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Chapter 45 - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: The Bat-Cape

"If you don't want your daughter Maddie to disappear again, calm down and listen to me."

In Hell's Kitchen, Walker—one of Kingpin's few trusted subordinates, dressed in a black suit—wove through the dead of night to find Ivan, the father of the little girl Maddie who'd gotten separated from him on the street a few days ago when Kingpin intervened.

Other matters could be delegated, but this needed minimum exposure. Walker had to handle it personally.

Ivan woke from sleep with a start. His eyes widened in terror, instinctively wanting to cry for help, but the hand covering his mouth and the knife at his eye prevented any sound.

His peripheral vision glanced sideways—his wife lay motionless on the bed.

"Relax. I didn't kill her, just knocked her out."

The suited, short but muscular Walker pressed his knee into Ivan's chest, waving the knife.

"Tomorrow night, I want you to climb to the Statue of Liberty's torch and jump."

"But before jumping, when police attempt rescue, you need to demand 'let Batman come personally and reveal his true face.'"

"After it's done, your family will find a bank card with enough money to live comfortably for ten years without working."

"But if you don't do this... you might live, but you'll never see your daughter again."

Walker used his gaze to indicate the foot of the bed, grabbing Ivan's hair to lift his head slightly so he could see clearly.

"Mmm-mmm—"

Whimpering sounds came from the foot of the bed. Only then did Ivan see his daughter Maddie bound with hands behind her back, mouth sealed with tape, crying tearfully.

His bound daughter, himself threatened by knife, and Walker's promised sum—Ivan had no choice but to agree. He could only nod slightly, expression caught between crying and laughing.

Walker seemed quite satisfied with Ivan's cooperation.

"Oh, you need to write 'let Batman come personally and reveal his true face' on something beforehand, so those cops can actually read what you want. After all, the Statue of Liberty stands 92.99 meters tall."

He released Ivan's mouth, returning the knife to its sheath.

"Can you let my daughter go? I promise I'll do exactly what you said!" As soon as he could speak, Ivan begged desperately.

Walker ignored Ivan's pleading. He tucked Maddie under his arm and headed toward the window. But Ivan suddenly changed tactics—no longer begging, now asking for money.

"Can you leave me some money first? I can't afford the boat to the island."

The Statue of Liberty stood on Liberty Island in the Hudson River—reaching it from Manhattan required a boat.

Walker turned back, bewildered, then reached into his pockets. After searching thoroughly, he discovered he had no money on him at all.

"Wait a few minutes." Walker vaulted over the windowsill and dropped out, taking Maddie with him.

Only then did Ivan realize the window—closed from inside—had somehow been opened, allowing Walker to silently knock out his wife and threaten him.

Thinking of his wife, Ivan quickly turned to check her. After careful examination revealed no injuries, he breathed easier.

But his daughter being taken away tightened that breath right back into his throat.

Staring at the pitch-black night sky through the opened window, Ivan felt his life was as hopeless as that darkness.

"Robbery."

Walker left Ivan's home, turned left and right into an alley, addressing a homeless man slumped there.

"I..."

The homeless man stared dumbfounded at this short muscular man in a suit with a struggling little girl under his arm. About to speak, Walker already brandished his gleaming knife.

Startled, he dared say nothing more, trembling as he pulled several coins from his coat.

Snatching all the coins, Walker ignored the homeless man's desperate pleas behind him, turning to head straight back to Ivan's home.

"Don't forget what I said." Climbing back through the window, Walker dumped all the coins onto Ivan's bed. "Your daughter's in my hands. Whether you want to call police or run away, I suggest you think carefully before acting."

Walker climbed back out with little Maddie still under his arm.

Ivan clutched the coins with a heart like a knife was twisting in it, just deciding he'd jump from the Statue of Liberty tomorrow when—

THUD!

A muffled sound outside the window, followed by Maddie's crying and the whooshing wind of fists and feet colliding.

Ivan could no longer care about coins. He scrambled to the window to see two figures grappling outside. His daughter Maddie had been thrown onto the ground nearby, crying while twisting her body toward the window.

By the time Ivan clumsily climbed out the window, the two figures had determined a victor.

The suited, muscular Walker lay motionless on the ground. The other figure limped over to the crying Maddie and crouched down.

"Who, who are you?" Ivan gathered courage to approach Maddie, looking at this guy with horns on his forehead wearing a dark red suit.

"Daredevil."

Daredevil untied Maddie's bound hands and unsealed her mouth, standing.

Ivan hugged his daughter, staring fixedly at Daredevil's leg where Walker's knife was clearly still embedded.

"Your... leg..."

Daredevil pulled out the knife, seeming unconcerned about his injury. Instead he asked Ivan:

"Do you know this guy's background?"

Daredevil had been nearby planning to destroy a criminal den when his keen hearing detected Walker robbing the homeless man, following him here.

Ivan instinctively shook his head.

"Repeat everything he told you word for word." Daredevil's voice was slightly hoarse.

Ivan didn't dare refuse. The wound still bleeding on Daredevil's leg reminded him he faced someone no less dangerous than Walker. Ivan could only steel himself and begin repeating:

"He said, 'If you don't want your daughter Maddie to disappear again...'"

Ivan's voice suddenly stopped. Just as Daredevil was about to prompt him, Ivan spoke:

"I know now... Because I feared my wife's scolding, I never told anyone about my daughter getting separated and lost. Only one person who helped me find Maddie knows... He told me his name. Wilson Fisk!"

'He's Kingpin,' Daredevil thought.

Meanwhile, at the abandoned shipyard, Batman laid out Black Cat's recorder and camera along with various criminal evidence he'd collected himself.

The evidence he currently possessed showed Kingpin's gang involved in kidnapping, arms dealing, and drug trafficking—enough to meet that lawyer willing to take Kingpin's case.

But completely toppling Kingpin still risked failure. More direct evidence was necessary.

Moreover, compared to Kingpin—the crime emperor controlling Hell's Kitchen—the escaped Green Goblin was actually more dangerous. Recent murders were all connected to Norman Osborn.

Furthermore, tonight's late-night broadcast reported Manhattan precinct being bombed—likely the Goblin's handiwork again.

Facing the Goblin with his glider and sharp green blade, the Bat-cape's priority jumped to highest.

Even without transportation or a Batcave, Batman with a cape could display far greater capability than his current state.

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