NEW YORK CITY
Uptown
“Don’t worry about packing the nonessentials,” Matt said. “We’ll just buy whatever we need out there.”
Karen Page, the blonde bombshell that had recently been brought back to life by otherworldly means, and dropped into Matt Murdock’s life again, paused in the middle of her one bedroom apartment to stare at her blind boyfriend. She clutched a blouse in one hand and a pair of pumps in the other, ready to shove them into her suitcase. It was an odd sense, stuffing your entire life into one bag to move across the country. You discovered very quickly just what really mattered to you.
“Excuse me,” Karen replied, “but who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?”
Matt turned to face her, pausing in his own work of emptying the dresser drawers. Even though he was blind, and facing someone in a conversation was pointless for him, he still tried to keep up appearances so as not to make people feel uncomfortable.
“What?”
She waved at him with the blouse, pointing to his general demeanor. “I know you said you were going to take a new lease on life, but you’re acting like the weight of the world is actually off your shoulders. ‘Don’t worry about the nonessentials?’ That almost sounds nonchalant, Matthew Murdock.”
Matt smirked. “We’re getting married,” he said. “I can’t help but feel like my life is finally turning around for the better.”
“Believe me,” Karen said as she tossed the blouse and shoes carelessly onto the bed. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Matt’s neck. “As soon as that plane touches down in San Francisco you will see just how grateful I am that you’ve finally let your demons go.”
Matt kissed her, allowing the yearning that was now constantly bubbling in the pit of his soul to melt into her lips. She returned the sensation, but after a moment Matt pulled away.
“What time is it?” he asked.
Karen checked the clock on the wall. “About 5:30. Why? Got a hot date?”
Matt reluctantly broke the embrace and slipped on his overcoat. “Not exactly,” he replied. “Our flight leaves in four hours and I have one last thing I need to do before we leave New York City behind us for good.”
“Murdock, you are not leaving me to go ‘clubbing,’ not when I’m picking up my life for you.”
Matt gave Karen a peck on the cheek before opening the door to the small apartment to leave. “I’m a groom now,” he said, “and every groom needs a best man, right?”
He smirked again and slipped into the hallway. He knew that Karen had not been insinuating that he was going to make the rounds at New York’s club scene, but rather ‘clubbing’ was her cute word for him putting on his working clothes and swinging about the city. His billy club had been augmented with a grappling hook to allow for just such a mode of transport.
He rushed down the hallway, tugging at his shirt and tie to reveal the scarlet red uniform underneath, hoping that he could catch up with one particular person before he moved his entire life to San Francisco.
#
NEW YORK CITY
The Diamond District
“Honestly, you guys don’t even try anymore, do you?”
A pair of thugs who were beginning to wish that they had made very different choices in life ignored the quip. The blood was starting to rush into their heads and thinking was getting difficult anyway. Hanging upside down by their feet, strung up with gobs of sticky webs, the two criminals were more interested in counting the seconds until a police officer cut them down.
“A bank robbery,” Spider-Man continued, “in broad daylight. Seriously? In Manhattan? What was your end game here? There are cops on every corner in this part of town, not to mention another dozen guys in spandex on the roof tops.”
Spider-Man, himself also upside down hanging just inches in front of the crooks’ faces, slowly shook his head. “Pathetic,” he said. “And this is coming from the guy that thought the Spider-Mobile was a good idea.”
Spidey raised his arm and shot another lash of wedding to the adjoining rooftop. He released his grip on his other webline and allowed gravity to swing him away from the captured criminals, who were staring at him with disdain.
“Toodles!” he shouted over his shoulder, although the onrushing noise of police sirens most likely drowned out his farewell. He swung down the block and around the corner, releasing his last webline to perform a somersault in the air before landing firmly on the roof of the Daily Bugle.
Recent troubles had kept the amazing Spider-Man from his old stomping grounds, and it didn’t look like things were going to slow down any time soon.* Poking his head in to catch up with a few friends while he had the time would earn him points where he needed them.
* [For all the webslingin’ action, check out Bryan Locke’s awesome Spidey series here at M2K!]
“Peter.”
Spider-Man whipped his head around and readied his webshooters to douse whoever had snuck up on him. Thanks to his spider-sense, an extrasensory ability he had gained the day a radioactive spider had plunged its fangs into the back of his hand, it was rare that someone got the drop on Spider-Man.
Melting out of the shadows of the fire stairs entrance was a man dressed in crimson, the vigilante known as Daredevil. The dark red horns protruding from his forehead caught the sunlight at an odd angle and it looked as if there were knives of blackness stabbing into his head.
“Matt,” Spider-Man said as he relaxed his muscles. “I should have known. That is you, isn’t it? Not the psycho clone I’ve been hearing about?”
Daredevil noticeably flinched at Spider-Man’s words. “That…wasn’t a clone. More like a brother, and…he’s been dealt with.”*
* [Check last ish for details.]
“Open mouth, insert foot.” Spider-Man absently rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Matt. Everything cool?”
“It’s getting there,” Daredevil replied. “I actually don’t have much time. I have to catch a plane back to San Francisco. I’m moving there permanently and Karen’s coming with me.”
“That’s fantastic!” Spidey cupped a hand to his ear. “Do I hear wedding bells?”
“Actually…yes.”
“Wait, what? Really? You?”
Daredevil smirked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Umm…I mean, nothing. God, this just isn’t my day.”
“It’s okay, Pete. I know your mouth moves with the proportional speed of a spider. I’ll need that quick wit buzzing in my ear at the altar when you’re standing beside me as my best man.”
“Catholic wedding?” Spidey asked. Daredevil stared at him. “Kidding. I’d be honored, Matt. I’ll be the bestest best man you’ll ever regret having.”
Daredevil closed the gap between them and shook Spidey’s hand. “You’re a true friend, Peter. I really appreciate you being there for me all these years, and I’m proud to have you beside me again.”
“So…if I’m the best man, then why is Karen marrying you? I mean, by definition…”
“Peter…” Daredevil started to say, but instead of a retort the vigilante just smirked.
“Wow,” Spider-Man said. “You have changed. Once upon a time you would have smacked me upside the head with your club for making a comment like that. It’s like you aren’t carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore.”
“I’m going through a bit of a renaissance.”
Spider-Man placed a hand on Daredevil’s shoulder. “It looks good on you.”
#
LaGuardia Airport
Terminal 43
Matt Murdoch had learned early on in his career how to get through airport security with his curious carry-on items. Subterfuge was a technique he had mastered years ago under the close tutelage of his sensei. Masking his tools and costume as other items inside his bag had enabled him to travel cross-country without much trouble.
As the unmasked face of Daredevil instantly relayed to those assessing him, Matt Murdock was blind. With all of the increased security in American airports over the last few years, he was still surprised at how easily he slipped through the fingers of the TSA. Apparently a blind man is not much of a threat.
The baggage checker barely looked over his suitcase and handed it back without a word. Matt felt for the handle, gripped it tightly, and then extended his walking cane. He nodded in the general direction of the TSA agent and continued into the airport to meet Karen.
With the volume of people around him Matt was having trouble pinpointing Karen’s scent. He heard his own heart flutter as he realized that this was finally happening. Big changes were occurring in his life, and for once they were for the better. For too many years he had been boxed in by shadows and depression. With Karen he was getting a fresh start in a city that really needed him. Needed him in ways other than his tact for handling muggers and rapists.
He had already taken steps to help with litigation claims for the displaced residents of San Francisco. Forced from their homes due to the Equinox troubles, Matt was determined to do some good as a lawyer, first and foremost.
A snap of juniper streaked across his nostrils and he turned his head slightly toward the scent. Karen. The constantly whirling images in his mind’s eye adjusted with his perceptions as he focused his radar sense to his left, spotting Karen’s outline against the backdrop of the airport terminal. She was waving at him, which brought a smile to his face. What must she look like to another paying attention to her, waving to a blind man.
He smiled and began to walk over to her, just as an explosion rocked the support pillars in the terminal.
People shrieked around him and several began running away from the tarmac gate. In the advent of 9/11 anything that could possibly have to do with terrorist activities in an airport, like a high-pressure concussion grenade, would send people into a panic. More than a few were scrunched up under chairs, praying for their lives.
Matt’s senses keyed in on the source of the explosion and registered several small fires erupting from the terminal gates. Even without superhuman senses he would have been able to feel the heat.
He ran to Karen and said, “We need to get somewhere safe until—”
He was going to say until they figured out what was happening, but all of the monitors in the entire airport, even the ones designated to listing flight times, simultaneously switched over to the same feed. The face of a man wearing a modified purple helmet that looked familiar to those that new its original owner engulfed all of the screens. He sneered and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Greetings,” the man said. “Allow me to introduce myself by first taking credit for your local carnage. You all bear witness to the greatest criminal undertaking ever conceived, and you bear it by the will of me, Amalgam.”
Matt gripped Karen tightly by the shoulders. “Ignore him,” Matt said. “We’re going to one of the evacuation centers. They’ll get you out.”
“You’re coming with me,” she replied hastily, but Matt didn’t respond.
Matt guided her through the mob of insanity, stepping over cowering people where necessary. All the while, the madman on the screens continued his soliloquy.
“I state that this is the greatest criminal undertaking not out of pride, or misplaced egotism. It is simply fact. No one in the history of mankind has ever taken over an entire country within seconds. Yes, my friends, I can solely lay claim to the record of gripping an entire country in fear singlehandedly. Not even the Red Skull can boast such a thing. For when did he ever seize control of not one, not two, but FOUR international airports at once?”
The man chuckled momentarily as his own pride swelled. It was not a laugh developed from mania, or even an appreciative joke, but rather a bark of laughter that had bubbled up from a depth of smugness and elitism.
“Yes, my new subjects,” he continued. “You are hearing me speak not only at your own location, but you join your fellow subjects from around the country in being the first to hear the orders of your new lord and master. I have captured airports in the four pinpoints of our country, hubs that are under my complete control. Chicago to the North, New York to the East, Houston to the South, and San Francisco to the West. If the country expects to be allowed usage of its airways, I expect a hefty tribute be paid within the next twenty-four hours.”
Matt and Karen reached the kiosk where a number of TSA agents were directing terrified travelers. “Stay with them,” Matt said. “Get to safety.”
“You are not leaving me, Matthew!”
Matt gripped her by the shoulders and said, “Karen, I’ll be fine. This is what I do. Just get to safety and I’ll find you later.” He kissed her. “I promise.”
Before she could offer a further argument to the contrary, Matt turned and disappeared into the crowd. He slipped around the majority of storming people, trying to focus his senses on his general surroundings. His astute ears, able to hear a pinprick from across a football field, were having trouble overcoming the chaos and panic around him.
He knew exactly where the explosion had come from and headed directly for it, hoping to find some clues. It wasn’t hard to pinpoint the epicenter, since everyone had gotten as far from it as possible. People were streaming in droves away from one of the terminals, where a kiosk lay in rumble from the concussive force.
His radar sense penetrated through the smoke and debris, locating the fragments of the bomb that remained. No matter how powerful the explosion, the shell of the bomb usually remained somewhat intact as the explosion burst outward. He picked up the metal box, amazed at how cool it was to the touch. In fact, the actual material seemed somehow different, but familiar. He had felt that unique metal before.
“Oh, my god!” someone behind him yelled. “Sir! Sir, come with me! Please don’t be alarmed! I will get you to safety.”
A security guard yanked at his arm, pulling him away from the evidence. In the background he heard the mad bomber, Amalgam as he had called himself, drone on about his manifesto. “I’m fine,” Matt began to say, but the good Samaritan kept pulling.
“Please, sir, do not panic! Someone in your…uh, condition shouldn’t panic. Just don’t panic!”
Matt failed to mention that the security guard was obviously the one who was panicking. He hated people like this, people who looked down at him as an invalid, and for some reason, decided that even though he was blind that yelling and over-enunciating every word made him more manageable.
The guard, who perpetually told him not to panic, dragged him to a medical station that had been evacuated already. “Just wait here, sir! I’m sure someone will be back soon to…uh, help you. I have to look for more people, but just stay here, okay, sir?”
Matt nodded and feigned being overwhelmed. As soon as the helpful guard had ran off into the airport, Matt’s radar sense kicked into overdrive and he nearly fell over from the sudden onrush of sensory information.
He was hearing every heartbeat in the entire terminal, and they were all beating fast with fear. He kept himself calm and concentrated on keeping his attention focused. He was about to leave the medical station and search for where the bomber might be when his ears picked up something extremely bizarre.
The same heartbeat appeared fifty feet to his left, then vanished, only to reappear sixty feet to his right. A moment later it vanished again for a full thirty seconds before reappearing on the floor above him.
“A teleporter,” Matt muttered with a smirk. “Seems as good a place as any to start.”
Matt ducked into a closet and doffed his civilian clothing. Still listening to the teleporter’s heartbeat, he locked in on a pattern to the movement. It seemed he was monitoring the chaos for some reason, marking this person as someone of keen interest, possibly even the bomber himself.
With the red cowl pulled taut over his head, Matt Murdock disappeared and Daredevil remained in his stead. The sleek crimson costume was like a second skin to him now, and without the restrictive sports coat and slacks he felt like he was finally able to breath.
The teleporter vanished again and Daredevil acted. Bursting out into the terminal, he catapulted himself over the kiosk and the heads of a few screaming patrons, toward a support pillar just forty feet away.
As he ran he flicked out his billy club, extending it to three feet in length. As soon as he was within a handful of strides from the support pillar, a purple energy cocoon burped into existence. Daredevil dove at the dissipating cocoon, wrapping his arms around the man inside. They tumbled to the floor in a mesh of arms and legs, but Daredevil sprung to his feet quickly and took up a fighting stance.
“Blasted interloper!” the man scolded as he stood back up. “Although I suppose I should be thanking you for interceding. I was wondering when one of you costumed clowns would take notice of me.”
“And you would be?”
“The greatest criminal the world will know,” he said with a slight bow. “Call me Amalgam.”
Amalgam raised a hand, which was covered in an extended purple gauntlet, and squeezed a hidden trigger. A viscous and sticky substance spat out of the mounted nozzle on his forearm, threatening to cover Daredevil and do whatever damage it could.
The Man Without Fear did a series of backflips to avoid the spray of sticky fluid, although several more were thusly directed at him. Angling his movements between the jets of toxic chemicals, Daredevil moved behind the support pillar, caught in place with nowhere to run.
His radar sense registered a hole being melted into the floor where the goo had splashed. Whatever the agent was being doused his way it was highly corrosive and would easily melt through his bones. He had to stay as far away from it as possible.
“Hiding won’t work,” Amalgam said. “I have more than one trick up my sleeve.”
A pair of titanium bands pashed out from his gauntlets and wrapped entirely around the support pillar, lashing Daredevil to the thick concrete structure. The bands were still attached to his gauntlets and apparently under his complete control. Amalgam stepped around in front of the hostage Daredevil, careful to avoid the simmering spots left behind from his toxic assault.
“You may recognize some of my little tricks,” the villain said. “I liberated them from a storehouse that their previous owners had neglected.”
Daredevil’s mind was whirling, piecing the puzzle together. The glue gun, the titanium bands, the teleportation…
“You raided a Frightful Four bunker?” Daredevil muttered. “And you think the Wizard is going allow you to get away with all of his best gear?”
“Haven’t you been listening?” Amalgam quipped. “I have been able to teleport between four international airports around the country, holding them all hostage! I’m a one man show capable of doing more than those four buffoons ever could!”
Amalgam tightened his grip with the cables and Daredevil felt one of his ribs begin to crack. His senses were going insane as he tried to manage the pain by breathing as deeply as possible, just as Stick had once taught him.
“Let the Wingless Whelp come for me,” Amalgam continued. He leaned in close to Daredevil, so that their faces were mere inches apart. “I’m more than ready for him, and I’m more than a pathetic hero like you can handle.”
Daredevil breathed in deeply, expanding his lungs as much as possible before saying, “Think again.”
The Man Without Fear expelled the lungful of air in one quick exhale, creating just enough slack to slip beneath Amalgam’s grasp. He shot his leg out, sweeping the new villain down to the floor. Daredevil was on top of him instantly.
Amalgam smiled and vanished in a cloud of purple energy. Daredevil dropped to the cold airport floor, his knees hitting the concrete. He honed his senses in on his immediate surroundings, attempting to distinguish between the rampant chaos and where his opponent was hiding. He doubted that Amalgam would run very far if he really wanted to get in the spotlight.
A distinct whirring noise caught his attention. His radar sense zeroed in on the disturbance and Daredevil quickly ducked underneath a pair of passing silver discs.
“Wizard won’t like you playing with his anti-gravity discs,” Daredevil hollered. “And Trapster is going to have a lawyer sue you for taking his chemicals. Trust me, that guy will do anything for a buck.”
“I’ve already told you,” Amalgam’s echoing voice said, “I’m more than ready for their amateur reprisal.”
“But you aren’t ready to be cornered so easily,” Daredevil muttered.
With amazing speed, defying even Olympic athletes, Daredevil sprung backward over a service counter and punch through a glass pane. The pane was shielding an emergency fire house, which Daredevil promptly released and aimed directly at where Amalgam was hiding.
The intense spray of water covered the villain, who had been behind another support pillar, readying another dose of corrosive acid. The stream of pressurized water blasted him back, knocking him off balance, and carrying him into another service kiosk. He struck the edge of the kiosk on the small of his back and let out a cry of pain when he hit.
“You’re the only amateur here,” Daredevil said as he raced across the airport. He ripped the helmet off of Amalgam to reveal a man in his twenties with short brown hair. “You’re barely old enough to vote.”
“Get off!”
“I’m doing you a favor my locking you up.” Daredevil hefted Amalgam up by the top of his purple vest. “You won’t be safe from the Wizard anywhere but behind bars.”
“I still hold this country ransom! Need I remind you—hey!”
Daredevil tapped a few keys on the back of Amalgam’s gauntlet. “There. Disarmed. Your reign of terror, however short-lived, is over. Any last words?”
Amalgam’s mouth dropped open in stunned amazement. He was shocked that one of the imbeciles in spandex had taken him down so easily, and quickly. He was trying to run the scenario over and over in his head, but couldn’t understand how Daredevil had known where he was virtually every time he teleported. It was like the guy had total awareness of his surroundings.
“I didn’t think so,” Daredevil finally said. He pulled a cord out of the butt of his club and wrapped it around Amalgam’s wrists. “C’mon. Let’s go see the boys in blue. I have a flight to catch.”
END
EDITOR'S NOTE: Well...still some story lines to catch up on! A new writer is poised to take the stage and continue on, so stay tuned!
Uptown
“Don’t worry about packing the nonessentials,” Matt said. “We’ll just buy whatever we need out there.”
Karen Page, the blonde bombshell that had recently been brought back to life by otherworldly means, and dropped into Matt Murdock’s life again, paused in the middle of her one bedroom apartment to stare at her blind boyfriend. She clutched a blouse in one hand and a pair of pumps in the other, ready to shove them into her suitcase. It was an odd sense, stuffing your entire life into one bag to move across the country. You discovered very quickly just what really mattered to you.
“Excuse me,” Karen replied, “but who are you and what have you done with my fiancé?”
Matt turned to face her, pausing in his own work of emptying the dresser drawers. Even though he was blind, and facing someone in a conversation was pointless for him, he still tried to keep up appearances so as not to make people feel uncomfortable.
“What?”
She waved at him with the blouse, pointing to his general demeanor. “I know you said you were going to take a new lease on life, but you’re acting like the weight of the world is actually off your shoulders. ‘Don’t worry about the nonessentials?’ That almost sounds nonchalant, Matthew Murdock.”
Matt smirked. “We’re getting married,” he said. “I can’t help but feel like my life is finally turning around for the better.”
“Believe me,” Karen said as she tossed the blouse and shoes carelessly onto the bed. She crossed the room and wrapped her arms around Matt’s neck. “As soon as that plane touches down in San Francisco you will see just how grateful I am that you’ve finally let your demons go.”
Matt kissed her, allowing the yearning that was now constantly bubbling in the pit of his soul to melt into her lips. She returned the sensation, but after a moment Matt pulled away.
“What time is it?” he asked.
Karen checked the clock on the wall. “About 5:30. Why? Got a hot date?”
Matt reluctantly broke the embrace and slipped on his overcoat. “Not exactly,” he replied. “Our flight leaves in four hours and I have one last thing I need to do before we leave New York City behind us for good.”
“Murdock, you are not leaving me to go ‘clubbing,’ not when I’m picking up my life for you.”
Matt gave Karen a peck on the cheek before opening the door to the small apartment to leave. “I’m a groom now,” he said, “and every groom needs a best man, right?”
He smirked again and slipped into the hallway. He knew that Karen had not been insinuating that he was going to make the rounds at New York’s club scene, but rather ‘clubbing’ was her cute word for him putting on his working clothes and swinging about the city. His billy club had been augmented with a grappling hook to allow for just such a mode of transport.
He rushed down the hallway, tugging at his shirt and tie to reveal the scarlet red uniform underneath, hoping that he could catch up with one particular person before he moved his entire life to San Francisco.
#
NEW YORK CITY
The Diamond District
“Honestly, you guys don’t even try anymore, do you?”
A pair of thugs who were beginning to wish that they had made very different choices in life ignored the quip. The blood was starting to rush into their heads and thinking was getting difficult anyway. Hanging upside down by their feet, strung up with gobs of sticky webs, the two criminals were more interested in counting the seconds until a police officer cut them down.
“A bank robbery,” Spider-Man continued, “in broad daylight. Seriously? In Manhattan? What was your end game here? There are cops on every corner in this part of town, not to mention another dozen guys in spandex on the roof tops.”
Spider-Man, himself also upside down hanging just inches in front of the crooks’ faces, slowly shook his head. “Pathetic,” he said. “And this is coming from the guy that thought the Spider-Mobile was a good idea.”
Spidey raised his arm and shot another lash of wedding to the adjoining rooftop. He released his grip on his other webline and allowed gravity to swing him away from the captured criminals, who were staring at him with disdain.
“Toodles!” he shouted over his shoulder, although the onrushing noise of police sirens most likely drowned out his farewell. He swung down the block and around the corner, releasing his last webline to perform a somersault in the air before landing firmly on the roof of the Daily Bugle.
Recent troubles had kept the amazing Spider-Man from his old stomping grounds, and it didn’t look like things were going to slow down any time soon.* Poking his head in to catch up with a few friends while he had the time would earn him points where he needed them.
* [For all the webslingin’ action, check out Bryan Locke’s awesome Spidey series here at M2K!]
“Peter.”
Spider-Man whipped his head around and readied his webshooters to douse whoever had snuck up on him. Thanks to his spider-sense, an extrasensory ability he had gained the day a radioactive spider had plunged its fangs into the back of his hand, it was rare that someone got the drop on Spider-Man.
Melting out of the shadows of the fire stairs entrance was a man dressed in crimson, the vigilante known as Daredevil. The dark red horns protruding from his forehead caught the sunlight at an odd angle and it looked as if there were knives of blackness stabbing into his head.
“Matt,” Spider-Man said as he relaxed his muscles. “I should have known. That is you, isn’t it? Not the psycho clone I’ve been hearing about?”
Daredevil noticeably flinched at Spider-Man’s words. “That…wasn’t a clone. More like a brother, and…he’s been dealt with.”*
* [Check last ish for details.]
“Open mouth, insert foot.” Spider-Man absently rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, Matt. Everything cool?”
“It’s getting there,” Daredevil replied. “I actually don’t have much time. I have to catch a plane back to San Francisco. I’m moving there permanently and Karen’s coming with me.”
“That’s fantastic!” Spidey cupped a hand to his ear. “Do I hear wedding bells?”
“Actually…yes.”
“Wait, what? Really? You?”
Daredevil smirked. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Umm…I mean, nothing. God, this just isn’t my day.”
“It’s okay, Pete. I know your mouth moves with the proportional speed of a spider. I’ll need that quick wit buzzing in my ear at the altar when you’re standing beside me as my best man.”
“Catholic wedding?” Spidey asked. Daredevil stared at him. “Kidding. I’d be honored, Matt. I’ll be the bestest best man you’ll ever regret having.”
Daredevil closed the gap between them and shook Spidey’s hand. “You’re a true friend, Peter. I really appreciate you being there for me all these years, and I’m proud to have you beside me again.”
“So…if I’m the best man, then why is Karen marrying you? I mean, by definition…”
“Peter…” Daredevil started to say, but instead of a retort the vigilante just smirked.
“Wow,” Spider-Man said. “You have changed. Once upon a time you would have smacked me upside the head with your club for making a comment like that. It’s like you aren’t carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders anymore.”
“I’m going through a bit of a renaissance.”
Spider-Man placed a hand on Daredevil’s shoulder. “It looks good on you.”
#
LaGuardia Airport
Terminal 43
Matt Murdoch had learned early on in his career how to get through airport security with his curious carry-on items. Subterfuge was a technique he had mastered years ago under the close tutelage of his sensei. Masking his tools and costume as other items inside his bag had enabled him to travel cross-country without much trouble.
As the unmasked face of Daredevil instantly relayed to those assessing him, Matt Murdock was blind. With all of the increased security in American airports over the last few years, he was still surprised at how easily he slipped through the fingers of the TSA. Apparently a blind man is not much of a threat.
The baggage checker barely looked over his suitcase and handed it back without a word. Matt felt for the handle, gripped it tightly, and then extended his walking cane. He nodded in the general direction of the TSA agent and continued into the airport to meet Karen.
With the volume of people around him Matt was having trouble pinpointing Karen’s scent. He heard his own heart flutter as he realized that this was finally happening. Big changes were occurring in his life, and for once they were for the better. For too many years he had been boxed in by shadows and depression. With Karen he was getting a fresh start in a city that really needed him. Needed him in ways other than his tact for handling muggers and rapists.
He had already taken steps to help with litigation claims for the displaced residents of San Francisco. Forced from their homes due to the Equinox troubles, Matt was determined to do some good as a lawyer, first and foremost.
A snap of juniper streaked across his nostrils and he turned his head slightly toward the scent. Karen. The constantly whirling images in his mind’s eye adjusted with his perceptions as he focused his radar sense to his left, spotting Karen’s outline against the backdrop of the airport terminal. She was waving at him, which brought a smile to his face. What must she look like to another paying attention to her, waving to a blind man.
He smiled and began to walk over to her, just as an explosion rocked the support pillars in the terminal.
People shrieked around him and several began running away from the tarmac gate. In the advent of 9/11 anything that could possibly have to do with terrorist activities in an airport, like a high-pressure concussion grenade, would send people into a panic. More than a few were scrunched up under chairs, praying for their lives.
Matt’s senses keyed in on the source of the explosion and registered several small fires erupting from the terminal gates. Even without superhuman senses he would have been able to feel the heat.
He ran to Karen and said, “We need to get somewhere safe until—”
He was going to say until they figured out what was happening, but all of the monitors in the entire airport, even the ones designated to listing flight times, simultaneously switched over to the same feed. The face of a man wearing a modified purple helmet that looked familiar to those that new its original owner engulfed all of the screens. He sneered and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Greetings,” the man said. “Allow me to introduce myself by first taking credit for your local carnage. You all bear witness to the greatest criminal undertaking ever conceived, and you bear it by the will of me, Amalgam.”
Matt gripped Karen tightly by the shoulders. “Ignore him,” Matt said. “We’re going to one of the evacuation centers. They’ll get you out.”
“You’re coming with me,” she replied hastily, but Matt didn’t respond.
Matt guided her through the mob of insanity, stepping over cowering people where necessary. All the while, the madman on the screens continued his soliloquy.
“I state that this is the greatest criminal undertaking not out of pride, or misplaced egotism. It is simply fact. No one in the history of mankind has ever taken over an entire country within seconds. Yes, my friends, I can solely lay claim to the record of gripping an entire country in fear singlehandedly. Not even the Red Skull can boast such a thing. For when did he ever seize control of not one, not two, but FOUR international airports at once?”
The man chuckled momentarily as his own pride swelled. It was not a laugh developed from mania, or even an appreciative joke, but rather a bark of laughter that had bubbled up from a depth of smugness and elitism.
“Yes, my new subjects,” he continued. “You are hearing me speak not only at your own location, but you join your fellow subjects from around the country in being the first to hear the orders of your new lord and master. I have captured airports in the four pinpoints of our country, hubs that are under my complete control. Chicago to the North, New York to the East, Houston to the South, and San Francisco to the West. If the country expects to be allowed usage of its airways, I expect a hefty tribute be paid within the next twenty-four hours.”
Matt and Karen reached the kiosk where a number of TSA agents were directing terrified travelers. “Stay with them,” Matt said. “Get to safety.”
“You are not leaving me, Matthew!”
Matt gripped her by the shoulders and said, “Karen, I’ll be fine. This is what I do. Just get to safety and I’ll find you later.” He kissed her. “I promise.”
Before she could offer a further argument to the contrary, Matt turned and disappeared into the crowd. He slipped around the majority of storming people, trying to focus his senses on his general surroundings. His astute ears, able to hear a pinprick from across a football field, were having trouble overcoming the chaos and panic around him.
He knew exactly where the explosion had come from and headed directly for it, hoping to find some clues. It wasn’t hard to pinpoint the epicenter, since everyone had gotten as far from it as possible. People were streaming in droves away from one of the terminals, where a kiosk lay in rumble from the concussive force.
His radar sense penetrated through the smoke and debris, locating the fragments of the bomb that remained. No matter how powerful the explosion, the shell of the bomb usually remained somewhat intact as the explosion burst outward. He picked up the metal box, amazed at how cool it was to the touch. In fact, the actual material seemed somehow different, but familiar. He had felt that unique metal before.
“Oh, my god!” someone behind him yelled. “Sir! Sir, come with me! Please don’t be alarmed! I will get you to safety.”
A security guard yanked at his arm, pulling him away from the evidence. In the background he heard the mad bomber, Amalgam as he had called himself, drone on about his manifesto. “I’m fine,” Matt began to say, but the good Samaritan kept pulling.
“Please, sir, do not panic! Someone in your…uh, condition shouldn’t panic. Just don’t panic!”
Matt failed to mention that the security guard was obviously the one who was panicking. He hated people like this, people who looked down at him as an invalid, and for some reason, decided that even though he was blind that yelling and over-enunciating every word made him more manageable.
The guard, who perpetually told him not to panic, dragged him to a medical station that had been evacuated already. “Just wait here, sir! I’m sure someone will be back soon to…uh, help you. I have to look for more people, but just stay here, okay, sir?”
Matt nodded and feigned being overwhelmed. As soon as the helpful guard had ran off into the airport, Matt’s radar sense kicked into overdrive and he nearly fell over from the sudden onrush of sensory information.
He was hearing every heartbeat in the entire terminal, and they were all beating fast with fear. He kept himself calm and concentrated on keeping his attention focused. He was about to leave the medical station and search for where the bomber might be when his ears picked up something extremely bizarre.
The same heartbeat appeared fifty feet to his left, then vanished, only to reappear sixty feet to his right. A moment later it vanished again for a full thirty seconds before reappearing on the floor above him.
“A teleporter,” Matt muttered with a smirk. “Seems as good a place as any to start.”
Matt ducked into a closet and doffed his civilian clothing. Still listening to the teleporter’s heartbeat, he locked in on a pattern to the movement. It seemed he was monitoring the chaos for some reason, marking this person as someone of keen interest, possibly even the bomber himself.
With the red cowl pulled taut over his head, Matt Murdock disappeared and Daredevil remained in his stead. The sleek crimson costume was like a second skin to him now, and without the restrictive sports coat and slacks he felt like he was finally able to breath.
The teleporter vanished again and Daredevil acted. Bursting out into the terminal, he catapulted himself over the kiosk and the heads of a few screaming patrons, toward a support pillar just forty feet away.
As he ran he flicked out his billy club, extending it to three feet in length. As soon as he was within a handful of strides from the support pillar, a purple energy cocoon burped into existence. Daredevil dove at the dissipating cocoon, wrapping his arms around the man inside. They tumbled to the floor in a mesh of arms and legs, but Daredevil sprung to his feet quickly and took up a fighting stance.
“Blasted interloper!” the man scolded as he stood back up. “Although I suppose I should be thanking you for interceding. I was wondering when one of you costumed clowns would take notice of me.”
“And you would be?”
“The greatest criminal the world will know,” he said with a slight bow. “Call me Amalgam.”
Amalgam raised a hand, which was covered in an extended purple gauntlet, and squeezed a hidden trigger. A viscous and sticky substance spat out of the mounted nozzle on his forearm, threatening to cover Daredevil and do whatever damage it could.
The Man Without Fear did a series of backflips to avoid the spray of sticky fluid, although several more were thusly directed at him. Angling his movements between the jets of toxic chemicals, Daredevil moved behind the support pillar, caught in place with nowhere to run.
His radar sense registered a hole being melted into the floor where the goo had splashed. Whatever the agent was being doused his way it was highly corrosive and would easily melt through his bones. He had to stay as far away from it as possible.
“Hiding won’t work,” Amalgam said. “I have more than one trick up my sleeve.”
A pair of titanium bands pashed out from his gauntlets and wrapped entirely around the support pillar, lashing Daredevil to the thick concrete structure. The bands were still attached to his gauntlets and apparently under his complete control. Amalgam stepped around in front of the hostage Daredevil, careful to avoid the simmering spots left behind from his toxic assault.
“You may recognize some of my little tricks,” the villain said. “I liberated them from a storehouse that their previous owners had neglected.”
Daredevil’s mind was whirling, piecing the puzzle together. The glue gun, the titanium bands, the teleportation…
“You raided a Frightful Four bunker?” Daredevil muttered. “And you think the Wizard is going allow you to get away with all of his best gear?”
“Haven’t you been listening?” Amalgam quipped. “I have been able to teleport between four international airports around the country, holding them all hostage! I’m a one man show capable of doing more than those four buffoons ever could!”
Amalgam tightened his grip with the cables and Daredevil felt one of his ribs begin to crack. His senses were going insane as he tried to manage the pain by breathing as deeply as possible, just as Stick had once taught him.
“Let the Wingless Whelp come for me,” Amalgam continued. He leaned in close to Daredevil, so that their faces were mere inches apart. “I’m more than ready for him, and I’m more than a pathetic hero like you can handle.”
Daredevil breathed in deeply, expanding his lungs as much as possible before saying, “Think again.”
The Man Without Fear expelled the lungful of air in one quick exhale, creating just enough slack to slip beneath Amalgam’s grasp. He shot his leg out, sweeping the new villain down to the floor. Daredevil was on top of him instantly.
Amalgam smiled and vanished in a cloud of purple energy. Daredevil dropped to the cold airport floor, his knees hitting the concrete. He honed his senses in on his immediate surroundings, attempting to distinguish between the rampant chaos and where his opponent was hiding. He doubted that Amalgam would run very far if he really wanted to get in the spotlight.
A distinct whirring noise caught his attention. His radar sense zeroed in on the disturbance and Daredevil quickly ducked underneath a pair of passing silver discs.
“Wizard won’t like you playing with his anti-gravity discs,” Daredevil hollered. “And Trapster is going to have a lawyer sue you for taking his chemicals. Trust me, that guy will do anything for a buck.”
“I’ve already told you,” Amalgam’s echoing voice said, “I’m more than ready for their amateur reprisal.”
“But you aren’t ready to be cornered so easily,” Daredevil muttered.
With amazing speed, defying even Olympic athletes, Daredevil sprung backward over a service counter and punch through a glass pane. The pane was shielding an emergency fire house, which Daredevil promptly released and aimed directly at where Amalgam was hiding.
The intense spray of water covered the villain, who had been behind another support pillar, readying another dose of corrosive acid. The stream of pressurized water blasted him back, knocking him off balance, and carrying him into another service kiosk. He struck the edge of the kiosk on the small of his back and let out a cry of pain when he hit.
“You’re the only amateur here,” Daredevil said as he raced across the airport. He ripped the helmet off of Amalgam to reveal a man in his twenties with short brown hair. “You’re barely old enough to vote.”
“Get off!”
“I’m doing you a favor my locking you up.” Daredevil hefted Amalgam up by the top of his purple vest. “You won’t be safe from the Wizard anywhere but behind bars.”
“I still hold this country ransom! Need I remind you—hey!”
Daredevil tapped a few keys on the back of Amalgam’s gauntlet. “There. Disarmed. Your reign of terror, however short-lived, is over. Any last words?”
Amalgam’s mouth dropped open in stunned amazement. He was shocked that one of the imbeciles in spandex had taken him down so easily, and quickly. He was trying to run the scenario over and over in his head, but couldn’t understand how Daredevil had known where he was virtually every time he teleported. It was like the guy had total awareness of his surroundings.
“I didn’t think so,” Daredevil finally said. He pulled a cord out of the butt of his club and wrapped it around Amalgam’s wrists. “C’mon. Let’s go see the boys in blue. I have a flight to catch.”
END
EDITOR'S NOTE: Well...still some story lines to catch up on! A new writer is poised to take the stage and continue on, so stay tuned!