Daredevil: origins

Chapter Four: the first address

This chapter is dedicated to 9laura and VFAces for being such loyal fans. They are magnificent writers and you should check out their profiles. Now, onto the story.

With a creak, the window to Matt Murdock's apartment opened. It swung on it's hinges, blown by a force, outside wind. Gingerly, Matt pulled himself out of the window, grabbing the top of the fraim. He was dressed head to toe in black and had a piece of similar material tied around the top of his head, covering everything above the bottom of his nose.

Matt Murdock was the vigilante they called the Devil.

After a traumatic childhood accident involving acid had caused Matt to go blind, he had developed a sixth, radar sense. It was like that of a bats. He could sense the environment around him, hear heartbeats and the click of a machine gun 1000 metres away but he couldn't read or see colours. In essence, Matt knew what was around him but could never truly see it.

With a jump, Matt flung himself out the window. For a split second,he was weightless, flying, air rushing past his ears, his heart pounding with adrenaline. But it was only a second as soon Matt's feet landed perfectly on the large metal sign below his window. Then, with incredible agility, he launched himself at the drainpipe that ran down the side of the building opposite. His hands gripped the drainpipe but it was slippery from the rain and Matt fell a couple of feet before creating enough friction on the pipe to get a grip. He let out a breath of relief before continuing to shimmy up the pipe.

Back before the accident Matt would gave never have done anything like that. His father had always made sure he was studying, reading, getting a good education. Matt's father had been a good man. But he'd died, killed by the mob. It still hurt Matt to think about it but in the end it had made him stronger, tougher, a fighter. He sure was a fighter now. For the last week or so he'd been taking down petty thieves or back alley criminals. It had been good, hadn't made much of an overall difference but he'd saved lives. But at the same time a week or so earlier, the family of Ricky Clayton had turned up at Nelson and Murdock's front door, begging for help. Their son had been murdered on campus last year, the prime suspect being his roommate Joey Macklone.

Instantly, Matt had felt the need to help the family but the case hit a dead end when Joey Macklone was nowhere to be found. In desperation Matt had stumbled to the bar and by luck, had stumbled upon a leed to an apartment on west side where Joey Macklone was supposedly staying. As soon as night had fallen Matt had changed into his Black's and gone after Macklone.
Once in custody, it was easy for Matt and Foggy to put Joey on trial. In exchange for two years off his sentence (which ended up as 20 years) Joey agreed to release information on the whearabouts of his employers warehouses. Joey had spoken, blurting out useless details before supplying 3 addresses. Matt was currently heading to one of them.

His feet were pounding against the rooftops, jumping between building to building. Matt's heart was thudding in his chest almost as loudly as his feet were hitting the gravelly rooftops. It didn't matter that he was making such a racket, as soon as he was within eyesight he would start sneaking, quieten down, pick them off one by one. At least, that was the plan.

Crunch,crack, Matt kept on running.

Crunch,crack,crunch,crack,crunch---

Silence.

Matt stopped, dead in his tracks. Before him, looming ominously,cast in the purple light of the billboard next to it, was the warehouse. It was old and the metal was rusty. Some of the windows were caved in, most cracked by rocks and others, gunshots. Matt took in a deep breath, clearly, other people (gangs, cops) had tried to get in but they'd all failed. Every last one of them; the building still stood. Fear gripped at Matt's chest, increasing his pulse. But Matt grabbed the fear with his mind and threw it away, back into memories of past. Memories of Nate Hacket and his fathers fights. Now was not the time for fear, now was the time for action.

Carefully, Matt edged himself to the part of the rooftop closest to the building. All together, it was about 6 metres across. Matt did the calculations in his head. If he was lucky he'd manage to grab the window ledge a couple of stories below. He'd just have to make sure to stop his body going through the glass. However, if he was unlucky, he'd miss the window ledge and his momentum would carry him through the glass. It would hurt like hell and he'd loose the element of surprise but he'd have got in and, for now, getting in was all he cared about.

Matt backed up to the edge furthest away from the warehouse. Then, after taking a long,deep breath, he started to run.
Crunch, crack, Matt kept on running, crunch,crack,crunch,crack, crunch--

Silence.

Smash!

Matt collided with the wall of the warehouse, his hands struggling to get a grip on the windowsill. He had hit the wall too hard. His momentum carried him forwards his feet hitting the window, shattering through the glass. Fearlessly, Matt let go of the windowsill and he fell into the warehouse at an angle. He landed in a crouch on a cold, metal railing. Sirens were blaring and angry, confused shouts echoed from the floor below. Matt heard guns being loaded and his radar sense picked up a total of ten people below. Ten people, ten guns, one warehouse, one Matt.

Slowly, Matt raised his head.

It was time.

Chapter five is out next Friday: the first chapter of Matt's tragic past is going to be revealed.