Chapter 7: Daredevil
A tall blonde woman walked down a hallway in a rundown looking office building. She was wearing a silk sleeveless shirt and a black knee-high skirt with matching hose. The heels that she wore could be heard inside the office by the two men inside. As she reached the door she flung it open so hard that it slammed into the wall behind it.
"There dead, Matt." The woman said, directing her frantic comment to the man sitting facing the door. He looked like an average man in a suit that the woman had assumed was from goodwill. The one thing that set him apart was the dark sunglasses that he wore and the cane he used to walk. "Didn't you hear me, all of the witnesses against Fisk are dead." The woman said.
"Slow down Karen, take a deep breath. Our witnesses are still in a holding cell, remember." Matt reminded her. "As a matter of fact, Foggy should be back soon with their sworn statements.
"Actually Matt, somehow, they broke out the other night and according to the guards and the news, they were killed by Spider-Man." Another man said as he walked into the office and put his bag on the desk opposite of Matt's. The man was shorter than Matt and had an average build. The man had the same suit as Matt, but Matt had clean cut brown hair and a five o'clock shadow, but his partner had long blonde hair that came down past his shoulders and is clean shaven. "We are officially screwed and now Fisk will walk. I thought that spider-thing was supposed to be a hero, but I guess real heroes are rare and hard to find." He added.
"I will figure out what happened with the witnesses and I will find more." Matt said as he took out his cane in preparation to leave the office.
"Who Matt…?" Foggy asked bitterly. "Who else will you get to turn on Fisk once they hear that he has Spider-Man on his payroll?"
"We need to find the facts first." Matt said as he turned his head slightly towards his long-time partner Foggy Nelson. "Let me do some digging and I will let you know what I find." He added as he walked out of the office.
"I hope you have another miracle hidden somewhere." Foggy muttered under his breath.
"Miracle...?" Karen asked curiously.
"Yeah, I don't know how he does it, but whenever we needed a witness or a confession in the eleventh hour, he always comes through." Foggy said with a hint of admiration in his voice. Karen shook her head and chuckled.
"Well, here's hoping he can do it again then." Karen said. "Want to go get a drink at Josie's?"
"Why not, it wouldn't help to stay sober now anyway." Foggy sighed and followed Karen out of the room as he flipped off the lights and locked the door and closed it behind him.
…
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today, Mr. Toomes." Wilson Fisk said as Adrian Toomes walked into the Kingpin's cell and the guard shut the door behind him.
"This is really quite homey." Adrian said as he looked around at the fully furnished cell. "So, what did you call me here for? I'm sure it wasn't just for an intelligent conversation." Adrian asked as he accepted a cigar and sat across from Fisk.
"I've heard recently that you can tell me who the Spider-Man is." Kingpin said as he took a drag on his cigar before he spoke again. "My proposition to you is an early release and fifty-thousand dollars, in exchange for the wall crawler's identity."
"The identity of the web head isn't for sale." Adrian replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. "When I get out of here I will deal with him myself."
"I assume that a hundred-thousand wouldn't change your mind." Kingpin said, and Adrian nodded as he stood up and walked towards the door of the cell. Adrian turned his head slightly to the right and smirked at the annoyed look on Fisk's face.
"I will send you a memento after I deal with him." Adrian said as the guard let him out of the cell. The guard looked at Wilson and lifted his eyebrows questioningly and Wilson simply shook his head.
"No, he's too valuable to kill now. I want you to secure his release along with the release of his friends." Wilson said as he stood and walked towards the bars of his cell to watch Toomes being led away. "Mr. Toomes will lead us to the spider and the spider will kill him." Wilson said with a shrug of his shoulders. "I suppose it'd be poetic justice for the Vulture to be eaten by vultures."
…
"Did you manage to get a flattering angle of me at least?" Mary Jane fell backwards in surprise at the voice. She didn't realize that Black Cat had snuck up behind her as she was about to leave her vantage point across from Octavius's lab.
"I was trying to find out what Peter has gotten mixed up in." Mary Jane said as she stepped closer to Black Cat. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I knew that Peter was working with Doctor Octavius, but I was too late." Black Cat replied. "Someone attacked the lab and Octavius is missing. I tried to call Peter while I was in there, but he didn't answer his phone."
"That's strange. I haven't been able to reach him either." Mary Jane said as she checked her phone for messages and sighed when she saw that there were none. "Hold on, Aunt May is calling."
"That's fine, I will go and look for him." Black Cat said as she used her cat claw to swing through the trees as Mary Jane answered the call.
"Hello, Aunt May…No, Peter isn't with me. I was hoping that he might be with you." Mary Jane sighed deeply and rolled her eyes as she listened to May. "I didn't know he was meeting you tonight, but I will let him know that you're looking for him when I see him next." Mary Jane shook her head as she hung up the phone. "What is going on with you Peter?"
…
"I…I… fell…" Angela was saying as she looked around in shock at her sun-lit surroundings. She then noticed her new skin and she was speechless until her eyes widened in shock as Iron Man landed on the rooftop next to her and Spider-Man. "It's one of Xanatos's robots." Angela said, and Tony-Stark laughed as his mask disappeared.
"Does my suit really look like those pieces of junk." Tony asked, and Angela stared at him confused by what he meant until it dawned on her that she was still in Spider-Man's arms. She began to blush as Spider-Man stood her up on the ground and she looked back and forth between Tony and Spider-Man. "You know, now that I see it up close, I'm sure that I am not fond of the new color scheme." Tony said, referencing the black spider suit.
"I think he looks great." Angela protested. Tony smirked at her.
"With your obviously brilliant sense of fashion, I understand why you believe that." Tony said as he turned away from her. "You need to tell me what is going on. I heard that you've suddenly taken to stopping crooks with brick walls."
"I told you something is off about the suit." Spider-Man said as he sighed. Iron Man put his mask back on and scanned the suit.
"Huh, how did you make it do that?" Iron Man asked as he walked around Spider-Man and continued to scan the suit. "The original color of the suit is underneath that black sludge that's continuously moving around like Nano-tech armor."
"That's just it. I didn't make it." Spider-Man said irritably. "I went to sleep and woke up hanging outside of Avengers tower."
"We need to get you to the lab. Banner and I can give the suit a once over." Iron Man detected a sudden spike in Spider-Man's adrenaline levels as Spider-Man's eyes narrowed.
"I think not, old man. I'm finally stronger than any of you and I'm not giving it up because you're jealous of my new strength." Spider-Man said firmly and in a voice that Iron Man didn't recognize.
"Did you just hear yourself? You need help, Peter." Iron Man said as he tried to get through to Spider-Man. Iron Man then put his hand on Spider-Man's shoulder to pull him to him.
"Don't touch me, old man." Spider-Man shouted as he shrugged Iron Man's hand off and twisted around. Before Iron Man could react Spider-Man delivered a swift uppercut and his mentor was flung back and off of the rooftop from the force of the blow.
Spider-Man then lifted Angela into his left arm and used his right to swing away from the building as Iron Man flew back to the roof to find his apprentice had left.
"Thor, Banner, meet me at the lab in five minutes. We may have a serious problem." Iron Man said as he took off, heading towards Avengers tower. Iron Man hit a switch on his gauntlet and the COMM system came back on. X, I'm going to have to cut our sparring session short." He said as Iron Man hit another button and the restraints around Xanatos loosened and fell off of him and to the floor below.
"You'll pay for that, Stark." Xanatos said under his breath as he removed the gargoyle suit and began looking to find ways to improve it further. "Did you get the scans I asked for?" He asked as Owen walked into the room.
"Yes Mr. Xanatos, I've done a complete diagnostic of Iron Man's suit and it is really very ingenious." Owen replied. David glared at his assistant irritably.
"Can you replicate it or not?" David asked impatiently. Owen shrugged.
"It's unique but given time, yes… I think I can create something similar." Owen said as he pulled out a clipboard and began to write. "I'll need these to get started." He added as he gave the list he wrote to David.
"I have many of these things in the lab. Wait… Where in the world am I going to find that?" David said as he got to the bottom of the list.
"Every machine needs a heart." Owen pointed out as he walked out of the room to leave Xanatos to figure out how to get all the needed supplies.
…
"So, I didn't quite catch your name as I was busy catching you." Spider-Man pointed out as he set Angela down on the floor of the living area in his apartment.
"An… Um, my name is Angela." Angela looked around nervously at her new surroundings. Spider-Man nodded as he looked her over.
"Is there someone I can call to pick you up, or someplace I can take you?" Spider-Man asked curiously. Angela shook her head and looked away shyly.
"I really just wanted to meet you because you are the one." Angela blurted out before she could stop herself and Spider-Man studied her curiously for a moment.
"The one what…?" Spider-Man asked curiously.
"The one that I was destined to love for the rest of my life. Our bond will be a strong one." Angela said excitedly. Spider-Man backed up a step and cleared his throat.
"Listen, I can't let you go in those rags you're wearing. I'm sure Felicia has some things in the closet in the bedroom over there." Spider-Man said as he pointed towards his room. "Pick some things out and get dressed, but then you'll need to leave." Angela began to tear up but she nodded and walked towards the room. Spider-Man shook his head and chuckled as he sat on the couch and waited for her. He waited for a few minutes before he walked back to see what was taking Angela so long.
"Oh my god," Spider-Man said as he realized that Angela didn't bother with closing the door and she had stripped out of her clothes as she searched Felicia's through Felicia's clothes. He couldn't help but stare as Angela continued to look through the outfits. Angela turned her head and smiled as she saw that's Spider-Man was staring at her.
"This will do, I guess." Angela said as she picked out a green dress that came down to mid-thigh level on her. The deep V-neck didn't bother Angela as more of her was still concealed then she had been accustomed to. Angela picked up her halter top and loincloth and headed for the door to the apartment. "I didn't realize you had a mate already. I will leave you alone." Before anyone could move Black Cat entered the apartment through the window.
"Peter, there you are." Black Cat ran up and hugged him tight to her as Angela cautiously opened the door to the apartment and snuck out. She quickly wiped tears from her eyes.
"I've been a fool. He will never consider me to be a potential mate." Angela said as she began to walk back towards Xanatos's tower.
"Where have you been?" Felicia asked as she began removed her mask and lifted Peter's before she kissed him deeply. After a moment she backed up and smacked him hard across the face.
"What was that for?" Peter shook his head as he removed his mask.
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Felicia asked angrily. "We've all been searching everywhere for you since you just took off last night… Wait, why is your suit black?" She asked as she stepped away from Peter as she looked at suit. "You killed those thugs, didn't you?"
"They were bad people. No one will miss them." Spider-Man said as he put the mask back on. "I think it's time we truly did what we can to protect this city."
"By killing people?" Felicia asked as she stepped in front of Spider-Man and put her hand on his chest to keep him from leaving through the window. "Would you listen to yourself? You're not a murderer, Peter?"
"If I cared about protecting people then I need to make the hard choices." Spider-Man said as he brushed past her. "I was a coward before. I didn't want to have blood on my hands so I pretended that putting criminals in prison would somehow stop them." Spider-Man said as he leapt out the window and climbed to the top of the apartment building.
"You're not running off again." Black Cat said as she put her mask back on and leapt out the window and used her claw gun to connect to the chimney at the top of the roof and swung herself up and over the wall. Black Cat twisted in the air and landed on the roof just as Spider-Man was about to leap off of the other side. It was then that Black Cat realized that the sun was going down.
"Peter, stop!" Black Cat shouted. "You need help."
"Goodbye Felicia." Spider-Man said as he leapt up in the air and they were both stunned when he came crashing back down to the ground. Felicia had noticed that some kind of wire had wrapped around Spider-Man's body and was pinning him to the ground.
"I hope I'm not interrupting." Black Cat and Spider-Man both looked up and saw a man dressed in black pants and a black sweatshirt. The man wore a black mask over the top half of his head that tied in the back and the mask came down to completely conceal the upper half of his face. "We need to talk Spider-Man."
"I don't have anything to say to you, Daredevil." Spider-Man said as he struggled against the wire.
"That's fine, you lay there and listen then." Daredevil said as he squatted next to the struggling Spider-Man. "I'm going to ask you only once because we're friends… Did you kill three thugs the other night?"
"I put an end to their crimes." Spider-Man said and felt a sharp pain on both sides of his head as a sharp blow from Daredevil's fist drove his head into the ground.
"Do you realize what you've done?" Daredevil asked as he got up and took a few deep breaths to calm down. "Fisk will be released because the witnesses against him were killed…by you." Not able to contain his anger, Daredevil delivered a swift kick to Spider-Man's ribs. "Fisk will walk because of you." Black Cat quickly stepped between them and Daredevil stopped short of kicking him again.
"Listen, I appreciate you helping me catch him, but Peter needs our help." Black Cat advised. "Something is wrong with that suit."
"You won't be helping him. I will take it from here." Black Cat and Daredevil turned in shock as Angela landed on the roof next to them.
As Angela was heading home she couldn't stop thinking of Spider-Man. Not knowing what else to do when the sun went down she climbed the building next to his apartment to think about what she should do when she saw the confrontation on the rooftop and decided to intervene.
"What are you?" Daredevil's eyes widened as he looked at the tattered dress that clung to tightly to Angela before his eyes fell on her wings and then down to her fangs. Before either Black Cat or Daredevil could react Angela leapt forward and using her talons she left deep scratches in Daredevil's chest and twisted around and tripped Black Cat's feet out from under her with her tail. Daredevil gritted his teeth in pain as he reached for a baton he carried on his belt and fired it towards Angela and smirked as a wire wrapped quickly around the young gargoyle. Black Cat leapt forward to attack but was stunned when Angela snapped the wire and brought her foot up catching Black Cat in the mid-section, temporarily knocking the air from her lungs. Daredevil painfully rose to his feet but Angela quickly broke Spider-Man's binds and lifted him into the air before leaping off the roof and glided away.
"What the hell was that?" Daredevil asked as Black Cat joined him at the edge of the roof.
"I don't know, but I will hunt her down and get him back." Black Cat said heatedly.
"First I need help finding more witnesses to testify against Fisk. I know that you used to work for him." Daredevil pointed out.
"I'm going after, Peter. Good luck making your case." Black Cat said as she went to leap off the roof but fell to the ground as she suddenly felt electricity surging through her body.
"I can't allow for Fisk to walk free." Daredevil said as he lifted Black Cat's unconscious body and used his grapple to swing away from the apartment building.
"What an interesting turn of events." Vulture said as he hovered above the apartment building. "I don't know what that creature was, but she left with my prize." Vulture said as he flew in the direction Angela headed off in.
…
"What the hell?" Norman Osborne asked. Norman was in the middle of a meeting with his new board and Sable when the room began to shake violently. Sable pulled out two pistols as the wall broke apart and Doctor Octavius's new mechanic arms came through the hole and Octavius was lifted in behind them.
"It's time to pay for your sins, Norman." Octavius said bitterly. Elisa's breaks screeched as she slammed on the brakes as the pieces of the wall fell from the Oscorp building and crushed two cars that had been in front of her. Elisa leapt out of her car and pulled her gun as she yelled at all the people who were gawking at the falling debris.
"Get back or you'll all wind up being street pizza." Elisa shouted.
"Not all of us." Elisa turned at the sudden voice and was surprised to see a man wearing a yellow and brown suit and wearing large gauntlets on his arms. Elisa aimed her gun at the stranger. The man raised his gauntlets and fired shockwaves at the debris causing it to crack into smaller pieces and spread out in a wider area. The crowd quickly ducked out of the way. "Put the weapon down, what's happening up there as nothing to do with you." The man ordered.
"What are you supposed to be? Sound Wave Man?" Elisa asked irritably. The man laughed as he stepped closer to her.
"I would have assumed you'd heard of me. I'm the Shocker."