They place him barefoot on the wheeled metal cart, his hands are cuffed before him and there are thick lengths of chain linking his hands and feet. On all floors of the prison, armed guards cock their rifles, eyes on the most bloodthirsty man the Hoag has ever known. A shiver of fear runs through one of the new guards. This is the first time he has ever seen in the flesh the one they call Il Duce. The Darkman, the Boogeyman, the one of which great tales have been reckoned. Tales enough to curdle even the bravest man's stomach.

An inmate at the Hoag since March 31, 1980, he is not known to have spoken a word in the eighteen years this penitentiary has held him. They do not even know his name. He is just prisoner 6570534. Suspected IRA, mafia assassin, his list of known hits a mile long. The ones they cannot confirm may be a mile longer. As they wheel him down the narrow corridor, shotguns aimed at his temples, mirrors peek out from between the iron bars of the holding cells. All eyes are on the monster. He must be twelve feet tall and breathe fire. Alas, he is just a man like any other. Another prisoner up for parole in the Hoag.

It is April the 5th 1998, and prisoner 6570534 is being escorted down to the jury room for a parole hearing. He wonders why they even bother with such nonsense. The Lord knows they will never let him out of here unless he is ensconced in a body bag. Twenty-five years to life is the sentence they gave him. He has no regrets or misgivings in regards to the crimes he committed. In his eyes, crimes is a misnomer. He knows the mission he was charged with by God himself.

When I raise my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment,

I will take vengeance upon mine enemies, and I will repay those who haze me.

Oh, Lord, raise me to Thy right hand and count me among Thy saints.

And I shall count thee among my favored sheep,

and you shall have the protection of all the angels in Heaven.

Although he accepts the divine power of God, he has had his moments while incarcerated, of wondering if this is what God had intended for him. Bestowing upon him the most noble of missions, and then locking him up in a penitentiary for nigh on twenty years. While there is so much work to be done, he sits inside his cell while his monumental skills fall by the wayside. Evidence in point, all the scum and filth that filter in and out of this very building every day. It is not his place though to question the ways of the Lord.

Thy will be done.

They stop in the main antechamber just outside of the jury rooms. While his cart is placed in the center of the large room, a giant cage is slowly lowered over the metal platform upon which he stands. Trapped like a bird in a gilded cage, he is again moved forward and into the jury rooms.

He laughs to himself at all this precaution. Little do they know they have naught to fear from him. Innocent God-fearing men, women and children do not have to hide from his wrath. His mission only includes those that have fallen into sin and corruption. All the lives he has ever taken were taken because of an affront to God. God laid down his Commandments in the Bible and all people are expected to follow his edicts. If you stray from the path of the Lord, you may find your day of reckoning on Earth and not at the gates of Judgment.

With a resigned sigh, he raises his head and the hearing begins. He holds himself impassive, not really listening to the dialogue in front of him. The words are white noise as he takes in the faces of his parole panel. All four of them, three men and one woman, afraid to even make eye contact with him. Afraid of the evil they believe is sure to shine in his devil's eyes. He hears the words good behavior, rehabilitation, reformed and the next thing he knows is they are stamping his parole papers. Approved.

In the watery light of dawn on the morning of April the eighth, Il Duce is walking towards the outer gates of the Hoag with a security detail of no less than seven men. He is wearing his twenty-year-old army fatigues, a red sweatshirt and black boots.

The man who meets him at the gate is Giuseppi Yakavetta.