Chapter Nine
A HOUSE DIVIDED
(All character dialogue by Tom Bolenbaugh and Chad Wilson)
Daredevil awoke on a couch in an opulent living room. He must have passed out during the trip; probably due to the acceleration. Doubtless, Magneto could have protected him from that if he had wished, but as this was probably Magneto’s newest secret base, he’d obviously had no reason to.
Daredevil sat up and realized that he was no longer in costume.
Matt Murdock, now wearing a comfortable terrycloth robe, laid his head back against the couch and sighed angrily.
Damn.
His arm was in a cast and sling, and his other wounds had been tended to, including a bandage wrapped around his head. He ached, but he had to admit he was feeling better than he had in the APC. The air smelled of jasmine mingled with the faint scent of cooking food; garlic, onion, chicken. The gentle strains of Mozart wafted softly through the room, as did the muted hum of the turntable.
Two large silver doors on the other side of the room opened. Magneto was dressed casually now in an expensive white silk shirt and black pants. He was accompanied by a young woman, who--even at rest--radiated a mild pulsation of energy: Shatterstar.
Shatterstar walked over to the couch, sat down beside Murdock and checked his dressings. “How are you feeling?” she asked. “We were worried you might have had a concussion, but the x-rays gave us some good news.” She started to change his bandages.
Murdock ignored her and glared at Magneto, who was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed.
"Magneto!” Murdock yelled angrily. “What in Hell do you think you are doing?!"
Magneto didn’t react in any way to the rudeness of his guest. It was to be expected. “Saving you.”
"Those soldiers were just innocent pawns, you better not have seriously hurt ANY of them," Murdock said.
“You are in no better a position to threaten me than the guards I rescued you from. Your compassion for them betrays your naiveté,” Magneto said. “They would have killed you without the compassion you show for them. But if it will ease your mind, Magneto does not kill needlessly. Your former captors are unharmed.”
"THIS is just what I need!” Murdock exclaimed in disbelief. “First, two superbaddies and a couple dozen jackbooted thugs take me down, then Magneto comes and kidnaps me... Could this day possibly get *any* better?"
“For someone who was heading to prison, you are not acting very grateful,” Magneto said, letting a tinge of sarcasm enter his tone.
“I was innocent of any crime,” Murdock responded hotly.
Shatterstar rolled her eyes as she dabbed an antiseptic pad on the stitches in his arm. It had been a compound fracture. A nasty one.
Murdock winced, the sting causing him to talk even louder. “A court would have found me innocent. It is unconstitutional to punish a man for a crime after it has been made illegal, you know. I hadn't actually broken the Keene Act when they assaulted me."
Magneto looked at Murdock with something approaching pity. “Do you truly still believe that your pathetic laws and ideals still hold any weight? The people have been turned against you. Their fear and jealousy over who and what you are has been fanned into a fire that will soon overwhelm all notions of 'human decency'. You'd have been lucky to survive at all.”
"Yeah, let them try to explain how two dangerous super villains were let loose from prison and sent after me,” Murdock replied. “That, and the Police can vouch for my character. I have never killed anyone, and not one person I captured has ever turned out to be innocent. I was never a loose cannon."
Magneto let out a single, cold chuckle. “My dear Daredevil, you are indeed a fool. You are a vigilante who takes the law into his own hands on a daily basis. By your own laws you are a criminal. The police will defend you? I think not. The police are mindless drones who do what they are told. They follow power, not principle. They'd kill you without a thought and sleep contented at night because they were 'only following orders,'“ he said darkly. “And what of Mr. Gyrich?” Magneto asked. “The defender of this government you still believe in? I believe he has a score to settle with you.”
"He asked the wrong questi... Hey, how did you find out about that?!"
“If it makes it any easier for you,” Magneto said, ignoring him, “you may consider yourself my guest here, under my… what would you call it? Ah yes, 'Protective custody'. For the time being, you may enjoy my hospitality and watch as events unfold. Watch as the mindless sheep you call humanity are whipped into a frenzy of hate against their former protectors. Watch the government bring your friends to heel or crush them under their boots. Watch your precious defenders of justice exterminated, as part of this Legion's 'final solution', while the people you place so much faith in will refuse to lift a single finger. Perhaps you will even come to understand that this confrontation was inevitable, that Legion is only hastening it, and that the real demon is not the one inhabiting your president, but that it lies in the inherent weakness of the frail human souls, so ready to blindly walk down the path to hell.”
The room was quiet.
Shatterstar finished changing the bandage on Murdock’s head. “And we offer excellent medical benefits,” she said, smiling nervously, trying to lighten the mood.
It didn’t work.
Chapter 10: “Checks And Balances”
Catch me if you
can.