CHAPTER FOUR: LEAPFROG

Holy shit but this was high.

Matt grabbed futilely at the hand wrapped around his neck and tried to loosen the grip, but Matt also knew that if he did somehow manage to get Leapfrog to let him go, not even Daredevil was going to survive a drop from this height.

Matt respected heights. He wasn't scared of them-how could he be, when his other life consisted of parkour-ing from building to building every other night? But he respected them. I could fall from here, and you could kill me. I respect you. He almost thought if he said it out loud, the building might agree with him.

Because holy shit the Chrysler building was high. Leapfrog was jostling him too much for him to grab his billy club, and so for the moment, Matt put up with the ride in the hopes that Leapfrog would stop soon. They were almost running out of building.

Finally, Leapfrog dropped him somewhere on the 31st floor and Matt clung to one of the sculptures there to get his breath back. He craned his neck upward, listening for Leapfrog to see where he'd finally landed.

The spire. Because of course he did. Matt could hear his jetpack clinking against the stainless steel that adorned the top of the skyscraper. "Okay. How in the hell am I going to get him down?" he wondered. Better question. How the hell am I getting down?

Part of him wanted just to leave Leapfrog up there and work on kicking his ass the next time he was on the ground. But the other part of him knew that if it wasn't this night, some other night, it might be a taller building. It might not be Daredevil that was in the hostage situation.

So Matt reached up, found a windowsill. And started to climb. His boots and gloves skidded on the steel, but if he climbed quicker, didn't pause too long, he got a better grip.

"Come on up!" Leapfrog yelled at him from his place where the spire met the rooftop. "The view's great!"

"Enjoy it while it lasts," Matt ground out. "After this all you're gonna see is the shower room at Rikers." Leapfrog was just above him. Matt planted himself into one of the triangular windows, willing himself not to look down. Leapfrog was just above him now. Matt debated his next move, knowing that even the slightest slipup and he'd be careening toward the street below. Far, far below them, Matt could hear sirens. And somewhere off to his left, a news chopper.

The chopper. That was their exit. Matt used the grappling end of his billy club and launched it at the helicopter, feeling a satisfying tug as it extended and wrapped around the landing skid. Matt then free climbed with his other hand, pushing off the triangular window ledges until he was almost at the tip of the roof. Leapfrog was screaming something into the night sky, but his monologue turned to terror as Matt wrapped the arm holding the club around his waist, while making a 'take off' signal with his other.

The chopper pilot understood, and began pulling away from the building. Matt and Leapfrog were torn off the exterior of the building and into the sky. Matt's arm strained with the effort of keeping both of them from dropping. The chopper swung around in a slow circle, and the momentum made Matt loose his grip. His hand slipped off the club and he and Leapfrog went tumbling through the air. Leapfrog thrashed and Matt let him go.

Leapfrog landed on his back on an adjoining roof. Matt heard a crack as his jetpack broke his fall. Matt, on the other hand, tucked and rolled up into a standing position opposite Leapfrog. He took a second, breathing heavily, then walked over the supervillain and hauled him to his feet, tossing the jetpack over the side. "Let's go down the regular way," Matt suggested.

The supervillain nodded weakly.