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Episode 11: Feudin’ and Fightin’ August 8th, 1947. New York City, New York. The mansion of Howard Stark. Fred Wells woke up to find himself handcuffed to the chair he was sitting in. A cursory glance revealed that he was in a cellar, casks and bottles lining the walls. Before him stood Daniel Sousa, Peggy Carter, and Dr. Benton. He looked down at the bandage on his shoulder, then back up to Peggy. “Very good work, Peg darling,” he said. “Would it be possible to avail myself of some of Mr. Stark’s stock? Or does his hospitality only extend so far?” Peggy took a step toward the chair, but Daniel held out a cautionary arm. “We’ve treated your injury. Unless you want a few more I suggest you tell us what we want to know.” Wells chuckled. “Oh really? And why do we have resort to such threats? Why not go to your friends at the SSR? Oh wait. Because they still want dear Miss Adams for the little fracas at the theater.” “How did you do it?” Peggy asked steely. “How did you turn these people into super soldiers?” Wells nodded to Benton. “You really should be congratulating the good doctor here. It wouldn’t have gotten off the ground if it wasn’t for his genius.” “What genius?” Benton asked. “What did you make me do?” “Oh, my dear boy. We didn’t make you do anything. You wanted to. Once the Council told you the possibilities of developing a super soldier serum, you practically jumped at the chance. And you weren’t particularly interested in where your subject came from.” Sousa crossed over to the chair. “The Council? You worked for Vernon Masters?” “Of course. Do you really think your War Department was all on board with the SSR? Hardly. If the Council could develop a serum before Erskine perfected his, well. The possibilities would have been limitless. On the battlefield and in Washington.” Peggy walked to the chair, and leaned over, glaring face to face with Wells. She pressed hard on his injured sholder, making him grown in pain. “How many soldiers are there?” Wells gritted his teeth as he replied. “Five. Your brother, Miss Adams, Benton, Bruce Carter, and…” “Madeline Joyce.” Peggy turned to face Benton, who looked stunned at the words he was saying. “Madeline worked as Masters secretary. Bruce Carter III was an infantryman who had been recovering from shell shock. Miss Adams had been kidnapped from her USO show.” “And Michael?” Peggy asked. Benton held his head and squinted. “It’s all too blurry. They had brought him in, said that he had been given extra combat training. The idea was to take four different individuals, give each different amounts of the test serum I had developed, then examine the effects.” “Wait a minute,” interrupted Daniel. “You say there were four subjects. How did you get the serum?” Benton wiped sweat from his brow, looking at Wells in disgust. “I gave it to myself. I remember now. I thought at first I was doing important work for science, for my country. But slowly, much too slowly God help me, I saw what I was doing. Your precious Council was only interested in gaining power and influence for themselves. You didn’t care what the results of my serum would be. You just kept pushing me to complete the experiment. It didn’t matter that I had my doubts about the serum. For all I knew I might have been injecting poison into their veins!” Wells rolled his eyes. “And in a moment of misplaced chivalry, you injected yourself with your serum, satisfied that if the experiment was a failure and your subjects died, you would pay for overstepping your precious morality. But it wasn’t a failure! It worked! The serum gave you strength!” “And you trained us, and sent us to strike German targets to prove the effectiveness of your new weapons!” Benton snapped. Peggy turned back to Wells. “But in that case, why make them forget their powers?” Wells looked uncomfortable and cleared his throat. “There was a slight… hiccup.” “A hiccup?!” Benton roared. “It all went wrong! The conditioning you gave made us too aggressive! The first mission we went on, we wound up burning a German village to the ground!” Benton stopped short, frozen in shock. “And when it was over, the Council retrieved us, except Daredevil, who had disappeared in the chaos.” “The file!” Peggy said, turning to Daniel. “That must have been the massacre it was talking about! It wasn’t my file. It was Michael’s!” “An unfortunate incident,” Wells went on. “There were those on the Council who thought we should wash our hands of the whole business and eliminate all of you. But powers such as yours would be a terrible thing to waste.” “So, you had Fennhoff erase their memories and forget about their powers?” asked Daniel. “Sadly no. Fennhoff was a genius, and he’s been very helpful in giving the push our subjects needed to remember their powers. But some of the old conditioning meant to keep them all placid and calm is still there.” He grinned and stared at Benton. “What did mother always say, Benton?” “Gentle, gentle,” Benton said without thinking. Peggy and Daniel stared at him in shock. Benton’s eyes went wide. “My God.” Wells chuckled. “Good. Now how about…” A quick right cross from Peggy sent Wells back into unconsciousness. She whirled around to face Benton. “From now on, neither you or Miss Adams is allowed near him. Do you understand?” “Yes, Miss Carter. I’m sorry I…” “I don’t want to hear apologies, Benton!” Peggy snapped. “Who knows how many mental triggers you have in your head? Wells could have you kill us all!” “Peggy, that’s enough.” Daniel said softly. But Peggy went on. “But at least your damned serum works, doctor! You turned four people into monsters! Women and men with lives that were meant for better things than being tin soldiers!” “Peggy!” Peggy spun to face Daniel, looking at her in stunned silence. Peggy gasped for breath, then turned and ran out of the cellar, tears welling in her eyes. Manhattan, New York City. The mansion of Silvio Manfredi. Count Nefaria strode into the meeting room of the Maggia, flanked by Hammerhead and Kangaroo. Silvio Manfredi sat at the head of the table with the heads of the other families. Behind Silvio’s chair were Dottie Underwood and the Enforcers. No one in the room looked particularly pleased. “Good evening, friends,” Nefaria said cheerfully. He moved to his seat, then looked around the room. “Silvio, where is that boy of yours? I would have thought he would be in attendance.” One of the mobsters coughed as Silvio Manfredi drummed on the table with his fingers. “I have not heard from Joseph these past two days. Since we haven’t heard from the authorities, I can only assume that he has been killed by these vigilantes.” Nefaria bowed his head solemnly. “I’m terribly sorry for your loss, Silvio.” Silvio glared across the table at Nefaria. “I am not interested in your condolences, Luchino. The Maggia was under the impression that your men…” “My men!” Costa interrupted. He fell silent after a stare from Silvio. “You assured us that with Doctor Harrow’s enhancements they would be more than a match for these people! Instead, they were sent running with their tails between their legs!” Nefaria held out his hands and shrugged. “Losing the first battle does not mean losing the war, Silvio.” “Perhaps not,” Silvio replied coldly. “But it may mean it is time for a change of tactics.” Suddenly the door to the conference room burst open. Joseph Manfredi ran into the room panting for breath. His suit was torn and disheveled, his hair an unkempt mess. Silvio struggled to his feet. “Joseph! Where have you been, boy?!” Joseph pointed a long finger at Nefaria and his henchmen. “Why don’t you ask him?!” The other Maggia started murmuring amongst each other, and moving away from Nefaria. Nefaria rose and walked toward Joseph. “Joseph, my boy. Your father has been so worried about you.” “Shut up!” Joseph snarled. He started circling the table, not breaking eye contact with Nefaria. “You want to know where I’ve been?” he said to the Maggia. “I’ve been dodging these two jamokes! I overheard Nefaria calling Dmitri to set up a hit, and when I asked him about it, he sent them to try to kill me!” Silvio scowled at Nefaria. “Is this true, Luchino? You tried to kill my son?!” “Silvio, my friend,” Luchino said. “Please, listen to reason.” “Oh, I’ll give you a reason you son of a bitch!” Joseph yelled. He grabbed a gun out of a coat hanging on a hat rack and aimed it a Nefaria. Kangaroo and Hammerhead moved into position and the Enforcers and Dottie drew their weapons. “Stop this! Stop this now!” Silvio screamed, before giving a wheezing cough. Nefaria looked at Sivio, and shook his head. “The leader of the Maggia. You know why I hired Doctor Harrow, Silvio? Because under your leadership the Maggia has become just like you: old, weak. Unable to see what we can truly accomplish.” “Would you like me to kill him now, Mr. Manfredi?” Dottie asked. Silvio returned to his seat, grasping his chest as he attempted to catch his breath. He glared at Nefaria. “Yes, Miss Underwood. And may the devil take you, you… you traitor!” Nefaria’s eyes narrowed and he smiled. “I don’t deal with the devil. The devil deals with me!” Daredevil smashed through one of the tall windows of the room and landed on the table of the Maggia. All the mobsters took a step back in fear as guns were drawn and Nefaria gazed proudly at his living weapons. “Daredevil? Hammerhead? Kangaroo? Kill them all!” Who will win in this battle for control of the Maggia? Stay Tuned and Find Out! Game On!