CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Kingpin of Crime

PART THREE: The Enforcers

Alright, I'm pissed. Actually, a little bit more than pissed. I'm really fuckin' angry at this point.

I hopped back up to my feet. The guy in the devil suit jumped a few inches back, and he and I found ourselves staring each other down on top of an eighteen wheeler as it rolled down the street. I hadn't really taken him seriously on account of him being dressed like a fan at a comic book convention, but the guy could move pretty fast. I figured he probably hadn't taken me very seriously either. Well, I was gonna make him regret that.

I jumped toward him and extended my left leg. One kick would be enough to knock this guy out. But...shit, I dunno how this happened but...he dodged it. He bent backwards and I ended up flying right over him. I landed behind him and turned with a haymaker. Without even turning back to look at me, he raised his staff over his head and behind his back, blocking my punch. Before I could react, he pulled on each end of the staff, pulling it into two pieces with a cord connecting the two halves. He wrapped the cord around my arm, and before I knew it, he had me flying over his shoulder. I was slammed onto the top of the truck and found myself staring up at Daredevil as he retracted the cord and placed his staff onto his belt.

In less than a second, Daredevil lifted his leg and attempted to bring his foot down upon my throat. I caught his foot in both hands and twisted, sending him spinning through the air. I stood back up and turned to take advantage of the situation, but I wouldn't have the chance. Just as quickly as I sent him flying, he landed on one hand and one foot and was already running towards me to attack again.

I didn't know who this guy was, but he wasn't like most of the guys I had fought in the past. This guy had some skill. I found myself blocking punches that were being thrown much faster than any normal human could throw them. I was able to jump just in time to dodge a foot sweep, and I retaliated with a dropkick to Daredevil's chest that sent him flying off the top of the truck. I was sure the fight was over.

Well, that's what I get for making assumptions...

I swear this guy was mocking me. As he flew through the air, he pointed his staff toward a nearby pole and pressed a button on it. One half of the staff shot out with the cord behind it, and the cord wrapped itself around the pole. Daredevil flew toward the pole, swung around it once, and then ended up soaring towards me before spinning again and hitting me in the side of the head with a sidekick. This time, I was the one to be knocked off of the truck.

I managed to cling onto the side of the truck and crawled to its underside. Maybe I could trick Daredevil and then sneak up on him. Crawling under the truck, I made my way to the rear and then climbed back up to the top. He was standing at the front of the truck with his back to me. I lunged toward him, but then my danger sense went off. Everything seemed to slow down, but even then, I still wasn't prepared for this. Daredevil turned toward me before I could even attack him and kicked me in the stomach. I ended up falling backwards and caught myself with a backflip before landing a few feet away from him on top of the truck. We went right back to staring one another down.

"How the hell do you keep doing that?" I asked.

"You have more important things to worry about. Such as telling me what I want to know," he replied.

"If you want to know how to bite somebody else's style, you don't need my advice for that. First of all, I came up with the whole costume thing. I came up with wearing red. And I came up with swinging on poles, goddamnit! You couldn't come up with one original idea?"

Before I knew it, Daredevil was after me again. He ran toward me and started throwing punches, and all I could do was block them.

"What's your connection to the Kingpin?" he asked as he continued to throw punches.

"What're you, stupid?"

"Answer me!"

I ducked under an attempted right cross, pivoted backwards onto my hands, and brought both feet up into Daredevil's abdomen. Hopping back up to my feet, I struck him in the face with a left backhand, followed by a right cross. He attempted to roundhouse kick me in the ribs, but I managed to jump in time to avoid the kick and strike him with a kick of my own to the chin. This guy seemed to be able to anticipate my moves, but if I moved fast enough, I could strike before he reacted. I landed and hit him with a left hook to the ribs, then stepped behind him and elbowed him in the kidneys. He drew his staff, turned, and swung at my head. I ducked beneath his staff, then stood back up and hit him with a left uppercut to the chin. As he staggered back, I jumped over him and placed both hands on his shoulders, doing a handstand on top of him for a split second. I turned in midair and began to descend behind him. As I fell, I planted both feet into his back, sending him flying forward a few feet and landing on his face. I landed in a low position and watched him as he slowly stood back up.

"Listen, buddy. I don't know who your sources are, but they're dead wrong. I am not working for the Kingpin. I'm trying to take him down," I told him.

Daredevil stood there, staring at me. I had no idea what was going through his mind.

"...you're not lying..." he said, almost astonished.

"Of course I'm not lying, you jerk! You could have just asked me instead of hitting me with your stupid club!"

He continued to stand there in silence. Then, suddenly, he put away his staff and started to walk toward me.

"Listen, I owe you an apology..." he said.

"No kidding," I replied.

"Damn it...I forgot, he has a pacemaker...made it hard for me to tell if he was lying or not..."

"Um...what?"

"My informant. I should have known better than to trust that scumbag..."

"May I ask who this informant of yours is?" I asked him.

"Small-time hustler. You may have heard of him. Goes by the name of 'Shocker'."

That little fuckin' weasel...

"So Shocker said I was working for Kingpin, huh? Okay, I'll fix that little motherfucker later. Anyway, what's your beef with Kingpin?"

"He and I have...unfinished business. In the meantime, maybe it would be best if you and I pooled our efforts in fighting him."

"I don't know about that. I mean, you just tried to beat me to death with a big stick."

"At least you know you'll be working with a capable fighter."

I had to admit that Daredevil had a point. It would be nice to have somebody watching my back while people are trying to kill me.

"Why don't we discuss this somewhere where I won't get motion sickness?" I asked, indicating the eighteen wheeler we were still standing on.

Without a word, Daredevil jumped off of the truck, fired the cord from his staff, and made his way toward the top of a nearby building. I fired a webline and followed him. In a few seconds, we were both on top of the building.

"So, you got a plan?" I asked.

"Right now, I'm tailing Rhino. He's supposed to head out to Kingpin's club tonight and meet with the Enforcers," Daredevil replied.

"Yeah, I heard Talbert talking about that. Who are the Enforcers, anyway?"

"A group of tough guys who do some dirty work for him. They go by Ox, Montana, and Fancy Dan."

"Where in the hell do these guys get these names?"

"Don't underestimate them. They're formidable. Last time I fought them, Ox broke my arm. He's not the brightest guy in the world, but he's as big and strong as Rhino is. Montana's skilled with a whip, and Fancy Dan's a master of judo and an expert gunfighter."

"Hm...and I thought my webs were impressive."

"There are others who work for Kingpin that we may have to be wary of. Are you familiar with any of his employees?"

"Only Rhino."

"Well, if we're lucky, we won't have to deal with Bullseye or Typhoid Mary."

"More codenames..."

"Listen, this may all sound silly to you, but these are extremely dangerous people. Every bit of crime that goes on in this city has something to do with Talbert. Drug trafficking, prostitution, gun smuggling...you name it, he's into it. Petty crooks can't so much as snatch an old lady's purse without giving Talbert his cut of the money. Every pimp, prostitute, and hustler is an employee of the Kingpin. And some of these people are highly skilled assassins that Talbert pays very handsomely."

"Even the prostitutes?" I asked, almost joking.

"Mary is one of them. She doubles as a prostitute and assassin."

"...you're joking, right?"

"I wish I were. With that said, you may want to rethink whether or not you want to challenge Talbert."

"I have to do it. I made a promise to someone special that I would bring Rhino to justice, and as long as somebody like the Kingpin is around, that's never going to happen."

"Alright then. We're going to need some leverage against Talbert to actually take him down. We need some concrete evidence of his wrongdoing before we can stop him. I learned the hard way that running into his room and starting a fight with him is no way to beat him."

"Well, I was just gonna go after Rhino," I said.

"And then what?"

"...I dunno."

"Perhaps we can persuade him to tell us something interesting about Talbert."

Daredevil walked to the edge of the roof. Something about this whole situation didn't sit well with me, though. I wasn't quite ready to get started just yet.

"Wait...how do you know so much about Kingpin? How do you know about all of his assassins?" I asked him.

Daredevil slowly turned toward me.

"I used to be one of them."

I couldn't think of anything to say. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then he turned back to the roof's edge.

"Let's go." And with that, he leapt off of the roof. Within a couple of seconds, he was swinging away. I jumped off of the roof and swung after him.

This, my friends, was quite possibly the most awkward moment of my life. Me and another guy were dressed in bright red costumes, swinging over the streets of Philadelphia on thin lines that were supposed to keep us from going splat all over the pavement. In a strange way, I welcomed the chance to meet a...I dunno what to call it...a kindred spirit, I guess. On the other hand, this could all be a trap and this Daredevil guy might actually be playing me for a fool. But for the moment, it seemed like a good idea to trust him. I guess you would call this a "team-up."

After swinging over a few blocks, Daredevil and I landed on a tall building and gazed down at a club across the street. The club was called Code Red. It had been built about a month previously and was already making good business. Only people with fat knots in their pockets could get into this place. I guess it made sense that Talbert owned the joint, then. We stared down at the building, watching as men and women in expensive clothing entered the building. The security detail was pretty tight, so I had no idea how we were going to get in. I turned to Daredevil, who was staring at two guards.

"So how are we supposed to get in there? I don't think we fit the dress code..." I said.

"Quiet..." he said, raising a finger.

He seemed to be listening to something, but to what, I did not know.

"Those two guards on the side...one of them is about to walk away..." said Daredevil.

"How do you know this?"

"He just told his partner he's walking away for a second to take a smoke break."

"...the hell? What, you read lips now?"

Daredevil just smirked a little.

"Something like that."

I watched the two guards, and sure enough, one of them walked away. I turned and stared in awe at Daredevil.

"Let's see if he has something to tell us," said Daredevil, and he jumped off of the roof.

Daredevil leapt along several buildings until he reached an alley. I followed behind him and looked down. The guard stepped into the alley and lit a cigarette.

"Too easy..." I said to myself.

I snagged the back of the guy's shirt with a web and yanked on it, pulling him all the way up to the roof. He dropped his cigarette and started to scream, until Daredevil punched him in the mouth. I kept him dangling over the edge of the roof, his legs kicking and searching for something to stand on and finding nothing but air.

"We want into the club," I said.

"I...I...I...I..." he stuttered.

"C'mon, let us in. We forgot our ID at home. Have a heart, buddy..."

"For crying out loud..." Daredevil sighed.

"What?" I asked him.

"Now is not the time for jokes. You want information, you get it the old fashioned way," he replied.

"And what's that?"

"Drop him."

"Wh...what?" the guard exclaimed.

"You seriously want me to drop this guy?" I asked.

"Yes," replied Daredevil.

"How is he supposed to give us information that way?"

"Y..yeah! How am I supposed to give you..." the guard pleaded.

"Shut up!" Daredevil roared in his face. "He works for the Kingpin, he deserves to be dropped!"

"I...I don't know no Kingpin, man! I just work here!" said the guard.

Daredevil grabbed the guard by the back of his neck.

"Liar!"

"Alright, man, alright! I know about the Kingpin, but I don't know who he is! I swear!"

"...okay, I believe you," said Daredevil.

"Lucky for you, buddy," I added.

"However, there are people in there who do know who the Kingpin is. We would like a meeting with them. Now it's my understanding that they have a private room in the club. Would you happen to know where that room is?" asked Daredevil.

"I...I don't even know who you're talking about!" said the guard, who was busy pissing his pants.

"We're talking about the Enforcers, dumbass!" I informed him. "We want to know where the Enforcers are, 'cuz my arm's getting tired and his suggestion to drop you is starting to sound like a pretty damn good idea."

"Alright alright, I'll tell you! They're on the top floor! Room 100! I swear! There's some girl in there with 'em! She's gotta be about seventeen! And Rhino's in there with 'em!"

Daredevil pulled the guard closer to him, so that they were face to face.

"Anything else you want to tell us?" asked Daredevil.

"...I wet the bed until I was eleven..."

"Okay, way too much information. Are we done here?" I asked.

"Yes, I believe we are," said Daredevil as he relaxed his grip and stood upright.

I lifted the guard into the air and dropped him on the roof at our feet. He slowly rose to his feet and stared back and forth between us.

"So...what happens now?" he asked.

"Now I knock you out so we can go into the club," I answered him.

"Damn man...okay fine, just...not in the face, okay?"

"Okay."

I immediately punched the guard in the face. He lost his legs and plopped face-first onto the rooftop. I walked to the edge of the roof and stared down at the club.

"Top floor, huh? Well, let's get goin'," I said before firing a webline and swinging toward the club.

I could hear Daredevil screaming, "Wait a second!" behind me, but I was already on my way. I was through following him. It was time to take some action.

That said, I'll admit in retrospect that the next thing I did was pretty dumb. Swinging toward the club, I extended my legs and crashed directly through the large window in front of me. I landed inside the club on the top floor as shattered glass rained down behind me. There were six people in the room, all of them staring at me dumbfounded. Two of those people were security guards, who stood outside of a large double-door with a big "100" over it. Those two guys ran toward me, drawing guns as they did.

I fired a webline, snagging the gun out of the one of the guards' hands and tossing it out the window behind me. He ran toward me and threw a right cross, which I easily dodged. I caught him with a right to the gut and knocked the wind out of him. He slumped to the ground at my feet and was out like a light. The second guard aimed at me, but before either of us could do a thing, something red appeared from behind me, whizzed past my head, and knocked the gun out of the guards' hand. I immediately recognized it as Daredevil's club. He ran into the room like a pissed off bull, tackled the guy to the ground, and punched his head into the floor four times. He stood up over the guard's unconscious body and turned to me.

"Are you retarded or something! What was the point of all that stealth if you were just gonna bust through the goddamn window!" he screamed.

"Fuck you! You were takin' too long!" I screamed back.

As we argued, I suddenly noticed that the other four guys in the room had drawn knives and were circling us. One of them attempted to attack Daredevil from behind. He simply backhanded the guy without turning to him and knocked him out.

"You're too reckless to be doing this! You'll end up getting yourself killed!" he said.

One of the other guys lunged toward me. Without turning to look at him, I extended my fist and punched him in the jaw, sending him flying into a wall.

"I can't sleep on this! What we need is action!" I yelled back.

The third guy stood behind Daredevil, and the fourth one stood behind me. They both charged toward us. Daredevil and I jumped toward each other, eventually soaring past one another, and we kicked both of our attackers in the chest, knocking them to the floor. Daredevil then turned to me.

"Well, if you want action, you got it. I'm sure the Enforcers have heard us by now."

Just as he said that, my danger sense started to flare. Maybe Daredevil had the same sense, 'cuz he was getting ready to move at the same time that I was.

"Down!" he yelled as he backflipped away from me. A bullet whizzed past the spot where he was standing. I cartwheeled away as bullets started to fly toward me too. They were coming through the door to Room 100. Whoever was shooting was firing wildly, probably hoping to take us out with a couple of lucky shots. We both found ourselves jumping around the room and trying not to get hit. Eventually the shots stopped. I found myself on the ceiling by the time I had finished dodging bullets. Next thing I knew, the door was knocked off of its hinges by a massive foot and flew across the room before slamming into the opposite wall. The guy who kicked the door down was a large Asian man who was roughly the same build as Rhino. A smaller Asian guy walked out, twirling a pair of pistols in his hands. The last guy, another Asian man whose build was somewhere between his partners, came out holding a whip. Behind the three of them was Rhino, as well as a young girl that I didn't recognize.

"Yeah," I said, hanging upside down from the ceiling, "I'm pretty sure they know we're here."

END OF CHAPTER FOURTEEN