A blackout strikes New York City one night and madness
ensues, the police on extra duty to cope with extreme reactions. Spider-Man
comes upon a gang of hoods looting a pawnbroker’s shop; he bats them around,
telling them to give the guy his stuff back when the pawnbroker, Zelnick,
produces a shotgun, yelling threats, Spidey must persuade the broker to drop
his gun. Suddenly, a shot is fired from the crowd and the pawnbroker dies in
front of Spidey….
The next day, Black Widow heads to the criminal courthouse
where public defender Matt Murdoch is under a heavy caseload from the crimes
committed during the blackout. Inside, Natasha meets Matt while Ben Urich and
Peter Parker, covering the day’s events for the Daily Bugle, are there.
Ben says Matt suggested they look into the murder of a pawnbroker and Pete
recognizes it as the one he witnessed as Spider-Man the night before. Matt
meets with the murder suspect, Juan Santiago, a bitter young man who is certain
the system is conspiring to send him to prison even if he is innocent, while
Matt tries to convince him to trust the system. Matt brings up the witnesses
but Juan tells him they won’t testify as they are all afraid of the gang that
runs the neighborhood. With his enhanced hearing, Matt knows the boy is telling
the truth about his innocence and persuades him to let him try in court….
Juan goes before a judge and Matt persuades the judge that
the evidence against Juan Santiago was coerced by the local gang and the judge
grants Matt’s request to postpone the case for a week to allow Matt to gather
evidence. Outside, Matt tells Natasha that as Daredevil he could gather the
evidence from the gang but he is swamped with work so Black Widow volunteers to
do the job. Ben Urich talks to Matt, who recognizes that Spider-Man is standing
not far away and so drops the hint to him as well as Natasha to go after the
gang….
The night in the neighborhood, Spider-Man and Black Widow
meet on their shared mission and decide to work together. On the way, Spidey
recognizes that Black Widow is the woman he saw with Matt Murdock earlier—so
does that mean Murdock is Daredevil? Spidey quickly dismisses the idea as they
enter the building reputed to be the headquarters of the gang. The two heroes crash
in on the gang; Spidey takes off after the guy who is supposed to have the gun
while Widow takes on the rest of them….
The punk, known as Cool Breeze, leaps from a window to
escape Spidey and carjacks a family. A few blocks away, the punk frees the
parents but holds onto the daughter as a hostage. Spidey pursues the car into
Central Park; he flashes his Spider-Signal as a warning but the punk panics and
crashes off a bridge into the river. Spidey dives in and rescues the girl and
the crook but importantly, he recovers the gun. Black Widow turns the gun over
to the police for testing while Spidey, still feeling guilt over the pawnbroker,
Zelnick’s, death, takes off….
The next day, flashes of Spider-Sense in Central Park lead
Spidey to a strange construction; drawn toward it, he enters and disappears….
Matt brings the good news to Juan Santiago but Ben Urich
enters with the bad news: this gun did not kill the pawnbroker so Juan’s hopes
are dashed and Daredevil must find a way to keep his promise….
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