Chapter Eight
LET FREEDOM RING
“‘The Man Without Fear,’” the sergeant taunted. He smelled of cigar smoke, cheap beer and sour sweat. His heart rate was twice as fast as it should have been and there was a slight flutter on the upbeat. He was on Speed, probably. The sound of his heart and breathing were muffled and distorted uniquely by the sergeant’s armored vest, made of new materials and created especially for Sentinel Of Liberty soldiers.
“‘The Man Without Fear,’” the sergeant said again, nudging the uncomfortable soldier sitting beside him. That soldier, from the regular army, was like the others in the truck, uncomfortable, embarrassed. The smell of anxiety and the heat on their cheeks was impossible to miss. “Bet he has something to be afraid on now!” the sergeant yelled. He began laughing, fluid rattled in his lungs.
The sound made Daredevil instinctively want to clear his throat. He said nothing and didn’t look up. He tested the chains that latched him to the floor of the APC. No chance--even if his left arm wasn’t broken. Even with a Sentinels Of Liberty strike team acting as back up for Electro and Moses Mayhem, Daredevil had come very close to escaping the ambush they’d set up to snare him shortly after he’d parted ways with Modesty Blaise and Gray Ghost outside New York.
Very close, but not quite.
“Don’t know what you did to get on Gyrich’s shit list, but I bet you’re real sorry now,” the sergeant said. His armored helmet covered most of his head and concealed his eyes behind a thick visor, altering the acoustics of his voice. Daredevil couldn’t see the designs on the helmet--the “A” on the front and the white wings on the sides, meant to be reminiscent of Captain America’s emblems--but he sensed the minuscule protrusions of the paint on the helmet’s smooth surface.
“This will teach you to screw with the United States government,” the sergeant heckled. “Not so tough now, are you?”
Daredevil ignored him. There were plenty of other things to occupy his expanded senses and drown out the sergeant with: The rhythm of rain pounding down on the metal roof of the APC; the rumble of its engine; the mingling scent of bubble gum, aftershave, antiperspirant, gun powder and oil.
The sergeant leaned in toward Daredevil. “What’s say we have a little peek under that mask? See what a man without fear looks like.”
Daredevil didn’t say a word, but his sightless eyes were quite expressive. Even with his bombast, the sergeant instinctively shrank back for a second.
“Uh, I don't think that’s a good idea, sir,” the young soldier sitting next to the sergeant said. “Agent Gyrich made it clear that he wanted to be the one to remove his mask. Our orders....”
“I’m a Sentinel Of Liberty, maggot!” the sergeant spat. “I’m not fodder like you! I’m one of the guardians of the American way! We don’t follow orders, we give them and make goddamned sure that everyone else is a good little boy and girl and does what they are fucking told!” The sergeant stood up and reached for Daredevil’s face, inching just a bit too close.
Daredevil’s leg shot out into the sergeant’s chest, slamming him back against his seat. Daredevil strained against the chains, hoping that burst of adrenaline would work a miracle. Instead, the butt of the rifle belonging to the soldier sitting next to him impacted the back of his skull.
Daredevil was still conscious, but he almost wished he wasn’t. The blow scrambled his senses and nausea gripped him. His surroundings broke apart and spun around him vertiginously.
The APC suddenly wrenched to a complete stop. Daredevil heard gunfire from outside and an explosion. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck tingle.
The sergeant, still reeling from the kick, struggled to his feet and drew his side arm. “What the fu...!”
The APC’s roof was ripped open as if by huge invisible hands. Rain poured in. The chains restraining Daredevil broke and wrapped themselves around the necks of the soldiers sitting next to him. As they struggled, three other soldiers attempted to raise their rifles, only to have them ripped out of their hands and up through the hole in the APC’s roof. The sergeant pointed his sidearm at Daredevil. Almost instantly, the gun swiveled in his hand. Even straining against it with both arms, the sergeant was unable to prevent the barrel from wedging up against the side of his own head.
Daredevil felt a shuddering wash over him. His body lifted slowly up through the fissure above and into the cold, rainy night. The three jeeps that had been accompanying the APC looked like a giant mallet had flattened them. The bodies of soldiers littered the ground. The few left on their feet pointed their rifles at Daredevil as he levitated higher into the air. Armored panels on the APC suddenly ripped themselves free from the vehicle’s frame and rammed into the soldiers, knocking them down and pinning them to the ground.
Daredevil rose higher into the air. He recognized the sound of the heartbeat floating above him even before the man it belonged to spoke. ”You are safe now, my friend. I believe you now understand why I am necessary."
And with that, Magneto flew Daredevil away.
Chapter Nine: “A House Divided”
“For someone who
was heading to prison, you are not acting very grateful,” Magneto said, letting
a tinge of sarcasm enter his tone.