Part Four

            "What happened?" The Kingpin asked quietly staring at the bruised and battered faces of the three mighty Enforcers. They had come back to him with an empty truck and only excuses.

            Ox gulped, "Spider-Man and DareDevil showed up, we never had a chance, Kingpin."

            He grimaced, "Never had a chance?" Wilson Fisk slammed his bulky hand on the table, sobering the Enforcers out of their depression, "You three are the most deadly squad of criminals to ever roam the syndicates and you never had a chance?" He yelled behind clenched teeth, chilling the blood of every one of them, "Don't give me that! You got sloppy and as a result I've lost over ten million dollars worth of equipment because of these costumed buffoons!"

            "Sir, he uh, had a message for you." Fancy Dan stammered drawing the anxious glances of his companions, "DareDevil said he'd be coming for you."

            Fisk eyes widened slowly; "Let him come." He grimaced, "Let Spider-Man come; they're dead. They made the mistake of crossing paths with me and nobody crosses me, nobody!"

            Peter's eye-lids slowly opened. The sun beamed down on him warmly. He shook his head; the effects of his concussion were wearing off, though he still wasn't at one hundred percent. He looked at his hands and found his mask in them.

            Luckily, nobody had come by, but someone could have easily stumbled upon him. Peter counted his blessing and pulled the mask over his head. He rubbed the back of his skull, the blow still ached somewhat.

            Slowly rising to his feet, he found his knees were weak and wobbly. Peter stumbled out of the alley and onto the sidewalk. Passing bystanders immediately took notice and gazed at him shocked.

            "Hi." He said feebly, "Does anyone have the time?"

            "It's time for you to get a watch!" Somebody yelled out causing a slight chuckle from the crowd.

            Peter grimaced, "Everyone's a comedian. Nobody has the time?"

            One man stared at his watch for a moment, "Yeah." He said helpfully, "It's one in the afternoon."

            "Oh." His eyes widened. "My." His jaw dropped, "God! The mid-terms are today!" Peter raised his arm to fire a web-line and nothing happened. "What?" He checked his shooters by pulling the sleeve on his costume back, "Oh no, I forgot to reload my shooters!" He slapped the side of his head, "How do I forget to reload my shooters!"

            Peter sighed and stared at the crowd, "Anyone mind giving me a lift?"

            Matt Murdock entered his apartment, a small hovel that he had scrapped out through chasing ambulances over the past few years. He moved through the apartment with ease, avoiding small obstacles left on the floor via his sloppiness.

            Nobody would know it by watching him but Matt was blind. He couldn't see a thing, not a figure not a man, nothing. But he could hear, he could smell along with his remaining senses well beyond the ability of any normal man.

            He couldn't help but smile, things had gone particularly well for him. Not only had he intercepted Kingpin's truck no doubt attracting the attention of the crime boss but he had defeated Spider-Man, apparently a new entry into Kingpin's growing roster.

            Matt ran his hands along the picture that framed his law degree as he walked pasty it. He had a case later today and all things considered he was in prime condition for it.  

            The day he had waited so long for was coming. There'd be a time soon when Hell's Kitchen would be safe, when crime wouldn't have a stranglehold on it. Matt sighed, it wouldn't be the same place that consumed his father, scarred him for life, it would be reborn with the fall of the Kingpin.

            Peter ran. He had been running; it had been a long run. He had gotten out of his costume and started running. He'd run all the way from Manhattan to Queens, it was two-thirty.

            Peter ran up the steps of his school, ran down the hallways, ran past the fellow students eyeing him, and straight into the principle's office. "Stop the tests!" He yelled between gasps, "Stop the tests." Peter collapsed from exhaustion.

            "Mr. Parker, you gave us quite a scare." Said the principle of his school gently while Peter came to his senses on a bed in the nurses' office. "Are you okay?"

            "I missed the test!" He screamed, "I missed it." He struggled to rise up from the bed. "I can't believe I missed it."

            The principle smiled and lay Peter back down, "Take a moment, you look dehydrated. Just relax. We contacted your uncle, he paid for the fee for missing it; you'll take it next week."

            Peter sighed, "Can I have a drink?"

            After collecting his senses, Peter left the nurse's office to find MJ sitting quietly by the door, "Hi."

            She stared at him coldly, "What happened to you last night?" She asked with a mix of accusations and concern.

            "I had a scuffle with a little red jerk." Peter closed his fist, "Ben's pretty pissed at me isn't he?"

            MJ nodded, "I just got off the phone with him. You'll be lucky if he lets you leave the house to get the mail. You're not coming to Liz's right?"

            "Everyone already left?" Peter asked seeing no sign anyone else in the halls except for the occasional janitor. "You could have gone without me."

            She shrugged, "Maybe next time, let's go home and play Monopoly or something, maybe watch a movie after your uncle's done screaming at you."

            Peter nodded, regretting that he had forced her to miss out on Liz's party. "I'm really sorry about this; I didn't intend to be out like that."

            "I know, Pete." She draped her arm around him, "I know."

            The disappointment in her face tore him apart. "So who was that red guy you mentioned?"

            Peter grimaced angrily as a sense of revenge suddenly took hold of him, "Just someone whose horns I plan to tear out nice and slow."

            Matt Murdock stared at the defendant. He was a slimy slick con artist who had gotten through exaggerating his bank account to impressionable young woman as well as other things.

            He was standing before the court, a small and inexperienced group of men and women made up the jury pool. Matt sighed deeply and approached them, "If you allow this…monster to get away with his crime you justify his actions you spit on the victims. Three separate women, with their entire lives before them, wiped out because Mr. Jon refused to accept the fact that they no longer wanted to be with him, with the fantasy he had created out of lies."

            Matt took several steps towards the defense table, tapping his walking cane on the floor, creating vibrations that he could hear and determine the locations of everyone and everything in the room.

            "Will you quiet their deaths and let him go on and destroy others?" Matt shook his head defiantly, his blank eyes staring out past his rose-tinted glasses, "No, the truth is clear and only one decision, guilty, will serve justice."

            "I can't believe it! I can't!" Matt screamed angrily as Foggy Nelson, his best friend gently led him out of the courthouse, "How could they have let him off! We had eye-witness testimony, DNA evidence and even a 911 call."

            "That's life." Foggy replied disappointed, "You win some you lose some."

            Matt was disgusted, he felt like he needed a bath, "He was never nervous." He said as the answer swept over him like a tide, "He paid them off! I need to see the judge."

            "Calm down, Matt. You always get like this after you lose a case." Foggy said trying to relax his friend as they stepped through the exit of the building and slowly descended the steps heading for the street below.

            He clenched his teeth furiously, "I can't believe it; I'm going to see someone about this, tomorrow."

            "In the meantime we have a meeting with the D.A. tomorrow. So you'd better prepare." Foggy said rubbing his stomach, "I'm hungry do you want a bite?"

            "We just a lost a case and you want to eat?" Matt asked puzzled, "Sometimes I just can't understand you."

            Foggy sighed, "You don't think I'm pissed off? I am, it's just that some of us don't wear our emotions on our sleeves like certain blind lawyers I know." He patted Matt on the shoulder, "You did your best and tomorrow we'll see a judge until then, you need to relax. I swear it's like you don't get sleep or something you looked like a mess out there today. Come on, get a bite with me."

            "No, I've got something to do." Matt said quietly, "Take me home, I'll see you in the morning."

            "What've you got to do? Maybe I can help?"

            Matt shook his head quietly and brushed his crimson hair back, "No, it's just some paper work."

            "Oh, paper work? How are you going to read it?"

            Matt smiled, "It's in Braille."

            The Kingpin stared at the sole surviving soldier, "Are you telling me that he just hit my drug lab?" He roared outraged at this latest transgression, "He hit it less that an hour ago!"

            "Y-y-ye-y-yes sir." The lackey stammered, "DareDevil was on us before we knew he was there."

            "What did he do?" Kingpin asked, his face slowly becoming red, "What did he do to the lab?"

            The goon sighed and took the dive, "He lit the lab on fire. We lost everything."

            The Kingpin grimaced, "That operation was worth millions!" He glanced at the Enforcers, "This is your fault! You were supposed to kill DareDevil last night, now look!" He slammed his feet on the floor and wiped everything off his desk with a mighty gesture, "I want to tear his heart out! I want his family dead, I want his friends dead! I want you to shove that costume down his throat and make him choke on it!"

            "Kingpin." The goon closed his eyes praying for the best, "He said he wants to meet, face-to-face, man-to-man, in your shipping warehouse." Silence erupted. It was a ballsy move, nobody had ever challenged the Kingpin, not since he'd taken over by crushing the skull of his predecessor with his bare hands.

            The Kingpin rocked his head back at this, first surprised. Then slowly a grin swept over his face, "Finally, some good news."