Matt Murdock walks down a
dark back alley, where he’s accosted by three street punks. Matt tests out his
new billy club and easily takes out the criminals, who had been terrorizing the
neighborhood lately. Matt hopes this little demonstration will dissuade them,
before changing to Daredevil to make his way back to his office. Meanwhile,
nearby, two reporters also make their way to the law offices of Nelson and
Murdock, following up on a tip. On their way there, they are attacked by a
mysterious, leather clad masked man. He takes care of the male reporter before
savagely beating the female reporter. Daredevil hears and makes his way there
as quick as possible, getting there just as the mystery attacker is escaping,
his victims barely clinging to life. The police arrest Melvin Potter near the
scene, despite his parole officer Betsy Beatty pleading his innocence. Matt
changes clothes once more and advises Melvin not to say anything, promising to
straighten everything out.
The next day, Matt and
his secretary Becky Blake go to visit Melvin at the Criminal Courts Building,
with Matt particularly worried about Melvin’s mental state. He hopes that this
little episode won’t undo all the progress he’s made. Matt introduces Melvin to
Becky who suddenly faints at the very sight of him! Later, Matt asks Becky what
happened and if she’s ever met Melvin before. Becky reluctantly admits that
when she was in college, she was brutally attacked by a masked man, just like
the one from the incident the previous night. His attack left her confined to a
wheelchair for life and in trying to fight back, she saw his face, confirming
that it was Melvin Potter. Matt can’t believe this and gets angry at Becky
after she admits that she never reported the crime. She throws him out after he
continues pestering her about it, not wanting to be judged for just wanting to
forget it.
The next day, Matt is
able to get an extension for the initial case for the incident involving Melvin
at the museum months ago, arguing that this recent incident would negatively
influence a jury. That night, Daredevil scours every back alley and seedy bar
he can find for any possible information on who actually perpetrated the attack
but comes up empty. In the morning, Matt swings by Foggy’s apartment,
desperately needing his help. Debbie admits that things have been rough lately
and Foggy’s been like a totally different person and she doesn’t know what to
do. Just then, a very disheveled Foggy comes home and pointedly kicks Matt out
of his house. As Matt bemoans that he’s lost all his help with this case, he
overhears a news broadcast proclaiming that Melvin Potter broke out of jail!
Meanwhile, the man actually responsible sees the news and gets a kick out of
the fact that Melvin is taking the rap for his misdeeds, and plans to have some
fun with Betsy…
Matt tracks down Melvin
at the museum, finding him with his Gladiator helmet. Melvin feels frustrated
and done with everything but Matt isn’t willing to give up on him. After
several moments of tense contemplation, Melvin throws his helmet away and asks for
Matt’s help. Some time later, the masked attacker forces his way into Betsy’s
apartment, causing her to desperately fight back, fleeing once the neighbors
start investigating the noise. Later, Betsy tells Daredevil that she’s
encountered men like him before and Daredevil eventually tracks him down after
hours of searching local shady hangouts. Daredevil gets swarmed by the guy’s
buddies and they hold him down while he savagely attacks Matt. Realizing this
is how Becky must have felt, Daredevil finds the strength to push them off of
him and even more savagely lays into the masked man. Daredevil knocks him out,
removing his mask and revealing that he’s a dead ringer for Melvin! The next
day, Matt goes to see Becky. He apologizes for how he acted before and tells
her that the man who attacked her has been arrested, but there’s not enough
evidence to convict him without her testimony. Matt tells her that she can’t
let the fear of that horrible memory keep her from saying anything. He already
cost her the use of her legs, she can’t let him truly cripple her. After long
moments of hesitation, Becky musters her resolve and calls the police.