breakout

Marc Spector walks alone through Chinatown to an undisclosed location to meet with Tak, whom he believed to be the one sending a message via the Daily Bugle. Marc had not spoken of the invitation with any if the other Heroes For Hire and intended to keep the meeting secret for Tak's safety.

-

While on his way to the meeting with Tak, he was distracted by a strange event.

An armored vehicle was moving down the street. Suddenly, a young boy bounced his big, red ball off the sidewalk and into the street. The armored car squealed its brakes, but couldn't avert rolling over the ball. There was an instantaneous thundering BOOM and the truck flipped over onto its side!

To Marc's utter amazement, the little boy who lost the ball pulled an automatic pistol from beneath his grimy sweatshirt and began blasting the windshield of the armored car!

-

The "little boy" was really a little person in child's clothing, and a Maggia operative. The "big, red ball" had really been high explosive which had been used to capsize the truck. Marc Spector quickly subdued the Maggia operative. But things quickly turned.

Prior to this incident, the 3 villains The Beetle, The Blizzard, and The Constrictor were in the process of being transferred to The Vault (a maximum security prison designed for metahumans). As part of their contract, Hammerhead agreed to free them if they were captured or arrested while performing jobs for the Maggia. Thus, the diminutive operative had been sent as an opportunity to escape the armored transport vehicle en route to their prison.

By the time the little boy had been knocked unconscious, the villains in the back of the armored car had broken free of their restraints and killed the 3 guardsmen who were monitoring them. They threw open the rear doors of the armored car, and leapt from the vehicle to battle Marc Spector.

-

Moon Knight deftly defeats the 3 villains by delaying them until police reinforcements arrived and could apprehend the villains.

-

After the event Marc notices the time, and continues to his meeting place to see Tak.

-

Even at Midnight, Chinatown was a busy place. People crowded the sidewalk on mysterious errands, while delivery boys wove through the throngs on rickety bicycles, all hurrying to bring delicious Chinese meals to late-night diners.

Up ahead was Marc's destination -- the dark alley where Marc had first met Tak, and saved him from The Blizzard.

As he approached, he was startled by the sound of a metal trash can falling on its side. The can spilled its contents, which noisily clattered across the concrete.

Someone stumbled into the light from behind the other cans. With his face severely swollen, he wasn't recognized at first, it was a badly beaten Tak! Tak stopped in his tracks when he saw Marc, "stay back!" he yelled. "I'm wired, man!" he ripped open his jacket and Marc saw several sticks of dynamite strapped to the young man's chest.

"I don't wanna die!!" tak screamed. "But i gotta! And you're coming with me!"

Tak held up a detonator in his left hand. He then closed his eyes and attempted to detonate the explosives. Marc's own arm shot out and grappled for the detonator. The two then fiercely wrestled and rolled for the singular button on the detonator.

In the scuffle Marc landed atop of Tak who had finally wrestled his arm free. To Marc's utter dismay and horror, Tak pressed the button on the detonator. Sparks flew from his chest and his shirt began to smolder, but there was anticlimactically no explosion.

Looking down at the smoking, exposed dynamite Tak cried to Marc, "oh god! It didnt blow!! Help me, man! Get this shit off of me!!"

The explosives were worn in a leather harness, which was quickly ripped off of Tak. There were 10 sticks of dynamite in the harness, and it was disarmed by removing all of the electrical detonation pins from the sticks, including the 3 duds that had been activated to no avail.

"Why were you trying to blow me up?"Marc questioned furiously.

"Someone told the Faces Of Fear i talked to you. They beat me up and took my parents. They swore if i didn't kill you, that they would kill my parents. They strapped me up with that vest, and said it was the only way to get close enough to kill you. I would've committed suicide for my mom and dad! I fucked even that up...and now they're gonna get killed." Tak cried in explanation.

"Where are they holding your parents?"

"The Faces of Fear have a hideout. I've been a couple times. Called the House of Madness. It's in the amusement arcade near the Chinatown museum on Oliver Street, and has all the signs with the famous movie monsters. Mom and dad are being kept there, I'm sure of it."

"Who's the boss?"

"I dunno if he's the boss, but there was this mean enforcer -- a cyborg they called Deathlok . He's the one who made and strapped that harness on me." mumbled Tak.