Chapter Seven; In Which Daredevil Brings Down A Kingpin
(And how! I mean seriously, wow!)
Yield not to evils, but attack all the more boldly.
Virgil
Tomorrow tower was on 721, fifth avenue new York. It was the second tallest building in New York, built on the ruins of a mansion the Stark family used to own, with four earthquake-proof sub-basements. It housed several stories of jewelry manufacturers, diamond cutters, and gold workers. It had three large vaults installed in different spots in the building, and the tightest security network known to man.
Which is why the Avengers brought a mutant thief along.
Chance looked over the building with his electronic vision. From his hiding spot with the others in an alley across the street he could see the layout of the whole building. "Okay, I can disable most of the electronic alarms no problem, and I'll turn off anything else so you'll have an easier time. But I'm sensing some armed guards in there, so you'll have to work fast or one of them will send out an alarm."
"You're not coming with us?" Wolverine asked.
Chance kept his poker face up. "No. Angel and I are headed back home. If the old man says we're outgunned, I'm going to listen to him."
"What?" Wolverine asked, incredulous. "You can't just –"
"He can go if he wants to." Captain America said. "I agree. This is a suicide mission."
"Than why are you doing this?" Chance asked. "You must see this is pointless Captain…" He withered under Cap's glare.
"We're doing this because a friend of ours might still be alive."
Chance looked down, apparently suddenly interested in his shoes.
"If they're not coming, you guys'll probably need some back-up." Gwen said.
"No." Captain America said, sternly. "If we die here, we'll need somebody to stay alive and keep fighting the good fight." He stood up straight, the others copying him. "Do your thing Chance. It's now or never. Avengers! Assemble!"
Chance held out his hands as the last of the Avengers charged into the street. The alarms in the building flickered off, dead, followed by the cameras, then the vault locks, then the lights. "What the –" one of the guards in the lobby stuttered as the lights went out. He was confused for a second, then he realized this might be trouble, and suddenly became aware of the noise from outside. He looked out the window to see the Avengers jumping over the traffic.
"Holy –" he drew his sidearm in a panicked move, spilling his hot coffee over his shoes. The other guards turned and drew their weapons too as Captain America flew through the doors, glass flying everywhere. The guards were too shocked to fire immediately, and Cap used it to his advantage. He slid his shield down his arm just like he'd practiced, until he was holding it by two fingers. Then, spinning it like a discus he threw it at the guard at an angle that he hoped would hit them all before they got a shot off. The shield hit the three guards in the chin, just like he'd practiced. The fourth guard doubled over as it flew into his guts. Captain America crossed his fingers. The shield crossed paths with the fifth guard's head, knocking him out instantly. Then it knocked the gun out of the sixth guard's hand, ricocheted off the wall and hit him in the side, cracking a few ribs before flying back to Captain America's hand. He smiled and turned to the alley, giving a thumbs up.
"That's our cue to go." Chance said, turning and leaving down the alley. Angel hesitated, then followed him away. Gwen waved back at Captain America from across the street.
"Break a leg." She whispered.
The Avengers walked through the lobby, casting shadows in front of them from the lights outside. One guard wasn't quite out, and scrambled wildly for his radio, but Deadpool skipped over and yelled "Fore!" hitting him in the head with a nine-iron.
"What do you think Cap'n?" Scarlet Spider asked. "Do we take the stairs and fight through a hundred stories of security guards, or do we ascend the elevator shaft, Matrix-style?"
"I vote we disguise ourselves as these security guards." Deadpool piped in. "We will blend in, likening ourselves unto ninjas. And then Uncle Norm's death shall be swift and silent as the wind."
"No Deadpool." Captain America said. "We're taking the stairs."
"No permanent damage to them." Wolverined said, examining the unconscious guards. "Well, maybe some pshycological damage from the one Deadpool is stripping."
"It was good enough for Han Solo, it's good enough for me." Deadpool declared, buttoning up a loose fitting guard's uniform over his trenchcoat.
"Okay, Deadpool, just follow us once you've done… 'disguising' yourself. And don't take your mask off." Captain America lead the team up the stairs.
Mr. Hyde stood behind his desk, looking out over the city. "Hood?" He asked the empty room. Parker Robbins emerged from the shadows, his cloak trailing behind him.
"The power is out. What did you do?"
"Nothing Hyde." Parker said. "I could restore the power with a snap of my fingers, but then the group of costumed individuals who just crashed through the lobby doors would know we know they're here."
Hyde chuckled. "I assume you're going to go and utterly destroy them now?"
"Of course. They wrecked my building."
"I'd rather you didn't."
The Hood paled before regaining his composure. "And what, pray tell, would you want me to do?"
"Bring them to me." Hyde said.
"You're being reckless. I could decimate them without breaking a sweat."
"And you're being boring." Hyde sneered. "They've got guts. We could add them to our payroll. Do they have any powers?"
The Hood's cloak swirled in a nonexistent wind. "No."
"Then they are no threat to me. Bring them up. But… give them a show first. Ruffle them up a little."
"You're not the one calling the shots here." Hood reminded him.
"I think you'll find that I am." Hyde grinned his wicked grin. "I am the Kingpin of crime after all."
"We agreed on that because you could take more damage as a target."
"And because you're a coward." Hyde scoffed. "Now go and scare them, and remember to leave them unharmed if you know what's good for you."
The Hood left in a bad mood.
The Avengers were at the fortieth floor when the stairwell shook. "What was that?" Leo asked.
Captain America looked down. "That's the stairs disappearing."
The others looked up, and saw what he saw; the stairs at the bottom of the stairwell were collapsing in on themselves, and slowly working their way up.
"This is like a dream of mine." Deadpool mused. "Lisa Bianchi from ninth grade will come out any minute now in a panda costume and I'll have to save her from goblins. You guys might want to stand back, it'll be messy."
"Run!" Captain America yelled, and the Avengers rushed up the stairs as they fell away behind them, slowly catching up. Cap looked back and realized the stairs were falling right at Wolverine's heels. "Scalert! Web!" Scarlet Spider shoot a strand of web at the ceiling, and Cap made a jump for it. He slid down the thread quickly, just as Wolverine fell off the stairs. Cap caught him just before he began screaming.
"Everybody grab on!" He yelled. They all jumped for the strand of webbing and hung there as the stairs collapsed around them.
"Captain!" Scarlet Spider yelled. "It won't take long for it to reach the web!" The collapsing staircases were making their way to the railing that the other end of her web was attached to.
"Wolverine, swing to that door." He ordered. The two of them started swinging back and forth.
"Hurry!" Daredevil yelled.
"You know, really, being eaten by a stairwell isn't such a bad death." Deadpool said. "It has an air of… mystery. Hey, who else would really dig a pizza right now?"
Captain America and Wolverine kicked open the door and fell inside, just as the railing fell. Everybody fell down, clutching the rope as the two of them heaved, bringing them tumbling into the floor in a pile.
Captain America gasped for breath underneath them all. "Okay, it's going to be tougher getting to the top floor than I thought…" He began to say, when another door opened to his right. A security guard came out, and dropped his keys in shock.
"I'll handle this one guys." Deadpool said before anybody could react. He sidled up to the guard and put his arm around him "Hey buddy. What a fine night for a pair of security guards, like ourselves, to be guarding the security. What a fine night indeed, for I am also a security guard, as you can clearly see by my uniform, and name-badge which reads… uh…" he took off the badge. "Paul… Rocheshimner… Rotchimimim…. Rocthiem… Ah… Bob. It reads Bob. Paul Bob. Most of these letters are silent.
"Uh…" The guard looked Deadpool up and down in disbelief, at the trench coat flowing out from underneath his uniform, the golf bag on his back loaded with sports equipment, and the red mask with the black dot around one eye.
"Ah yes. As you can see… my friends and I are attending a costume party. For we are surely not heroes intent on bringing down the criminal overlord who lives in this building. That would be sheer lunacy."
"Yeah, I guess it would." The guard said, happy with an explanation that made sense.
"And surely, even if we were superheroes, your boss wouldn't be paying you enough to deal with us."
"You got that right, the old miser." The guard said. "If you were superheroes, I would probably tell you that there's a service entrance down the hall and to the left where some of his less reputable clients come in so as not to be seen that superheroes could probably use not be seen too."
"Yeah, wink winknudge nudge huh?" Deadpool chuckled. "It's a good thing that we aren't superheroes or anything. Just regular old party goers. Now be on your way fellow night watchman."
"Yep. Good luck at your 'party' Paul Bob." The night guard walked away through another door, chuckling to himself.
"Well, now we have a way up." Captain America said, brushing himself off.
"I told you my disguise would work." Deadpool said. "I have mad disguising skills. I can make a ninja weep of jealousy, before he dies by my cunningly concealed hand."
The Hood walked out of the wall. "I've demonstrated my power, and they remain unperturbed. They're headed up right now. By the way, we're going to have to kill one of our late night guards. He's either too stupid to live or he's faking it to try to mask his betrayal."
"Huh. I'll take it from here Hood. Go hide in a corner or something."
The Hood disappeared into the walls, with a glare. Mr. Hyde took a deep breath and took off his jacket. He unbuttoned his cufflinks, placing them on his desk, and rolled up his sleeves. He stood there, facing the door, ready for a fight. He smiled. It had been a long time since he'd fought a hero. First he was going to offer them some small glimmer of hope. A job in his criminal empire. Then, he was going to kill them, whether they took the job or not.
Captain America led them into the room. They found Mr. Hyde waiting for them. "Well hello." He growled. "I've been waiting for you. Heard a lot about you. Care for a glass of wine?" He gestured to the rare bottle sitting on his desk.
The Avengers advanced into the room warily. "No thanks."
"Ah, of course, where are my manners." Hyde smiled. "You're not a man for pleasantries. Straight to business. I like that." He walked around to his desk and picked up the other thing lying on it. "This is a contract for your services. You've managed to last in a fight against Osborn. Congrats. I need men like you on the streets, fighting the good fight. That is to say, the bad fight. Whichever you prefer. What do you say?"
"Where is Sandman?"
"Sandman?" Hyde scratched his chin. "Ah, yes, the magic user Osborn was ranting about. A friend of yours? Well, I wouldn't know. He's not with you?"
"You're in league with the Goblin." Cap said. "You know where he took him."
"Ah, you've come here, storming my castle, hoping you'll find him and free him? Or, barring that, you're going to try and pummel the answers out of me?" His smile broadened. "I like that. I like that a lot." He strolled around to the other side of his desk, leisurely. "I'm only sharing Mr. Goblin young man. He does the occasional job, every once in a while, but his real occupation is with S.H.I.E.L.D." He popped the cork and poured the wine into a flute. "I only ordered him to reinforce Yancy street. He went after Gwen as part of his job. If he's done anything else recently, it's not on me." He took a sip. "I could probably call in a favor from Doom. If you were to work for me. What do you say?"
"No deal." Cap said angrily. He nodded and Daredevil took out a tape recorder. "Now that we have a confession, we're making a citizen's arrest."
Hyde sighed and drank the wine. "Well… I can't say I wasn't looking forward to this." He smirked. He grabbed the bottle of wine and threw it at Deadpool. Scarlet shot it out of the air before it connected, splashing wine and broken glass over him, then she turned her guns to Hyde as the rest of the Avengers charged. He ducked out of the way, the bullets creating spiderweb cracks in the glass behind him.
He picked up his desk, an eighteenth century piece made of solid mahogany, and spun it around like a discuss at Scarlet. She leaped over it, and when she landed he was there, fists swinging. His punch connected, and she was knocked back so hard the drywall covered the steel walls behind it crumbled around her.
"Who else wants some?" He laughed, diving into the Avengers. His fist made a crater in the floor where Captain America used to stand. He Laughed and blocked a swing from Deadpool with a hockey stick and grabbed the golf bag. He tore it from his shoulders, flinging Deadpool into the wall as he did so, then began throwing its contents at Captain America. He managed to block a croquet mallet, but the recoil felt like he was blocking a car. Hyde had a throwing arm. He dodged the next one, a nine iron which embedded itself into the wall. Hyde took an enormous fistful of golf club out of a pocket and threw them. Cap blocked most of them, but one hit him in the leg and he cried out as if he'd been shot.
Hyde threw the bag itself at him, then picked up a shuffleboard stick and swung it around, and with a crack he knocked Wolverine out before he attacked him with his claws. He grabbed Wolverine, and brought his arms up, stabbing at the ceiling with his claws. Wolverine hung there, helpless.
Hyde laughed, and swung his fist around at Deadpool. He grabbed him, and shoved his head underneath the coffeemaker on his wall, turning it up to its highest setting. Deadpool screamed as hot coffee poured over his face and through his mask.
Hyde's laughter reached full swing, becoming a roar. He turned to Daredevil with a wild crazed look in his eyes. She'd been attacking him the entire time, to little effect. He grabbed her billy club and yanked it towards him, pulling her close. He tore it from her fingers and tossed her away. He spun it around, and brought it down on Captain America's face, finally knocking him out mid charge.
"Honestly, I was looking for a fight." He said nonchalantly, grabbing Daredevil by the throat. "I miss the good old days, where you could just do evil things for the heck of it, and they'd reward you with a good fight. Ah, I remember the days I sat in my jail cell, remembering the hero's glorious fists against my face, my chest…" He sighed wistfully. "I haven't fought a good hero in so long. I've been so lonely." He smiled morbidly, wickedly.
"But now I'll have you to keep me company." He sat her down in his chair and leaned in close to her, the smell of wine coming off his rancid breath. "Struggle." He commanded in a whisper.
"Leave her alone!" Wolverine yelled, trying to get his claws free.
"I'll get to you soon enough!" Hyde laughed, picking up his footstool and throwing it at him, dislodging him from the ceiling but knocking him unconscious at the same time. "Now where were we?" He asked Daredevil, breathing heavily. She struggled under his grip, hitting at his fist. "Hmmm… something's not quite right… ah yes!" He reached over and punched his window, sending glass falling to the ground far below. "You're not really Daredevil. But I'm about to solve the big difference between the two of you." He picked up two very large shards of glass.
"The real Daredevil was blind."
"No! No!" Daredevil screamed as Hyde stabbed the two shards down into her eyes. She felt the glasss searing into her eyes, and the pain was so terrible that she didn't even notice as the world went black.
"Oh yeah, you like that don't you?" Hyde chuckled. "You wanted to be like Daredevil, didn't you?"
"Leave…" She heard Wolverine coughing blood. "Leave her… alone… you monster…"
"Oh shut up, you're next!" She heard the sound of a slap. She winced, and stopped crying.
"Oh, I didn't mean you." Hyde turned his attentions back to Daredevil. "You can make all the noises you want." He laughed viciously.
She began making little choking noises. "What's that? You have something to say? Do you want to beg for mercy?" He leaned in close to her. "Come on, tell me. What's the matter, cat got your tongue?"
She smiled. "Struggle." She whispered, and she head butted him. His eyes widened in surprise as his eyes came closer to his, large pieces of glass still sticking out of her eyes. Then her head connected with his, and the glass embedded themselves in his eyes.
With a howl of pain he recoiled, letting go of her. But she wasn't finished. He listened to his howls and got out of the chair, running at him. "You stabbed my eyes!" He yelled. "You stabbed me In my #*%$*!# eyes!" She grabbed his ears, pulling at his head, steering him towards the window. "I'll kill you!" He yelled charging. "I'll kill you, you biiiiiiiiaaaaaa!" He screamed, falling out of the window dragging her with him.
He fell through the air, blindly. "Hood!" He yelled. "Hood! Help me! Save me! Do something!"
Time slowed down, and the Hood suddenly appeared in the air next to him. "You know, I think I will do something." He said, his smug grin carrying into his voice. "I think I'll 'go hide in a corner'. Have a nice fall." He disappeared into the air.
"Hood!" Hyde yelled, really panicked now. "Hood! Get back here you traitorous little weasel! Hoooooood!" Time sped back up again, and he fell the rest of the way down, screaming.
Daredevil felt the wind soar past her face, and his scream mixing with the sounds of New York, her home. She spread her arms like and eagle, falling gracefully. How ironic. She thought. This all started because I'd tried to jump, and now, somebody had had to take me with him. "Goodbye Leo." She whispered, falling to her death.