Melvin Potter, once more
forced to be the Gladiator, is surprised by some guards when in the middle of a
jewel heist. He takes out the guards and shambles off, his mind all over the
place and trying not to think about what he’s doing. Meanwhile, Glorianna
O’Breen heads to the Nelson and Murdock law offices, determined to give Matt
Murdock a piece of her mind! She runs into Foggy packing things up and learns
that the firm is going under completely! Becky then alerts Foggy about Melvin’s
jewelry heist on the radio. Foggy refuses to believe that Melvin is truly at
fault after everything they did for him, and concludes that someone must be
framing him! Glori then asks Foggy out to dinner so she can talk to him about
Matt and his recent downward spiral.
Case in point, Matt
perches atop a water tower, lost in his troubles and self-pity. He thinks about
how so much has happened to him and he’s not even thirty yet. He feels as if
one thing after another keeps happening and that everyone he trusted has
betrayed him. He blames Foggy for their law firm going under and even blames
Heather for dying! He then remembers something Stick told him once, how he
seems to decide what’s right and wrong based on everyone else in his life, and
therefore shifts the blame onto them too. Matt then hears a police report about
Melvin’s recent activities and heads off to confront him, feeling that he’s
betrayed him too! Meanwhile, we discover that Melvin is being forced into crime
again due to his social worker (and love) Betsy being captured. Betsy tries to
reason with her attackers, warning them about what Melvin could do if he gets
too scared, but she gets hit and gagged for her trouble. At the same time,
Melvin takes refuge in a cheap hotel room, staying in the shower for hours to
drown out his frantic thoughts…
That night, Daredevil
stops by Melvin’s costume shop and finds the place being robbed by three guys. He
takes them out and with this lead a bust, decides to head to his office to
clear out his desk. Meanhile, Foggy and Glori talk at a little diner. Foggy
tells Glori about how Matt has had a lot on his mind and that he’s seen
something like this coming since Elektra died (though he doesn’t mention her by
name to Glori). Glori then admits that she’s been meaning to have it out with
Matt. He’s been cold and angry and distant with her, and always vanishes for
days on end. She even tells Foggy about when he told her he could see and the
day they had together (from Daredevil #223). Glori feels bad about unloading
all her troubles on Foggy and he suggests they go for a walk. At the former
offices of Nelson and Murdock, Daredevil kicks the door down and thinks about
how he won’t miss being a lawyer. He thinks about how he only did it because
his father told him to, blaming him for this direction in life. In anger, he
throws his name plate through the window and just stands there, letting the
burglar alarm ring…
Later, Foggy and Glori
walk through the Columbia University campus and Foggy tells her a story about
Matt and him from when they attended there. Foggy was trying to join a
fraternity and the frat leader was going to do something could have seriously
injured Foggy. Before he could though, the guy was found tied up, hanging out
of a third story window! Foggy knows it was Matt, since no one else would have
cared enough, but still has no idea how he did it. As Foggy reminisces about
simpler times, he notes how romantic the place looks. After some more strife,
Matt returns to his apartment and receives a call on his answering machine from
Melvin asking Matt to find Daredevil and have him meet him at the museum,
pleading for help.
Daredevil heads to the
museum, getting there before Melvin and noting what a sorry state he seems to
be in. He catches Melvin stealing the jewels again, and callously decides not
to listen to him. He taunts Melvin into attacking him, giving him an excuse to
let out some anger. He even lets Melvin hit him to see if he’s still got it in
him and concludes he’s just a shell of who he was. Daredevil decides to stop
toying with him and callously finishes Melvin. Melvin cries and begs Daredevil
to help Betsy and for the first time in awhile, a feeling of guilt wells up in Matt's chest, realizing that Melvin had tried to come to him and he ignored it. Deciding
to make things right, Daredevil helps Melvin track down where Betsy is being
held. Daredevil takes out the men while Melvin decides not to hurt anybody and
just rescues Betsy. Melvin and Betsy leave, but Daredevil can barely register
them, once again alone with his spiraling thoughts.
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