"If you don't want your daughter Maddie to disappear again, calm down and listen."
In Hell's Kitchen, one of the few people Kingpin truly trusted—Walker—wore a black suit as he prowled the night and found Ivan, the father of the little girl Kingpin had met a few days ago, the one who'd gotten separated from him on the street: Maddie.
Other matters could be delegated. The fewer who knew about this one, the better. Walker had to handle it himself.
Ivan woke with a start. He stared, terrified, instinctively about to shout, but a hand over his mouth and a knife at his eye kept him silent.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw his wife, lying motionless in bed.
"Relax—I didn't kill her. Just knocked her out."
Short and muscular in his suit, Walker pinned Ivan's chest with a knee and waggled the blade.
"Tomorrow night, I want you to climb to the Statue of Liberty's torch and jump."
"But before you jump, when the police come to save you, you will demand 'Batman come in person and show his face.'"
"Do that, and your family will find a bank card at home—with enough for ten years of comfort without work."
"But if you don't… you may live, but you'll never see your daughter again."
He flicked his eyes at the foot of the bed and yanked Ivan's head up by the hair so he could see.
"Mmph—mmph—"
The whimper came from the footboard. There, Ivan finally saw Maddie—hands tied behind her, mouth taped, eyes brimming as she cried.
A bound daughter, a knife at his eye, and a fortune dangled before him… Ivan had no choice. He nodded, a twisted half-laugh, half-sob on his face.
Walker seemed satisfied. "Oh—and write 'Batman must come in person and unmask' on something beforehand. At 92.99 meters up, the cops won't hear you clearly."
He took his hand from Ivan's mouth and sheathed the knife.
"Let my daughter go. I'll do exactly what you say!" Ivan pleaded as soon as he could speak.
Walker ignored him. Clamping Maddie under his arm, he moved for the window—but Ivan suddenly shifted from begging to asking for money.
"Can you leave me some cash first? …I can't afford the ferry."
The Statue of Liberty sits on Liberty Island in the Hudson; you need a boat from Manhattan.
Walker stopped, patted his pockets, and found nothing.
"Give me a few minutes," he said—and pushed off the sill, vanishing with Maddie.
Only then did Ivan realize the latched window had been opened without a sound—how Walker slipped in, knocked out his wife, and threatened him.
He looked at his wife—no injuries. He exhaled in relief—only for it to catch again when he thought of Maddie.
Staring into the black beyond the window, he felt his life was as hopeless as the night.
"Stickup."
Walker left Ivan's place, cut through alleys, and barked at a homeless man slumped on the ground.
"I…"
The vagrant gaped at the short, muscular man with a suit and a struggling child tucked under his arm. Walker flashed the knife; the man flinched and fished out a few coins with shaking hands.
Walker grabbed them, ignored the pleas, and went back to Ivan's window.
"Don't forget," he said, tossing the coins on the bed. "Your daughter's with me. Think carefully before you call the cops or try to run."
Then he vaulted out again, Maddie under his arm.
Ivan scooped up the coins with a stab of pain. He'd just steeled himself to jump from the torch tomorrow when—
Thud!
A dull thump outside—Maddie's cry—and the hiss of fists and feet cutting air.
He scrambled to the window. Two figures grappled; little Maddie was tumbling to the ground, crying and wriggling toward the window.
By the time he clambered out, it was over. The suit-clad hulk lay facedown. The other figure limped to Maddie and crouched.
"Wh-who are you?" Ivan asked, forcing himself closer, taking in the dark red suit and the horns on the man's brow.
"Daredevil."
He cut Maddie's bindings, peeled the tape from her mouth, and stood.
Ivan scooped his daughter up, eyes fixed on the knife stuck in Daredevil's leg. "Your… your leg…"
Daredevil plucked the blade free, unconcerned, and asked, "Do you know who that man is?"
He'd been about to take down a nearby den when his sharp hearing picked up Walker shaking a homeless man down. He followed the trail here.
Ivan shook his head.
"Tell me everything he said," Daredevil rasped.
Ivan didn't dare refuse. The bleeding leg was a reminder: this man was at least as dangerous as Walker. He swallowed and began:
"He said, 'If you don't want your daughter Maddie to disappear ag—'"
He stopped—then, as Daredevil was about to prod him, found the words:
"I've got it… When I lost Maddie, I never told anyone—afraid my wife would scold me. Only the man who helped me find her knew. He gave me his name: Wilson Fisk!"
"Kingpin," Daredevil thought.
…
At the abandoned shipyard, Batman laid out Black Cat's recorder and camera alongside the evidence he'd gathered.
He had proof of Kingpin's crew kidnapping, gun-running, and trafficking of "cigarettes" (**). Enough to see the lawyer who'd dared to take the case.
But to topple Fisk outright, he needed something more direct.
And compared to Kingpin, emperor of Hell's Kitchen, the loose Green Goblin was the more immediate threat; the recent string of murders all pointed to Norman Osborn.
Just tonight, late-night radio carried news of an explosion at NYPD Manhattan—likely the Goblin again.
Facing a glider and a green, razor-edged sword, cape development jumped to top priority.
Even without vehicles or a Batcave, a cape would let Batman operate at far beyond his current level.
~~~
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