Daredevil #293
CharactersCol. StrangDaredevil Kingpin Matt Murdock Punisher Taskmaster The Hand Tombstone |
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Daredevil regains control of his hypersenses and throws his billy club at the oncoming bus. It goes through the shattered windshield, ricochets off the roof, and makes contact with the gear shift, throwing the bus out of gear. This causes Tombstone to lose his grip on the Punisher and Taskmaster to be thrown through the windshield toward Daredevil. Daredevil tries to interrogate Taskmaster, but soon finds himself sparring with someone that can instantly turn his best moves against him.
Inside the bus, Punisher and Tombstone continue their fight, which quickly spills outside onto the top of a passing taxicab. The driver abandons the moving vehicle leaving the two combatants struggling on the roof.
Daredevil's senses alert him to the path of the oncoming taxi and quickly maneuvers Taskmaster in front of it. The cab strikes Taskmaster from behind, throwing Punisher and Tombstone off the roof in different directions. Daredevil is not pleased with his actions, but he reminds himself that he has to determine who's sponsoring this contest and if any other "contestants" are involved.
The Punisher reappears and chambers one round in a smaller caliber weapon and prepares to kill Taskmaster. Daredevil gets the drop on Punisher and ejects the magazine, wrestles the gun from him, and knocks him to the ground. He then turns the gun back on Taskmaster and demands to know who's behind this contest.
Before Taskmaster can divulge that information, Daredevil hears the Punisher draw a large knife from its sheath and throws it at Taskmaster. Unable to stop it, he follows the projectile with his radar and fires the one round, successfully deflecting the knife from his heart to his abdomen. Daredevil does what he can to stop Taskmaster from bleeding to death until the paramedics arrive.
At Kingpin's skyscraper, Colonel Strang completes the electronic transfer of funds to Fisk's account. The accountant responsible for monitoring the transfer notices a small glitch during the process, but it corrects itself quickly. He chooses to not tell Fisk of this since the problem no longer exists. However this is part of the plan orchestrated by Strang and his unidentified partner. They have introduced a trojan horse into his network and plan to use this in the near future.
Later that evening Daredevil pays a visit to the Taskmaster who has been sent to Bellevue Hospital for treatment. With minimal difficulty, Daredevil learns that the contest has pre-selected targets and that the hits that had to follow a specific timetable. Taskmaster tells him that the next hit will occur tomorrow. The target is Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Christine Harris.
The next day Daredevil stakes out Grand Central Station, which is hosting a performance from the Big Apple Circus. He identifies the trapeze act and a few clowns performing. One in particular catches his attention: Tombstone. His heightened sense of smell indicates that Tombstone is carrying a pie filled with a fast-acting epoxy. He realizes that Tombstone plans to make his way to the stage where Harris is giving her speech and seal the commissioner's mouth and nose with the pie "filling". The crowd won't realize she's suffocating until it's too late.
Before he can stop Tombstone, Daredevil's hypersenses alert him to the presence of the Punisher. Thinking that Punisher will take innocent lives trying to get Tombstone, DD climbs the ladder to the trapeze platform and borrows the bar. Swinging towards the terminal ceiling, he grabs the barrel of the Punisher's rifle. Playing a very deadly game of tug-of-war, he pulls Punisher through the ceiling, directing their fall towards the safety net.
Tombstone realizes his time is almost up and quickly and rushes toward the stage. Daredevil throws his billy club at one of pies, causing Tombstone to fall victim to his plan. Once they reach the ground, Daredevil tells Punisher to stay out of the city. Punisher has little choice but to leave since the police have now arrived.
When Daredevil reaches Tombstone, he has managed to remove enough of the epoxy to breathe thanks to his augmented strength and stamina. However his opportunity to win the contest and finally "belong" to this elite group has been taken from him. He collapses on the floor in tears.
Later that night the sponsors of the contest, The Hand, arrive on the New
York docks. They are aware of the failures of Taskmaster and Tombstone,
but are not concerned. Their section leader promises to make the city
cower in fear at the mention of their name.
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