OOO
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Water fell from the faucet of the corner sink, running into the drain and keeping time as Frank Castle did push-ups inside his cell. There were no other sounds to be heard at the moment, apart from his breathing; he had been placed into solitary due to his attacks on fellow prisoners. He would not be long for the prison, however.
Sounds began to rise from down the hallway and shots rang out. There were no clocks to be found but he suspected that they were right on time. Castle stood and pulled a shiv out from beneath his bed in case he needed it; it was crude, but one had to make do. Carefully, he flipped the little flap where they pushed his food in through and found himself looking into a glowing eye with blue lids.
"Ja, I see him," said an accented voice. "Stand back."
He back away from the door and moments after he did so there was a puff of smoke. A blue person dressed in priestly clothing stood before him, extending a three-fingered hand.
"Come. Ve must hurry. Brace yourself."
Castle nodded and held on as sulphur filled his nostrils. There was a nauseating sensation and when he opened his eyes they were on the roof of the prison. There was a helicopter situated on it, the blades already spinning, with a 'XIII' and a cross on the side. The blue one had already bounded inside and two more were waiting as well; what seemed to be a brunette priest piloting the plane and an Asian nun in the back seat who was now tending to the blue one - he hadn't noticed immediately, but the other had a gun shot in the shoulder.
"Velcome," said the pilot, the voice equally accented but betraying her as a woman. "I'm Sister Heinkle, zat is Sister Yumiko and ze blue vone ist Father Kurt."
He nodded and slammed the door.
"Let's go," he growled, and they lifted off just as the guards began pouring onto the roof, futilely shooting at the chopper.
They flew in silence for a while. Then he felt a hand upon his shoulder and as he turned he saw that it was the nun; closer inspection revealed that she was of Japanese heritage. Her eyes regarded him timidly from behind large glasses and she blushed when she spoke.
"Welcome to Iscariot," she said softly. "I've heard a lot about you... tell me, is it true how you were arrested?"
"Eh," he muttered. "I got careless was all."
"Did it really take two whole police squadrons?"
"Yeah. And Spiderman."
"Spiderman?" She asked in a vacant tone.
"American superhero. Don't suspect you would have heard of him. Makes the papers in NYC. Sometimes more."
"Oh."
"Yeah. Didn't figure news of him would cross the pond quite yet. Pretty much just a mutant in pyjamas or something. Trouble is, even though he's fighting crime, he's got this thing against killing. That's why he brought me in."
"Vell, you'll find no such prohibition in Iscariot," Heinkle spoke up from the front seat. "Ve take our job very seriously."
"Say wait a second - I just remembered something. That incident with those priests over in the Middle East. The ones being held for ransom until two people showed up and killed all the captors - was that you?"
Yumiko blushed furiously. Yumi had been rather out of control that day and Maxwell had really let them have it afterwards.
"Ja, zat vas us," Heinkle confirmed.
Castle turned to Yumiko, confused.
"You were the one with the sword? But you're so -"
"Quiet?" He nodded. "I know. Until I take my glasses off. Then Yumi takes over."
"Oh."
They lapsed back into silence for a while until Heinkle broke it with news of their landing. The came down in a field outside of New York and walked up to a house where they found Maxwell inside conversing with a red-headed man in dark glasses. Introductions were made then Maxwell excused himself.
"I'll leave him to you, Matthew," he said with a smile. "We must return soon, I'm afraid. Busy, busy, busy. But it was good to get a tour of some of the American facilities."
"Indeed. I shall hear from you soon again?"
"Possibly."
They shook hands then the red-head lead Frank downstairs to see the weapon's cache and training area. The four Iscariots walked back out to the landing strip where the helicopter was being refueled. They were to leave it there, however, and took a plane back instead. Heinkel flew once again and Maxwell settled down with a mask over his eyes to get some rest. Kurt opened up a book to read and Yumiko persisted in staring out of the window until Heinkel looked back and gave her a knowing smile.
"You vere vatching him quite closely," she teased and the Japanese nun blushed.
"It was nothing. Just... he seemed so calm. But I've seen the footage of him attacking. He goes into a complete bullet-flying rage. And so it struck me that, well, he's a little like me. Maybe not so divided. But somewhat."
Heinkel allowed the subject to drop. However, when Maxwell finally stirred as they drew closer to Italy, she spoke up once more.
"Maxwell - the American operative - vas he blind?"
Enrico gave her a smirk.
"I was wondering when one of you would notice. As for your answer; yes and no. Technically yes. But I've seen him working. Don't let him fool you for a moment. I venture to say, without any slight intended, that he is better than the both of you."
She raised her eyebrows but said nothing more and brought the plane down without incident.
OOO
Pietro had been dying to have everything explained to him, impatient since the night he had discovered the book. Thus it was hard to keep from bolting in front of his entire class when he was called to the office, seemingly for no apparent reason. As he had guessed, however, Enrico was waiting for him. The priest motioned for him to be quiet then took him outside and ushered Pietro, bookbag and all, into a dark car.
"Now then," he said once the doors were shut and he'd started then engine. "I suppose I ought to begin at the beginning - as you have already guessed, I'm sure, Father Anderson and I are not completely normal. We are part of a special strike force: Iscariot, Section XII."
Pietro listened, breathless with amazement, as Maxwell filled him in on the particulars of their service, on the existence of vampires, werewolves and many other creatures as well, on Father Anderson's role, on Kurt's recent induction. He explained the entries in the book, the battles Anderson had taken part in and the enemies he'd taken out.
"And I get to be in it too?" He shouted at last, no longer able to contain his enthusiasm.
"Yes," Maxwell laughed. "With talent like yours? You most certainly do."
"Awesome! Do I get a gun? How about a sword? No, wait, a lightsaber!"
"I'm afraid that last one is still fiction. We'll probably be giving you a sword; a weapon you're holding will go as fast as you can whereas a projectile will only go as fast as it can be shot. And I'm assuming you can outrun most forms of projectiles?"
The boy snorted. "Heck yes. I can outrun speeding arrows, bullets, cannon balls..."
"And you know this because you tried?" Maxwell asked, looking bemused as Pietro blushed.
"Well, I think I can anyway. I mean, I can go faster than anything you've ever seen."
"We'll be clocking you today to see just how fast is fast for you. But if you can outrun anything I've ever seen, well, let's just say that I believe I can safely state you will not only be a part of our organization, but an invaluable part. Just remember: not a word of this to Father Anderson."
"Why? Won't he be proud?"
"Eventually, yes. But he is unreasonably protective of his charges and gets irate and out of sorts when they first join."
"Were you his charge?"
Maxwell paused, taken aback for a moment.
"Why yes, I was," he said carefully.
"Was he mad when you joined?"
"Possibly. But I think that for me he knew it was inevitable, so the day of my joining was unsurprising as he'd already gotten used to the idea. He didn't make nearly the fuss over me or even Sister Heinkle that he did over Sister Yumiko."
"And what about him?"
"Who? Father Anderson?"
"Yeah. How did he join?"
"You know," he replied in a vaguely surprised tone, turning the car into a parking space. "I don't really know. It was far before my time and I'd never thought to ask - though the impression Father Renaldo always gave to the recruits was that he didn't like to talk about past times. That or he couldn't remember - and maybe those are the same things."
As soon as the car had shut off, Pietro rushed out and ran towards the door, then back a fraction of a second later when he realized that he didn't know where he was going. Maxwell gave him another bemused grin.
"Slow down there, speedster. At least, slow down right now, until you need to go fast."
Maxwell then lead him to the special training area that the Iscariot scientists and engineers had built for the boy. Pietro was first given a physical and then hooked up to various machines. The boy took them through their paces, slowly at first then gradually increasing. Finally, as he started to run with abandon, the numbers on the instruments began to increase in a blur until at last came what would have been an ear-splitting, glass shattering phenomenon had not the area been specially constructed. Pietro came to a halt and gave Maxwell, who was observing from behind a specially tempered window of plexiglass, a thumbs up and the priest nodded his approval.
"Well done Pietro. You capped at 338 meters per second. Not bad for a first try."
"I can go faster," he protested, puffing for breath. "I'm just out of shape. They don't let me run as fast as I want to." He panted again. "They're holding me back, but I'll get up to speed with practice."
"Precisely what I wanted to hear," Maxwell told him, entering the practice area and helping the exhausted boy out. "You are a good boy, Pietro, and you should be proud of your talents no matter what anybody says. And I promise you - someday you will get to show them off in public."
"Not now though?" He frowned.
"Yes; but do not worry. It's for a very important reason. Pietro, we at Section XIII have many enemies and you could be a trump card against them..." The boy brightened and stood up straighter. "...but only if you have the element of surprise. If it gets out that we have a recruit like you so many years before you'll be ready for fieldwork - and yes I did say years, this is after all a serious business - those foes will be able to prepare for you."
"Hmph. Let them try. I'll get so fast, nobody will be able to stop me! And they won't be able to prevent me from running where I want, when I want!"
"I'm sure you will; but for now, keep it under wraps and you will be an even more potent fighter when your day finally comes."
Pietro heaved a sigh but nodded.
"OK. Makes sense. I guess."
"Good. I know it makes you unhappy, but we do need men who can follow orders. It's the mark of a good soldier."
This oblique praise cheered him again and they returned to the car, Pietro finally breathing normally again.
"We will continue on like this," Maxwell informed him. "You will be taken out of school for two hours every day and then return at the end to go home with your sister."
"That long? Won't Father Anderson find out?"
"Probably, eventually. The teachers have been instructed to keep things under wraps for as long as possible, but I'm sure it will slip out one way or another. You let me worry about that though. Once you've been trained and integrated, given too much knowledge, there won't be much he can do besides protest and uselessly thunder about; and I assure you, none of this will fall on your head or he will be severely reined in."
Pietro nodded and turned to look out the window. The scenery rushed by, but not nearly as fast as he would have liked it. Everything looked better when he was running, felt better when he was running. His heart pounded just thinking about it. Even after he returned to school, he was distracted for the rest of the day and long after heading back to the orphanage.
He did his homework as quickly as he could, then bounded from one activity to the next. Nothing could hold his attention for long and all he felt like doing was waiting impatiently for the morrow when he could finally run again.
OOO
CC: Two more famous Marvel characters with Catholic connections appeared in this chapter. The first, Frank Castle, aka the Punisher - who was, in fact, Marvel-canonically training to be a priest at one point before he'd married. The other - obviously an AU version since he is already part of Iscariot, is the blind Daredevil, aka Matthew Murdock. Canonically he also has a mother who became a nun. In this AU's fictional past, she was the one who drew him into Iscariot when he first acquired his heightened senses in the accident that took his sight.