Brass Ring Interlude 1: When A Cape Falls

The crowd at the Crooked Jape parted as the thin, wrinkled man in the dark suit moved through it. his dark suit, Jonathan Verictus smiled; he had nothing to fear from the killers that frequented this premier gambling establishment. His tight-lipped smile had nothing to do with the parting of the crowd, but everything to do with the missive he had received in his email along with his morning newsletter. The news he had received made it worth putting on the restrictive headgear so he could deal with the din of the casino.

The floor was covered in blackjack tables and the walls with slot machines, but Verictus ignored those; he was interested only in the door just to the right of the Celestial Stage. Behind that door was who he was looking for, watching the best professional players gamble on hands of million-dollar poker. But they were merely the entertainment for those at the bar, where deals were made in shadow.

The security guard nodded as he saw Verictus approach and turned to punch in the code of the day. Verictus passed into the room behind the door even before the door had fully opened. He took a few steps into the room and pulled off his headphones, allowing him to adjust to the sounds of the room. He allowed some teeth to show as he saw a large man in a tight suit laughing at the bar.

Verictus walked up behind the man, pulled out a hand cannon, and placed it behind the man’s skull. “Zebediah Johnson. I know who you really are.”

The bar crowd went silent. The large man gulped. “And who do you think I am?”

Verictus allowed himself to cock his head so he could better hear the man’s pulse. “The Scourge Knight. The famed Mask Behind Penance, the Shadow of the Waters, the biggest bounty in town.” At the mention of the names, all motion in the room stopped; even the players put their hands down. There was a new electricity in the air.

Zebediah smiled. “There is no way that I am that man. If I were, then why would I be here? This would be the worst place for me to be.”

Verictus heard the man’s pulse quicken and frowned for a moment. The real Scourge Knight wouldn’t react. He smiled as he remembered the notes from the missive and took a step back, the gun still on his target. “Remove your shirt.”

The large man ripped his jacket and dress shirt off. He pulled up his undershirt. On his back was the tattoo of a medieval scourge, lovingly detailed. Verictus smiled.

With his empty hand, he motioned for a woman to come over. The light revealed her gracefully coiffed gray hair and glasses, all wrapped in a floor-length black dress. She smiled. “Nice physique, and that tattoo is a bit too familiar.”

Verictus sighed then smiled. “You know I need to do it here.”

She nodded. “It will not be the first time I have had to have this room deep-cleaned.”

Verictus nodded then pulled the trigger of the gun, covering Zebediah in a gray ooze. The ooze ignited into a bright flame. He didn’t even have time to scream before his body and most of the chair he was sitting on was converted to ashes. The woman motioned to a janitor who removed the remains of the chair and swept up the ashes into a jar.

The woman walked off. “The bounty will be deposited into your listed account within the hour.” She disappeared back into the shadows. Verictus nodded and quit the room, still smiling.

The other players quickly returned to the game and the drinkers to their gossip, albeit with a new topic.

[The previous chapter can be found here. The next chapter can be found here.]