Blood, Sweat and Tears:
Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 20th, 2009:
"Man down, man down" the guard cried out, putting pressure on the wound of his fallen partner.
Sirens blared in the distance, as three masked robbers fled the bank where the violent attack took place. "You didn't have to shoot him, Wilbur!" one robber said in a panic as he was fumbling around with the keys to their escape car.
"They were calling the cops, now stop screwing around and unlock the car" the older thief commanded as he threw the bag of money he had into the open window of the vehicle.
The first thief lets out a sigh of relief as he finally unlocked the car door, allowing him and his comrades to enter and escape. Luckily for the small group, the car starts without a problem and they ride away to their intended hideout.
The sirens came closer as rain now started to pour, clouding the windshield of the car.
"Still got ammo in that gun of yours, Wilbur?" the third thief as he placed a clip in his rifle. "Don't need to ask," Wilbur replied as he shot at the source of the sirens, a police car. The sound of bullets ricocheting off the hood of the car rang throughout the streets as the car swerved through oncoming traffic.
"Sir? You sure you know what you're doing?"
"Relax rookie, we've got them," the older cop replied. "You better be right Mr. Murdock!" his young partner replied, his breath ragged and his hand over his pistol. "You ain't in Afghanistan anymore Blake, can't open fire with civvies on the road." Jack was interrupted by further gunfire from the thieves. "Yeah, but they can!" Officer Blake replied.
'He's calmer than I was on my first chase,' Jack thought to himself, as sweat dripped from his brow, still dodging traffic. 'Heart of a soldier, this one.'
The thief driving the car sees a red light. "Hope you guys fastened your seatbelts, this is gonna get messy," he said in a matter of fact tone. The young thief drives forward at full speed and suddenly applies the breaks and turns despite the heavy traffic coming from the intersection. He rides along the traffic as his two partners in the back cheer for joy.
"HOLD ON BLAKE!" Jack Murdock shouted at his young partner as he braked, tires screeching like nails on a chalkboard. Both officers take the time to catch their breaths, with Blake throwing his hands towards his forehead.
"DAMN! That was too close," the young officer cried out.
"THAT WAS TOO CLOSE KID!" Wilbur shouted as his changed clips for his rifle. The young driver just chuckled "I got us away from the cops, right? Relax, ya old bastard. We're in the clear."
BANG! The sound of a tire bursting, echoed across the empty street they drove down, making the ears of thieves ring. "The hell was that? We got a flat now?" the third thief asked the others.
"Not sure, I'll slow down a bit just to be sure," the youngest member of the three stated as he gently applied the brakes, providing a subtle change in the sound of the engine.
A shadow loomed over the hood of the car, getting darker, wider and closer.
"What the-" the sentence was interrupted by the visage of someone dressed in black, landing on the now dented hood.
"Get down kid!" was all Wilbur said to the driver as he open fired at the windshield, the black figure contorting his head and dodging the bullets.
"Oh no, no way, no way," the driver said as he swerved the car around in a panic, unable to see the road before him. Wilbur continued to fire at the man in black.
The vigilante turns his head around and smiles, leaping off the hood of the car, landing on his back.
The thieves look at the sight before them wide-eyed.
A road barrier.
The car breaks through the barrier, revealing a 20-foot drop to the ground below. "AHH HAHAHA," the burglars screamed as they plummeted towards the ground below.
They land with a great thud, the front of the car impacting first, crumbling under the force of the impact. The car then leans forward and falls. Upside-down. The thieves groan in pain, clutching at anything that might help them escape the wreck they fell in. Finally, they open the doors and roll out, exhausted and dazed.
The driver was the last to come out. He removes his mask and takes out the gun he had from his waste. "That was Batman!" he exclaimed.
"This ain't Gotham man," the other thief replied. "And Batman don't even dress like that," he continued as he looked around, above him, trying to spot the man who wrecked their car.
Wilbur simply put his finger to his lips, indicating the other two to stop talking. He looked around, realizing that they fell into a garbage dump of some sort. He points at the warehouse nearby and gestures others to follow him inside.
The thieves, watching each other's backs and aiming their pistols and rifles in front of them, slowly enter the empty warehouse. Wilbur walks into a toolbox and stops. He opens it and discovers a couple screwdrivers, measuring tape and flashlights. He takes on of the flashlights for himself, giving the others to the remaining two.
They turn them on, still holding their guns in one hand and find a flight of stairs. They walk up them slowly, creaking noises following their every step, but inaudible to the thieves due to the heavy rain.
'They make enough noise to wake the dead,' Matt thought as he monitored the thieves from the shadows. 'Should be quick though. Tomorrows a school day.' The thieves reached the top of the stairs to the top floor of the warehouse. Unfortunately for them, there were too many windows to watch, so they huddle around the center of the floor.
"You think it's him?" the driver asked? "That guy who Turk talked about!"
The third thief almost laughs, "Since when has anything Turk said been true?" He said, still looking at every window. "He got busted last week though didn't he?" the driver continued, ignoring his partner's comments. "He says he got busted by some dude in a mask."
"He paid bale yesterday. Besides Turk says a lot of things."
The driver walks around and steps onto a weak floorboard, breaking it. "This floor don't feel safe," he said with a shaky voice.
Wilbur turns around with a wrinkled brow. "Shut up you idiots. Just listen." He said, quieting his tone. All the thieves look up as they hear a subtle creak above them on the roof.
'Too fast you, idiot, too fast,' Matt thought to himself as he hears the distinct sound of the guns below him cocking. "Shoot him, he's on the roof," Wilbur cried out as he open fired. They continue to fire until all their guns click, indicating their guns were empty. "I think we got him," the third thief said.
The floorboards beneath him gave way, revealing two black-gloved hands reaching for his ankles, dragging him towards the floor below.
Wilbur reloads and points his rifle at the newly formed hole. "Wilbur no, you might hit…" his sentence is cut off by gunfire.
"Might hit John? I think I did," Wilbur replied, his eyes darting around, looking at the ground below him searching for the vigilante. He sees something approach him. The clank of wood hitting bone filled the air around them, as a wooden baton hit Wilbur in the temple. The older thief slumped to his knees and fell into the hole in the floor, landing on the body he shot moments before.
The driver runs, his heart rate rising and sweat glazing his face and stinging his eyes.
He's afraid.
The remaining thief quickly stumbles down the stairs, jumping off the last few flights and heads towards the entrance of the warehouse. He does not notice the figure in black sneak up behind him. Matt grabs his mouth, muffling his victim's voice and uses his other arm to wrap around the driver's neck.
The thief, squirms around, his hand trying to grab Matt by the face. Matt responds by kicking him in the back of the knee, making the driver slump down, and the young vigilante applies further pressure to the thief's throat. Soon he stops squirming and he falls to the ground unconscious.
Matt then steps on the thief's ankle, shattering it.
"That's for shooting at me," Matt said without a trace of emotion in his voice. Matt then turns his head as he hears Wilbur get up. The older man looks at the masked vigilante, his eyes the size of golf balls and slowly backs away.
Matt walks towards him slowly, making sure that he pointed his head towards Wilbur to make it seem he was looking at him. The older thief licked his lips, struggling to find words to say, he looked at the driver and said "You crippled him, he's just a kid."
Matt gives a small smirk.
"You killed your own man to get to me," he said with a deep, albeit obviously fake voice.
"And you shot at a couple cops after robbing a bank," Matt continued as he walked forward at a faster pace. "Besides, he'll walk again," he said with venom in his voice, thinking back to how his dad was almost shot by the man before him.
"You won't though," the young vigilante stated as he rushed forward and delivered a powerful kick to Wilbur's shins. The crack of bones was all Wilbur could hear as he let out a scream. His cry in pain was cut short by Matt punching him in the throat, knocking him out.
'Shouldn't have shot that guard,' He thought as he felt the heat of Wilbur's blood exit his body.
Midtown High, New York, Monday, September 21st, 2009:
"Mr. Murdock? Mr. Murdock!" A shrill voice said for the umpteenth time as Matt woke up from his desk shaking his desk.
Matt gets up from his desk taking a boxing stance, shaking his head in confusion with drool leaking from his mouth. "Mr. Murdock, after you are done punching the air, would you be so kind as to STAY AWAKE whilst I'm teaching?" the shrill voice asked rhetorically with a hint of venom in her tone.
After the sniggering of his classmates passed, Matt remembered that he was in class and blushed. "Yeah, um…sorry Ms. Lee," Matt said as he sat back in his seat, pretending to search the desk with his hands for his books.
'Sixth time in two weeks,' Matt thought to himself as he struggled to stay awake, listening to Ms. Lee drone on and on about Nixon and the presidency, or was he in biology class, Matt wasn't listening to her anyway.
Matt repressed a groan as he stretched his back, his rough landing after he got off the car last night really did a number on him. 'Maybe I need some armor or something?' Matt contemplated for a few seconds. 'Nah, too expensive and way too heavy,' he surmised.
Matt decided to close his eyes and meditate to alleviate the pain, sitting, of course, his glasses would conceal that action, so he doesn't need to worry about Ms. Lee busting him. Matt takes a lot of micro-naps and meditates across the day to compensate for his lack of sleep at night. Unfortunately, the micro-naps are a bit too noticeable.
As Matt meditates, he hears the sounds of everyone and everything around him. Grumbling stomachs, people whispering in classrooms, couples cutting class and kissing in the bathrooms, grasshoppers in the schools field. The young hero slowly filters out these noises as he hears a familiar set of footsteps near the principal's office.
'Wait? Height, weight, scent, please don't tell me….'
Those thoughts were interrupted by the ring of the school bell. Matt immediately shot up from his seat, picked up his cane and tapped it around as he rushed to reach the source of the footsteps. 'No, please don't walk this way, please don't walk this way!' Matt thought as the aroma of perfume filled his nostrils.
"Mathew! Matt!" a woman called out as Matt turned a corner. "Hey, mom," Matt said, rushing towards her. "What're you doing here?" Matt said with a slightly irritated tone.
Miranda raised her eyebrow and simply gave a knowing smile to the young teen, "Well I just wanted to give you your lunch, but I guess you'd rather starve than be seen with your mom, Mathew," she said with a false upset tone.
"Mom, it's just…..whatever, just give me the lunch," the blind teen managed to blurt out as he blushed. "Mathew, where are your manners, me and your father didn't raise you in a barn." Matt was about to protest till he heard the footsteps of his classmates down the corridor, "Fine, please mom, just give me my lunch, we'll talk later promise!" Matt pleaded as he reached in his mother's general direction for his food.
Miranda, empathising with his son, placed the lunch box in Matt's hand and gave him a small kiss on the cheek. "MOM!" Matt cried out embarrassed.
Miranda simply said goodbye and walked towards the exit of the school.
Matt gave a sigh of relief. 'Jesus, fighting idiots with guns is less stressful than that. Let's hope no one heard any of that.'
As Matt turned the corner a familiar heartbeat filled his ears. 'Ah, crap,' Matt exclaimed in his head. "Hey, Mathew. Got your lunch?" a voice echoed mockingly. "Shut it Britt," Matt replied.
"Now remember, Mathew, you need to eat your greens and brush your teeth," the older teen simply continued in a childish tone. Matt simply raised his eyebrow, exactly like his mother. "This coming from the guy who owns a superman onesie?" Matt asked rhetorically.
Britt just responded by wrapping his arm around Matt's shoulder, "Ok, one, my onesie is the shit ok. And two we need to hang out more, you come backs need some work."
"Can't," Matt said with no hesitation in his voice. "Why not?" Britt asked indignantly. "We never hangout anymore. Hell, even Lakshmi goes out more than you now! Is it cus that Japanese guy beat you in that test? He beat Lakshmi too you know." Matt just grimaced at the mention of the test. "Sendo technically got the same grade as Lux, and no, it's my brothers match today remember?"
Britt, scratched his head and gave a confused look, well Matt at least that's what Matt assumed.
"Thought that was tomorrow?"
"Nope, today." Before Britt replied Matt interrupted him, "I'm gonna need someone to tell me what's going on," Matt continued.
"Right." Britt said.
"Someone who knows the rules of boxing," Matt leaded on.
"Ok."
"Yo cannot be this dumb, I'm asking you to come you idiot!" Matt told his friend, his face red with frustration.
Britt just nodded his head and gave Matt a perplexed look. "Nah, too busy," Britt said, crossing his arms and giving a childish tone again. Matt then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and waved it in front of Britt's face.
Britt just started at Matt dumb founded. "That's a shopping list." Matt ran his finger over the paper, subtly to 'read' it and blushed "sorry, my bad," he then procures another piece of paper from his remaining pocket and waves it in Britt's general direction.
Britt snatches it from Matt's hand and starts reading its contents. The young millionaire looked at his friend with an expression of disbelief and began to talk. "Is this serious?"
"Yep," Matt replied. Britt gave a small laugh, "Really?"
"Really," Matt reassured.
Britt put gently hit his friends shoulder and laughed. "Ring side seats to your brothers match. That is awesome bro!" Matt smiled, Britt was always a big boxing fan and admired Mark.
A ring side seat basically is the closest you can be to the ring, unless you're a corner man, the guys stitching up a fighter and giving them advice after each round. They're usually reserved very quickly and Britt wasn't the best at co-ordinating meet ups, or at remembering dates so he always missed the bookings.
Matt was saving this up since he knew Britt would be annoyed that they don't spend that much time together anymore. But Matt feels that his new extra-curricular activities are far more important.
"So…." Britt said, elongating the word, "Is she coming?"
"Lakshmi?"
Britt shook his head and delivered the next few words like a whisper, "No, I mean, you know. Her. Your brothers super-hot nurse girlfriend." Matt rolled his blind eyes, though Britt never saw thanks to his glasses. "You mean Claire?"
"Yeah!" Britt said, with the temperament of an excited puppy. Matt gave his friend a derisive look, "Yeah, I assume so." Britt then gave a Matt a suggestive grin. "Take that look off your face," Matt scolded. "How do you know I'm giving a look?"
"You give a really weird look when you think about a hot chick. Well, that's what people told me." Matt said in a matter of fact manner.
"People?"
"Lakshmi," Matt said.
Britt shook his head, "Knew it," he said with a small smile on his face. Britt then turned to Matt, "We should invite her." Matt then turned to him, with a confused look on his face "Claire?"
"What? No, Lakshmi you idiot," Britt said in a slightly patronizing tone. The blind student then shook his head, "I dunno. She isn't really into boxing though, is she?" Britt then started pulling Matt subtly to indicate the direction in which he should walk.
"Well, she's never seen your brother fight. Besides Claire ain't that into fighting either," Britt said as he directed Matt to a seat in the cafeteria. Matt proceeded to unpack his lunch as he spoke, "Well to be fair she's his girlfriend, Lakshmi doesn't really have a stake in this." Matt said as he took a bite of his sandwich.
Britt opened a pack of chips, the scent of which made Matt's nostrils burn with the scent of preservatives as Britt spoke, "Dude, we haven't hung out as a group since that day at Franks. Come on man, besides, I know you have another ticket for her," Britt said, simultaneously chewing his chips.
Matt, despite being annoyed by Britt's loud chewing gave a shrug, confirming Britt's previous statement. "Alright then, that settles it then," Britt said, "We wait for Lux and ask her."
"Ask me what?" a female voice said as she put down her bag. Britt then put his hand on her shoulder and gave an almost childlike smile, "Matt's invited us to his brothers match!" he said as Lakshmi covered her ear as Britt basically shouted in her ear. "I'm not sure, I mean I'm not into boxing," Lakshmi said as she removed Britt's hand from her shoulder, rubbing it since he basically crushed it in his excitement.
Matt gave Britt a look, "See!" he said pointing to him.
Britt then turned to Lakshmi and gave her what he liked to call, the puppy dog look. "That's so not going to work," she said as she tried to change the subject.
Britt not giving up maintained the look. "Britt, stop it. I mean it."
"It's going to take more than a sad face to convince me."
After 20 minutes of staring Lakshmi finally gave in, and after another 30 minutes of her calling her parents and convincing them of letting her go she promised the boys that she would come.
"I am a genius," Britt said as the trio walked out of school. Lakshmi gave a small punch to the taller teens arm. "No, it's just that you look like a constipated whale when you do that thing with your face," she replied as Matt supressed a laugh.
"Hey, Sarah told me it was 'super adorable', her words," Britt said defensively.
Matt then interjected, "You gave her $1000 worth of gifts, so of course she said that."
Britt stared at his friends for a solid 10 seconds. "Screw you guys," he finally responded as Matt and Lakshmi continued to laugh. "Anyways," Britt said, ignoring his friend's reaction. "I'll swing by your place and pick you up at around 6," he said, as he gently tapped Matt on the shoulder, Matt giving Britt a thumbs up.
"And I'll be at yours by around 6:30."
"Ok, done," Lakshmi said whilst sorting through the messages on her phone. Britt then tapped Matt on the shoulder again, "Your dad coming?"
"Nah, he and mom are working some big case. He wants to pick her up after the trial."
Who's trial?" Lakshmi asked.
"Mr. Roscoe Sweeny," Miranda Murdock said, eyeing the man in the stand as she addressed the jury. Roscoe was a man of average height, and a bit on the heavy side. He had a crooked nose and grey hair. He was more commonly known by his street name 'The Fixer'
A man in the opposite table to Miranda's, the accused Walter Kovacs, a man accused of running the Italian mob. He was 4 foot 10 inches tall, bald and had a misshaped head, making his nickname all the more ironic. He had his eye on Miranda as she walked across the courtroom much to Miranda's disgust.
"Mr. Sweeny, with Vito Corleone in prison someone must have been running this so-called family in his absence? Someone whom people on the street known as 'Big Figure', is that man in this courtroom today?" Miranda asked with so much authority that everyone was focussed solely on her.
The fixer simply nodded.
Miranda then turned to face Kovacs, AKA Big figure. "Can you identify him for us please?" she asked somewhat rhetorically.
Roscoe Sweeny chuckled, "Alright councilor, ya got me," he said with a thick Boston accent. Miranda gave a smug smile towards Big Figure, the dwarf simply returning one back.
The fixer then spoke, "It was me!" in a sarcastic tone.
The crowd and jury laugh as Miranda, with a surprised look on her face, walked towards her table and procured a piece of paper. "I have a sworn statement, from you Mr. Sweeny that this man," Miranda points a finger at Big Figure, "Walter Kovacs is the new head of the Corleone crime family."
The Fixer gives a faux bemused look, "Kovacs, Nah, he's the fall guy, I'm the brains of this operation." The judge slams his hammer shouting "Order" as the crowd continues to laugh. Miranda turns to the judge and asks, "Your honor, permission to treat the witness as hostile?" she asks.
"Granted."
Sweeny then stands up, "Hostile?" he asks as he pulls a gun from his pocket and towards Miranda, "I'll show you hostile," he finishes as he pulls the trigger.
'Click.'
'Click.'
The gun misfires, it doesn't shoot.
The crowd gasps, Miranda take the moment of confusion to grab the gun from The Fixers hand and slam his face with it.
Miranda, gun in hand walks towards Big Figure. "German single-shot pistol, Liberator," she said calmly and places the weapon in front of him. "Mr Kovacs, if you want to kill a public servant, I suggest you buy American," she said looking him dead in the eye, managing to put a smile on her face.
The judge gestures to the guards, "Get him out of here!" he ordered.
Miranda turns towards the judge, "But your honor, I'm not done," she said in a semi-playful tone. Her bravery earning her a round of applause from the audience. Jack Murdock holstered his pistol, and sat down with the audience, putting up a smile and applauds too.
"The idiot who organized security here ought to be shot. My green-nosed partner could do a better job," Jack Murdock said to his wife as he paced angrily across the hallway of the district attorney's office. Miranda simply chuckled and shook her head at her husband's anger, but she felt a similar sentiment. "To be fair, Blake couldn't have stopped the guards from being bribed."
Jack grunted in disapproval, "I still don't understand why you joined the DA's office, I could have cracked this case in my own you know," he said, his voice laced with concern. Miranda simply grabbed her husband's arms, "Honey, the day you can go through a thousand pages of documents in a day and fall asleep once, is the day I quit this job," she said, with a somewhat whimsical tone.
"Miranda," Jack said with a pain in his voice, "you nearly got shot today."
The lawyer looked straight into her husband's eyes and leans against his chest, "I know," she said as she embraced her husband, "But if the mob wants me dead, I must be doing something right," she said garnering a small chuckle from Jack.
"Talk to Matt when you get home," Miranda said, giving a peck on Jack's lips. Jack just stared at her with some disbelief, "You not coming?" he asks. "I need to get some of that paperwork done, Big Figure isn't going to jail on his own!" she says putting on a very bad Italian gangster accent. "Well, I'm dropping you off. And picking you up!" he says in a manner which tells Miranda she has no say in that matter.
Miranda taps her husband in the shoulder, "Alright, just don't shoot anyone."
Jack admires his wife as she walks towards the car, 'Damn, I love that woman,' he thinks to himself.
Matt comes home tired, not exhausted but just tired. He throws his bag on the couch and opens a bottle of water as he hears his father walk back and forth in his room, screaming on the phone. He ignores that as he acclimates to the pain in his back.
The young vigilante makes a plan in his head 'Ok, talk to dad, meditate for a half hour, train for another hour and a half, wait for Britt while eating dinner, 'watch' Mark beat the crap out of the American heavyweight champ and then put on the suit and go out for a 'Walk'' he thinks to himself, sipping his water as he tried to drown out his father's shouting. Without much success.
Matt then notices a scent in the air. 'Oil, Japanese Oak,' Matt detects as he walked towards his room. The source of the scent was a Japanese puzzle box.
He then spent the next 15 minutes opening the damn thing, revealing a small scroll. Matt runs his finger over the text and smiles. "Kato's back. He wants to meet me at a training spot past mid-night," Matt said with excitement as he jumped on the couch. An excitement cut short by his father's rage.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE PAID BAIL?" Jack yells into the phone as a vein bulged from his forehead, "HE POINTED A GUN AT MY GODDAMN WIFE, AND HE PAID BAIL!" he continued, the last sentence catching Matt's attention.
Jack uttered a few choice curse words and slammed the phone down. The aging man lets out a massive sigh as he notices Matt in the living room through the slightly opened door. Jack scratched his head as he walked out of the bedroom.
"Guessing Mom's trial didn't go well," Matt stated.
Jack grabbed a beer from the fridge, "Yeah, you could say that" he said as he took a large swing. The aroma of the fermented drink filled Matt's nostrils, he's accustomed to the scent at this point. But he still doesn't like it though. Jack sits next to his son as he passes his finger across the back of Matt's neck. "So how'd you get this kid?" he asks as Matt adjusts the collar of his shirt. 'Damn, didn't think the bruise was visible,' Matt thought.
Matt moves his head in his father's general direction, "Jumped out of the way of a car," he said in a neutral tone.
'Kid bluffs like his mother,' Jack thinks, recognizing that his son gave him what was at least a partially true answer.
"Son, I know get into fights. Not sure if it's in school or some ring but I know that you do," Jack said as he put his arm around his son pulling him in. "And yeah, I get it. You've got a chip on your shoulder, you wanna prove something to the world. That's why your brother does what he does, that's why you do those weird kung-fu type workouts. You wanna show that you're not some weak blind kid and you're like everyone else. I get it."
Matt sat calmly with his arms crossed, 'Great, another speech about books and school,' he thought.
"My daddy died before I was born. Your Grandma had to raise me all on her own. For a working-class mom, she never expected her son to become a doctor or a lawyer, she would be happy if I didn't die in some barroom brawl," he said, the direction of the conversation catching Matt off guard.
Jack continued, "I could never read that well. Dyslexia wasn't a thing in those days. The school thought I was a dummy. And I guess I was." Jack pauses, smiling. "After a few years, I just gave up on the whole thing and started playing flunky. I bunked class, and just wandered the kitchen."
Jacks eyes then looked up as he remembered his youth, "One day, I decided to look into a local boxing gym. I pick fights with other kids like me anyways, I thought 'may as well know how to throw a punch and not get a tooth stuck in your hand'." Matt winced at that thought, he has experienced that a lot in training.
Jack chuckles at his reaction, "It ain't that bad kid," he says still looking upwards. "Well, I went in and started copying what the other guys were doing. Skipping rope, push-ups the works." Jack then gave a slightly pained look. "The older guys must've thought that they'd have some fun with me and made me go through a pro's workout."
Jack then violently slapped his arm and laughed as he spoke his next sentence, "I thought my arms would fall off. But I never fell down, I never gave up. They eventually told me to stop, take a week off and to come a few years later."
Jack then reminisces on the smell of old shaving cream and boxing tape, "So lo and behold, a few years later I'm in a ring, facing a guy twice my size in a professional fight just to win a couple hundred bucks." Jack then places his hand on his jaw as he remembers the first real punch he took. "That first punch just came out from nowhere. I thought that was the end, you know. But I got up and went at him," Jack said as he changed tone.
"I felt like an animal, a lion, caged in with a little gazel. He may as well be, after the first couple rounds the other guy literally jumped out the ring with his ass hanging out of his shorts," Jack said with a hearty laugh, a laugh shared by his son.
Jack then turned to Matt, "But life was never easy. Running, training, fighting. The same routine, over and over again just to scrape by wasn't the best situation," the former boxer said as rubbed the metal implant in his neck he got a few years ago after his final match.
"I probably would've done that till my knees done me in. But one day, on one of my runs," Jack nearly sings out, "I bumped into this lady, a dame, and the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen."
Jack's eyes redden as he remembers what happens next, "And to my surprise, she looked at me. 'Jack!' she said. I was like, wow, the boxing thing must be paying off. I thought I was famous or something," he said with some embarrassment.
"Turns out we used to be classmates back in middle school and she just happened to be walking past," he said shaking his head at his naiveté. "So we talk and I convince her to grab a drink with me later that day. So we talk about stuff, how she's in law school and I'm fighting. And I manage to get her number."
Jack then takes another sip of his beer, "Long story short, we start dating and her and my ma have a long talk after my final bout." Jack scratches his neck as he remembers the way his neck just popped after one punch too many. "That match ended in a draw. But I'd just lost my entire way of living."
Jack then took a few more gulps, "I was in a really bad way, I'll spare you the details son but it was just….." he paused. "Anyway, I meet this friend of mine for a drink. He was one of those older guys in the gym I talked about. He managed to get a job as a cop a few years before and I thought that I may as well try."
"So, I got back into shape, with a lot of difficulties and took the tests. Your mom helped me learn the theory stuff and I managed to get through," Jack admitted.
Matt wondered where this story was going, "After your ma and I got married I went on night patrol in the kitchen."
Jack then started tearing up, "An African American woman had just overdosed on some dope and her 5-year-old son called it in, screaming on the phone about his mama." Jack then finished his drink and crushed the can.
"Boy was called Mark. Your brother Matt."
Matt's eyes shot wide open. He never knew that's how his father found Mark, he assumed it was a normal adoption.
"Marks, dad had ran out on the family a year before. The mom turned to prostitution to pay for the rent. Guess the pressure of a baby boy was too much for her to handle too," Jack stated with venom in his voice at the thought of a man abandoning his own child. Jack then spent a few seconds calming down as he placed his hand on Matt's shoulder. "I don't mean to go into this thinking you're some criminal for getting into fights. I totally understand it, you're my blood after all." Jack then shifts his entire body to face Matt on the couch.
"Son, whatever it is you're going through, you can talk to me. Or ma. If school's too much or whatever else, I can help you if you talk to me," Jack said with sympathy.
Matt wiped the tears from his eyes as he nodded.
Jack smiled, "Alright champ, just sleep on it ok. I'm gonna pick up your mom at around 8. That's when Mark's match starts right."
Matt nodded again. "Yep."
"Alright, just make sure Britt doesn't flirt with Claire again, the boy's harmless enough but I'm sure it gets annoying." Matt chuckled, "You don't know the half of it dad," he said, suppressing his guilt for lying to his dad for the past couple weeks.
The young teen walks to his room and sits on the floor.
He needs to meditate.
Calm his mind.
"What's taking her so long?" Britt asks as he looks at his watch. "Match starts in half an hour. She needs to be out in like 5 minutes."
Matt was getting impatient as well. They called and texted Lakshmi for what seemed like days and she just responded with, "Getting ready," each time. Matt can hear her pacing in her room, trying on various articles of clothing, her older sister giving compliments and Lakshmi rejecting them and trying on another shirt, or a pair of jeans.
Britt, being the quote 'genius' he then comes up with a brilliant plan, "We could climb her window." Matt just raises his eyebrow and frowns, "Can't you just go to their front door?"
"Nah," the young millionaire responds, "Her parents don't really like me."
Matt grins, "Jeez, I wonder why?" he asks sarcastically. "Maybe flirting with her older sister wasn't the best move." Britt just moans in annoyance, "Seriously it wasn't flirting, it was just…um…targeted compliments."
"Yeah, otherwise called flirting," Matt responded.
"Ok Casinova, why don't you go to the front door," Britt asks
Matt adjusts his glasses, "I've got the opposite problem, they talk to me way too much. I guess it's a novelty to have an American speak 3 Indian languages," Matt says, blushing as he remembers Lakshmi's mom treating him like a kid as she asked way too many questions about his visit to her home country.
"Why'd you go to India again?" Britt asks Matt as he looked at his watch, again.
"Reasons."
Britt just stared at his friend till he remembered that Matt couldn't see him do that. He impatiently taps his foot on the limo floor and then raises his hands. "That's it, I'm climbing," he said as he opened the car door.
Matt leaps out and picks up his cane, extending it and walking behind Britt. "No you idiot," Matt says grabbing the air in front of him till he grabs Britt. "She might still be changing," he said, making Britt's face lose color. "Forgot about that," he stated, blushing a little. "Alright, I'm boosting you up."
"What?" Matt asked as Britt walked underneath Lakshmi's window, which was on the first floor.
Britt then clapped to direct Matt to his direction and continued speaking, "I boost you up, you knock on her window. She sees you, you don't see her. Simple." Matt slaps his forehead, "How is that simple? Do I have to remind you that I'm blind?" he asks, waving his hand in front of his face.
Matt hears her sister walk out of the room and slam the door. The latter sound was audible enough for even Britt. "Ok, that's queue. Come on."
"This is going to suck so much," is all Matt said as he 'accidentally' placed a foot on Britt's face as he climbs on his hands. "Hey, watch the face pal," Britt said in his 50's advertiser voice. Matt rolls his eyes as he pretends to struggle to find the window sill as Britt hoists him up. Matt then paws at the window and knocks. Lakshmi gives a little shriek as she opens the curtains.
Matt just waves. "Hi," he mouths to her.
The young lady helps her blind friend up and closes the curtains. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" she whisper-shouted angrily. Matt raised his hands in the air, "Blame Britt, this was his idea." "You were taking way too long anyway," he said making Lakshmi look at the clock in her room. "That's the time? Crap!" she exclaimed as she removes her itchy yellow sweater and throws it in Matt's face.
Matt's face turns a bright red that would make a tomato envious. 'Not sure if I should be happy or sad I can't see her now,' Matt thinks as Lakshmi strips off her baggy shorts and puts on some underpants and a pair of skinny jeans.
Matt blushes even further, the blood burning his cheeks. "Should I turn around or something?" he asks, trying to distract himself.
Before Lakshmi could respond Matt turned his head as he hears footprints nearing the door. Lakshmi then hears them too and panics. Covering her chest, she grabs Matt with the force of a polar bear and throws him into her wardrobe as she puts on a top and closes the wardrobe door.
'What the hell is happening?' Matt thought as he adjusts his body in the small wardrobe. The footsteps got closer. The heartbeat was familiar. 'Great, it was the sister.'
Lakshmi's door opens, "Sis, mom wants to know if you want any snacks for the night." "Nope," Lakshmi quickly responds. Her sister then points at her, making both Matt and Lakshmi shudder in fear. "Is that my tank top?" she asks as Lakshmi notices that it was a bit too big for her. She then gestures the younger girl to give it back. "Come on Ava," Lakshmi whines.
Ava comes back, "No way Amma and Appa are letting you out with that much skin on display. Give it here." Lakshmi reluctantly takes it off as Matt tries ignoring the blood rushing to the certain parts of his body.
'Please don't open the wardrobe, please don't open the wardrobe,' both teens chanted in their heads as Ava walked towards the wardrobe.
As Ava's hand neared the knob of the wardrobe Lakshmi rushed in and grabbed her arm. "Actually sis," she started, flustered as both teens breathed a sigh of relief. "I think I'm going to wear this," Lakshmi stated picking up a slightly form-fitting red and blue striped, cold shoulder shirt from the floor.
"Didn't you say it looks like a zebra painted red?" Ava questions her little sister. "Changed my mind," she said as she sniffed it to see if it was clean. Ava rubs her temple. "Fine, whatever." She says, walking towards the room door. Making both teens relax.
She pauses halfway through the doorway and gives a final piece of advice, "You might wanna wear a bra or something, it's chilly outside. Don't want them poking out like they are now, do you?" Ava playfully told her sister and winked, causing Lakshmi to glow red and cover her naked chest and Matt to go light headed.
'Literally TMI, WAY TOO MUCH information,' he thought as Ava walked out.
Lakshmi slams her door and falls onto her bed in embarrassment after putting on all the required clothing.
"You decent yet? Can I come out now?" Matt asks, with the voice akin to a puppy.
"Yeah," she says, a shameful smile on her face.
Matt walks out of the wardrobe and both friends face each other, crimson-cheeked.
And laugh.
They laugh for a solid minute, almost asphyxiating in the process. "Ok," Lakshmi said, gasping for air in between laughs, whipping a tear from her eye. "Let me put on some perfume and we can leave."
"Oh hell no, we are so not going through that again!" Matt said pointing to the wardrobe.
He then walks towards the table where he smells the highest concentration of perfume and takes in the overall feel of the room. 'Carpeted floors, a clock ticking, smell of acrylic on her posters, cleaning fluid for her computers, two, no three computer screens humming, ha, 3 bottles of perfume.'
Matt then feels around for the perfume to keep up the completely blind guy routine. He grabs it and smiles. "Alright, just walk here will you," he asks, with Lakshmi complying out of curiosity and convenience. The blind teen awkwardly touches her shoulder to get a better grasp of her range, only to be taken aback by her bare shoulder. "No, no the shirts like that, I'm not like….you know," she clarifies, seeing Matt's confusion. 'Still blind, thankfully I guess,' Matt thinks as he aims the perfume bottle at Lakshmi.
He sprays the liquid in just the right quantity as Lakshmi walks a foot forward to spread it across her body. "Great, you smell amazing now," Matt said playfully but with some impatience in his voice. Lakshmi blushes but composes herself. She then asks Matt how they're going to explain his appearance in her room. "Just go downstairs to Britt's limo, I'll get down myself," Matt said with the utmost confidence. After further convincing, her Lakshmi finally went downstairs Matt opened the window.
'Judging by his outline based on my RADAR sense, the distance of his heartbeat and where his breathing is, he's not facing the house,' Matt surmised after sensing Britt's position.
Matt then stood on the window sill and jumped down, performing a triple summersault in the air and lands on his feet with the poise of an Olympic gymnast. Matt adjusts his shirt, he didn't make a sound.
He then walks towards Britt and taps him on the back, startling the older teen. "What the…..Matt, where the hell did you come from? Where's Lux? She coming or not?" Britt questioned Matt. The conversation was interrupted by the front door of the house opening, with Lakshmi emerging from it.
"I'm so, so, so sorry I'm late," she says hitting Britt's hand and awkwardly poking Matt's, making the two blush slightly. "Guessing Matt's Romeo act went well," Britt said facetiously."She had to choose a stripy shirt is all," Matt said, trying to forget the events that transpired minutes ago.
Britt then briskly walks towards the limo, "Girl can hack a Spy Satellite but can't choose a stupid shirt!" he exclaimed telling the driver to start the car.
"Allegedly hacked," Lakshmi said as she helped Matt enter the car as he folded his cane. Lakshmi then looked around the inside if the car. "This is so cool Britt." She says as she sinks into the leather seating and sighs comfortably.
"This kinda smells like your dad's business limo," Matt stated as he noticed the smell after acclimating to the smell of Britt's cologne and Lakshmi's perfume. "You can tell by the smell?" the other two teens ask simultaneously as Matt just shrugs as a response.
Both look at each other and then at Matt and just give a shrug themselves.
"Next stop, MADISON SQUARE GARDEN!" Britt shouted.
Madison Square Garden, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:
Mark Murdock waited anxiously in his changing room. His robe was a smooth polyester, with an ivory white texture. His shorts white with red stripes. Sweat drips from his brow as Ted Grant wraps tape across his knuckles and hands.
Mark never felt that nervous before a match. He always had someone close to him for company. People to lighten the mood and to take his mind off the upcoming fight.
Dad and mom were busy with some case.
Matt called ahead to say he might be a little late, but Mark wasn't surprised. With those three he wouldn't be surprised if they burned down the whole city on their way over here. Unfortunately, Claire said that she had to work an emergency nightshift since the other night nurse was off sick.
The young fighter looked at his trainer with a worried look causing the old man to scoff.
"Look kid," he said as he put on his protégé's gloves on. "Just concentrate on the fight, not the crowd, your family or anyone else. It's just you, the ring and that son of a bitch in the way of your belt," he gruffly said, banging his gloves to check if they were on properly.
The African American man violently shook his head and gave Ted a steeled eyed stare. The old man smiles, "There we go kid," he encouraged Mark as he places his hand at the back of the young man's head, "Knock 'im dead!"
Mark nods and gives Ted a sturdy fist bump and stands to his full height of 6 foot 6 inches. "Alright," he said banging his gloves together, the impact nearly deafening Ted, "Let's go to war."
Mark and his entourage walk through the corridor with Ted violently rubbing his left ear, 'I've been through a war, and the bombs never made my ears ring like you, you oversized dummy,' Ted narrates to himself, giving a fatherly smile to his best student.
"Told you we wouldn't be late," Matt said as he sat down in his allocated ring side seat.
The lights in the stadium shined as bright as day, contrasting the deep black sky. Britt and Lakshmi's eyes took some time to adjust to the spot lights, Matt being oblivious to their plight. The noise in the stadium was deafening, people shouting, and fans of both fighters lifting banners, jeering and shouting.
Matt could hear the equipment of the commentators buzzing and whirring, the interference of the mike ringing in his ears and the radio waves that washed through the place like water in a dam gave the blind vigilante a clear 'image' of his surroundings. The scent of preserved snacks, artificial sugars and sweeteners from the candy people were eating filled the first few rows of the stadium, only over shadowed by the overwhelming aroma of perspiration and the bleached canvas of the ring.
Britt sat between him and Lakshmi, as per their request. The heir apparent gives a gentle nudge on Matt's shoulders. "We're just lucky to go through first cus of Matty here." He said with so much enthusiasm in his voice.
"Yeah, his brother is fighting here after all," Lakshmi added as she gave Matt a small smile, not knowing he could literally feel her smile.
Britt shook his head, maintaining eye contact with the ring. "Nope, the security didn't even look at their memos. They just let us through that quickly since Matt was blind." Britt revealed surprising the two with his observations. "So Matt, I'm so happy you're disabled," the young millionaire stated semi-sarcastically, immediately invoking a deriding chuckle from Matt and a slap to the head from Lakshmi, along with a dread inducing look.
The older teen just shrugged his shoulders "Hey, just preaching the truth here. Besides, we'd still be stuck in that line if that wasn't true," he said, unwavering as he extended his arm fully to point to the crowd of people entering the VIP queue.
Matt didn't even bother counting the footsteps behind him to know that he was right. "Hey guys, what's the time?" he asks, trying to divert the conversation as Britt looks at his watch.
"7:45, match starts in 15 minutes."
Lakshmi turns to her two friends, rubbing her arms due to the cold air, "Who's Mark fighting anyway?" she asks, putting on a jacket she brought with her. Britt rubs his chin as he tries to recollect the name, "Ricardo Martinez, I think. The guy's number one in the WBA," he says, satisfied that he remembered the name. Lakshmi gives him a perplexed look, "WBA?" she asks. Britt takes a few seconds to try and form a response, fortunately, Matt came in to clarify her doubt.
"Basically, there are 4 main governing bodies in boxing. The WBA and the WBC, being the oldest and then the WBO and IBF being the relatively newer ones," he says as Britt huffs in annoyance.
Matt ignores him and further exposits, "Each of those 4 governing bodies has separate rankings for the fighters that are members of them. Their jobs are to basically aid in advertising and managing fights." Britt then interjects and cuts off Matt, "There are individual champions for each of those 4 and therefore 4 separate belts. The only way for a fighter to become undisputed champ is to beat the fighters that hold those belts."
Lakshmi nods, "So, the belts are like 4 separate dungeons in a game, with bosses unique to that belt." Britt and Matt smile at that analogy, "I guess, yeah. That's a pretty decent explanation actually." Britt admits to the Indian-American girl. "So is this Ricardo guy the WBA boss, I mean champ," she says, quickly correcting herself.
Matt shakes his head in response, "No, for some stupid reason, in boxing the number 1 ranked fighter is ranked just below the champ. So you could rank number 1 but still be ranked less than the champ," he says, remembering the annoyance his brother felt when he heard the champ of the WBA wouldn't fight him since he's ranked below Ricardo Martinez.
The blind teen then says proudly, "Mark wants to get all four belts for himself. No one's ever done it since they introduced the new belts." The two friends were about to respond when the overhead lights dimmed and the entrances for the fighters lit up.
First was Marks entrance. "This should be good," Britt stated firmly as a white hooded figure emerged along with his entourage. Suddenly, much to everyone's surprise as yellow and orange light shined on the fighter and his team as an unusual, African song played in the stadium.
"That's the Circle of Life from Lion King, right?" Britt asks as his friends, with the other two slowly nodding in disbelief. Matt wonders how in God's name they got the rights to that song. 'Disney must own way more than I thought,' he wonders amusingly.
Ted opens widens the gap between the ropes, allowing the massive Mark to enter the ring. He throws some punches in the air, warming up with some shadow boxing. The cheering of the crowd stops as the stadium blackens. An old-school rap song plays as the visage of a black-robed figure emerges from the opposing entrance.
Red lights highlight the dark robed figure as he slowly paces towards the ring. He enters the ring without resistance, opening his robe, revealing his name on his Black trunks. "RICARDO MARTINEZ."
Both fighters warm up in their corners till the referee and Michael Buffer.
"That's the 'Let's get ready to RUUMBBLEE' guy" Britt squeals out in a childlike manner, making Matt cover his ears, wishing he hadn't sat next to Britt.
"In the blue corner, The Challenger in the white trunks, Standing at 6 foot 6 inches tall, 245 pounds, With a record of 14 wins and 0 losses, all by KO," he says in a deep, baritone voice. "Ladies and Gentleman, please welcome 'Battlin'.Mark. MURDOCK'!" the crowd cheers, Mark raises his right arm in acknowledgment.
Matt smiles as he hears his father's old ring name used by his adopted brother.
Ricardo Martinez looks at Mark with some interest, he's known to be a hard hitter and extremely fast and precise for a man his size. Ricardo has seen him on video. He'd like to see just how fast.
"And in the Red corner with the Black Trunks, Standing in at 6 foot 2 inches and 200 pounds, With a record of 23 wins and 0 losses. Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome 'Ricardo. Lightning. MARTINEZ!'" an even bigger cheer erupts from the crowd, Britt, Matt and other fans from Hell's Kitchen Booing the man Mark is about to fight.
Lakshmi, after she stops admiring Marks physique, despite not caring for the sport decides to join in, "Knock him on his ass, Mark!" she shouted. Surprising the boys momentarily till they joined in on the insults.
"Mess him up man, this guy ain't even the champ!" Britt shouted. "Do it for dad!" Matt added, remembering what he told him hours ago The crowd dies down somewhat as both fighters enter the center of the ring as the referee gives them the rules. Both men not breaking eye contact.
The kind, warm eyes of Mark were now just black holes, void of any compassion.
'Just me and you man, just me and you,' he thought as Martinez refused to give in to Mark's attempt at intimidation. 'This is my ring boy,' Ricardo thought as he analysed the younger fighter, 'You are never going to become champ. I'll make sure of that.'
Both fighters touch gloves and move back to their corners, sweat dripping in anticipation, waiting, for the ring of the bell.
'Ding'
Both fighters immediately leap towards the centre of the ring. The men placing their fists just below their eyes, the traditional boxing position. Mark slowly manoeuvres towards Ricardo, as he simply waits in place for the bigger man. Mark's forward momentum is cut short as a sharp pain entered his right eye.
He didn't see the punch coming.
'That's that famous straight punch,' Ted thought begrudgingly. 'Most boxers move their shoulders and hips to add extra force into their punches. Their pretty easy to read but Ricardo doesn't use his shoulders or hips. His punches are quick enough to do some damage and he snaps it back ready to throw another one before you know what happened.'
After tanking 3 more straight punches, Mark takes a few steps back and switches to a cross-guard stance, leaving his left wide open. A fact that Ricardo abused maliciously.
Each straight punch hit Mark straight on the left of his face, bruising slightly. The opposing boxer then delivers a punch to Marks gut. And another.
He delivers multiple straight shots to Mark, but the young fighter never wavers. He keeps taking the punches, making the audience wince with each blow. Lakshmi and Britt resisting the urge to look away at what they considered a one sided slaughter.
'Kid, what've you got on your sleeve?' Ted asks himself in the corner. After 10 more agonising seconds, Mark moves backwards again. He changes his stance again, but this time it catches Ricardo and the audience off guard.
He lowers both his hands to chest level and shuffles his feet on the canvas, warming up his legs. Ricardo eyes him cautiously, 'Arrogance? Or some plan?' he wondered as he edged towards his opponent. Mark, keeping his position the same and continued to shuffle his body.
Ricardo, getting into range decides to deliver another jab. He shoots his fist forward towards his intended target, only, it wasn't there.
Mark had tilted his body sideways, dodging the jab.
Frustrated, Ricardo delivers another straight jab. This time to Mark's left. With no time to move his torso, Mark tilts his head, making the jab miss again. Ricardo deals a dozen more punches, each dodged by Mark, almost effortlessly.
Ricardo stops his barrage, making Mark smirk. The larger fighter goads him by tapping his own chin, "Come on," Mark said, adding fuel to the fire. The older fighter looks on Mark with rage, he lunges forward, throwing a flurry of punches towards Mark, each dodged effortlessly by Mark as he twists his head, shoulders and torso, making the whole thing look like an elaborate dance.
Mark sees a body shot coming and leans slightly backwards, the punch grazing his chest. "Got you," Mark murmured, using his greater reach to his advantage and delivers a powerful uppercut to his opponents jaw, a great loud pop echoes across the crowd, drowning out even the powerful roar of the crowd.
Lakshmi yelps in shock, as Matt and Britt are stunned at the sudden display of force.
Ricardo instinctively grabs to ropes to save himself from falling down, Mark not even delivering a second punch plasters a cocky grin on his face as he walks away from Ricardo. All the older fighter could feel was his feet, the world around him looked like a kaleidoscope. He could he here something in the background, something…..something…. He falls on the canvas with an almighty thud, instantly ending the fight. The crowd go wild, but their screams cannot compare to the joy being displayed by one blind teenager.
"WAY TO GO MARK! YOU'RE THE BOSS, MAN, THE GODDAMN BOSS!" Britt shouts as Matt repeats the chant.
Ted smacks Mark in the head as he reached his corner.
"What was that for?" Mark asks indignantly as he removes his mouth guard. "That was reckless kid, stupid and dangerous." He scolded, making Mark roll his eyes. Ted then tapped him on the shoulder, "But that was a clever strategy kid!" he said, with pride in his voice, making Mark glow. "You trained me, Ted, never would have done that without you man."
The men look at each other and come together in an embrace. "One small step, kid. One small step and you're champ!"
Mark smiled, "Yeah, I know," he said, hoping his father was watching.
Britt was jumping around, salivating at Marks punch. "That was so freaking genius man. He changed stance to get a feel for Ricardo's punches in different directions and moved his body to deflect the damage. SO BADASS!" he said, making Lakshmi give an amused expression as she thought his fanboy like reaction was adorable. Though Matt was impressed at Britt's ability to deduce the strategy, most on lookers would assume that Mark was just getting beat on till he decided to take the fight seriously.
But Mark never underestimated an opponent. He carefully analyses them inside and out of the ring. Matt always wondered if he'd beat Mark in a fight. He knew that is was unfair since he was just a teenager and Mark was a fully grown man, but he was curious none the less. The impressive thing is that Mark's punching power would have been cut in half since he bent backwards when he delivered the uppercut, and he was still holding back even then.
'I'm faster and more agile,' Matt thinks. But so was Ricardo.
"Let's hope we never fight bro."
Hell's Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:
"YES!" Jack Murdock exclaimed in immense joy as he put down his mobile phone.
Miranda, hair dishevelled and bags under her eyes from hours of work as she drove her beat up ford. "For the love of God almighty Jack, if this is about the lotto numbers again I swear I'll…." Jack, still giddy with joy "Nah, nah, it's Mark. He won! He's 1st in the whole WBA!" A smile crept across Miranda's face, "What round?" she asked despite knowing the answer.
"First round!"
"Where's he now? We should celebrate," Miranda stated as she turned a left.
The sound of a motorbike drowned out the next few words. "What the hell is that guy driving?" Jack asked as he looked in the rear view mirror. The biker, dressed in black leather and a black helmet drove up next to Jack. The police officer looks at the biker next to him, the view he was greeted him sent sweat dripping down his face.
A gun.
Before Jack could warn his wife the thunderous roar of gun shots filled the air as the glass from the window shattered and sprayed all over the inside of the car. Jack didn't have time to pull out his weapon as holes ripped through the former boxer, his blood covering his wife.
Miranda screams in terror, she loses control of the vehicle in the process, crashing into a street light. The biker stops in front of the car to examine the wreckage. He sees movement in the driver's seat, an airbag, shuffling. "Ja-jack…" a voice cried out weakly. 'Still alive?' the drive thought to himself as he walked next to Miranda. The lawyer looked upon her would be killer, fear clear in her eyes as he lifted a gun towards he face.
"Took your advice councillor. This ones American," he said in a thick Bostonian accent.
Miranda's face of fear, changed to one of realisation. "Sweeney?"
"No. I'm the Fixer, remember," he said, pulling the trigger.
…...
Silence.
Only broken by the sound of an empty gun clicking. "Hmm. Well shit. Guess I ain't as good of a shot as I thought," The fixer said, putting the pistol in his pocket. Miranda looked at him, tears streaming from her eyes. "Please," she pleaded, "I've two sons, please don't do this."
Sweeny stops. Smiling underneath his helmet.
"Usually I'd say that it ain't personal," he responded, putting his arm inside the now shattered window. Miranda unable to move simply watches. "But I looked like an idiot, getting hit by a woman in court today," Fixer responded, his voice steady as he wrapped his throat around Miranda's throat.
"So it is kinda personal," he continues as the lawyers face goes bright red, her eyes widening as she struggles to breath.
Hells Kitchen, New York, Monday, September 21st 2009:
"How is it this quiet?" Matt asked himself as he leaped across a rooftop.
After the match Britt dropped him and Lakshmi off at their respective homes, and Mark elected to visit Clair at the hospital for what he called 'A personal diagnosis.' Matt shudders thinking about what that entails.
The streets have been unusually silent today. A mugging occurred around half an hour ago but it was some junkie too high to even stand. The lady he attempted to rob ended up just hitting him with her bag and ran off anyway. Matt called the cops using a payphone nearby just to make sure the junkie was arrested.
"Maybe I'm so scary and effective that all crime has stopped in the kitchen?" Matt says to no one in particular as he scales a wall. "Nah, even criminals must have off days." Matt then thinks that he may as well go to the rendezvous point to meet Kato, he can at least get a couple hours of sleep while waiting.
His thought process ended upon hearing gunshots in the distance and what sounded like a car crashing into something. "That's not good," the teen in black says, rushing to investigate.
"Usually I'd say that this ain't personal," a familiar voice said, grabbing the person inside.
'Crap, faster Matt come on!'
'Wait, the woman in the car. Her heartbeat. No….it's, MOM!'
"So it is kinda personal," Fixer says, tightening his grip on Miranda.
Sweeny sees something in the corner of his helmet visor. "AARGH!" he wails in pain as a wooden baton hit him in the visor, shattering the glass all over his face. Some entering his left eye, making him bleed, heavily. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" a voice growled from the shadows, a leg impacting Sweeny in the chest, making the larger man fall to the ground, clutching his bleeding eye.
Matt rushes towards his mom, opening the car door, removing her from her seat. "Come on, stay with me," he says in a panicked state, slightly relieved upon hearing her still beating, albeit weak heart. Matt gently places her down on the ground, using her coat as a pillow. The vigilante's nostrils flair as a familiar scent enters his nose, aftershave and old boxing tape. But tainted, by the smell of iron. No. Blood.
Matt leaps over the hood of the car to see the occupant of the passenger seat.
'No, no please don't be you, please God I'm begging you!' Matt prays as he takes of his glove and places his bare hand over the dead bodies. Cut and bruised. Clearly fresh, probably from the accident Matt surmised. "190 pounds, male, mid to late 40's." He further discovers.
He feels the air move differently near his chest. Some piece of metal is fixed to the left of his torso. Matt touches it revealing that it's a police badge. He brushes his finger over the inscription where his name would be, dreading what he would find.
"Jack Murdock."
Matt freezes. The world around him swirls into a vortex, he hears nothing, not the leaking oil of the engine, the breathing of his mother or the footsteps of the fixer running away. He can only concentrate on the corpse in front of him. The corpse of his dead father.
The vigilante wraps his arms around the warm body. He doesn't want to move. He can't. All he can perceive is the scent of his father, and his blood. He doesn't cry. He has no tears to shed. Matt tries searching for a heartbeat, but with no avail.
Matt backs away from his father's corpse and falls to his knees.
His screams echoed across the streets, and the sound of his fist impacting the road below filled his ears. Matt had no tears to shed. But his eyes were shot with red.
He could now hear the fixer running in the distance. More importantly, Matt could smell him. He smelt of his father's blood.
The vigilante clenched his fist as he stood up.
But the Fixer wasn't going to deal with Matt Murdock. He hurt his family. He hurt his father. And Matt's eyes go dead. Like his fathers.
He let the Devil out.
Well, that was long.
I intended for Matt to confront The Fixer(A.K.A Roscoe Sweeny) in this chapter, but it's over 11,000 words long. So I thought I'd do it next chapter.
Also, Big Figure is a gangster from the comic Watchmen. And the name I gave him, Walter Kovacs is the name of his nemesis Rorschach. I didn't want Matt to fight kingpin as a teenager since he would be absolutely destroyed in that first confrontation. He will appear eventually. Don't worry.
Blake is the name of The cop from the Dark knight rises, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt. He'll play an important role in the story.
Next chapter Matt is going to fight one of his most iconic villains. Care to guess who.
Until next time!