The Bronx, 2018…
Three days after Marcus had met Lucas while escorting Romano, he had been thinking about what he had said about leaving this life. It was as if he was suggesting that there was some hidden agenda or consequence of leaving.
After pacing around for nearly an hour, he decided to make the call.
“Yeah? Who is this?” Lucas asked on the other end.
“Its Marcus.”
On the other end, he could hear Lucas drop his phone and fumble around until the call dropped out of no where.
“What the hell…?” Marcus said confused as he looked at his phone.
A few seconds later, his phone rang again with the same number.
He rolled his eyes and picked up the call.
“Yeah?”
“Sorry about that. I was so surprised that I hung up on you by accident when I dropped my phone,” he said sheepishly before he continued, “So, what are you calling for?”
“You said that you had some information to share with me about...that topic.”
He gave Lucas a little bit to piece it together before he responded, “I see…why don’t you meet me at the Chrysler building to talk?”
“Why there? Why not at a coffee shop or something?”
“I’ve never been there and I just want an excuse to visit it. Make sure to go to the top floor too,” he said.
“Ugh, fine. Whatever. I’ll see you there in one hour,” he said as he hung up the phone.
Before he walked out of the door, he made sure to bring his gun with him. He didn’t want to be ambushed or blindsided just because he was meeting up with someone who claimed that they had information that seemed essential to share.
Taking his car, he made his way into Manhattan and took a moment to take in the sights.
Rarely did he get a chance to visit this part of new York but whenever he did, it was always a welcome sight.
After making his way to the meeting place and going to the top floor, after he left the elevator, he found Lucas waiting in the doorway of the stair well.
“So you made it then,” he said while holding a bag in his hand.
Noticing the bag, Marcus nodded to it and asked, “What’s that for?”
“You’ll find out soon. Come on, its not that windy out so we can talk outside,” he said as he opened the door leading outside to the overlook.
He then turned back and looked at Marcus with a crooked smile and asked, “You’re not afraid of heights are you?”
“No. Just get to the point of what you wanted to talk about,” he said as he followed Lucas out to the overlook.
Lying on the floor were two foldable chairs, one of which Lucas picked up and put together before sitting down.
“Take a seat,” he said as he gestured his hand to the second chair and Marcus sat down.
Lucas then reached into his bag and while Marcus got nervous and nearly reached for his gun, all he pulled out was a large bottle of scotch.
“Relax, its just alcohol. I brought two glasses. Care for a drink?” he asked.
“I’m not twenty one yet.”
Lucas scoffed as he said, “Oh come on. The legal age to enlist in the military and die for your country is eighteen, yet you need to be twenty one to buy a beer? Who gives a shit. I’m not going to turn you in.”
Marcus shook his head and said, “Alright, fine. I’ll try some.”
Lucas poured the scotch into both glasses and handed one to him.
Marcus hesitated to accept the glass as he looked at Lucas warily.
“Oh come on, its not poisoned, otherwise I would be drinking the same shit and die with you.”
“Its not the drink I’m worried about, its the glass,” he said but Lucas just shook his head.
“Fine. You want some insurance? Here,” he said as he downed both glasses of scotch before pouring another round for both of them.
Marcus then took the glass but didn’t drink from it right away. He just stared at it.
“You didn’t really bring me here just to share a drink did you?”
Lucas paused for a moment as he stared at the backdrop of the city below. The view of Manhattan below was undoubtedly beautiful, but also distracting.
“Lucas.”
Lucas took in a deep breath before looking at his glass and spinning the liquid around, staring at it thoughtfully.
“Let me ask you something… How many times have you ever heard of people getting into this life and then leaving it?”
Marcus’s eyes narrowed as he gave it some thought.
“I...I’ve only heard of a handful of people trying to leave.”
“And how many of those people have you heard from again? How many of those people do you know of are still alive or at the very least not in jail?”
Marcus went silent as he thought about all the people he knew of who did try to to leave but realized that he hadn’t heard anything good about them. Most of them either ended up dead from more gun violence or freak accidents. Those that survived ended up prosecuted by overwhelming testimonies out of no where.
“I can’t think of anyone who left the life doing well,” he answered truthfully.
“That’s right. Most people who try to leave either end up in jail or dead. Those that die are either killed by their ‘old friends’ or died from ‘mysterious accidents’. However, the reality is that it was always the plan to kill them off once they thought they were safe. That’s how people in this life run things. Those that leave this life typically take important information with them. Important eyewitness testimonies and evidence that could be used against their old employers. If you were any smart criminal mastermind, you would want to kill anyone who tries to leave your business to keep them from talking to anyone about it.”
“Are you suggesting that if I try to leave, that Romano is going to have me and my family killed just for being involved?” Marcus asked with panic creeping up in his voice.
“Its possible. Although, I honestly find it unlikely. Considering your relationship with him, you’ve been with him for ten years and you are a very valuable asset to him. He might actually let you go for a while and maybe ask you in the future to help out with a few things, but overall, he might really be genuine.”
“So...what’s the problem?”
“The real problem is everyone else. The Castellanos and every other crime family in New York hate your fucking guts. They are envious of Romano and the reputation that you’ve helped him build with all the bodies you’ve buried. When Romano first started out, he was a really small fish. Ever since he picked you up and raised you into what you are, he’s long since transformed from a minnow into a shark. He’s a rising star in the underworld and you are his nuclear arsenal. Very few people actually seem to know your real name, but everyone knows your title of Enderman and everyone fears it. It holds enough weight that he could probably throw it around even after you’ve left. That being said, I could be wrong and Romano might just be one cold ass mother fucker and still try to kill you regardless of your ‘agreement’.”
“So…what the hell am I supposed to do? Do I just kill the entire Romano crime family and leave that way?” Marcus asked, tightening his fist to relieve the stress.
Lucas looked at him as if wondering if he were serious. When he realized that he was, he sighed.
“Killing Romano and everyone in his circle won’t solve anything. If anything, it will just make things worse. Romano is so intertwined with the other crime families and their business deals that if you killed him and everyone who worked for him, all the deals he made would fall apart and everyone else would be after you for your entire life.”
Hearing this, Marcus gritted his teeth as he said, “So…so I’ll just have to kill them all then? If that’s what it takes, then I’ll hunt them all down.”
Lucas shook his head and gave Marcus a sympathetic look as he said, “Its not that simple. Even if you DID manage to pull it off and wipe out every crime family in New York, it’ll just leave a giant power vacuum that’ll be filled by other gangs. If you killed all the current families in New York, the Chinese Triad and the Russian Mob would be over the moon to replace them and then they would be after you next. You’ve been hunting them down and trying to keep them off of Romano’s turf same as I have with Castellano’s right? So if the current families die out, they’ll be replaced and we’ll all be targets by those who come after.
Marcus then shouted in anger as he said, “THEN I’LL KILL THEM TOO,” Marcus set his drink down and stood up, “FUCK IT, I’LL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM THAT COMES AFTER ME!”
Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he stared down at Lucas with rage in his eyes in the face of these overwhelming odds.
Lucas didn’t even seem angry at Marcus’s outburst as he replied, “Its not that easy Marcus. You see, there is another aspect of this that you don’t understand.”
His eyes became cold as he met Marcus’s gaze and said, “The crime families of New York and all the other gangs and criminal organizations are more involved in the everyday life of our world than you can even comprehend. Our own country’s government uses people from the cartels and Chinese Triad to smuggle drugs and children for sex trafficking, they use the Russian mob to smuggle weapons, and they use our very own mafia to pick off political opponents and rig trials. Its so thoroughly entwined in our everyday life that you don’t realize our entire society is propped up by murderous, thieving, backstabbing cuntwads that would sooner sell out their siblings, their parents, and even their best friends for a chance to fuck little kids and do drugs. So even if you do try to kill all the gangs and anyone else that comes in to replace them, eventually the American government will step in and put you down themselves just to insert a new gang to undo all the hardwork you did. Now I ask...knowing this, what are you going to do about it?”
Marcus’s mouth was hung open in horror at the overwhelming insanity of what he is now involved with. There would be no leaving this life at all with these impossible odds to fight against.
His hands shook and he stepped back away from Lucas.
“No…I, I can’t stay in this life. I have to get out. I need to get out at any cost,” Marcus said.
Lucas tilted his head as he asked, “But why? You already have a good source of income to provide for yourself and your sister. So long as you stay the path, you’ll be set for life.”
“No no. I have other reasons why I need to leave. Money is not the…,” and then, Marcus went silent and pale as the blood drained from his face. His head turned slowly to look at Lucas.
“What? You getting cold? You look like you just saw a ghost,” he said chuckling.
“Lucas…I never told you I have a sister and any information about her is kept well hidden. Not even the Castellano’s know about her, of that I am very sure of..”
“Yeah, you’re right. Even Falco has no idea about Thalia,” he said, and with such certainty in his voice that there was no mistaking that something was wrong.
“Who the hell are you really?” Marcus asked with a menacing tone.
Lucas then smiled as he said, “Ahh...you are finally asking the important questions.”
Marcus then pulled out his gun from his waist and pointed it at Lucas while shouting, “DON’T PLAY ANY GAMES WITH ME! WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?!”
Lucas threw up his hands and said, “I’m someone who can help you Marcus. Really, I can. Just calm down.”
“NO! FUCK THAT!” he shouted as he pulled the hammer on the gun back.
“Marcus, I-”
“SHUT! THE FUCK! UP!” he shouted as kicked Lucas in the face and sent him crashing to the ground. He then grabbed the collar of his shirt and hoisted him into the air. He then started pulling him towards the edge of the overlook.
“Whoa whoa WHOA! WAIT! MARCUS WAIT!”
Marcus ignored his pleas and dragged him to the edge and got ready to throw him off.
“MARCUS WAIT! I KNOW WHY YOU WANT TO LEAVE! ITS TO SAVE THAT JAPANESE GIRL RIGHT?”
Marcus pulled him up to his feet and let him dangle in front of him. Lucas’s feet standing on the edge of the overlook was the only thing keeping him aloft.
He then pointed his gun at Lucas’s face and said, “Start talking, now.”
“That girl, Yukino I believe is her name. I know about her. You are trying to leave Romano’s crime family so you can go to her yes?”
“Why and how do you know that Lucas?”
“I…had a team of investigators, none of them tied to the American government or anything like that, look into you while I was waiting for you to call me back. I found information tying you to Yukino Kaneko and the Kaneko family along with information in Kyoto’s high school records and connected the dots.”
“WHY?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!” he shouted into Lucas’s face.
“Marcus! I swear to God, I have no intention of trying to hurt you, or your sister, or Yukino! I want to help you! I want to give you an option to escape everything! Let me help you!”
“My arm is getting sore and tired of keeping you up, so talk fast about how you intend to ‘help’ me,” he said.
“Look, everything I said earlier about killing the crime families was true. Even if you go after them and manage to kill them all and everyone else that follows, it’ll just get replaced by someone else and they will find you eventually. However, killing all the crime families at once will remove the immediate threat, but you won’t be able to do it fast enough on your own to prepare to take on everyone else. You’ll need help.”
“And you’ll help me?”
“Yes! I’ll help you! But its not just me! I have plenty of people who will help you too! Just take a moment to trust me for a moment!”
Marcus was breathing heavily as he thought about it but then shook his head as he pulled Lucas back but kept his gun trained on him.
“Explain, now. You say you have other people who can help me. I assume that none of them are working for Castellano, right? Who are you and your people really?”
“Remember when I told you about my tours in Iraq? Well, that was all true but there is more to it. Me and several other vets have been angry with all the corruption happening in America and want to remove it, but the problem is that we don’t have access to funding like that. Not to mention we have to do this underneath America’s very watchful eyes. I just figured that, since you are the Enderman, the one that everyone fears then-”
“You thought that if you could recruit me to your cause, then it would be a a mutually beneficial gain? If we pull...whatever this is off, then I get to leave the life and you get to fix America like you want?”
“Basically...yeah. Of course, the first step would be to help you escape Romano’s grasp. Can’t ask you to come along with us if we don’t do something for you to sweeten the deal, obviously. Right now, you have no reason to trust us beyond our word and right now, my word means jack shit.”
Marcus gritted his teeth as he thought about Lucas’s words before putting his gun down.
“Do you have ANY fucking clue what you are asking of me?! If I agree to join you, and we do kill them all, I would have to help you tear this country apart by force to fix all the damage involved. But doing that will not just bring this country to a halt, it’ll cause conflict with every country on the planet! There are eight billion people on this planet and you want to go to war against all of them?! Are you insane?”
“Marcus, you are overthinking it. Just take a moment-”
“No, I’m not! If we do lead a revolution against the American government, it won’t be a full army sacking a country, it’ll be a rag tag group of former veterans against a small group of government officials. Even if you succeed, there is no way you’ll be able to convince the rest of the country to follow your lead, much less try and force them to. I don’t want to be apart of that towards the end.”
“No, you don’t understand. You don’t need to follow us to the end of the road. You’ll only have to help push the car out of the ditch and let us do the rest. Once we help you, you help us once get through the first stretch, then we’ll send you on your way.”
Marcus shook his head and put the hammer back to rest state as he paced around the room.
He then looked at the bottle of scotch and grabbed it. He took a quick swig straight from the bottle and nearly spat it out from the shock but decided to swallow it. It went down smooth enough but had a burn to it.
He made a face like he was mildly opposed to the taste but not completely disgusted by it.
He then tried to drink more of it and when he started, he just kept going.
Soon enough, he downed half the bottle.
“Jesus Christ…,” Lucas said as he watched him chug the bottle of scotch.
Marcus then pulled the bottle away and could feel his vision start to blur already.
Without finishing the bottle, he threw the bottle against the wall and watched it shatter into a thousand pieces.
“I’ll...I’ll be seeing you later,” Marcus said as he pointed at Lucas before putting his gun away and left.
The dream then came to an end with Ruvick waking up even more confused than before.
One thing was certain though…
There is something very very wrong happening between the two worlds, and he knows that they have to be connected somehow.