- "I told you to use the old man as leverage. You didn't have to kill all those people."
"You knew what was gonna happen when you found that place. That's why you scouted it. Bushmaster started this war. I'm just ending it." - ―Shades and Mariah Stokes[src]
The Rum Punch Massacre, also known as the Massacre at Gwen's was a mass assassination orchestrated by Mariah Stokes and her criminal subordinates.
Background[]
- "Now is the time to strike. Right through Bushmaster's bumboclaat heart."
"This is a good leverage play. We're gonna go in and give Bushmaster's people an ultimatum. It's all about the message." - ―Mariah Stokes and Shades[src]
Mariah Stokes decided to retaliate against Bushmaster and aggravated him out of revenge for ruining her image and burning down her brownstone,[3] starting with the kidnapping of his uncle, Anansi.[4]
Massacre[]
- "Me gonna haunt you 'til the end of your days! You can eat, but you won't taste! You can sleep, but you won't rest! Everything you love, you gon' lose! You hear me!"
- ―Anansi to Mariah Stokes[src]
Stephanie Miller shot in the head and killed
Mariah Stokes led Anansi to Gwen's tied and blindfolded. There, she would set up her message to Bushmaster by having her associates kill everyone present in the restaurant. Upon stepping inside, one of the Stokes shot out the security camera, allowing Stokes to enter. Inside she noticed that one of her own, Stephanie Miller, had been secretly working for the Stylers. Due to Miller informing on her Bushmaster had learned of Piranha Jones and managed to steal Stokes' money. Stokes ordered one of her men to shoot Miller in the head, killing her instantly.
Anansi is burned to death by Mariah Stokes
In response, several innocent people attempted to escape, only for Stokes's men, including Shades, to gun them all down. When the shooting finally stopped, Anansi was shown the aftermath of the massacre, leaving him heartbroken and devastated at the loss of his friends and family. They then soaked him with Bushmaster Rum and set on fire. Stokes ignored him while, with his last words, he told her that he will haunt her for the rest of her life. While Shades watched in horror, Anansi screamed in agony, until Stokes finally killed him by shooting him is the head with her Stokes' Revolver.[4]
Stokes was unaware that Ingrid Mackintosh was injured but managed to survive, leaving her as the sole survivor of the incident.[1]
Aftermath[]
- "Mariah's gone too far this time. She's gotta go. And I'm gonna help you do it."
- ―Shades to Misty Knight[src]
The massacre shook the city to its very core. Luke Cage was enraged that Mariah Stokes stooped this low, killing innocent people, including the children, stating that he regretted not killing her earlier when he had the chance to.[1]
Shades hands himself into Misty Knight
The murders were found out by Bushmaster and Sheldon, which devastated them to no end. The massacre would then go on to cause Stokes' relationship with Shades to fall apart, as she had violated his code of honor by needlessly murdering innocent people and, in the process, wasted a potential bargaining chip of Anansi in a fashion that revealed her to be unhinged. Where she saw a message being sent, he saw a pointlessly brutal, horrific, strategically idiotic atrocity. He briefly decided to kill her but, deciding she was not worth killing, left her employ in disgust with her actions and worked with her enemies to take her down, with Sugar teaming up with Cage, turning himself in to Misty Knight to testify against her.[5]