11070/A Night In Hell's Kitchen

A Night In Hell's Kitchen
Date of Scene:	08 May 2022
Location:	Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	Someone sends some goons to kidnap Natasha Cranston. Hells Kitchen was the wrong place to try it though. She kept her identity secret, while Daredevil had some demons of his own dredged up tonight.
Cast of Characters:	Matthew Murdock, Natasha Cranston

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Matthew Murdock has posed:
The wind that blows across the rooftop of the Hell's Kitchen apartment building is a stiff one. The night sky is mostly cloudy, giving only fitful glances of the moon. And helping the man who perches on the rooftop edge to blend into the night.

It was a stray scent that had plunged Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, off into his memories. Memories of a day this time of year, but many years past. The cologne on the man on the street below tonight that had triggered the memory hadn't been strong.

Not nearly as strong as that older man from years in the past. But the two were a match. That scent from the past was a less significant detail than the screech of the truck's tires, or the feeling of the older man's bulk as Matt had tackled him out of the way. Yet etched permanently in Matt's memories under the adrenaline rush that came with leaping in front of the out-of-control truck to push the man out of the way.

Once the memory had begun it was going to play out fully. Ending with looking up at his father's face, with the blue backdrop of the sky. Looking up at him as Matt's sight was eaten away by the corrosive chemicals that had splashed on his face when the truck's load of barrels had broken free.

The leather of Matt's glove creaks as he tightens his hand into a fist. "I don't know if I'm even remembering your face right anymore, Dad," he whispers into the air.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The part of New York so charmingly known as Hell's Kitchen has always had a reputation for poverty and crime, not entirely unearned. And, of course, such a reputation feeds on itself -- being known to live there is a likely death sentence on your CV, meaning fewer people finding jobs, meaning more people turning to crime. A vicious cycle.

    Natasha dislikes vicious cycles. And this one... May be fixable. Cranston Multinational has been negotiating to purchase a good chunk of currently unused real estate; a modernized distribution center just off the - significantly more expensive - main areas of Manhattan will greatly improve logistics, and her public relations director has been smiling from ear to ear about positive news articles. "Building Up Local Communities" and all that.

    That should address the poverty angle; the crime angle is another issue; as she's been studying reports that by rights she shouldn't have access to, the pattern is all wrong -- even when the local vigilantes manage to roll up a drug operation, sales in the area are back to normal within days.

    That suggests organization. Everyone knows it. No one speaks of it. Even that friendly police officer she struck up a conversation with after she'd gotten done with the negotiations didn't know or care where his bribes were coming from.

    She has a lot to think about as she makes her way back to the main streets where she'll be picked up - even cab drivers prefer to avoid the Kitchen - and that may explain why she's not paying as much attention as she normally would; at any rate, her first realization that there's something wrong is when she feels a tug at her purse.

    Her immediate instinct is to hold on and yank the would-be snatcher clear off his feet; her second thought is that that isn't something that Natasha Cranston, CEO and socialite, would be capable of, and with some reluctance she forces her fingers to relax as the man dashes away with her purse in his hands.

    ... How do normal women react again in situations like this? Oh, yes. "Hey! My purse! Stop, thief! Someone stop that thief!" The voice is loud, angry, and just at the edge of shrill, a decent effort for someone who hasn't had much practice.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil's mask shows only his mouth, which is pressed into a firm line as he thinks of one moment with his father after another. After all of these years, the details of his face are less distinct than they should be. Is he imagining his eyebrows were that thick? While he can read the letters on a printed page by feeling the ink, pictures are far more difficult for him. If only-

A particular cry of alarm makes it past Matt's memory to catch his attention. The memories collapse as his head lifts, the slight movement helping him locate the direction of the woman's try.

"Someone picked a very bad night," Daredevil says in his quite, raspy voice, "to get on my bad side." The sound of running feet guide him, and Daredevil is up and off, running along the edge of the roof he's on. He jumps down off the roof, across an alley to plant both feet on the opposite building, then leaps back across to the building he just left. Each transit loses a story of altitude in the acrobatic, controlled descent that is going to put him ahead of the would-be purse snatcher.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    ... Well, that's interesting. Not the part that the snatcher ducked into this alley; it's narrow and dark and just the type that someone not native to the area might hesitate going into, so that makes sense. What makes it interesting is that there are two men already in that alley, apparently waiting for someone, and the snatcher ran right by them without stopping or showing surprise.

    Meanwhile, the woman seems to have recovered from her surprise and is running after the snatcher, heading for that same alley...

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil is just landing on the bottom level of a fire escape when he hears a sound up the alley past the point the running figure can be heard. It was quiet, something metal that bumped against a brick wall. But audible to the hero's heightened senses.

The purse snatcher looks back over his shoulder to see if he's being pursued. He turns back just in time to get the briefest glimpse of something flying out of the night. The metal baton hits him in the forehead, and the man tumbles to the ground, out like a light.

The sound of the man falling takes Matt back, listening to the radio broadcast of one his dad's fights. The sound of him hitting the canvas as Carl Creel knocked him down. Down, but not out. Battling Jack Murdock always got back up.

This guy in the alley? Not so much. Not for awhile at least. Boots that match the rest of Daredevil's dark red costume pad past the man as he jogs quickly towards the ambush the men are about to spring.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    The ambush is in fact being sprung even as he turns. The woman apparently made excellent time chasing the snatcher, and has just turned into the alley - and come face to face with the two ambushers, one of which is clearly holding a gun pointed at her, judging by his posture, while the other is reaching for some kind of handcuffs on his belt. "Easy now. No sudden moves, no trying to run. Come here and put these on, and nobody has to bleed out in a back alley. Some people want a word."

    They're clearly professionals - no stress whatsoever in their voice or breathing... But strangely enough, while the woman's body language confirms her surprise is real, she's not breathing nearly as hard as someone who just sprinted after a purse snatcher should be, and her heart rate is barely up above baseline...

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Daredevil needs something with more bulk than his remaining baton if he's going to make sure the gun is diverted before it might go off. The Chinese restaurant that backs on the alley isn't too caring about getting their trash bags into the dumpster, and a few are lying there on the ground, contributing to that distinctive alley smell.

A bag is grabbed and the momentum of his run imparted to the bag as it flies through the air. It strikes the main square in the forearm and wrist, knocking the gun's aim away from the woman before the man's hand could even accidentally squeeze the trigger.

"Not in the mood for banter," the dark figure says as he follows up the trash bag by cracking his baton down on the gunman's hand, causing him to drop the weapon entirely. "Why are you after this woman?" he says in a quiet, firm voice, the metal baton pointing towards the man with the cuffs.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    Despite the fact that he's clearly within her field of vision, the woman doesn't seem to react to his presence at all, raising her hands slowly, only to take a quick step back as soon as the trash bag hits the gunman to get out of immediate melee range.

    The guy with the handcuffs, pulls a knife with his free hand and takes a swing, apparently as unwilling to waste words on banter as Daredevil. Definitely pros of some sort.

Matthew Murdock has posed:
Following the fight that ensues would be difficult for most people. Though Natasha Cranston is not most people.

The figure with the suggestion of devil horns on his costume leans back to avoid the knife, then pivots to block a follow up kick with his own leg. He throws a punch which the man deflects, stabbing with the knife again only to have Daredevil return the favor, forearm crashing into forearm to stop the attack.

The movements of both men are fast, nearly a blur as punch, stab and kick are countered, blocked or dodged. It does not last long though, Daredevil's baton smacking the knife and the man's hand at the same time, leaving his fingers useless for the new few moments as the knife goes flying into the trash.

Daredevil grabs the man, getting the baton up under his throat as he puts the man between himself and his accomplice. Choking him, only leaving enough air he can barely speak. "Why. This. Woman?" he repeats.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    It takes a moment longer for the man's will to crack. "They didn't say! We just had to deliver her!" he stammers out. Truth, as far as he knows. "We don't get paid to ask why!" Again, truth.

    More running footsteps - police shoes, standard issue, crackle of a police radio, elevated heartbeat and heavy breathing, rustle of the cloth sounds like one hand already on a service pistol - and a moment later a police officer rounds the corner. "NYPD, everyone freeze!"

Matthew Murdock has posed:
The approaching footsteps paint a clear enough picture of what is going to happen. Daredevil's focus turns towards the woman. The same slow, steady heartbeats as before.

Curious.

But not something he has time to worry about now. Daredevil hits the man in the back of the head with an elbow and propels him into his accomplish, knocking them both down as the police round the corner of the alley.

A trio of quick steps and fuel a leap up onto the top of a garbage bin, the momentum flipping Daredevil further upwards. He grabs hold of part of the fire escape and swings like a gymnast on a bar, before flipping away into the darkness and out of sight.

Leaving the woman and her two attackers and one purse-snatcher behind. And leaving him with more questions.

Natasha Cranston has posed:
    "Thank you, officer, you got here just in time," he can hear the woman talking now -- and her heartbeat is still completely steady. "No, I don't know what they wanted-" Lie. "-That gallant stranger knocked them out before they could say anything-" Partial lie. "No, I didn't get a good look at him - " Lie. "It all happened so fast, I was too shocked to really pay attention-" Lie. "... Has anyone seen my purse?"

    The cops seem solicitous and helpful, and the purse snatcher is pulled out of the dumpster Daredevil left him in shortly after.

    "Look, officer, I understand you'd like a statement but this was all a bit much and I have an appointment this evening-" Lie "-and I promise I can come by the station tomorrow if you really need my statement..."