I'll just have to write off the loss."

"Ever the businessman," Max intoned. "What is your ultimate goal here, Peter?" He saw Chess' eyes narrow at his real name. "I mean, really? Smuggling in new weapons helps you how?"

"My goal, Mr. Malini, is to give New York the police force it deserves," the man stated. "Sadly, the city politicians are dragging their feet on my idea of privatizing their forces, to allow ARK the lead. And so, I must take extreme measures to sway them."

Max snorted. "What are you going to do? Fake some criminal terrorist thing to scare the city into taking you?"

"Sadly, Mr. Malini, I don't see a way to fake blowing up half the seaside area of New York City. So I'm just going to have to do it." He turned to Scales. "Take care of him. The body should be incinerated in the ship blast but be sure."

As Scales moved in, Max took in his beefy build. "Damn, son. I could make you a star. Whatever he's paying you, I'll double it."

"Sorry, got a better offer," Scales smirked.

Max sighed. "Doesn't anyone believe in showmanship anymore?" He worked his arm, ready to drop a smoke pellet from his sleeve when a calm voice spoke up.

"Actually, I'm a pretty big fan of it."

All eyes and several weapons turned to the far end of the cargo hold as a man stepped into the light. He was tall and quite handsome with long black hair brushing to his shoulders, a pair of sunglasses over his eyes despite the late hour. He was clad in a stylish suit with expensive loafers and tie under a long overcoat, sliding the glasses off as he stepped inside. "So…Chess, I take it."

"And you are?" the masked man was calm as his men aimed guns at the intruder.

"Jackie Estacado," the man introduced himself. "And I think it's way past time you and I had a talk."

Chess slowly nodded. "Ah, yes. The young buck who managed to take over the Franchetti family business. You have been on my radar for some time."

"And you've been on mine." If Estacado looked worried about the men holding guns on him, he didn't show it. "See, you've been encroaching on my territory and I'm not a fan of that." He walked forward, brushing at his hair. "I don't like the idea of your army of thugs becoming the cops and I don't like you planning to blow up half the docks. That sort of thing is bad for business."

"My business is to make this city better."

The Italian youth snorted. "Please. Crime has been part of this town since New York was founded. You need guys like me to run things, grease the wheels and all that. Do away with crime and you won't know how this city is run."

"It will be run how I decide," Chess snapped. "Not by someone foolish enough to think he can come here alone and leave alive."

Jackie's lips turned upward. "Alone? Not really. I've gotten my…associates here already. Which is why you don't have guards coming. And why right about now…" He cracked his neck to the side. "You're going to find out what real power in this city is."

Right on cue, the lights above the cargo bay went out. It wasn't total blackness, there was enough of light from the hallway above to keep that from happening. In a way, it made what happened next worse as it allowed Chess, Scales and the rest to see what was happening with Estacaado.

The shadows seemed to embrace the man, covering his suit completely. They shifted about, forming into a complex suit of metallic-looking armor with ridges up and down the torso and legs. His hands were encased in long sleeves with sharp claws. A faceplate covered the lower half of Estacado's face, leaving his long hair whipping along with tendrils of black energy. Near his feet, a trio of small creatures appeared, deadly gnomes with gnashing teeth and expressions of lustful terror on their faces.

"Oh my God," one of the men behind Scales gasped. "Holy shit, all those crazy stories are true! He…he ain't human!"

"Kill him!" Scales yelled. Estacado threw out a hand and a pair of black shadow tendrils ripped outward, piercing right through two of the gunmen. They screamed as they were thrust back against the wall. Escatando was moving, flowing with the shadows as bullets seemed to bounce off his armor. A pair of the strange creatures leapt out to tackle one of the gunmen, the man screaming as he was torn apart by them.

While he had no idea how this was happening, Max was quick to take advantage of the situation. He twisted in the ropes, a cloud of smoke billowing to let him escape. No one was paying much attention to him, however, all more worried about keeping alive against the onslaught of the dark-garbed warrior before them. He raced to the nearest ladder to scale the catwalk and moved to a doorway. A sharp pain hit him in the back and he gasped as he realized a random bullet had struck him. He pushed the pain aside as he made his way to the ship to escape the slaughter beneath him.

A few minutes earlier, Kate was making her way to the large cargo ship, lightly sticking to the shadows, worried about sentries. She was surprised to find almost no one about, she figured the place would be heavily guarded. A crackling came to her ear as Orwell's voice in the comlink. "I've uplinked with a heat-imaging satellite."

"Whose?"

"Fleming's."

"The man has his own satellite?"

"I told you he was bigger than you thought. Anyway, getting readings but something's…wrong. I've got movement but little heat from them. It…" The voice paused. "A heat signature just went down, something is going down and it's bad."

Kate's foot hit something and she looked down to see the body of a suited man lying on the ground. Blood covered his throat, which appeared to have been torn out, his eyes wide in terror. "Yeah, I think I got that." Her head jerked up at the sound of gunfire as she moved to the ship itself. She began running, doing her best to keep the cape tight around her. She saw the bodies of two more men by the main gangplank, each as ravaged as the first. Kate didn't bother wondering what had caused this, she was too worried about Max.

Her eyes blinked as she adjusted to the darkness inside the ship. She could hear the gunshots and sounds of screams and decided to follow them, navigating through the tight halls. She heard footsteps and moved into the shadow of a nearby bulkhead as a man ran past, terror on his face. Kate let him go past then threw out the cape to wrap around his leg. The man screamed as if he'd been hit with acid, turning to fire bullets wildly. Kate barely dodged them as she yanked him in to punch him.

She rose up and moved into the main ship. Kate dodged back into the shadows as she saw a shape coming by. She tensed only to see it was Max, the man grunting and clearly bleeding. He fell on a railing just as two gunmen came upon him. "Abracadabra, pops," one of them grunted.

Max saw the shadow flickering behind them and smiled. "Presto," he whispered.

The Cape moved fast to grab one of the gunmen as she leapt out to punch the other. She dodged an attempted blow to smash both fists across his jaw, knocking him down. She kicked the other gunman in the face to knock him out, pausing to make sure they were both down before going to Max.

"Hey," he said, coughing hard as he lay on the ground. "That was…hell of a show."

"Don't move, I'll get you some help," Kate said. She winced at the blood coming from his wounds and how weak the circus veteran looked.

"Fleming…He's going to blow the ship…Set off a massive blast…"

"Don't try to talk."

"I'm the one dying, I'd like to talk," Max spat out. "What you're doing…is good, Kate. It's great in fact. It's not just an act, it's…something pure." He winced. "Remember who you're doing it for….Not just you but friends….Castle…"

"He's a friend," Kate said, trying to cover the wound with a hand.

Max chuckled, blood at his lips. "Take it from a man who loved and lost once before…and never recovered…You see what you want…What you know you need…Don't let it go, Kate…Never…let it go." He narrowed his eyes. "Don't make me a jerk. Get him back."

"I will," Kate blurted, blinking back tears behind her mask.

Max moaned out, closing his eyes. "Want to say something…profound." His head lolled back as he sighed. "God…I need a drink." His body slumped as he let out a long breath, his head falling to the side.

"Max," Kate whispered, her heart breaking at the thought of another man she'd grown to admire and respect leaving her. "Max…"

Suddenly, his left eye snapped open, looking about. "Dammit, I thought that was it!" His voice was much stronger as he complained. "Wasted a great speech."

Kate let out a laugh of relief as she helped Max back to his feet. Footsteps came and she was alert but relaxed as she saw Rollo come up with a wrench in hand. "He okay?" he asked as he came up to Max.

"Been better but had worse," Max snapped as he let them lift him to his feet. He looked to Kate with concern. "Chess is gonna set off a bomb, blow this ship and half the docks to hell."

"Not if I can help it." Kate turned on her heel, a hand to her ear. "Oracle, you hear that?"

"I did. I'm scanning for frequencies now. If I find the right one, I can jam any attempt to blow it."

"On it," Kate said as she started moving off. "Rollo, get Max off the boat, car's around the corner." She raced off as Rollo glanced to Max. "You saw that…"

"Not now," he snapped, leaning on the smaller man as they made their way out. "Hopefully, she can handle it." He sighed. "She has to."

Chess winced as he made his way to the open air of the ship's bow. He was a man used to things being rational and calm, set and orderly. So to see a man transform into a shadowy monster was beyond any of his reasoning but he was doing his best to handle it. He moved to the front of the ship, knowing that setting the bomb off would more than take care of whatever Estacado was now. He was moving toward it when a shadow flew over him. He was ready for an attack by Estacado but instead saw a caped figure land before him. "You," he breathed, realizing who it was.

The Cap moved quickly, launching a punch to rock Chess backward. He gasped as he fell back but then snarled, a knife extending from his sleeve to slash at the Cape. The figure rolled with it to kick at him but Chess blocked it off. "You're too late!" he hissed as he reached to a small remote in his pocket.

The Cape grabbed it, the two struggling. Neither saw the dark figure emerge from the boathouse to stare at them. He cocked his head before smiling, the strange armor fading to show Jackie Estacado in his suit again. He stepped back into the ship, figuring he'd made enough of an impact for one night.

Chess backhanded the Cape across his mask to knock him back before pulling out the remote. He pressed the button with a wicked smile…which faded as nothing happened. "Good one, Oracle," the Cape whispered before going on the attack. She rammed Chess against the edge of the boat railing as he grunted. "I'll find you!" he snarled. "I'll kill you and anyone you ever cared about!"

"You can't," the Cape hissed back. "I'm already dead."

The roar of a helicopter came over them and they both looked up to see a trio of them moving overhead, their spotlights hitting the ship. Chess took advantage to punch the Cape in the face. Ignoring the pain in his fist, he leaped onto the railing and then over the edge. The Cape raced over, letting the tendril of her cloth out but it missed Chess' foot. She cursed as she watched Chess vanish under the waves.

"Cape, you better get out of there," Orwell's voice echoed in her ear. "The police are on their way and not likely to listen to your side of things."

"Chess got away."

"But you stopped his plans. Take your victories as you can, Kate."

"I guess," she sighed. "What about you, Orwell? What's your story?"

"Nothing important. Not now at least."

The Cape shrugged as she leapt away into the night, leaving the chaos behind her.

Sara Pezzini took a long sip of her cup of coffee as she came up to the ship. She was clad in jeans and a dark shirt as she mounted the gangplank, annoyed at the late hour but handling well the chaos of police and firemen all about. She passed by an officer who was on his knees, retching in the hallway. She frowned as she made her way to the main cargo hold and stopped in place. "Holy…"

It looked like the interior of an abattoir, blood sprayed all over the place along with pieces of bodies spread about. One had was staring outward with eyes wide and face in terror while another body looked to have been smashed through a wall. Officers were about taking photos as the medical examiners seemed at a loss against such a sight.

"Damn," Esposito whispered as he came up behind her, eyes wide. "The hell happened here?"

"Word is they got a tip of Chess here," Ryan said, coming up with plastic over his suit. "Some sort of deal going down."

"Turned nasty by the looks of it," Sara noted, sipping her coffee.

"They found some sort of bomb set up too," Ryan said. "And the first guys on the scene said they saw Chess and that Cape guy fighting it out on deck."

Esposito frowned. "They think he did this?"

"Not sure," Ryan shrugged. "Found a guy unconscious in a side room. They had to sedate him, he kept raving about the darkness coming to life."

Sara whipped her head at him. "What?'

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, guess the Cape freaked him out more than he thought." He and Esposito both made their way down the stairs to the main cargo bay. Sara looked at them going and closed her eyes. "Dammit, Jackie…what the hell are you up to now?"

At her wrist, the gems of her bracelet seemed to flash.

Kate knocked on the door of the trailer, entering it to see Max sitting behind his desk with a bottle. "I see you're feeling better."

He chuckled. "I've taken more hits than that in my time, believe me." He leaned back in his chair, drinking. "So I understand you had an eventful night."

Kate nodded. "I stopped Chess this time." She sighed. "He got away though."

"But he knows you're out there," Max said. "That makes it dangerous."

"Speaking of which, are you worried he'll come after you again?"

"Oh, I suspect he has bigger issues to worry about at the moment," Max smiled softly. "I know you didn't do this alone. I won't pry but whoever it was who helped…thank him for me."

"I will." Kate rose. "I'll let you rest up, I need some sleep myself." She was nearly at the door when Max spoke up. "Kate." She turned to see his face dead serious. "Thank you. I don't…I'm not used to owing people but…I owe you now. And I'll pay that debt, no matter how long it takes."

Kate smiled and nodded before leaving. Max was silent before Ruvi stepped from behind a curtain. The man's face was somber as he looked to Max. "You didn't tell her about the Darkness."

"She doesn't need to know yet."

"Doesn't she?" Ruvi stated. "You gave her the Cape, Max. The Darkness is out there. How long until the rest of the Thirteen show up?"

"I didn't make the choice in this."

"Didn't you?" Ruvi pressed. "You gave it to her."

"It would have done so anyway, you know that," Max snapped. "These things decide on their own and we're just the players they take along the way." He crossed his fingers as he looked to the door Kate had left. "She has to learn on her own, Ruvi. They always do."

The other man shook his head. "She's not ready, Max."

"They never are," Max muttered under his breath. "That's why they're chosen." He sipped his drink down as Ruvi realized once more that his boss was playing a dangerous game.