ISSUE #6: Daredevil
In his hideout that was now completely hidden thanks to Mirage's power of illusion, Blackout sat devising his newest plan. He was dressed in black, with red flames around his ankles and wrists. Gold fire descended from each side of his neck and met at his belt. The only thing protecting his identity was the carefully held darkness that covered his face. He could hold the blackness covering his face indefinitely, and always did when in costume. Covering an entire building, however, could drain him quickly. The bank had just been a practice run, both to test his power and to see how long it would take to recover from the strain of holding his blackout that long. It had been almost two days, and he was close to full power once again. Soon, he thought, soon, I will be the most powerful man in the world. I will be at full strength at midnight tonight, and tomorrow, I will attack S.H.I.E.L.D. Although it will be a slightly new attack plan, I should still be unbeatable, even if Spider-Man once again interferes. With the wealth of knowledge stored in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database, in this "Information Age" I will be the most powerful person on the planet. And to think, if anyone had a clue who I really was. . . He smiled a crooked smile beneath the blackness, and laughed wickedly.
Meanwhile, Spidey swung through Hell's Kitchen, looking for Daredevil. Man, I really hope he exists! I'd hate to waste my time looking for a rumor, but since nobody has ever actually seen him, that's all he is right now. But the word on the street says he's here, looking out for the underprivileged people. Supposedly, he is able to operate in the total darkness here at nights in Hell's Kitchen, so maybe he could help me with Blackout. If I ever find him, that is. I know Blackout's darkness is a little different, but it's still similar. I need to find him in the next few minutes, though. It's getting late, and Aunt May's going to be worried sick about me. I'm starting to think that this is a useless search. Just then, he thought he caught a glimpse of something red swinging around. Then again, there aren't too many mirrors here. Could that really be him?
Of course, it was Daredevil who was also swinging around Hell's Kitchen, looking for the crime that so commonly occurred in this area. He was blind, but a latent mutant gene had activated a few months ago, giving him super-senses. Although he had not regained his sight, all his other senses, especially hearing and smell were greatly improved. Also, he had gained a "Radar Sense" as he called it that let him know where objects and people were. He had just landed on a roof to rest for a minute when he heard something.
"Daredevil? THE Daredevil? You're real! You're really, really REAL! I can't believe it! I'm actually talking to a superhero! A real live superhero!"
Daredevil heard something familiar in the voice. He turned and asked, "And you are?"
"I'm, oh, I'm Spider-Man. Haven't you heard of me?"
"Yes, but, I've never seen you before." Daredevil chuckled internally at his joke, "Aren't you a super-hero too?"
"Oh, sorry bout that, I just got a little carried away. It's just that, well, I mean, you're freakin' DAREDEVIL!"
Just then the heartbeat, the voice, even some of the smell hit Daredevil, and he realized why it all seemed so familiar. "Wait a minute, I know you! Oh, my, God! You're Peter Parker!"
"Um, no, uh, wh-why would you think something ridiculous such as that? I don't-I don't even know who that is!"
Daredevil smiled and removed his mask. This time, it was Peter's turn to be shocked. "BEN! But, but, you're blind! How can you of all people be a superhero?"
"Apparently, I'm a mutant. I'm blind, but everything else is working at over five (probably more, now that I think about it) times the efficiency of a normal human being. And, I also have some sort of radar sense that allows me to tell how far away people and objects are. Pretty cool, huh?"
"Well, not as cool as being bit by a genetically altered spider. You'll have to ask me to tell you that story sometime. Anyways, I need to ask you a question. How would feel about helping to take down a mutant named Blackout?"
Back at the Bugle, David was looking over the surveillance video that he had acquired from Midtown High's security cameras. He got down the name of everyone present at the time that Nick had told him Blackout had been on the school grounds. He also had wisely checked Nick's background with his government contacts, and they had all said that Nick was on the level. David looked down at his list and rolled his eyes. Three quarters of the student body, all the bus drivers, all the staff and teachers, and some visitors were printed out in a sheet. "Great. I've got it down to about two thousand. At least it's a start." He started looking back through the video footage and circling the names of those who seemed the most obvious. He looked for about five minutes, when his eyes fell on a new student, Zane Blackard!
The next morning, Peter couldn't wait to get to school. He excitedly hugged Aunt May and sprinted out the door, not even waiting for the bus. About ten minutes later, he realized how stupid that was, so he changed into Spider-Man and swung to school. When he got there and changed back, he looked for MJ. When he saw her he called out, "MJ! You'll never believe what happened." MJ smiled and shook her head.
"You mean that you got a freelance job taking pictures of Spider-Man for the Daily Bugle?"
"Oh, then maybe you will guess what happened." Peter looked confused. "But how did you know? I didn't even tell Aunt May. Oh my God! I forgot to tell Aunt May!"
"Relax, Pete! Apparently a Miss Brant from the Bugle called looking for you. Aunt May took the call, then told my mom, who then told me! Although, I would tell Aunt May soon, if I were you."
"Oh, but, she ruined my surprise." Peter looked away, somewhat crestfallen.
"Oh, come on!" MJ gave him a hug to cheer him up, "You are going to make a lot of money now! And, you have me for a best friend. What more could you ask for? So it's not all bad, now is it?"
Peter brightened and said, "No, but still, I wanted to surprise you.'
"Well, my mom did, so I guess that's something."
"Yeah, that's something alright. Just don't tell the rest of the gang. I'm going to tell them at lunch. If you did tell them already, please go back and tell them to forget they heard it." Peter looked down at his watch. "Oh, crap, first period is in two minutes! I can't be late again! See you in a little while, MJ!"
His news was well received at lunch, and all acted surprised. Of course, for all but Brian it was because MJ had told them to act surprised, since she had told them all before Peter had arrived. Jason spoke up after Peter delivered the news, "Hey, why don't we go to the Silver Spoon? It will be fun, and we can celebrate Peter's new job. We can go right after school today."
Most agreed, except Brian. "I'm sorry guys. I'd love to go, but my parents said I had to go home straight after school to help with the unpacking. They want to get as much unpacked as possible this week.
"Ah, that sucks. Well, everyone else meet at the Silver Spoon at 4:00. That way we can properly celebrate Pete's new cash inflow." After that Peter, MJ, Crystal, and Eugene started discussing the morning's classes, while Jason and Brian talked about the latest baseball news, something about one more star testing positive for steroids.
By 5:30 P.M., Peter was out of the Silver Spoon and had started swinging around the city when he saw it. Oh, no. He's attacking S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters! If he gets the information stored in there, he could be practically unstoppable. I have to stop him, and I hope Ben shows up like I asked him too. Spidey took off toward Blackout, dreading the newest confrontation.
Nick saw on the news that Blackout had started to strike again, so he quickly got up and drove to the scene of Blackout's latest disturbance. David Harvey was following up a lead on Zane, but his foster parents had said that they hadn't Zane since before school. Vicki was across town, and had to beg off of a game of two-on-one because she "wasn't feeling well." She hated doing it, but she needed to get away and slip onto a bus going towards S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.