Disclaimer: I do not own Daredevil, Arrow or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed, reviewed or viewed this fic so far.
Chaos Sorcerer: Thank you for the review. I'm really glad you liked the fight. I didn't feel pressurized. If a reader asks me to do something in the story, I try my best to do it in a way that makes sense but if I can't, I tell them that. I think Michael Jai White would have been great as Ricardo Diaz due to his martial arts moves and all that. I'm glad you loved his conversations with the hallucinations and his line to Frank. Daredevil has a similar villain in the comics in the form of Mr. Fear. How Bane is handled, let's just say 'you didn't see that coming.' That is a great idea. Really epic too. I am going to think out the details and then I will do it sometime at the end of this year or at the start of the next. Thank you for this great idea. Let's just say I am a very distant cousin of Charles Xavier, 63 times removed *Chuckles*
Chapter 17- The Undertaking
In an office downtown, the underworld accountant known as Harold Backman was putting banded stacks of $100 bills into a metal briefcase as he talked on his speakerphone.
"Call Cayman Fidelity", he said as his two bodyguards looked around, "Tell them their favorite accountant is flying in to make a special deposit for a special client."
He was grinning the entire time but the grin faded when he heard the elevator ding.
"The elevator's supposed to be on a key", he said to the bodyguards, "Go, check it out."
One of the men took the briefcase and both headed to the elevator with guns drawn.
They looked in confusion as the door opened by itself. Suddenly, The Hood crashed down from the roof. Before the men could do a thing, he smacked the legs of the man with the briefcase using his bow, making him fall down. He then smacked him on the face and he was out.
The other man fired but The Hood picked up the briefcase and held it up. It deflected the bullets but they made dents on it. Soon, the gun was emptied. The Hood then smacked his hands with the briefcase, disarming him of the gun.
As he rose, the man tried to punch him but he ducked and then deflected all his punches with his elbows. He then gave him a kick in a rotatory motion on the chest and he was thrown back by a few feet. He fell unconscious on the floor, right in front of a horrified Backman.
The Hood grabbed Backman by the collar and slamming him against the wall growled, "Harold Backman, you have failed this city!"
Backman cowered and clutched his laptop tightly, "I am only an accountant. I'm just the money."
"The money that leads to extortion, kidnapping and drugs", The Hood growled loudly enough to make Backman almost wet his pants, "It's the destruction of innocent lives!"
"You think you scare me more than the people you work for?" Backman asked as he regained composure.
"No", The Hood said before declaring, "They can deal with you."
He then knocked Backman out with the bow and took his laptop. He then walked away.
In the lair, Oliver put the laptop down in front of Felicity as Diggle watched.
"Hmmm", she muttered, "Let me guess. Some bad guy missing his fancy new laptop."
"Harold Backman", Oliver said, "He's who Starling City's worst call when they want to launder the money in the Caymans."
"Shouldn't we just turn this over to, I don't know, the IRS?" she asked him as she opened the laptop, booted it up and connected it to her system.
"We will", Dig told her, "Just as soon as you return the money to its rightful owners."
Felicity tried going through the records but the screen flashed red, "Well, it sounds like a very nice idea. Backman's files are all protected with an asymmetric encryption algorithm."
"Really?" Oliver asked though he had no idea what it meant, "So it's gonna take a while to break in."
"Days, at least", she muttered as she started working hard.
"Better get started, then", Diggle encouraged her with a smile.
At Queen Manor, Moira was talking angrily to Walter's Life Insurance Company, "Yes. I know it's been 6 months but-"
They cut her off to tell her about some rules and statistics as she growled in frustration, "I am very well aware of the statistics. But I haven't given up hope, and neither should you."
She cut the call and sighed in frustration.
"That didn't sound so good."
Moira turned to the doorway to see Thea and reassured her daughter in a tired tone, "Oh, its fine."
"Who were you talking to?" Thea asked her.
"Just the life insurance company", Moira said in a sour tone, "They insist on paying out Walter's life insurance policy."
Thea approached her mother awkwardly and said, "I know we haven't talked about Walter in a while, but I-I miss him too. It's like losing dad all over again."
Moira gathered her sad daughter in her arms and gave her a tight hug of comfort, silently enraged at Malcolm for once again tearing apart her family.
Verdant was closed, but Laurel was sitting there, drinking coffee.
"Of all the gin joints, and all the towns in the world, she walks into mine", Oliver joked as he walked in from behind.
"This coffee's terrible", Laurel said dully.
"That's what you get for ordering coffee in a bar", Oliver joked with a grin before saying in a concerned tone, "You look tired. Too much work?"
"Yeah", she said, "And no time to blow off. Matt went back to New York for some work."
"Oh!" Oliver said though he already knew that, "So when will he be back?"
"A week", she said, "But you know, it's just not good."
"What?" Oliver asked.
"One moment, he is in Starling City", she said, "Another, he is in New York. I mean, he is blind and yet because of me, he keeps moving in between both the cities. I think this is taking a toll on him."
"I know", said Oliver, "But he does too. And yet he still does it. He loves you, Laurel."
"I know", she said, "But it's not fair to him. Or to me. Why should we undertake a long journey just to see each other?"
"Decent point", said Oliver, "You want him to move in or what?"
"Last time I asked a boyfriend that, it didn't go well", she reminded him and he winced.
"I'm sorry", he said to her before saying, "Just talk to him. Both of you should be sure of what you both want."
Suddenly, the door behind the bar burst open and Felicity stormed out, "Oliver, I need to show you what-"
She paused on seeing Laurel.
"I just totally walked in on a thing, didn't I?" she asked awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, uh, who are you?" Laurel asked Felicity.
"Nobody", Felicity said and winced, "I mean, I'm not nobody. I'm someone, obviously. And so are you. You're Laurel, right? That Laurel. Gorgeous Laurel."
Oliver was amused by her babbling but still interrupted for her sake, "This is Felicity. She's setting up my Internet."
"Router", Felicity automatically corrected, "And I need to show Oliver something very important about it."
"I'll let you go then", Laurel said with a kind smile, "Thank you for the coffee and the advice."
Oliver walked down to the basement with Felicity where John was already waiting.
"She has done better than getting in", John commented to him about Felicity.
"I hacked Cayman Fidelity and put together a list of all deposits Backman made last year", Felicity told him.
"Felicity, what good does it do if we don't know whose money it was?" Oliver asked in frustration.
She handed him a printout and said, "Look at the biggest deposit he made last year. Bottom page."
Oliver sighed, "$2 million on Decem-"
He paused and realized what this was about, "December 12. That's the day Walter disappeared."
"What if one of Backman's clients was paid $2 million to kidnap Walter?" Felicity said.
"Then we need to find the client", Dig said.
"And use him to find Walter", Oliver declared, "Okay, back-trace the account, follow the money, hopefully, it will lead us to whoever kidnapped Walter."
"You think he's still alive?" John asked him.
After a sigh, Oliver admitted, "I don't know."
The computer beeped and Felicity announced, "Got it", pulling up the name, "Dominic Alonzo."
"Yeah", Oliver sighed.
"Name ring a bell?" Felicity asked him.
"Alonzo runs the biggest underground casino in Starling City when he's not busy kidnapping", Oliver told her.
"He seems like the kind of guy someone would pay to kidnap Walter", Dig said.
"How many arrows do you think you have to put in him to get Walter's location?" she asked Oliver, "A lot?"
"It's not that simple", Oliver said, "The casino has its own private army. We need to access Alonzo's computer, but without setting off any alarms."
"So it's a casino", John said, "Which means there would be people playing cards."
"Right", Oliver said as he realized what John was getting at, "Let's go."
Later, Oliver and Dig were in the Glades, near Alonzo's casino. The latter was wearing a well-tailored suit.
"So the plan is for me to get caught while counting cards, huh?" Dig asked just to be sure.
"Yeah", Oliver confirmed, "So you can get a warning from Alonzo and plant a bug on his office."
"And if I get more than a friendly warning?" John asked with a smirk.
"I dread to think what will happen to Alonzo", Oliver chuckled.
Oliver took his position by the fire escape directly across from the club. He had planted a small listening device at the club's doors to hear everything and was watching through binoculars.
A limo pulled up and a man walked out, approaching the two heavily armed security guards.
"Password", one of them said.
"Snapdragon", said the man and they nodded, letting him in.
"Password's Snapdragon", Oliver told Dig via comms.
"Noted", Dig said.
He walked to the door and the guard said, "Password."
"Snapdragon", John replied and the guards nodded, letting him in.
As he made his way to the casino floor, he looked around and told Oliver, "6 armed guards, two pit bosses, and a floor man."
John took a seat at a blackjack table and pulled out a $10,000 in a banded stock of $100's, which Oliver had given him.
"One stack of High Society, please", he said as he passed the bills over to the dealer. The dealer looked at him in surprise, then took the money and flipped through it. He looked back at the pit boss, who nodded as a sign of 'okay.'
At Merlyn Global, Malcolm was smiling due to his good mood when Moira walked in.
He prepared two drinks and said to her happily, "Thank you for stopping by."
"Of course", said Moira as she put her coat on a chair, "Uh, you said you had good news."
"I do", he said with a wide smile, "It's ready."
Moira froze in shock but kept her face neutral as he continued, "The Markov device passed its final beta test this morning. Applied Sciences is loading it on a truck bound for Starling City as we speak. It will arrive here through New York."
Malcolm closed the bottle of scotch and handed her one of the glasses while she managed to feign happiness.
"Well", she said, "Congratulations are in order then."
"To both of us", Malcolm said and they were both silent for a moment before he said, "Moira, you may be surprised to know that sometimes, I wavered in my convictions. But your friendship, your endless support, always gives me the strength I need to carry on", he said with honesty as Moira's heart pounded in her chest even though she managed to not show it.
"After all, you and I will always have a connection", he said with a smile as Moira nodded and said, "I'm just sorry Robert's not here to celebrate with us."
"I'm sorry I had to take him from you", he said and he meant it.
"If anyone's to blame for his death, it's me", she said and she too meant it.
Malcom raised his glass and toasted, "To Robert."
Moira raised her glass and toasted, "To Rebecca."
Back at the casino, Dig was on a hot streak. He pushed a considerable pile of chips forward and bet them all. The dealer looked at him and then at the pit boss, before he dealt. The first card was an ace, the second was-
"Blackjack!" he called out and Dig smirked as he took the doubled pile of chips. He knew the pit boss was moving towards him.
"Sir" the man said to John, "Can you come with me?"
He wasn't asking but telling.
"Something wrong?" Dig asked casually.
"Get up", he growled.
"Fine", said Dig with a scoff, as if to show the boss he wasn't worth his time but he was still coming with him.
Another man joined the escort and they headed to the manager's office.
"The bathroom", Dig said as he looked at it, "So the manager's office is down the hall and to the right of the bathroom."
The pit boss lead him to the office and said, "Mr. Alonzo."
The man looked up and gestured to the pit boss who roughly pushed Dig inside and closed the door.
"Have a seat", Alonzo offered which John took with a neutral expression as the man asked, "What's your name?"
"Thomas", said Dig.
"Do you know where the term '86' comes from, Thomas?" Alonzo asked.
"I do", said Dig calmly, "It's from prohibition."
"Now it means to ban someone, someone who's cheating", Alonzo said to him, "You're 86'd. Leave your chips and go."
"Okay", said Dig as he got up to leave when the pit boss roughly shoved him back.
"Touch me again and I'll leave your broken bones here too", Dig threatened.
Instead of responding, the pit boss scanned a device over him and it beeped.
"Oh yeah, Thomas", said Alonzo as he rose and walked towards him, "You see, the thing about card counters is, uh, sometimes, they work with a partner."
He reached up to Dig's ear.
That moment, Dig grabbed his arm and punched him away before turning to the pit boss and kneeing him in the stomach, making him double down.
Out in the alley, Oliver heard the sounds of punching and kicking and snapped into action.
Everybody was having fun in the casino, going about the routine they followed in there. Suddenly, they heard gunshots and the door burst open, revealing The Hood standing there.
He slammed a guard through the door. Another rushed him, but he side-stepped and gave him a little push which, combined with his momentum, smashed him into a blackjack table. Another arrived. The Hood blocked his hit and slammed him into a glass table.
He looked up and saw a guard with a gun standing near him, pointing his gun. The Hood suddenly picked up shards of the glass and threw them at his eyes, which sent him down in pain as he rolled over a table and jumped down to avoid gunfire.
He then rose and fired, hitting a gunman in the chest. He ducked to avoid more gunfire and rising up, fired again, killing him. He ducked to avoid the last man's gunfire which shattered the glass. He then rose and fired, killing him.
The Hood then walked into the manager's office. The pit boss was on the ground, writhing in pain while the other man was down too.
Alonzo was on the ground, cowering at the sight of The Hood and John.
"Where's Walter Steel?" The Hood demanded.
"What?" he asked, feigning confusion, "What are you talking about?"
"Six months ago you had him kidnapped?" The Hood growled as he lifted him up and slammed him against the wall.
"It was just a job", Alonzo protested, "I was given a name, I didn't ask any questions."
The Hood gripped him by the jaw and squeezed, "Last chance. Where is he?"
"Below ground."
The Hood's eyes widened in shock and so did John's.
"You're lying!" The Hood growled as he tightened his grip.
"I'm not", Alonzo said, "I delivered him and they killed him. I heard the gunshot. He's dead."
The Hood let him go and knocked him out angrily. He took some deep breaths to calm him down.
Oliver and John walked into the lair where Felicity was waiting for them anxiously.
"What happened?" she asked, not noticing their expressions, "Did you find him?"
That's when Oliver looked at her and she saw the pain in his eyes.
"No!" she said as tears welled up in her eyes, "No!"
Oliver just shook his head sadly and she fell into his arms, silently weeping. He himself had tears in his eyes.
At Queen Manor, Moira and Thea were sitting on a couch, wrapped in a blanket. Thea was teaching her mother how to shop clothes online.
"You're a miracle worker, Thea", Moira said warmly.
"When it comes to shopping, it's not work, really", Thea said with a smile before noticing Oliver walking in, "Hey. I'm teaching mom the joys of online clothes shopping."
The smile fell from his face as she saw Oliver's expression, "Ollie? Are you okay?"
"I need to talk to you both", he said quietly.
"What is it?" Moira asked him.
"It's about Walter", he said as he sat down stiffly.
"Did the police contact you?" she asked him.
Oliver started spinning a story to reveal the truth, "One of Mr. Diggle's army buddies works for the F.B.I. now. And they got the news."
"No", Thea whispered, horrified, as she shook her head.
Oliver was barely holding back his own tears and said sadly, "I'm very sorry."
"No, no, no, no, no. There must be some mistake", Moira said before demanding, "Who did Mr. Diggle talk to? Did they find a body?"
Oliver looked at her with a pained expression and said, "Mom… Walters' gone."
"No, this isn't right", Moira said as she got up and started heading out of the room.
"Where are you going?" Oliver asked her.
"Out."
"Its 10:00 at night", he pointed out.
"I need some air", she retorted.
"Mom, you're in shock", Oliver said.
Moira spun around and snapped, "Don't you tell me what or how I feel, Oliver!"
She hurried out of the room while Oliver watched, shocked. He wasn't the only one.
"Why is she acting like that?" Thea asked with tears in her eyes.
Oliver held out his arms and said, "Come here."
He wrapped his little sister in a hug as she broke down in his arms.
Moira stormed into Malcolm's office just as he finished talking to a pair of Chinese businessmen.
"You lied to me", she said angrily, paying no heed to the businessmen, "We had a deal."
Malcolm froze but kept his smile so as to not alert the two men.
He then addressed them in Chinese after which they rose and left.
Moira then walked up to him while he calmly asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You promised if I cooperated with the Undertaking, Walter wouldn't be harmed!" she exclaimed.
With a serious face, Malcolm said, "And he hasn't been. I'm a man of my word, Moira."
"We both know better than that", she said as he tensed, "And I know you've had him killed."
Malcolm pressed a button on his speaker phone and ordered the person on the other end, "Turn on the camera."
He opened a laptop on his desk and turned it to face her. A live video stream appeared, showing Walter in his cell.
Moira let out a relieved sob, "Oh Walter…."
"Like you said, Moira, we have an agreement", Malcolm said.
An arrow with a recording device had been embedded outside in the wall next to the window, unnoticed by either of them. On the opposite roof, The Hood listened to it, "Walter would stay in my custody until the Undertaking is over", Malcolm's voice said, "We're both in this together."
There was a look of shock and betrayal on his face. His mother had always acted weird since he had returned, but this…..
Later, Oliver sat alone in the foundry. He had been there for hours. John and Felicity walked in and the latter turned on the lights.
"I've been sitting in the dark all day too", she said to him in a dull tone, "All these months I kept thinking if I could find a clue, I could get a lead on him", she sighed, "Guess it wouldn't have mattered. Can't imagine what your family's going through."
"I am sorry, man", John said sincerely.
"Walter's alive", Oliver interrupted them and they looked shock.
"What?" Felicity asked in confusion, "But didn't that Alonzo say-"
"You were right, John!" Oliver said to Dig who looked at him in confusion, "About my mother!"
Dig's eyes widened in shock.
"I need you to pull up Malcolm Merlyn's phone records", Oliver ordered Felicity, "He made a call from his office to wherever Walter is being kept at 10:30 PM."
"Malcolm Merlyn?" John asked in stunned shock, "Tommy's father?"
"Why would he kidnap Walter?" asked an equally shocked Felicity.
"Please do it", Oliver asked her and she did.
"L.U.D. showed he made a call to a tenement complex in Bludhaven", Felicity said.
Oliver got up and walked over to her, "Can you pull up a satellite view?"
"Okay", she said as she hacked into an ARGUS thermos imaging satellite. The screen then showed a thermal cam of the apartment, with all the guards arrayed around it.
"That's a lot of security for low income housing", Felicity noted.
"There's 2 guards stationed at all access points", John pointed out.
"There's just one on the roof", Oliver noted.
"There's no other buildings in the area", John said, "If you want to get on that roof, you have to jump off of something."
"I've got something", Oliver growled and walked away while John and Felicity looked at the thermal cam again.
A few hours later, a lone cargo plane flew over Bludhaven. As it flew over the apartment complex, The Hood parachuted out and landed gently on the roof. He quickly cut it away.
He slid down the access stairs, feet first, kicking the lone guard off the roof. He then opened the door and walked in.
In the security room, one guard watched the monitors and then suddenly saw The Hood smacking away a man with the bow and kicking another away.
"There's a problem in Quadrant 4", he announced over the radio.
The Hood slowly walked down the dark hallway, with an equally dark mood. A guard suddenly appeared and tried to punch him which he dodged by ducking and then blocked another punch before knocking him out with one of his own.
Spinning around, he smacked another thug with his bow and he was down. A third tried to kick him but he backed to avoid and then kicked him in a spin motion on the chest, knocking him down and then he hit him on the head, putting him out. Another thug arrived. He spun, trying to smack him with the bow but he managed to duck. He dodged a punch from the thug as another arrived. The Hood hit his chest with the bow and he was out. The first thug tried to punch him but he grabbed his arm while kicking a third one down. He then punched the thug on the face and he was out.
Spinning around, he quickly fired an arrow at a guard's shoulder before he could fire. He spun again and fired at another guard before he could be shot down. He then shot another guard who was with the previous one.
One thug leapt at The Hood from behind and grabbed him. The Hood elbowed him and he let go. Him and another thug tried to kick him high simultaneously but he ducked to avoid. He slammed one into a door and he was out before taking down the other with an arrow.
Two thugs attacked him with bats from both sides. He punched one and spinning around, gave him a backward kick to the knee, making him kneel before he punched the other too. He then spin kicked him on the knee and he was down before he turned around and smacked the legs of another thug who was rushing him with the bow, taking him down.
He punched another thug on the knee and he knelt. The Hood punched him on the face, smacked him and then flipped him over his shoulder, slamming him to the ground.
He then turned around and fired at another man, taking him down. A last thug tried to sneak up on him. He elbowed the thug thrice. He blocked a strike from the thug and punched him in the stomach. He ducked to avoid another strike and grabbing his head, slammed it on a light fixture, shattering it into pieces, and then he slammed it twice on the wall before he was out.
He then looked at all the disabled men and walked further.
He then arrived in front of a heavy iron door. It was bolted shut, but not locked. He was about to slide the bolt back when he heard something approaching from the side.
He quickly notched an arrow as he spun around but stopped on seeing the source of the sound. In front of him stood a man wearing a high tech suit with eskrima clubs in his hand. He had a domino mask to cover his face and also wore a utility belt. He was in a defensive positon already, having taken it when The Hood had spun around to fire his arrow.
But The Hood knew who this man was. He slowly lowered his bow as the man lowered his sticks and put them back inside.
The Hood then looked at him and acknowledged, "Nightwing!"
"So you know about me?" Nightwing asked.
"I know everything about vigilantes residing in different cities", The Hood said.
"I know about you too", Nightwing told him.
"What're you doing here?" The Hood asked.
"Funny", said Nightwing as he walked up to him, "I was going to ask you the same thing. I saw you parachuting down from that plane and arrived here to investigate."
"These men have abducted the C.E.O. of Queen Consolidated- Walter Steele", The Hood explained, "I am here to save him."
"All right", said Nightwing, "Let's do it."
The Hood nodded and slid the bolt back.
Walter lay there, huddled on his side on a thin mattress on the floor.
The Hood feared that Walter was dead but then saw him stir slightly and realized he was asleep.
He called out to him, "Mr. Steele."
When he didn't stir, Nightwing said a little more forcefully, "Mr. Steele."
Walter jumped slightly as he woke up. He rolled over and saw the vigilantes standing on the door.
"What?" he asked in a raspy voice, "What's happening?"
"He saved you", Nightwing told Walter.
"And now you're going home", The Hood said to him.
The next day, Walter was taken to Starling General Hospital by a helicopter. A tearful Moira stood on the other side of the door and on seeing him, she opened the door and ran up to him.
"I thought I'd never see you again", she said tearfully as the two embraced.
Oliver and Thea followed her inside.
"I'm all right", Walter assured her.
"Welcome home, Walter", Oliver said kindly.
Walter looked at him and warmly said, "Thank you, son."
As Oliver smiled, he looked at a crying Thea.
"Thea", he said to her happily.
She collapsed into his arms and cried happy tears.
Their attention was attracted by a knock on the door and they spun around to see Felicity standing there, holding a pot of flowers in her hands.
"This is totally a family thing, isn't it?" she asked awkwardly.
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Moira asked her politely.
"This is Felicity", Oliver introduced her, "She's my friend."
"Mine too", Walter said with a smile, "It's good to see you."
"You too", Felicity replied warmly as she set the flowers down, "I'll let you guys get back to your hugging."
Moira and Thea laughed and hugged Walter again as Felicity smiled at Oliver, who smiled back. She then walked out.
"Oliver", Moira beckoned him as she held out her hand, "We're all together again. Everything's gonna be all right."
Oliver looked at her and held her hand very lightly, barely masking the hurt he felt from her betrayal.
Later, Oliver walked out of the room to get some air and to be at a safe distance from his mother as he could not look at her without thinking about the previous night and the way she had betrayed not only her family, but her humanity.
"Oliver", called out a voice. The owner of the voice was the only person in the world who currently made Oliver angrier than his own mother.
He gritted his teeth but managed to plaster a smile as he turned towards Malcolm Merlyn.
"What a miracle. How's Walter? The police are saying that he was rescued by the vigilante", Malcolm said to him.
"Yes, he was", Oliver said softly, trying his best to resist the urge to punch Malcolm.
"Has he said anything about his ordeal?" Malcolm asked, "Was he able to identify any of his captors?"
"No", Oliver said.
"Hmmm, that's too bad", Malcolm noted.
"They'll get what's coming to them", Oliver said firmly.
As Malcolm looked at him curiously, he said, "I'm just glad my family's back together."
"We all are", Malcolm replied and the two stared at each other for a moment in silence.
"Ollie", Laurel called out from the end of the hall, breaking the tension.
"Excuse me", Oliver said to Merlyn as he walked towards Laurel.
"Is Walter okay?" she asked, "I saw it on the news."
"Yeah", Oliver said, "He is."
Later, back at the lair, Oliver walked in as John stood there.
"So I was right about your mother?" Dig asked him.
"Yes", Oliver said, "I'm sorry I did not believe you but you were right. She is involved in the Undertaking. She lied to me. To Thea. She's working with Malcolm Merlyn. They are planning to destroy the Glades with a device."
John could only look at him in shock while he said, "And we're going to stop them."
John nodded firmly.
A lone truck sped on. In the trailer was a crate marked 'Unidac Industries' and the truck's destination was Starling City. Right now, it was passing through Hell's Kitchen in New York.
Daredevil was crouched on a rooftop. He had stopped some robberies here and there. He then heard a truck moving. Normally, it wouldn't be a cause of concern for him. But this time, it was- for several reasons.
First of all, he heard a breath pattern which he recognized. It was the man who had fought him when Lawton had tried to assassinate Malcolm Merlyn. He was sitting on the front seat of the truck while another man was driving it.
As he strained his ears a little, he heard several heartbeats in the trailer of the truck. Men were in there. But then he heard really heavy breathing and an erratic heartbeat. Someone really dangerous and big was in there with those men. He also sensed a really light humming sound from within the crate.
He then realized the truck was moving towards Starling City and also figured out that a machine was making the humming sound. He then gasped as he realized what the truck was carrying. It needed to be stopped.
The man was still driving with Blue Talon sitting next to him. Suddenly, a club smashed through the window and hit him on the head, knocking him out. The truck swerved but Blue Talon took the steering wheel and managed to get it under control before applying the brakes and stopping it.
He then opened the door and walked out of the truck, looking around angrily. Daredevil tried to sneak up on his from behind but he spun around and smacked him on the face and then on the chest before giving him a flip kick.
Daredevil staggered but recovered. He ducked to avoid another chop and punched Blue Talon in the stomach and then kicked him on the knee. As he staggered, Daredevil leapt into the air and gave him a frontal flip kick, pushing him away by several feet.
He then ran to the back of the truck. The thugs were already out and two of them had closed the door again. Whatever the giant was, he was still inside.
The thugs aimed their guns at him and fired. He flipped to avoid the shots and threw his club at one's legs, making him stagger while he flipped and disarmed another thug before giving a spin kick to a third, knocking him out.
He punched out the disarmed man and kicked the previous one on the face, knocking him out too. With his club, he knocked out another man before the remaining 7 thugs reloaded and fired at him again. He ran and jumped behind a car, taking cover.
The thugs ran out again and he flipped, landing in front of the car. But instead of fighting, the thugs parted. Suddenly, the door behind the truck burst open and the giant man ran out at full speed. He ran into Daredevil and the impact sent him flying back by several feet before he landed painfully on his back.
He groaned in pain but managed to pick himself up. He used his super smell and smelt some kind of drug he had never smelt before inside the storage tank on the man's back.
He did not know that this was the enhancement compound known as Venom which gave this giant man called Bane a humongous amount of superhuman strength.
Daredevil ducked to avoid a punch from Bane and flipped behind him to avoid a swipe. Bane turned around and brought his fists down on him but he side-stepped to avoid and punched him on the face, very slightly damaging him but it didn't bother him.
Bane roared and lifted Daredevil over his head. He then threw him away and he smashed through the car under which he had taken cover earlier.
"I am going to break you, Devil", Bane threatened as he moved closer.
Daredevil groaned and struggled to get up but he was kicked on the chest by Blue Talon who had recovered. As he staggered back, Blue Talon swept his feet from under him and kicked him on the face.
Daredevil got up but Bane grabbed him by the throat and lifted him into the air. He then threw him away towards the truck. He fell just near the truck.
"Kill him", Blue Talon ordered the thugs.
Two of them raised their guns to shoot him. Suddenly, there was a gunshot and one of them fell down, dead. The other looked around in confusion when he was hit by an arrow on the neck and he died.
Daredevil would have thought that Punisher and The Hood had joined forces to help him but this arrow made a different sound when it pierced through the air. It seemed more- metallic.
He then heard two unfamiliar heartbeats from the rooftop. Bane, Blue Talon and the remaining 5 thugs looked up and saw two figures. One of them was a tall, muscular man, with short black hair, wearing a black suit. He held a compound bow in his hand and had a specialized arrow quiver in his back in which there were several arrows- standard and trick.
Next to him was a beautiful woman with long, red hair. But it was a fatal flaw to judge her solely by her beauty as her eyes had a deadly glare in them. She wore a bluish-black catsuit and held a pair of Glock 6 hand guns in her hand.
The archer then fired a grapple arrow on the building opposite to them as the woman held on to him. He then used the grapple arrow to swing with the woman. When they were at a safe distance from the ground, he let it go and they dropped on the ground and quickly jumped behind the truck to avoid gunfire.
The archer suddenly fired an arrow from underneath the truck and it hit one of the thugs right on the leg. He then pressed a button on his bow and the arrow sent electric shocks through the thug, sending him into violent spasms as he lost consciousness.
By now, the thugs had emptied their guns. The man and the woman leapt form over the truck and the former turned his bow into a bo staff.
A thug rushed him but he side-stepped and smacked his face with the bow, knocking him out. Another thug attacked the woman but she leaned sideways to avoid and then hit his elbow before twisting his arm violently. She then gave him a rotatory kick in the abdomen before doing a spin motion and sweeping his feet from under him. She kicked him on the face and he was out.
Another thug rushed her but she leapt on him and put her fists on the side of his head. Her bracelets discharged powerful electric currents into the man's head and he went down with violent spasms.
The last thug rushed the two but was hit by the Billy club which returned to Daredevil's hands. He suddenly heard the sound of the engine starting and spun around, only for the truck to be driven off. Blue Talon was now driving it while Bane was still on the back.
"Oh no!" Daredevil muttered angrily.
"Devil of Hell's Kitchen!" the archer said to him as he looked around, "Nice to meet you. This place really is Hell on Earth."
"That's what happens when corrupt officials and crime infect a place", Daredevil said, "Who are you both?"
"I'm Clint Barton", the archer said, "Codenamed Hawkeye."
"I'm Natasha Romanoff", the woman said, "Codenamed Black Widow."
"We're Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.", Clint finally said.
"I know about it", Daredevil said, "But why are you telling me you're its agents? I don't think you're supposed to do that."
"We know who you are", Natasha said and his jaw dropped.
"Come on, don't be Watcher in the water", Clint joked at Daredevil's hanging jaw which looked like it would swallow something.
"We are world-class spies", Natasha said, "What do you expect, Matt?"
"Why are you here?" Matt finally asked as he regained composure.
"We found out Bane has been broken out of Arkham Asylum", Natasha said, "When a dangerous world-class mercenary like him is out, with the Venom inside him, it is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s business."
"They're going to Starling City", Matt told them.
"How do you know, Mr. Satan?" Clint asked casually.
"I team up with The Hood occasionally", Matt told them, "Sometime ago, we found out that another archer was planning to destroy the Glades with a device he has built. And that device was inside the 'Unidac Industries' crate in this truck."
Now it was Natasha and Clint whose jaws dropped.
"You and Oliver know anything else?" Natasha asked.
"No", Matt said without asking about how they knew Oliver was The Hood.
"I guess we need to go to Starling then", Clint said.
"We do", said Matt, "And we have to stop them all."
You didn't see that coming? With Blue Talon and Bane on Malcolm's side, I think some Marvel heroes need to come around too to help. These are the MCU versions of the two I am using now.
And Nightwing also had a cameo. Hope you liked that.
So with Black Widow and Hawkeye around, I guess things are gonna change soon for the next 2 episodes.
Please review. I always appreciate your feedback.