TALES FROM FALLEN WARRIORS ─ marvel

V. Madripoor

Chapter Five
Soroya

Caden Harvey is one of the most powerful people in the criminal underworld, and probably the most powerful person in Madripoor. He has connections in every corner of the world, in every business, every agency. He's basically untouchable. If anyone can tell us where Nagel is and where the Flagsmashers are, it's him.

I first met him when I was sixteen, right after my first mission as an agent. I knew if I was going to keep helping my victims to safety instead of killing them, I needed help. Other HYDRA agents had talked about Madripoor and about Caden, so I decided to pay him a visit before I went on my second mission. Caden before he's anything else is a business man, and he does business through trade. You give him something and he gives you something. Other clients of his pay him in jewels, money, and secrets, but I paid him in entertainment. Caden is a big fan of singing, so I sang for him every time I needed help on a mission, and he happily obliged me.

I haven't seen Caden in ten years, not since HYDRA disbanded, and I never thought I would again. I never thought I would be back here in Madripoor. But here I am, once again walking down the familiar roads lit by neon colored signs advertising clubs and bars that never seem to be empty. Most of the crime bosses in Madripoor do their work in establishments like that, it's easier to do business that way. You get less tensed up clients and better deals if you put them in an atmosphere that's loose and fun. Caden owns a club about two blocks from where we are now, it's called the Swan Club. That's where we're heading now. It's one of the nicer clubs in Low Town, most of them are grubby shit holes like the rest of Madripoor.

Torres parked the plane in High Town, the least lawless part of Madripoor. He and Jade are waiting for us there. When we first arrived, I had him go out and buy us all new clothes, something that will allow us to fit into our characters. I'm wearing jeans, combat boots, and a plain black t-shirt. That's what I used to wear with only slight variations during my time in HYDRA. I didn't have my suit back then and I was constantly destroying clothes, so the simpler the better. Bucky is wearing black pants, a black shirt, a long dark blue jacket with the sleeve ripped off to show his metal arm, and similar combat boots to mine. Sam's wearing a fancy red suit jacket, black dress shirt, black dress pants, and dress shoes. He's supposed to be imitating a crime boss, with Walker and Hoskins playing the role of Sam's bodyguards; dressed in all black tactical gear.

"Why are they staring at us?" Walker asks in a low voice as we continue our walk towards the Swan Club.

"They're not staring at us, they're staring at Bucky and I."

These people hate us just about as much as they fear us. The only reason they don't try to attack us is because they know they would die before they even made a scratch. HYDRA is not looked fondly upon in most criminal underbellies, especially Madripoor. HYDRA failed in their objective, their power and reputation has been obliterated. In Madripoor power means everything, and when you lose it, you're as good as dead. I bet a lot of low level HYDRA agents who used the reputation of HYDRA alone got into some big trouble when HYDRA fell. Bucky and I have reputations that proceed HYDRA, so we're protected on that front. No one would ever think us as being powerless. But with power comes people who want you gone because they see you as a threat to themselves or to their own power. Those are the people we have to watch out for.

We finally make it to the Swan Club. As I said before, it's one of the nicer clubs in Low Town. It's three floors, with only the ground floor accessible to the public, the top two are for Caden and his clients. The walls on the inside and outside are all painted purple, which is Caden's favorite color. The dance floor, which flashes in different shades of purple and blue, takes up half of the ground floor, the other half is designated as a bar. The bar is huge, made of mahogany wood and stretches probably five yards, with at least six bartenders, who all double as Caden's informants. They tell him who is in his club, who wants to meet with him, and what information they hear that could be of use to him.