Control | Moon Knight

20

Steven sits uncomfortably in the backseat of a car as two people who claim to be officers of the law take him in. He thinks its a bit much for just messing up the restrooms, and he's correct. He struggles with the cuffs on his wrists, keeping his arms behind his back.

And yet again, his nerves are on fire. They can't seem to get a break. It's just one thing after the next.

" We've only got ourselves a full-blown, international fugitive. Marc Spector was part of a team of mercenaries that hit a dig site in Egypt. Here's what they did to the archaeologists. Zip-tied and shot in the back of the head, execution style."

He hears the officer as she speaks, he even catches a glimpse of the screen she reads the words from, but he can't believe it. He doesn't believe it. There's no way he couldn't done those things.

And he's right.

There's no way he could've done those things.

It's Marc. The American that lives inside his head. The man he shares a body with. Marc did those awful things... not him.

Steven has to keep telling himself that it wasn't him. That he didn't do it. That it's not his fault. He does it in order to preserve whatever sliver of sanity he has left.

The car comes to park and then engine turns off. Steven lifts his head and expects to see the city, but is only met with an empty street. His eyes dart to the driver's seat to see a familiar tattoo on the officer's forearm. The same one that the man from the Alps had. The two officers exit the car, leaving Steven all alone in handcuffs. His lips tremble, his mind in fragments trying to put itself together. He's startled by a soccer ball knocking against the glass window. He calls out to the girl who picks it up, hoping she can help him, but upon seeing her tattoo, he nearly loses it. He nearly loses all hope. He feels his eyes begin to roll back into his head, like his body is under attack from the inside. He feels Marc trying to claim the body, but he just shuts him out. His eyes land on the window across from him, showing Marc glaring in the reflection.

" You don't need to fight me, Steven. Surrender control."

But Steven can't let that happen.

" No. No... I saw what you did to those people..."

" It's not what you think," Marc says, now appearing in the rear view mirror.

" I'm... I'm never giving you control again. Ever. Do you hear me?"

" I hear you loud and clear, Steven Grant of the gift shop."

The radio clicks as the door opens, the door Steven happens to be leaning against, causing him to fall out of the car and land on the hard road at the feet of the man with the tattoo. The man with the cane bends down to Steven, as if showing he's not a threat.

" I'm sorry for the wait. We just needed a chance to better understand your situation," Arthur says, then turns to one of his followers, " Do you have the keys?", he's handed the keys and turns back to Steven, " Let's get you out of those cuffs," he uncuffs Steven and helps him get up on his feet, " Thank you both. Aren't they terrific?"

" Yeah, they're lovely," Steven responds, almost sarcastically.

" Well, no wonder your scales don't balance. It must be very difficult having all those voices inside one head," Arthur says as he straightens out his clothes, " Steven Grant, Marc Spector, Khonshu. I'm curious, do you think that Khonshu chose you as his Avatar because your mind would be so easy to break or because it was broken already?"

Steven almost takes offense from that. Yes, he has a questionable mental state, but broken is a word Steven would never use to describe himself.

" No," Steven says, speaking ever so softly, " I'm not broken. Just... need some help, maybe."