Enemy, Part 2: One Nation

Earlier

It all began early in the day in the sleepy town of Centerville, California. At 8:00 am a woman goes out to get the morning paper, when a man in a mask and a $4 box-cutter knife grabs her from behind.

At 9:01 am, the local church service is interrupted when terrorist leader Faysal Al-Tariq, who comes crashing in through the stained glass window behind the pulpit. Seconds later, the front door is knocked open and his troops roll a bunch fo explosives down the isle between church pews. These explosives then shoot out trip wires that snake all over the floor. Faysal tells the people to continue praying, but warns them not to move. This was followed by an air drop of landmines that would later decimate much of the town.[1]

By 10:45, Nick Fury and Captain America are arriving in the area by helicopter. Along the way, Fury briefs Captain America on the man responsible, Faysal Al-Tariq. He is using black market PDM explosives that will automatically explode within four hours of activation, giving them 2 more to deal with this situation. When Cap asks what Al-Tariq wants, Fury gives him a one word answer: You.

On the ground, Faysal interrupts television feeds and forces a news reporter to read his statements. However, between her terror over what’s going on and the fact that she has a wire around her throat keeping a double barreled shotgun pointed firmly at the back of her neck makes reading a teleprompter difficult. Eventually, Al-Tariq becomes fed up with her stumbling words and finishes his statement for her.

Now

Captain America had just recently arrived in Centerville and upon seeing the death and destruction is sprinting to the center of town. The entire town has been laid out with booby traps. He carefully avoids the mines on the ground until the streets become too thick with trip lines. Leaping up onto a nearby rooftop, he catches two snipers waiting for him and ambushes them from behind. When he almost knocks one of the men off the roof, Cap grabs him. However, the terrorist would rather become a martyr and tries to shoot Steve to make him let go. However, Steve denies this by forcing the gun out of his hand and knocking the man out. That’s when a rain storm rolls in which will at least get the fire under some kind of control. Seeing the rainfall, Captain America says that this is not enough of a response if God is watching this.

Not far away, reporter Jessica Seldon is being forced to continue her broadcast of what is happening in Centerville. She is afraid until she starts hearing gun fire in the distance. Composing herself for a moment, she bravely tells the viewing audience that he’s here.

Captain America is smashing his way through the army of terrorists. The conflict gets him thinking about the first time he was in a clash like this, very early into his career as Captain America back in World War II. He remembered how he came upon the dead bodies of a mother and her child and how that gave him pause. He remembers what one of the soldiers with him said that day: “Get used to it. It’s War.” He finishes his recollection as he finishes dealing with the troops. Now all that stands in his way is a sea of landmines and tripwires.

Rather than charge in and hope for the best, Captain America leaps on them with his shield at his feet. Due to the shield’s indestructability, the force of the blast propels Cap and his trademark weapon up and over the mind field and onto the property of the church. However, before he can race in and deal with Al-Tariq, the terrorist ringleader sets four Arab children to attack him. From radios attached to the four boys, Al-Tariq proclaims that he is hate and that these children his shepherds. They are his children, and Captain America’s as well.

Recurring Characters

Captain America, Nick Fury, Faysal Al-Tariq, Jessica Sheldon

Continuity Notes

1. The landmine thing isn’t implicitly stated here, but we saw their deployment last issue.

Topical References

• References or allusions to the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11, 2001, that suggest that they happened recently should be considered topical.

• This story states that Al-Tariq’s attack is happening on Easter Sunday. This should be considered a topical reference because Easter is a holiday that happens on the first full moon on or before March 21, as such its dates shift from year-to-year. More over, Easter is not integral to the story that is being told her as this could happen on any Sunday morning and not change the story. More over, due to events of Captain America (vol. 4) #4-6, the reference to it being Easter would be impossible as well, so it should be ignored.

• The TVs in this story are depicted as CRT models. This is a topical reference as this is an obsolete technology.