In a Catholic School
classroom, a 12-year-old girl named Mary suffers severe hallucinations, out of
her mind on drugs. In order to escape these visions she jumps out of the window
and hits the ground several stories below. Matt Murdock, who had been guest
lecturing in the class, changes to Daredevil and runs the girl to the hospital;
all the while he can feel her dying. Daredevil is too late and the girl dies on
the operating room table. The doctor makes Daredevil aware of the Angel Dust in
the girl’s system and admits there’s not a lot they can do to combat this
epidemic. Mary’s distraught brother Billy demands to see his sister and
Daredevil has to tell him that she didn’t make it. Billy swears that he’s going
to make the guys that sold her the drugs pay, someone named Hogman and his
partner. Daredevil sets out to see if he can track down this Hogman while Billy
decides on a deadlier approach and swipes the gun from his father’s dresser.
Meanwhile, some guys
score some drugs from Hogman’s partner Flapper and soon encounter the
undercover Daredevil. Daredevil can tell how drugged out they are and starts to
get overwhelmed, not wanting to seriously hurt them. He’s then saved by the
Punisher, who has no such compunctions, and starts to lay into the punks.
Daredevil stops Punisher from killing them when suddenly Flapper is shot from a
nearby roof when attempting to flee. Daredevil quickly heads to the roof to
find that Billy was apparently the one who pulled the trigger! Billy claims his
innocence, unable to go through with it and having fired over Flapper’s head.
Later, Matt takes on Billy’s case, being able to tell he’s innocent, and asks
him to trust that the system will get justice.
Some time later,
Daredevil meets with Ben Urich at the Daily Bugle to get information on the
Punisher, before heading back to the scene of Flapper’s murder. Daredevil
concludes that the angle would have been wrong for the shaky Billy to have made
the clean shot and determines that someone on a higher ledge behind him could
have made it. Daredevil scours the nearby higher roofs and finds a spent shell
casing. Just then, Daredevil hears the Punisher on a nearby roof, roughing up a
junkie who witnessed the whole thing, looking for Hogman’s whereabouts.
Daredevil intercepts him and the two fight briefly before Punisher offers they
work together to clean up the streets. Daredevil declines the offer and
Punisher shoots him with a tranquilizer before brutally beating his informant.
As Punisher leaves, Daredevil can hear the witness’ heart slowing and stopping.
Daredevil is determined not to let the Punisher take another life and manages
to resuscitate the man, who tells him where to find Hogman.
Daredevil picks up Hogman
and two weeks later, the homeless witness’ testimony clears Billy of any
wrongdoing! However, when Hogman is going to be detained for the murder
instead, he pleads his innocence, and Matt can hear that he’s apparently
telling the truth! That night, the Punisher hears on the news that Matt Murdock
plans to defend Hogman in court, believing his client innocent. Punisher gears
up, sure to put himself and Matt back on a collision course. The next day, in
Central Park, Heather meets with Matt to tell him that she thinks her board of
directors is trying to push her out of her company and that she plans to fight
them on it. Matt is unsure that Heather has the business acumen for that and
she states that she needs to do something with her life, feeling so purposeless
otherwise. Matt offers to provide her purpose in another way and asks Heather
to marry him! To be continued!