INTERVIEWS. 10. Brass Knucks (Patreon)

"Good evening, and thank you for joining us. Today, we have a rare opportunity. We're speaking with Brass Knucks, a convicted Powers felon. We first interviewed Knucks 24 years ago, after he turned himself over to S.T.E.E.L. following Knucks' very public assistance with rescue and recovery efforts at the Souk Tower after the so-called Little Boom disaster. Knucks was tried and convicted of 103 Power crimes, received multiple concurrent sentences, and was released on probation 5 years later. Then, Knucks violated that probation and committed additional crimes as part of the Jailbreakers, releasing various powered individuals from maximum security prisons. He was caught again when the Jailbreakers attempted to free the Tyrant from the Hexagon. Knucks was convicted and sentenced to another 107 years of imprisonment. And yet, here he is, legally free from containment, speaking to us. Thank you for joining us, Knucks." 

"Hey. Yeah."

"So, we want our listeners to be clear -- unlike the last time we interviewed you, your name is now legally Brass Knucks, is that correct? And you prefer to simply be called Knucks?" 

"Oh yeah. Everyone calls me Knucks. It's what I'm used to, it's what everyone knows me as. It's just me, now, you know?"

"And how did that come about?" 

"Well, ever since I got the orichalcum on my knuckles, which looks real red and brassy, other doers just started calling me Knuckleduster. But that sounded kinda like knucklehead, and you can't let crooks start to razz you about something like that, or you'll end up on hind teat all the damn time. So, then, I tried for Goldfist, but that never stuck. And I was doing this one job with Rebel Yell, the Dixie Darling with scream powers -- this was before the Darlings came out as white supremist trash, but I should have known, I know -- and she called me Brass Knucks. Apparently, that's something some people call knuckledusters in some parts of the South. And that kinda stuck, and people treated me different as Knucks -- like respectful, you know? -- so I went with it."

"And how did it become your LEGAL name? A court had to sign off on you changing your name to a criminal call sign, didn't it? Why would they allow that?"

"Oh, that was Col. Cannon."

"You are referring here to Col. Clarissa Cannon, the S.T.E.E.L. officer who is in charge of the penal search and rescue team known as 'Cannon's Fodder,' correct?" 

"Yeah. But she never uses that name for the team. She prefers the official title, Powered Incarcerated Assistance Unit Number One, or PIA-One."

"Noted. It's well-documented that you worked for PIA-One after you were arrested the second time, and your work with them knocked more than a century off your sentence. But how and why did Col. Cannon also assist you in getting a legal name change to your criminal call name?" 

"Well, when she recruited me, she asked if I wanted anything. And other PIA-One members, they'd gotten TVs in their cells, and special meal rations, stuff like that. But I told her all I wanted was the legal name change. And she said if I served in PIA-One for a year with no citations or complaints, she'd see what she could do. And I did that, so she talked to one of the Powers Circuit judges, and said hey, changing his name makes it EASIER for people to know who they're dealing with, so why not? And the judge bought it, and that was that."

"Have you had any regrets about that decision, to change you name?"

"No, no. I mean, on top of having bright red magic metal knuckles, my face is pretty well known now, you know? After the Little Boom thing I was on the cover of a lotta magazines for turning myself in after helping out. It don't happen as much now, but for a while there right after I got out, people called out my name a lot. And then, if I was getting a dirty dog or something, and my credit card said 'Holden Bennet,' people would call me out on it. Sometimes they wanted to fight me to prove I wasn't Brass Knucks. So, when Cannon asked if I wanted anything, I just wanted my name, for real and legal-like. And I haven't had a problem with people since."

"You mentioned the famous Little Boom event, where you pitched in to help with the defense of, and then search and rescue within, the Souk Tower. This was right after the trans-quantum detonation that destroyed part of the building, transmuted a chunk of it, and summoned scores of Kindred blade-drones and at least a handful of Kindred witchlocks. We've gone over the timeline of that event-- from videos and transcripts of witnesses and official reports-- and you were the first powered individual to respond. That means both that you had to be nearby, and you had to decide to help with no delay to speak of." 

"Well, yeah. I lived in the Souk Tower. And a Kindred blade-drone attacked my neighbor, Mrs. Loza. She was a NICE lady, and she'd always been a great neighbor--looked after my cat Lady Fluffypants a lot, made me soup when I was sick, that kind of thing. So, no way I am letting an interdimensional alien kill Mrs. Loza. And once I started, I realized I had to keep helping or a LOT of my neighbors would die."

"Two quick points. Your cat was named Lady Fluffypants?"

"Yeah, still is in fact. She appears to be an immortal AbFeline, now, cause of the Little Boom. What, I can't have a cat named Lady Fluffypants?"

"Of course you can. We just wanted to clarify."

"You wanna see some pictures of her?"

"We... we rather do, actually."

[Editors Note: Knucks took the next fifteen minutes to show us pictures of the very fine Lady Fluffypants on his smart phone. She is a VERY fluffy, and sizeable, gray tabby Norwegian forest cat, who normally has a blue ribbon collar with a large bow in the back. Also, she clearly likes Cole-Bee cheese snack crackers, which feature in a number of the pictures.]

"Thank you for that. She is a gorgeous feline. All right, back to the topic at hand. Did Mrs. Loza survive the Little Boom?" 

"Yeah, she did. Died four years later of COPD. I missed her funeral, cause I was in the Hexagon."

"As a result of staying to help at the Souk Tower right up to when you were arrested. Why didn't you run?" 

"I... I mean, I meant to, at first. But then, more and more heroes showed up, and there was always SOMETHING that needed to be done to help folks, and by the time it seemed safe, half the Masked Alliance was there with, like, fifty other heroes. The Gargoyle, Hexen, Anthem Lass, Transstorm, Zweihander, a bunch of the Numen, Payback, Webweaver, Professor Phoenix, Crazy Quilt, most of the Honor Clan... it just seemed too late by then."

"You've given that reason before, but we want to give you a little pushback on it. We know that well before the fighting was done, Anthem Lass and the Gargoyle told you your help was invaluable, and if you stuck around for the crucial parts of the rescue effort, they'd give you a pass and let you leave afterward. Now that's not all the heroes, but surely you had to think if those two heroes were saying you could leave, no other hero would argue the point?"

"Heh. It's been decades, and no one else has ever brought that up."

"We do try to be thorough in our research and interview prep. So, are you saying there's another reason you let yourself be captured?"

"It... it's dumb."

"Your aid -- as the first Power to help, someone numerous heroes praised as crucial after the fact, and the fact you were the only criminal Power to assist that day -- has been attributed to saving more than a hundred lives, and preventing the Little Boom from spreading any further. We'll go out on a limb and say no part of your thinking that day will be considered dumb. Will you share it with us?"

"I... heck. Sure. So, the first hero I saw on-scene was Transstorm, the anti-Kindred guy?"

"For those unaware, Transstorm is a Stellar Templar, a nearly extinct order of alien cybernetic warriors who fought to maintain peace in the galaxy before the rise of the Pulsar Knights, and who have fought an eons-long crusade against the Kindred."

"Right, that guy. Well, I'm trying to hold the North Two stairwell from Kindred, so people can evacuate, and I'm taking a LOT of hits, and I'm thinking maybe, you know, this is it. And then Transstorm arrives, dropping out of one of those dimensional thunderstorms he teleports with, and arrives RIGHT outside a window in the stairwell. And I'm pinned down by three Kindred bereavers... and Transstorm SMASHES through the window, grabs one of the bereavers, and beats the ever-living crap out of the other two using the first one. And then he grabbed my arm, got me to me feet... and HE asked ME where we needed to go next."

"Transstorm, a centuries-old veteran of a thousand psychic wars... followed your lead in the fight?"

"I know, right? But he said I was first on scene, and the local population were already following my instructions, so I was the 'warrior-of-record,' and he was here to offer support. And, I mean, we cleared that whole level of the building, spotted a Kindred witchlock sigil-circle, assaulted it, and drew in every other Kindred within, like ten floors. And this whole time, Transstorm is calling me his boon companion, and bold ally, and... " [Knucks chokes up for a moment.] "And 'noble one.' I... I am pretty sure no one called me 'noble' in my entire life."

"And that had an impact on you?"

"It has a HUGE impact. And then, other heroes start showing up, and the Kindred are still unfolding into the upper floors, and everyone who is going to evacuate HAS evacuated, but there are still folks trapped in wreckage, and little Boom-Pools forming and growing that might hop to another building... and Gargoyle and Anthem Lass tell me I can go if I want... And Transstorm laughs at them. The cyborg space paladin guy laughs, and tells them I am warrior-born, and would never flee in the face of such a threat. And Anthem Lass, who apparently knows Transstorm, tries to tell him if I stay I'll face consequences... and Transstorm just turns his metal face towards her, red glowing eyes ablaze, and he says 'If there are consequences, I know noble Knucks shall face them.' And then, like... Look, he trusted me. He spoke up for me, to Anthem Lass. And I just found... I couldn't let him down."

"And that's why you stuck around, and faced the consequences?"

"It really is. And, I mean, it worked out great for me. More than a hundred of the folks I helped get out of the Souk Tower came and read statements for me at the trial, before sentencing. And the judge, he was clear that if I'd ever killed anyone, he would not cut me much slack, but that as a matter of social policy, he wanted to send the message that if you help save hundreds of lives, and turn yourself in? That the justice system approves of that. So, I got a sweetheart deal, got put in Club Fed, and got out with a few years, clean. And going straight was a pretty good life for me."

"But despite that, a few years later, you were incarcerated again for being one of the Jailbreakers. Why'd you join that group, when you had to know it would mean going back to prison eventually?"

"I mean, it was dumb. But I knew at the time it was dumb. I just... it was a lot of things. I couldn't get respectable work..."

"You were working on a loading and unloading crew at Angel's Harbor Port, weren't you? You think being a longshoreman isn't respectable work?" 

"No, now don't make it sound like that. It's fine, there are some great guys doing that. But once you've been a Tyrant Trooper, or one of the Terrible Twelve, or even just done an Enforcer gig for A-Lister masterminds... it's different. I have a different circle of contacts. And some of them will come at me just for kicks, if I'm trying to live life as a Food Flight driver, right? So I need a job that gets respect not from normal people, but from doers, and hitters, and principals."

"Principals? We're not familiar with that term."

"Oh, anyone in the Power Crime world who is expected to run their own operations, or head their own outfit, or even just draw fire from full-on Masks even when the crook isn't on-scene is a principal. Like, not just the masterminds who have their own little empires, but also people who run a whole Powered crime group or are considered a long-term threat to society on their own. See, I'm not just a hench, I'm a doer. But even with my experience and power, no one ever lays awake at night worrying about what I'm up to. If I show up at a crime, sure, Masks know to take me serious. But they also know that either the crime is no more complex than a smash-and-grab, or it's someone else's plan. That's true of ALL the original Trench Sweepers. Bayonete, Frag, Hatchet, Savage, Sawed-Off, and me... we're all doers. The Trench Sweepers were never more than a B-grade outfit, and we were never a big long-term threat unless someone else was using us as part of something bigger.

"I mean, a doer is kind of like having a tank in your pocket--or a howitzer, or supercomputer, or chem lab, depending what the doer can, you know, do. But a principal? They are a significant threat to society all on their own, or can become one with the right henches and doers. Not to the level of masterminds, who also need something extra, be that vast riches, super-genius, vast psychic powers, rulership over a subterranean empire... something that acts like a force multiplier. But if it's someone vigilantes brood over, hero teams have crime boards about, or other villains follow? They are at least a principal."

"That's fascinating. How common is this Powered criminal slang?"

"Pretty freaking common, since the Crime Council and Felonious Church both started using it."

"Any other noteworthy terms to describe various ranks of that sub-culture?" 

"Oh, sure. Time bombs are folks you expect to melt down and take themselves out someday, though Time Bomb isn't himself a time bomb. Heavies are people who are MUCH more dangerous than a typical doer, but lack the planning and drive of a principal or mastermind. Like, Megadeath? She would wipe the walls with me in a fight. Heck, she HAS, and I had most of the 'Sweepers with me for back-up. But, she's really still just a hitter. Think of her as being a battleship as a person instead of a tank as a person. But again, no one worries about her unless she's up to something right now. Compare her to Quintessence. Yes, Quinty is a physical and mental adept, and amazingly well-trained and equipped. But one-on-one? Megadeath would cream Quinty. But Quintessence has plans, reach, scope. She's tied up the Masked Alliance for weeks, overturned countries, and can run 6 or 7 outfits at once. Quinty is a principal... dang near a mastermind."

"And then we use a lot of the same words people use to describe various Mask power suites. I'm a brick. Bayonet's a speedster. Frag's a blaster. Hatchet's a skirmisher. Savage is a berserker and a regenerator. Sawed-Off is an instinctive arsenal gadgeteer. Stuff like that."

"I notice you almost always reference only the original members of the Trench Sweepers when making examples. Do you consider them different from later members, some of whom served longer than some original members such as, say, Savage?" 

"Oh, yeah, absolutely. But that's not to talk down about some of the later folks. Sauterelle served longer than Frag or Savage, though of course Savage had that lawsuit thing that made him give up the life, and to be fair he's the only one of us that never did a stint in the Hexagon. But, see, I knew all the original Trench Sweepers before any of us got powered. Hung out with them, worked with them. So they are just more front-of-mind for me most days."

"That looks dangerously like another rabbit hole we could go down, but we'd like to bring us back around to the question of why you joined the Jailbreakers, when you had served your time, were on parole, and by your own admission knew that breaking criminals out of max, supermax, and Powermax prisons would likely result in your own re-incarceration?"

"Well, yeah, I knew. But, I was trying to be noble."

"You were trying to be noble by committing crimes?" 

"Yeah... yeah. Not good, you know, but noble. Everyone I helped break out, or tried to break out, was someone who had gotten a raw deal, or done me a solid, or was crucial for preventing a big disaster I was pretty sure Masks couldn't handle."

"And you couldn't just take these concerns to the Masked Alliance, or S.T.E.E.L.?"

"Maybe I could have. I know that's what I'd try now. But at the time... I mean, look, it's not like Gargoyle has an emergency contact number. I'd have talked to Transstorm about it, but that relationship is very much a he'll-drop-in-on-you-when-he-has-a-break-in-his-private-interdimensional-war kind of thing. And I HAD a S.T.E.E.L. liaison, but he seemed dismissive of anything I told him. Unless I was willing to wear a wire and get other doers on digital talking about crimes, he had no use for me."

"So, you joined the Jailbreakers, in an effort to commit crimes in a noble manner?"

"Wow, you're not goin' to let that go, are you?"

"We don't mean to belabor the point. But you yourself said it was dumb. We're just trying to dig down to your core motivations."

"Look, it's not that complicated. At first, we were just going to get Powered buddies we knew hadn't gotten a fair deal. Like Simulacrum Silver got blamed for every crime any of Sister Simulcrum's duplicates committed. Now, sure, Silver's on the hook for anything the core Sister did before she popped out, but once Siler had been around for more than 72 hours, she's a permanent person, right? So why is she responsible for things other Simulcrums did after Silver was split from the core? It's not fair, and she got life. So, we busted her out."

"And your decision to do that has nothing to do with the rumored romance between you and Sister Simulcrum Silver?"

"I didn't say that. But is breaking a sweetie out of the Zero Zone somehow less noble than liberating a more casual acquaintance?"

"Again, we just want to be clear about your motivations. So, that might explain the first several Powered felons you helped escape, But several of the people the Jailbreakers freed you had no relationship with."

"Yeah, well, the Jailbreakers were a hodge-podge group. Fix-8 brought us together, and part of the deal was people each member knew would get freed, but that meant sometimes you'd work a job to liberate someone you don't know."

"All they were all convicted criminals that had been mistreated by the system? You're sure of that?"

"I'm not a lawyer, but yeah, I'm pretty sure. Look, each class of Power is considered an aggravating factor for a crime in most jurisdictions. So, if Dr. Akkursed casts a sigil to paralyze everyone in a bodega, then summons a demon to teleport in and steal a single ChocoPow bar, if he's caught and convicted? 5 to 15. If it's not his first offense? 5 to 25. For a crime where no one was hurt, there wasn't any real risk of anyone GETTING hurt, and he stole one candy bar. You can't tell me that's fair."

"An argument can be made that casting sigils and summoning demons are inherently risky."

"Oh yeah? Do YOU know enough about symbolthurgy or demonology to make that argument?"

"Not as such..."

"And neither does any jury I've ever seen. Well, I mean besides the Endless Jury, but that's a... a mystic power of the cosmos thing, not a normal crime court. And crooks aren't normally allowed to testify for other crooks, and there aren't a lot of experts on magic a public defender's budget can afford, so Powered criminals usually get shafted at trial."

"And you think the proper response to that is a group like the Jailbreakers?"

"I still think it CAN be the proper response. But mostly, now? No. I'm part of the Association for Powered Crime Sentencing Reform, and we're working to convince the public, and lawmakers, to stop using guidelines that were last revised in the 1980s. And, of course, that means I have a vested interest in not getting nicked breaking the law again, since that would undermine my value as a spokesman."

"Are you paid for that work?"

"No, it's all pro-bono."

"So, how do you make ends meet?"

"Right now, Captain Cannon has me on salary as a 'special advisor' for Cannon's Fodder. Honestly, being a longshoreman who can lift a ton paid better, but this work is respectable in my circles. No one gives me guff for it. Plus, I've learned it's useful to have a S.T.E.E.L. captain think of you as a good egg. SHE doesn't ignore me if I bring her concerns. Plus? The heath insurance is spectacular."