Here Comes Daredevil!: Part 2
New York City, the Bronze.
"Abbie, what are you doing?"
Her name was Abigail Leeds, she was a reporter for the local newspaper 'the Bronze' and had recently written a front page article revolving around her encounter with the masked vigilante Daredevil several nights ago.
"I'm working, Brick." She said from her seat by the computer. "What does it look like?"
The Bronze's chief editor frowned before stepping into his employee's workplace. He looked at the headline she was currently working on.
"Masked hero saves children."
"What?" Abbie asked. The editor leaned forward and made a quick adjustment to her work.
"Masked vigilante assaults gunman."
That was slightly bette. Simpson pat his colleague on the shoulder and stepped out towards the elevator exit.
"You're skating on thin ice here, Leeds!" He yelled.
"I'll be careful!" She replied before feeling a cold breeze run over her body. "Close the window?" Abbie yelled, but Brick was already gone. With an audible sigh the feisty reporter got to her feet and walked over to the open window that was letting the cold, night air in. Then she noticed a familiar blood red appear behind the glass.
"Oh. My. God." She muttered upon noticing the figure stood on the ledge, staring down at her.
"Hello, Ms Leeds." Daredevil said before stepping into the office, he was tall... and confident. His figure seemed to radiate power and in the bright light of the office he seemed completely out of place. Nobody expected to see a man dressed as the devil in a work environment.
"Oh my god." Abigail repeated before quickly grabbing a notepad and pen from a nearby desk. "Can I get an interview?" She asked.
The Man Without Fear chuckled slightly, Abigail noticed that he was wearing a full, complete mask, rather then the half mask that he'd been sighted with on several different occasions.
"Not tonight." He told her, remaining polite while serious. "I have a favour to ask." The Devil admitted.
"Go ahead."
The outlines of a smile formed through Daredevil's mask, it made Abigail proud that she'd made the man smile.
"I need information on a man named Jack Traynor." He told her while leaning against a cupboard that contained various clippings of the Bronze paper. "He runs the protection rackets in Hell's Kitchen. Goes by the alias 'the Fixer'." The masked man sighed. "I'd do it myself, but I'm not very skilled when it comes to technology."
Abigail just had a large, dumb smile on her face. She was completely awestruck by the whole situation. The Devil tilted his head forward slightly to check her heartbeat, just to ensure she wasn't having an attack.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
The reporter nodded and regained her composure. She tried to ignore the fangirl deep inside her and focused on maintaining her reputation.
"I'll see what I can find."
"Thank you." Daredevil stepped back out onto the ledge and prepared to leave.
"Wait. How do I contact you?" Abbie asked, suddenly concerned that she wouldn't see the vigilante again.
"Just call my name." He told her, gripping the side of the window frame to keep himself from falling. "I'll hear." With that the Devil of Hell's Kitchen released his grip on the frame and let himself drop down into the night sky.
"So cool." Abbie muttered while closing the window behind him.
Daredevil felt the cold air against his face. With a quick, targeted throw he snared a nearby flagpole with his billy club and continued his nightly patrol across the rooftops.
His next shift wasn't until the afternoon... and he had some time to kill.
A call for help gained his attention just as he was passing by Central Park, with a grin he leaped into the alley below where a mugger was holding a knife to some woman's throat. While falling Daredevil tossed his billy club to the right, letting it bounce off the wall and strike the mugger in the back of the skull, knocking him out and possibly damaging his skull.
"Here's your purse, ma'am." The Devil said while offering his hand to the scared victim.
"Thank you!" She yelled before hugging the vigilante in a tight grip, catching him completely by surprise. Daredevil pushed the woman off upon sensing the sound of several approaching Iron Soldiers, investigating the disturbance.
"Have a nice evening." He told her before zipping back up into the sky, mere seconds before the Soldiers got into visibility range.
Similar events occurred throughout the rest of the night, the Man Without Fear tore his way through some of New York's nastiest criminals, he was establishing his name throughout the criminal underworld, setting himself up as the terror they'd look for when they stepped outside.
He had to do something while waiting for Abigail to give him information relevant to his target.
"You called for me?" Daredevil asked, stepping through the window back into the Bronze offices. He'd been active for almost 12 hours at this point, however he felt like he could keep going. Abigail looked up at the vigilante from her desk.
"Sure did." She said, seated uncomfortably in her chair. "How does that work?" Abbie asked as Daredevil stepped behind her.
"How does what work?"
"You heard me call your name from the other side of the-" Abbie rolled her eyes. "Nevermind." She tapped a few keys on her keyboard. "I couldn't find anything on the Fixer's current whereabouts." Abigail admitted, an image popped up on the screen showing the internet dating profile of somene called Steve Traynor. "But I did find... this." She waited for the vigilante to be amazed at her findings. Instead he just stood there with his arms folded, like he was waiting for her to continue.
"Sorry, does the screen show something?" He asked after noticing the silence.
"It's his brother's dating profile." She explained. "Says here he's a film critic."
Daredevil nodded and started to put a plan into action. Abigail looked at him as he quickly pondered the details he'd been given. There was something about his mask... the fact that he'd altered it when she was around. It hinted that he knew her in his social life and didn't want to give her any hints.
"Give me the address." He finally said, breaking her train of thought. "I'll go talk to him, see what I can find."
Abigail frowned slightly, concern for the Devil's new target flooded her mind.
"Don't hurt him." She told the hero. "He's not a criminal. It's not his fault he's related to an utter scumbag."
The vigilante simply smiled while stepping out to the ledge. "Do I look like someone who enjoys pain and suffering?" He asked.
"I don't know what you look like." Abigail pointed out.
________________________________________________
In a grim, sterile tower that seemed completely devoid of life stood Doctor Liberdeen, expert in biology and all around sadist. It had nearly been nine months since the death of Daredevil... and he was beginning to regret the mistakes he'd made on that day.
"Doctor Liberdeen? Sir?"
"Yes, Captain. What is it?"
Captain Alberon stepped into the room, dressed in normal attire rather then his Iron Soldier armour, he was unhappy. After several months since his promotion he'd began to feel the stress of his work, if he made the slightest mistake there was a very good chance he could wind up dead.
"We've received news, sir." The Captain said while walking over to the doctor. He handed over an electronic pad containing a digital copy of the latest edition of 'the Bronze' paper. "We may have a lead on what happened to Subject: Blindspot."
Liberdeen stared at the headline on the screen, and smiled.
"'Who is the new Daredevil?'" He quoted before passing the device back to his ally. "We're about to find out."
________________________________________________
Steve Traynor had been part of a relatively exciting career, after dropping out of film school at the age of 19 he'd taken up the career of film critic and become well known for his scathing reviews of various blockbusters and indie pictures that released every year. Ironically his favourite move was the low budget, Simon Williams Horror Classic 'ConDamned'.
"Hello Steve." Daredevil said while tossing the critic across the room with very little effort. "Somebody asked me to go easy on you." He explained as Steve went for the gun in his pocket. "They said you're not a criminal." He pulled out his billy club and bounced it off the ground, knocking the weapon out of Steve's hands. "That doesn't explain the blood stains on your shirt." Daredevil pointed out before slamming the man against the wall of his apartment and placing his elbow against Steve's neck. "Now... I have a little problem that I need your help with."
"Oh god!" Steve gasped, struggling against the Scarlet Swashbuckler's sheer strength and power. "You crazy nutbag!" He yelled before whining in pain as the Devil pushed his ebow deeper into his neck.
"Your brother!" He snapped. "Where is he?!" Daredevil demanded before noticing a faint scene right behind him. He prepared to turn around only to feel cold steel push against the back of his head.
KLICK!
The Man Without Fear scalded himself for his carelessness, he lessened his grip on Traynor and tried to ignore the revolver against the back of his neck..
"He's right behind you." The Fixer growled, a squad of armed guards filing into the room behind him, all armed with assault rifles and body armour. Daredevil took a deep breath and completely released Steve from his grasp. He was completely surrounded with nowhere to run. "What the hell have we got here?"
Next Issue: Face to Face with the Fixer!
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