This much is clear:
violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation,
and only a cleansing of our whole society can remove
this sickness from our soul.
Robert F. Kennedy

Vietnam
1979

Zhang Chin smoked his cigarette as his men strapped the boy to a gurney. The boy, naked, looked on as they fastened belts around his wrists, his ankles, and even his torso. He strained to raise his head enough to look at Chin. “Why do we need to go through all this?”

“Because the process can be…jarring,” said Chin. “This will prevent you from harming yourself in the event of a seizure.”

Once the boy was fully strapped down, the men connected diodes to his bare flesh. The wires ran to a large machine that was beyond anything the boy had ever seen in his lifetime. Chin observed his men at work and then gestured for something else.

Another man wheeled in a rack of some sort that had a clear bag containing a viscous fluid. This bag had two tubes running down from it, tubes that ended in IV needles. The man inserted a needle into each of the boy’s arms.

“First, we are injecting you with a synthetic formula that will make your skin malleable,” said Chin. “This will permit you to alter your facial features.”

“So my face? It can be fixed?”

“Temporarily, yes. But there is a limit on how long you can remain in a masked state. After a period of a few hours, your skin will revert back to its normal shape.” Chin moved to the machine, powering it up. “But this is where your true gift will lie, my boy.”

“What is that?” asked the boy.

“This machine harnesses what is known as T-radiation,” said Chin. “We are going to bathe your cells in it.”

“And with this power, I can get revenge on the Americans who did this to me?” asked the boy.

Chin nodded. “In time, yes. After you have performed some work for our cause. Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

The Chinese scientist activated the machine and the boy’s body convulsed, spasming against the bonds. The formula entered his bloodstream, triggered by the T-radiation and the two began working in conjunction to mutate the boyinto something different.

For the boy, it felt a thousand times worse than the pain he had experienced during the attack on his village. But for his people, for the memory of his family, he endured the pain. Even began to revel in it as the process continued.

The boy could feel his body undergoing the changes. He felt he grew light, almost weightless. And then suddenly heavy as can be. The process only lasted about half an hour but to the boy, it felt like a lifetime.

He slowly opened his eyes and raised his hands, looking at them in curiosity. They looked no different. He wondered if maybe the process had failed. The boy stood from the gurney and looked around the room, wondering why all the men wore expressions of shock and awe. All except for Chin, who simply smiled.

And then the boy realized why they were looking at him. He glanced down and saw that he wasn’t standing next to the gurney—he was standing right in the center of it. His entire body had become intangible.

“Magnificent,” said Chin. “On this day, you have become a new man.”

“Yes,” he said. “A Man With No Face.”

WAR CRIMES

Part III

By Scott Redmond and Dino Pollard

SHIELD Helicarrier
The Present

Moments ago, Captain America and Nick Fury were attacked by someone wearing the face of their comrade, Sharon Carter. After phasing his hand into Fury’s chest and solidifying it slightly, Fury was on the ground from the shock. The Man With No Face dropped the disguise and now found himself standing before the very same man who he blamed for the deaths of his family.

“Who are you?” asked Captain America.

“A face from your past—or what remains of it,” said the Man With No Face, gesturing to his scarred visage.

“Sharon and Sam, what did you do with them?” asked Captain America.

The Man With No Face simply smiled. “Now’s not the time for them.”

“Talk!” Captain America lunged forward with his shield held in front of him. Once more, he passed through the Man With No Face, but there was something else he noticed—his enemy cringed, momentarily stunned. It was a short burst though, and the Man With No Face dropped through the floor of the infirmary.

“Dammit,” muttered Josiah. He knelt down to examine Fury, who was slowly starting to get back to his feet. “You okay?”

Fury, teeth gritted, reached for the gun holstered to his leg. “I’ll be better once I put a bullet in that fucker’s head.”

“He can phase,” said Josiah.

“Yeah, I kinda noticed,” muttered Fury.

The Helicarrier banked to the left, nearly tossing the two men off their feet. Captain America looked to Fury, whose face was one of concern. “He’s gotten to the bridge!”

The pair rushed from the infirmary up to the Helicarrier’s bridge. SHIELD agents stationed there struggled to maintain their footing and those that did were trying fruitlessly to fire on the Man With No Face. He simply walked past them, their bullets passing harmlessly through his body.

Fury came up next to a larger agent who was distinguished from the others because of the red, bushy mustache he sported and the derby cap that accompanied his SHIELD uniform. “The hell’s goin’ on, Dum-Dum?”

“Came up through the controls, Nicky!” said Dugan in response. “Next thing I know, we’re shakin’ more than tits at a strip club!”

The Man With No Face laughed as the agents scrambled, realizing he was no longer the greater threat as Manhattan loomed ever closer in the distance. They tried to regain their hold on the controls and Fury himself took point on the bridge.

“Activate emergency thrusters an’ see if we can get some of those magnos workin’ to right this thing!” As Fury barked orders to the crew, Josiah noticed the Man With No Face dropping back through the floor again. And he had an idea of where the saboteur was headed.

“I’m going after our new friend,” said Captain America.

“Good for you,” said Fury. He activated the intercom, opening a channel to engineering. “This is Fury! If you dumb bastards don’t pull a miracle outta yer asses in the next five minutes, you better hope the crash kills you, ‘cause otherwise I’m stickin’ my foot up there!”

In the hangar, the Man With No Face was met with zero opposition. Most agents onboard the craft were scrambling to deal with the crisis. Captain America arrived in the hangar just as the Man With No Face was climbing into one of the transports. He threw his shield, but it passed through the enemy once more. And once more, the Man With No Face cringed as it did so.

“This isn’t over!” shouted Captain America.

“I know,” said the Man With No Face. “If you survive this, you’ll find your friends where it all began!”

The hangar doors open and Captain America grabbed ahold of an emergency handle to prevent from being sucked out. The transport rocketed off and soon after it left, the doors automatically closed once again.

Josiah returned to the bridge, where Dugan was overseeing the repairs to the damage caused by their attacker. The former Howling Commando acknowledged the latest Captain America with a tip of his hat.

“Everything back on-line?” asked Josiah.

“Mostly,” said Dugan. “Take it he got away?”

“Hard to hit someone who moves like a ghost.”

“Once we got the Helicarrier righted an’ avoided a collision, Nicky said he had some research to do. Said he wanted you to come find him once you got back.”

“You know where I can find him?” asked Josiah.

“Should be up in his office,” said Dugan. “Hey, one more thing—you got any idea what this’s all about?”

“Maybe,” said Josiah. He left the bridge and walked the path through the corridors to Fury’s office. Before he could even knock, the door slid open for him.

Fury sat behind his desk, chin resting in his hand, a 3D holographic display of the Man With No Face hovering over the desk. When Josiah approached, Fury sparked a fresh cigar and used it to motion to the display. “What do you know about this guy?”

“Nothing,” said Josiah. “He said I could find Sam and Sharon where it all began.”

“Any clue what that means?”

“Not particularly.”

“Well, I got some intel,” said Fury. “The guy’s MO, his scars, fits with a file we’ve got on a foreign operative.”

“What foreign operative?” asked Josiah.

“Back in the 80s, China had an agent who’d perform ops for them, one mean sonnuva bitch. No one knew his name, but he called himself the Man With No Face. Legend had it the Chinese snagged themselves a ghost to work for them—a ghost who could look like anyone.”

“Not the truth, I take it,” said Josiah.

Fury shook his head. “He’s a super soldier, same as you. But after the Berlin Wall, he seemed to drop off the map. And there’s another story about this guy.”

Josiah crossed his arms. “I’m listening.”

“See, when China first started experimenting with bio-tech force enhancement, they didn’t do it on their own citizens. They did it on others. People from other countries who could be convinced to sign up with China for a time. An’ that brings us to this.” Fury handed Josiah the leaflet that was left in Sam’s hospital bed. “It all seems to fit, wouldn’t you say?”

“So you’re saying this boy who survived my unit’s attack grew up to become one of China’s first super soldiers?” asked Josiah.

“When you put on that uniform, you put your face out there. Sooner or later, someone was gonna dig up your past,” said Fury.

Josiah tore the leaflet. “Then it’s time to confront it.”

“You know where he took them, don’t you?” asked Fury.

“Yes,” said Josiah. “Back where it began.”

When Sharon Carter and Sam Wilson awoke, it was to a sweltering heat. They sat back-to-back, their bodies and hands bound by rope. Batroc stood before them, his goggled mask off and wiping sweat from his brow with a handkerchief. The mercenary looked at the pair of prisoners.

“This heat is too much, yes?”

“Just let us out, I’ll make sure you don’t feel the heat,” said Falcon.

“I think not,” came another voice. The Man With No Face walked through the wall, crossing his arms and facing his prisoners.

“When will this be over?” asked Batroc. “A man such as me should not be expected to suffer through such heat.”

“The end draws near,” said the Man With No Face.

“Where are we? And who are you?” asked Sharon.

“Vietnam,” said the Man With No Face. “The land of my birth, and the place where your Captain America and his fellow soldiers took away my family, my home and my face. They took away my entire life. And now, Captain America will pay the price for his war crimes.”

“What makes you think Cap did any of that to you?” asked the Falcon.

The Man With No Face glared at the superhero. “I was there. I saw it happen with my own eyes. And now, with you as bait, the murderer will come. The tracking device in the SHIELD transport will ensure he knows where to go. And justice will be served.”

A sound came from above and the Man With No Face smiled as a SHIELD craft tore the roof off the shack they were in. A figure dropped through the hole, dressed in an outfit of red, white and blue with a matching shield.

“So glad you could join us,” said the Man With No Face. “Batroc!”

Captain America spun just in time to use his shield to block Batroc’s flying kick. The French mercenary bounced off the shield, flipped in the air, and landed in a crouch. Captain America rushed him, but Batroc easily jumped over the intended shield-swipe. While in midair, his leg shot out, but Captain America had learned from their last encounters. He blocked with his free hand, grabbing Batroc’s ankle and using the Frenchman’s momentum to throw him into the wall.

The Man With No Face approached and Captain America threw punch. The Man laughed as the gloved fist harmlessly passed through him. “You’ll have to do better than that!” He solidified just long enough to uppercut Josiah and follow it up with an elbow in the chest. When Captain America attempted a counter, the Man With No Face passed through him, then solidified once he was behind his prey. He brought his hands down hard on Captain America’s neck, dropping him to his knees.

Sharon struggled against her bonds. She tried to look over her shoulder at her fellow prisoner. “Are you gonna help me here or what?”

The Falcon had his eyes closed throughout most of the encounter. When he opened them again, they were blank. “I am helping.”

Sharon heard a noise from above. She looked up into the sky as a flock of birds descended into the shack, many of them going straight for the ropes that bound them together. The birds tore the fibers of the rope with their beaks until they snapped.

Falcon stood first, gesturing towards Batroc. The birds descended on the assassin next, who had just been prepared to intervene in the fight between Captain America and the Man With No Face. Batroc waved his arms and legs around, trying to scare the birds off. When they finally did depart, it turned out that they were just meant to distract him. Distract him so Sam Wilson could get close enough to elbow Batroc in the nose. Sam followed the attack with a knee to Batroc’s gut, a blow that knocked the Frenchman back a few paces. This put him right in the path of several well-placed kicks from Sharon, who attacked him from behind. She relented just long enough for Sam to wail on Batroc again.

The man known as the Leaper fell to the ground, unconscious.

“I’ve waited all my life for this,” said the Man With No Face, his hands wrapping around Captain America’s neck. “You took everything from me!”

“…you’re right!” said Captain America. He drove his knee into the Man With No Face’s crotch. Captain America quickly got out from the hold and the Man With No Face stood again, his body going intangible once more.

“You can’t stop me!”

“We’ll see about that,” said Captain America. He rushed in, swiping at the Man With No Face with his shield. He held his shield inside the Man’s intangible body and the Vietnamese man cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground. His body reverted back to its solid state and Captain America kicked him in the ribs, flipping him onto his back. Captain America struck again, slamming his shield against the Man With No Face’s head. He planted a foot on his enemy’s chest, pinning him down.

“Back in the Helicarrier, I noticed my shield caused you pain when it passed through you. Did some research on the flight over,” said Captain America. “Turns out highly-dense metals like the alloy that makes up this shield are really difficult to phase through. Too much of it, and it can cause a shock. Like the one you’re still suffering from.”

“This…this isn’t over…” said the Man With No Face.

“Yes it is,” said Captain America.

“Not yet, but it will be soon.” Something slipped out of the Man With No Face’s sleeve. A small device and when he pressed the button on it, a red light on the device began to blink. Another sound came on, a beeping noise.

“Cap!”

It was the Falcon’s voice calling to him. Captain America looked over his shoulder and saw what Sam had discovered. A device with a countdown. The Man With No Face had rigged the small shack with explosives.

“Get out!” he shouted, leaving the Man With No Face and running behind Sharon and the Falcon, who slung the unconscious Batroc over his shoulder. The Man With No Face simply remained on the ground, cackling until the shack blew with a plume of smoke and flames, disturbing the silence of the jungle.

The Helicarrier

Nick Fury stepped out on the Helicarrier’s observation deck. Josiah stood at the rail, dressed not in his uniform but his civilian clothes. His eyes were focused on the Statue of Liberty off in the distance. Fury sidled up to him, leaning against the railing.

“No sign of him,” he said. “He was probably able to use his powers again just before the bomb went off. He might be back again.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“You beat him once, you can do it again,” said Fury.

“The question is do I have a right to?” asked Josiah.

“What’re you babblin’ about?”

“He was right, I killed his family. I may not have wanted to, but ‘just following orders’ doesn’t excuse what I did,” said Josiah. “He was just a scared kid, and because of my actions, he became a monster.”

Fury sighed. “War’s a dirty business an’ it’s one that screws up a lot of people. I’ve seen my fair share of war—I’ve been in situations I wish to hell I wasn’t. We did what we thought was right at the time. And sometimes, we did what we knew was wrong because we thought we didn’t have a choice.”

“Since those days, I’ve tried to dedicate myself to being a man of peace. But this work…there’s so much violence involved.”

“Yeah, but you’ve also done a lot of good. Can’t let that go ignored,” said Fury. “Look, it’s a damn tragedy what that kid turned into. But it’s not like you had any way of knowin’ what would happen. And you’ve tried to make things right. That’s more than most.”

Josiah fixed his brown eyes, almost pleadingly, on Fury. “Do you think Allah will forgive us for the things we’ve done?”

“You’re the holy man, you tell me.”

Josiah sighed. “I honestly don’t know. I believe we can be forgiven, no matter how grievous the sin. But there’s another part of me…the part that’s still Josiah Smith…which says we will never get forgiveness. Nor do we deserve it.”

“Maybe we don’t,” said Fury. “But we never stop tryin’ to earn it.”