Checkmate: Operation Outsiders #10

Superheroics were a dangerous business. Those involved in it would regularly suffer from, at the very least, on-the-job injuries. Some would even give the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of justice. But after over two decades of superhuman activity on Earth, one thing had become apparent: nobody stayed dead.

Countless times had the world seen deceased heroes and villains return to active duty. The public wasn’t exactly numb to the idea of losing these idols. It still hurt when someone was lost, but they knew, in the back of their minds they knew, that some day that hero would return.

None of this went through the mind Warren McCabe-Shaw as he died. His thoughts were clouded with pain, panic and confusion. He had been cut down by his former ally, Cassandra Cain, who now apparently worked exclusively for the Tsuruki yakuza family.

Cassandra vanished into the shadows, leaving the corpse of Animal Man behind. She made her way to one of the rooftops in the harbor. Looking up, she saw two of her former allies. Cyclone, high above the fighting, was shooting funnels of wind to disperse the soldiers. Tempest was on the ground, commanding a stream of water to knock down any foes he could see.

Drawing a small pellet from the yellow belt around her waist, Cassandra hurled it upwards. As it reached the point above Maxine’s head, it exploded. Cyclone’s winds vanished with her focus and she hurtled to the ground.

Tempest, hearing the explosion, looked up and saw his teammate fall. “Maxine!” He shouted in panic. Suddenly, Cyclone’s decent halted as she regained control, the winds now hers once more.

Seeing her opportunity, Cassandra leapt from the building. As she descended, she stabbed down, striking Cyclone in the back. They both landed on the ground hard. Tempest was shocked, but it quickly gave way to anger. Before Sarin could act on it, Cassandra hurled her weapon at him. It landed in his chest, but not deep enough to cause serious damage. Cassandra leapt forward, grabbed the hilt and shoved it in deeper. Tempest was run through and coughed, dark-colored blood coming from his mouth.

“This…” He said. “This won’t kill me.”

Reacting as quickly as ever, Cassandra withdrew her blade. She pulled another explosive from her belt and shoved it into the open wound in Sarin’s chest. She walked away, not wanting to get her hands any dirtier than they already were.



Arsenal was in a panic. But she didn’t show it like normal people did. Instead of displaying her nervousness and her anxiety, she would hide it. People needed her to be a leader. They’d be dead if she wasn’t.

“This is Black Queen’s Knight.” She said into her communicator. “Is anyone there?”

Lian got no response. She jumped when she heard an explosion behind her. “This is Black Queen’s Knight!” She now yelled. “Tatsu! Gene! Anybody! We walked into a trap! Cassandra betrayed us; she brought an army of gunmen and now she’s killing our team!”

She heard a sound behind her. Arsenal looked to see Cassandra, standing a mere few feet from her, bloody sword in hand.

Quickly, Lian drew a gun with her open hand and pointed it at her former ally. “How could you do this to us?” She spat with disgust. “How could you?!”

Calmly and slowly, Cassandra lifted her weapon and displayed it broadly for Arsenal to see.

“Is that…?” Lian asked. Cassandra nodded slowly. She rushed forward, slicing Arsenal’s throat with her katana. Lian slumped to the ground. Cassandra picked up her firearms and stowed them on her belt, next to Animal Man’s totem.



“This isn’t supposed to happen.” Elasti-Girl was talking to herself in a panic. “We’re superheroes. We don’t die. We don’t die like this. This doesn’t happen.”

She felt a sharp pain and collapsed. Cassandra stowed her Taser back on her belt. She picked up Rachel’s limp body and slung it over her shoulder. She pulled a gas pellet from her pouch and threw it out into the open. It released a grey fog that signaled the yakuza members to cease fire. Cassandra stepped out and approached her new allies.

“{Is she dead?}” Jinno, now fully healed from his injury six months ago, asked Cassandra. She shook her head no. “{Why not?}” He followed up. Cassandra prodded the body with her sword and watched as Rachel’s skin deflected the weapon like it was made of rubber.

“{Strange…}” Her murmured. “{What are to do with her?}”

Cassandra held up her left arm and displayed the wristwatch she wore.

“{…we wait?}” Jinno asked, attempting to decipher her mute message. She nodded in response. “{All right. We’ll have a crew dispose of the corpses here. Take the rubber girl back to the prison and keep her sedated.}”

As the yakuza began to clear the area, Cassandra sat shotgun to Jinno in a simple black car. “{Good work, girl.}” He said noncommittally as he motored off. She didn’t hear him. She just stared into the sword in her hand.



Cassandra sat down in her hotel room. She was used to long nights, but she still felt exhausted. She collapsed on the couch in the main room, not even bothering to go to her bed.

As she was about to drift off, Cassandra heard a knock at the door. Come on! She thought to herself in annoyance. Getting to her feet, she opened the door. Kashi Fushajiro entered in a huff with Jinno following close behind her.

“{What is wrong with you?!}” Mr. Fushajiro said angrily. “{You killed an American super team! Do you have any idea what you’ve just started?}”

“{Now, people know what we’re capable of.}” Jinno argued for her. “{They’re going to be afraid of us. They won’t mess with us.}”

“{Superheroes aren’t cowards. They will hunt us down and kill every one of us and it’s her fault!}”

“{Checkmate was spying on us. Cain told us where they’d be, who’d be there and how to take care of them and that is exactly what we did. Now, they know better than to watch us.}”

Mr. Fushajiro shook his head. “{This won’t work out. We’re dead. We’re dead and buried.}”

There was a tense silence. Then, Jinno had an idea. “{Maybe one of the magic items we have can do something.}”

“{We don’t know which of them have any potency. We don’t how to work those that do. The only item we know works is Cain’s sword.}”

“{Well what did Takeo say it could do?}” Jinno asked.

“{It could trap the souls of anyone it has slain, and then summon them at the will of the user…}” And then it dawned on Mr. Fushajiro. “{Cain, can you do that? Can you bring them back?}”

Cassandra didn’t give any response. She stood up, walked towards the far wall and knelt down, placing the tip of her weapon on the rug beneath her. She closed her eyes and focused.

Lightning began to crackle from the tip of the blade. It started to grow in intensity. Beads of sweat formed on Cassandra’s forehead, but her grip tightened. Jinno and Mr. Fushajiro began to back away. And as the lightning reached its zenith, a blinding light flooded the room.

When it faded away, the Outsiders stood before the pair. They were amazed; neither had seen any evidence that magic existed. They had often heard the adventures and escapades of mystical heroes and villains, but never before had they seen honest divine intervention. Now, they were floored.

“{This…}” Mr. Fushajiro stammered. “{This is extraordinary.}”

And then Cassandra did something they had never witnessed her do before, something they didn’t even know she was capable of: Cassandra Cain spoke.

“Take them.” She said with a smirk on her face.

Immediately, Cyclone rushed forward. A high-powered funnel of wind knocked the two into the walls of the apartment, knocking them out easily.

“What the hell just happened?” Warren asked.

“I killed you and brought you back to life.” Cassandra responded.

“This was part of the plan.” Lian said as she took back her firearms from Cassandra.

“You knew about this?” Sarin said. “You knew she was planning to kill us?”

“She didn’t.” Cassandra interjected. “This was the plan. Tatsu taught me to use the magic in her sword and sent me to Japan to infiltrate the Tsuruki. I was to get this sword, the Soultaker, then bring you here and escape with it. The plan didn’t work exactly. They caught me communicating with Tatsu and the only way to explain it to them was to lie and say I was setting a trap.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Lian said. “We have the sword, we’re alive, and we need to get out of here.”

“Not yet.” She responded. “They still have Rachel.”

Lian swore under her breath. “Alright. Cassandra and Cyclone will find her and get her out of here. Be quick, be silent, and don’t get yourself noticed. Warren, Sarin and me will head back to the jet and wait for you. Got it?”

They all nodded and without argument, departed to their respective stations.



Cassandra and Cyclone arrived at a seemingly normal building. Only select few knew of its true nature, and Cassandra was one of them.

“So this is where they…” Maxine began. “…where they tortured you?”

“I’ve been through worse.” She responded. It pained her that the statement was true.

Brushing off the thought, Cassandra said “Come on.” The pair entered the building and easily dispatched two guards. They descended the stairs in the back and came to the dungeon where Cassandra had been kept six months ago.

“Are you sure she’s down here?” Maxine asked, clearly uncomfortable with the environment.

“This is where they’d keep her.” Cassandra responded. Checking inside the rooms, she came to one where a shapeless, purple and white form lay sprawled in a chair. She opened the door and saw Elasti-Girl, her body stretched and limp, her eyes staring dazedly into the space.

“Rachel.” Cassandra said. She found no response. “Rachel, answer me.” Rachel’s head lolled to one side. “They’ve drugged her. Come on, help me carry her.”

The pair lifted up their comrade’s limp body and left the cell. As they went up the stairs and turned the corner to the building’s entrance, they were met by a crew of gunmen from the Tsuruki.

“Guess those guys woke up.” Cyclone said. Cassandra didn’t respond. She merely stared down all the soldiers in front of her, trying to invoke any hint of fear in them.

Cyclone kicked up a powerful whirlwind in front of herself. The Tsuruki opened fire, but their bullets were caught in the windstorm and sprayed all through the room, hitting the walls.

“Just hold on!” Maxine yelled over her own miniature tornado. Cassandra dragged Rachel’s body behind the wall for protection. Cyclone stepped forward slowly, allowing her winds to knock the yakuza back into the walls. Cassandra was almost deafened by the sounds of the hurricane on the other side of the wall, but stayed low and held on to the unconscious Elasti-Girl with all her might.

The noise began to dampen until it was gone entirely. Cassandra peaked out and saw Maxine standing by the entrance. The room was now a completely disorganized mess, with everything inside flung all over. The floor was littered with the small crew; most were unconscious, while a precious few were still awake and groaning in pain.

“Good work.” Cassandra commented with surprise in her voice. She crossed the room, opened the door and was met by Jinno, holding a gun at her head.

“{You two-faced little witch.}” He muttered. Cassandra backed away as her former handler stepped in. Without breaking his gaze, Jinno said to Cyclone “{Try anything and I kill her right now.}”

“Relax, Maxine.” Cassandra gave her own translation. “I can handle this.”

“{So you can talk.}” He said. “{What else did you lie about?}”

She said nothing. She merely met his gaze with one of bitterness and hatred.

“{We trusted you.}” Jinno spat. “{We gave you everything. How could you turn your back on us?}”

She continued her silence. Her fingers gripped the sword in her hand intensely.

“{Talk, dammit!}” Jinno barked.

“{You shouldn’t have gotten so close.}” She stated.

Cassandra ducked down quickly. Jinno fired on impulse but missed. Cassandra’s fist shot forward, hitting him in the stomach with surprising strength behind it. As he doubled over, Cassandra rose and kicked Jinno’s gun hand. The firearm flew out and clattered harmlessly to the ground. Her other foot tripped up her former handler, bringing him to the ground. She pressed her sword down on Jinno’s throat and glared at him.

There was an intense quiet in the room. And, against all odds, Cassandra broke it.

“{Listen to me.}” She said in Japanese. “{I was never a part of your organization. I would never be a member of any family if I had to end someone’s life for acceptance. Never again.}”

“{You still killed that officer.}” Jinno said through heavy, stressed breaths. “{You’re a murderer and you know it.}”

“{No. I’m not a murderer. If I was a murderer, I’d kill you right now.}”

Cassandra crouched and leaned in close, her face barely an inch from Jinno’s and her sword still on his throat. “{Protecting the lives of others is my duty. And from here on out, I am maintaining that.}”

She stood up and pulled out the pair of handcuffs that were on her belt. She restrained him effortlessly and cuffed him, leaving Jinno on the floor as she left with Maxine and Rachel’s body still sling over her shoulder.

“{You’re a killer!}” He screamed after her. “{You were born one and you’ll die one! No costume, no name and no misguided beliefs will change you!}”

The door closed behind Cassandra as she stepped outside.

“So, what’d you tell him back there?” Maxine asked.

“Something I've never told him before.” She answered. “The truth.”



Checkmate Jet 206 flew over the ocean, heading back to Belle Reve. The Outsiders sat together aboard the plane, discussing the results of the last mission.

“So do we know that the Tsuruki clan doesn’t have any more magic items?” Lian asked.

“Yes.” Cassandra responded. “Tatsu told me what to look for there. Everything mystic they have is either nothing valuable or nothing they can use.”

“I still can’t believe you killed us.” Warren said, his view of Cassandra now tainted with disbelief.

“You weren’t even dead, really.” She answered. “Your souls were just in the sword, and I brought you back. You were never in any danger. Well, no more danger than normal.”

“I don’t care what you say you did.” Sarin added. “I know where I was. And it wasn’t the land of the living.”

“It doesn’t matter. We’re alive now. The mission was a success.” Maxine said.

“I just don’t get why you had to do it in the first place.” Warren commented. “I mean, you were trained by Batman. You couldn’t have snuck away with it or something?”

“That’s enough.” Lian interjected, silencing everyone. “Our mission was a success. That’s what mattered. What’s more, we’re all here. Call it what you want, I say we came out ahead.”

There was silence. Lian looked towards her ally and said “You did excellent work, Cassandra.”

“I have a name now.” Cassandra said, marveling at the sword still in her hands. “Soultaker.”

“I like it.” Maxine commented. “So when did you learn Japanese anyway?”

“Neural download before I left.” She answered.

“Really?” Maxine said. “That’s interesting. What’s a neural download?”

Lian fielded the question. “It’s a technology developed by the supervillain Prometheus. It allows the user to rapidly gain knowledge or skills with the touch of a button. Checkmate confiscated some of his tech a while back and sometimes we use it if we're ever pressed for time.”

As Lian continued her explanation, Cassandra left the group to join the only member of the team not sitting with them. Rachel stared out the window with a peeved expression on her face as Cassandra sat down.

“I hear you’ve got a new title.” She said.

“Yes, I’m going to go by Soultaker now.” Cassandra answered with some awkwardness.

“Alright, listen.” Rachel faced her and spoke with severity. “You were going to have me killed. If it wasn’t for my powers, I’d be in that sword too.”

“How many times do I have to explain this?” She said. “You wouldn’t have been dead–”

“I don’t care what you say. You turned on us. You attacked us. You led killers right to us. Now you may have the sheep over there convinced that this was the only way, but I’m not buying it. You’ve been a hero longer than most of us; you know not to betray your own team at any cost."

She leaned in closer, speaking in her most serious voice. "Whatever trust I had in you, it’s gone now.”

And with that, Rachel stood up and walked away, taking a seat on the other side of the plane.

Soultaker merely looked down at her feet in a guilty, anguished silence.

Next month: A new arc begins with the return of an old enemy, in a story that's guaranteed to change the Outsiders forever.

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