Post by Spider-Man Beyond on Aug 10, 2007 10:51:24 GMT -5
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear! #7
New Highs
New Highs
Written by Mallet
Edited by Daniel Dyer (Spider-Man Beyond)
Lee strode across the cityscape high above them, only his footfalls let his presence be known. They crashed through car after car, people ran and ducked to escape them, but that didn't bother Lee. He had finally hit the big time! Working for the Kingpin. Now he was an actual goon! Admittedly that wasn't really something he aspired his whole life for, but after going to prison and living life as a no name hood, it was pretty good. Yep, he had been chosen by the Kingpin himself to test the suit.
What suit?
Oh sorry, I got a little ahead of myself!
Lee was testing the Stiltman Exo-Suit.
The Kingpin had had it stolen recently from a Roxxon Industries laboratory. It was basically a silver egg with long steel tubes coming from the sides and bottom. Two along the bottom represented the legs and two more on the sides were what he'd use to grab the stash. Both set's could telescope out for, what seemed like, ever.
Oh and what a stash it was! Carl Rodan's private safe from his pent house! Rodan was a rival of the Kingpin's or at least as much of a rival as one can be to the Kingpin and still be allowed to operate. He ran all the operations the Kingpin didn't touch, hardcore drug labs, brutal local "enforcement", and high fashion. All the stuff that bored the Kingpin, Rodan was quick to jump in on. Even then he hadn't dared move beyond his home stretch of four square blocks.
Kingpin let him operate these businesses. They were necessary functions to how his world was run and why get his hands dirty in that sort of thing. He ran all the gangs, even if they didn't know it. He held a grip on all the "special imports" that certain citizens wanted. He held politicians, police, and private citizens in his debt at all times. The Kingpin was called "the Kingpin of Crime" for a reason.
Despite sticking out like a sore thumb, Rodan had always kept his place. Never stepping beyond the boundaries of his "little" operation, until now and he was getting a big head about it. Daredevil had been hitting the Kingpins operations all through the city, hassling him. Rodan used that as the right time to take some more territory.
That probably wasn't the smartest move on his part.
So now here Lee was, walking over the city nearly 50 stories high. The safe with Carl Rodan's private treasure tucked under his arm clinking slightly as he went. He was happy as a boy with a kite on a windy day. He had almost missed out on it too! Kingpin needed someone with at least a little technical know how, and he had originally gone to school to be an engineer. He had to prove himself though. He was still a new hood. For one of the Kingpin’s lieutenants, he hadn't earned his stripes. So they gave him a job, to put the squeeze on some lawyer that had been giving him problems, Foggy Nelson. Apparently the little guy co-ran a law firm that targeted Kingpin’s properties; give him a little encouragement to look the other way. Killing him would be too conspicuous so just a light beating was in order.
Real simple job.
It honestly did look that way too easy even while he was doing it. He had pushed the other partner, Murdack, Murdock, the blind one, and their secretary into another room. Nelson was easy enough to take down and the message was about to be delivered when Daredevil crashed through the window. The ensuing fight lasted only minutes; with Lee getting back up twice to try and take Daredevil by surprise, but Daredevil was too much.
Sitting in jail he thought it was all over, he had failed the Kingpin after all, and you don't recover from that. To his surprise his bail was made, and he was taken out to the Kingpin. The meeting was the strangest of Lee's life; he had never actually seen the Kingpin before, only worked through intermediaries. He didn't see him this time either, only a massive man cloaked in shadow. Lee was told he had done a good job, he not only told Nelson and Murdock that the Kingpin could strike them at anytime, but he had also given him another clue to Daredevil. Lee asked what that meant but all he got was a sinister chuckle from the man. That. Laughter made Lee nervous, it was the sound of a man with a plan and one he assumed was bad for Daredevil.
None of that mattered, though, because he had been taken directly to the Kingpin! He was an actual goon for him! That's when they finally let him loose on the Exo-Suit. He had proven himself after all. What a great suit it was, a Vibranium-Titanium alloy that could deflect almost anything. Besides its considerable reach advantage, the suit also had retractable machine gun turrets in the "shoulders" complete with the auto targeting feature. You'd have to be a circus acrobat or bullet proof to survive a fight with this thing! It wasn't with out its weaknesses, of course. If you took out the gyroscope that stabilized the legs was one. You took that out and a simple piece of rope would trip him up. There was also the access button under the right arm pit, but you'd have to be super human to even see, it let alone hit it.
It only took a couple of test runs to get used to the suit but when he did it was like an extension of him. Movements became quick and fluid, not nearly as clunky as you would think for an apparatus like this. He was ready for whatever job came down.
"Carl Rodan's safe. Tonight. Go now, and don't come back without it."
The orders weren't from the Kingpin himself anymore but back to lieutenants. Lee didn't mind though. That laugh still stood in the back of his head. He was just glad to be left alone with the suit. Tonight was show time, though, his big premier.
And that brings us back to our man's delightful stride across the city, safe firmly under his left arm. He was heading for the harbor, smiling lightly to himself. He was actually a little disappointed; none of the costumes had tried to...
KLANG!
There it was! His first REAL test in the suit. A fight! Who had thrown what though? Maybe it was just a bird. But no, as Daredevil swung into sight, he saw it certainly wasn't a bird. The Devil was clad in solid red and holding a billy club in one hand, a pathetic weapon compared to his own. The guns slid up from his shoulders and fired down at the little man.
"You're not stopping me, Devil! No one can stop Stilt-Man!"
In retrospect that might have been a little presumptuous of him to say, but heck! This was his night to shine! He could be and do anything tonight no matter how presumptuous, preposterous, or pompous of him! Daredevil just didn't see that yet. That tonight was the night of the Stilt-Man! No one would halt him! He would be as theatrical as he wanted!
Meanwhile, Daredevil acrobatically dodged the assault, rolling behind a ledge for cover. He rose in a hand stand as soon as the bullets flew past and propelled himself over the ledge and off the building. He turned in mid air and launched a line from his club, wrapping around Stilt-Mans arm and swinging to safety on the other side of the street. Lee had to admit the guy was good, and he turned the Stilt-Suit around to the other side of the street. Only to see Daredevil crouched down looking at him, studying him. It was the first time since he originally climbed into the suit that he felt slow.
In a flash the machine guns roared to life again but Daredevil was already swinging off again. This time, though, he had a second billy club line with him, and he had it out swinging like a bola. In mid swing, before Lee could react, Daredevil has wrapped a line around his legs. He wobbled briefly before the gyro kicked in and he stood back straight. He was going to fall but he had the equivalent of his shoe laces tied. If he stopped to take the line off, Daredevil would have more time to plan something, so he just finished his turn and began scanning for the crime fighter.
Klang-Clik!
Something hit him and... clicked? Lee was worried now, it could have been anything, explosives, some sort of EMP, even a hook line to hold him in place! What was it-
Whsssshhh!
The front of his egg cracked and opened, but how!? The only way would have been to hit the access switch, but that was so well hidden! Either way, he needed to get out before Daredevil, but it was too late, Daredevil swung up into the egg.
"Hello, Mr. Oberman."
It was too strange. How did he do it? How did he know who Lee was? Sure he had beaten Lee up a couple of days ago but still Lee didn't feel like they were on a name basis. He didn't have much time to wonder as a fist launched towards his face, and then came the blackness. Lee had been knocked out enough that he didn't seem that surprised to find himself waking up in jail.
It was just a short time later and he was in prison. He refused any deal he was offered. It all hinged on his turning over on the Kingpin which he wouldn't do because, you know, he liked being alive. So it all went pretty quickly, after all he was still out on bail for his other recent arrest, and he wound up in a prison cell for the second time in his life. For a day or two it was the same old same old, and then in the yard one day another prisoner tossed a big folded up thing of papers.
"Gift from the Kingpin, distracting those costumes while he took care of things."
Lee hurriedly unfolded the papers, and there were the blueprints to the Stilt-Man suit. Thoughts drifted through his mind. It might take awhile and maybe loose a couple key parts but Stilt-Man would be back!
End.