Episode 085 Previous Episode	Next Episode
“When laws do not allow for honor, the only response is remorse.” Yamamoto Tsunenori, Hidden Leaves Beneath the table, Wizard picked his head up, able to sense the sudden change in temperament. Above him, over the table, Marilyn glared at Everett. He weathered her stare with stoic absolution. Her jaw quaked with rage as she breathed heavily. Between them, Ledger watched the wordless exchange closely. “Ledger,” Marilyn spoke quietly. “Would you mind taking Wizard for a walk?” The knight glanced down at the dog and started to look around. “By the fridge,” she said, her eyes never leaving Everett’s. Ledger looked over to see a long chain leash hanging on a hook driven poorly into the wall. He looked at Everett and Marilyn, then got up. The two sat quietly as beyond their stares, Ledger collected the leash. Wizard rushed across to him, nearly tackling him. Ledger leashed him and led him out. Once the heavy door shut, Marilyn sneered in anger. “What the hell?” she demanded. “The Rose is retired,” Everett stated adamantly. “If you ever don the mask of the Crimson Rose again, I will go to the police with everything. And you will be arrested. And you will spend the rest of your adult life in prison. And everything you’ve worked for will be washed away.” Marilyn suddenly breathed out tearfully. “I, I can’t believe you’d do this.” “If I have to choose between your safety and your…” he began. “My safety isn’t your concern!” she screamed, standing, her chair flying back behind her. “My safety is none of your concern, you hypocritical ass!” She panted as she glared down at the knight. “Why the hell are you doing this? Is it because you don’t like that I upstaged an entire team of knights twice, or that I’m simply infringing on your little game of playing with swords?” “It’s neither of those, Marilyn,” Everett said, standing but staying calm, keeping his voice low. “It’s the fact that, everything else aside, there is getting ready to be a major throw down involving the knights and even if the police can’t catch you, these knights will. One way or another, you will get caught up in this series of events.” He looked down, tapping the tabletop with his knuckles. “Look,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll, uh, I’ll make a deal with you.” She crossed her arms, sarcastically pretending to be interested. “Wait until Alan Vick is gone. Let me, let us, deal with him. Then…then we’ll, revisit all of this.” He laughed. “Marilyn, it’s just that now really isn’t a good time.” She looked down, shaking her head. “I don’t believe you.” “Use this time to get caught up on some sleep,” he pleaded desperately. “Get some extra shifts at the restaurant and…I don’t know. Buy a bed.” She scoffed and said nothing. She crossed her arms and half-turned away. “Just please,” he asked, “please let me take care of this before you go out again.” Marilyn stared away for a long time. She finally sighed and turned her head to Everett, the twist of her neck causing her long brown hair to swish over her shoulder. “Only if you swear twice to me.” “Swear…twice?” he said, confused. “One,” she said, holding up her finger. “When Alan Vick is gone, we will revisit the Crimson Rose and you will be open to the argument that it’s a good and maybe even necessary thing for this city.” He thought for a moment, then nodded. “Swear it, Everett,” she demanded, her tear-soaked voice leaking through her determination. He chuckled. “This got me in trouble last time.” He took a deep breath, his eyes closed. “On my honor, we will come back to this. And I will…be prepared to concede your…that what you say is true, that the Rose should be out there.” “And second,” she said, holding up her other finger, “you have to let me in with Alan Vick.” “What?!” he exclaimed. “You have to make me part of your team,” she insisted stalwartly. “I have to be involved with the plans, with the events, all of it.” “Absolutely not,” he barked. “I’m not a dame,” she conceded quickly. “I don’t expect you to let me do everything you’d let someone like Sydney do. But I think you’ll find that if you’ll let me help, I can. And I’ll wager I can get done a couple or three things that you guys wouldn’t be able to do without me.” Everett shook his head. “Swear it. Or I go out tomorrow night.” “Then I go to the cops,” Everett countered. But Marilyn kept her fingers up, her gaze intense. Everett stared into her eyes, confronted immediately with her resolve. Finally, he sighed. Marilyn couldn’t keep her mouth from beginning to curl into a smile. “On my honor,” he stated again, “I will see to it that you are…involved with dealing with Alan Vick and his crew.” Marilyn lowered her hand and smiled, anxiously keep her emotions down. “Go ahead,” Everett allowed. “Thank you!” she squealed, nearly jumping on him as she hugged him. Everett shook his head again, utterly lost. Marilyn’s enthusiasm began to infect him, though, and he started to smile. The door opened and Wizard came in ahead of Ledger. Seeing Marilyn jumping on Everett, he barked loudly and ran at them both. Everett barely had time to protest before being tackled to the ground. Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Shot in the Dark’ played on the radio as Everett and Ledger drove in silence. Through the veil of the meeting point between nighttime and early morning, the city seemed like an alien landscape, far different from the familiar streets and roads the two were used to. “Marilyn made me swear again,” Everett said, finally breaking the silence like a wine glass. Ledger smirked and whipped his hand a few times as if cracking a hip, adding his own sound effects. “She’s going to be helping us deal with Alan.” “Oh joy.” “It was the only way I could convince her to stop being the Crimson Rose,” he said. “It was either that or…or go to the police.” “Which you’re not willing to do,” Ledger concluded. “Prison is a horrible place,” Everett said. “I’ve been inside one. Granted, it was for a college class, but just being inside one…” He shook his head. “I would never, ever want to be near one again, much less be in one, much less be a prisoner. I think I’d do anything, absolutely anything, to keep from going to jail.” “They’re scary places,” Ledger said. “It’s funny how idolized they are in this culture. Rappers and guys talk about going to jail like it’s no big deal. It’s a big deal.” “Anyway, that’s the situation,” Everett said. “She’s going to be helping us out. I swore to her that she’d be kept in the loop about plans and stuff.” “As soon as we have any,” Ledger said. “That’s for sure,” Everett said. “God, I don’t even know where to begin now. I was certain, dead certain, that the Rose was either Vick or Erik. Now…I don’t know. I don’t even know how to deal with either of them, much less both.” “How were you going to deal with them after we unmasked the Rose?” Ledger asked, looking across at him. “I mean, you thought unmasking the Rose would take care of one. What about the other?” Everett looked at him. “Or had you not thought that far ahead?” Everett continued to stare. “Ah,” Ledger suddenly said, getting it. “We are in over our heads, man,” Everett said. “We’ve got no one we can really turn to and we’ve got no real idea what’s happening.” “So, let’s start there,” Ledger said. “How do we figure out what’s happening?” “It all hinges on Alan Vick,” Everett thought. “I guess we need to more closely align ourselves with the Blue Knights.” “Well, we are wearing the clothes,” Ledger said. “If we can work with the Blue Knights, we may be able to get a handle on things,” Everett said. “But we’re ultimately going to have to decide if we want to stop Alan Vick before he instigates his plan, or during. Before; we’ve got a better chance of stopping him. During; we’ve got more of a legal backing if it comes to it.” “Legal, schmegal,” Ledger said. “Let’s find out where he lives, go challenge him, and be done with it.” Everett stared uncomfortably through the windshield of the car as they headed deeper into the city. “You know, Ledger,” he confessed as he thought distantly. “I’m starting to think that might just be the way to go.”
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