Ch. 1
Wilson Fisk's criminal activities had been outed, and he had been locked up, but that didn't mean that his influence over Hell's Kitchen had dissolved.
Matt knew this. He also knew that it might take months, if not years to extinguish all of the illicit hotbeds that Fisk had created, and that he may never even be able to find all of them.
He had been trying, though. That was why he was standing in the basement of a seemingly abandoned building on West 46th in the dead of night.
00
From what Matt had gathered, a chunk of the money that Nobu had gotten through his connection with Fisk had been funneled to this particular enterprise. What the enterprise was doing, though, Matt couldn't really tell.
It didn't seem like they were making drugs. He was standing in a laboratory, but without sight he truly couldn't tell what the solutions were in the flasks and vials on the tables. And really, even if he could see them, he'd probably have to get them analyzed. Nothing had labels.
Silently, he felt around and listened to his surroundings. The lab that he was standing in was empty, but he could hear footsteps about a hundred feet away, two rooms down.
Matt stood still. He heard a crash, but didn't flinch. Something had fallen to the floor in the other room. Something metallic that had other items associated with it. A tray, perhaps, carrying scientific instruments of some type.
There was a scream. A scream of pain, then someone yelling in anger. In Japanese. Which, of course, Matt didn't understand. He was concerned about whoever was being beaten or tortured, though.
Quietly, he walked. Quickly, but not too quickly. The instruments surrounding him were fragile; one wrong move could make them fall or shake and alert everyone to his presence.
He was about ten feet from the door. He heard a whisper. No, two people were whispering.
There was another loud crash, then a thud as two steel pocket doors flew out of the sides of each entrance to the room. They closed abruptly, trapping him in.
Matt could've kicked himself for not seeing that coming, but he supposed that it wasn't really his fault. The place really seemed too old to have such technology in it.
He tried not to panic. Panicking would do nothing. He told himself to think rationally.
Either the Japanese knew that he was there, or they were closing off the room for some other purpose. Maybe they were done with it for the night.
He made the decision to get out and re-think his strategy. He might be able to find a way into the building closer to where the screaming person was located. He stepped back towards the original entrance. Quietly. Slowly.
As he reached it, he started to feel tired. He shook his head, trying to wake himself up. Something was off. Something was wrong. The sooner he could get out of there, the better. Maybe there was a window? No… No, he hadn't noticed any windows. The place was sealed. They wanted it sealed. Why?
Matt reached the door. As he did, his body gave out on him. He fell back against the metal of it and quickly fell into unconsciousness.