New York City was a tapestry of light and shadow, and Hell's Kitchen was its darkest point. Adam was in a taxi, crossing the congested streets, his heart beating to the rhythm of the city. The decision to seek out Matt Murdock had not been easy, but he knew it was necessary. The last time they had seen each other, the words had been harsh and the blows even harsher. But there was something that united them beyond violence: the search for justice.
Upon arriving in Hell's Kitchen, Adam paid the taxi driver and got out of the vehicle. The air was filled with the smells of street food and exhaust smoke. He walked through the streets, each step echoing with determination. He soon arrived at Matt's law office, but instead of going inside, he headed to a nearby coffee shop. He ordered two coffees and sat at a secluded table, waiting.
The cafeteria was filled with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the hum of mid-afternoon conversation. Adam sat at a secluded table, two cups of steaming coffee in front of him, and waited.
After a few minutes, Adam heard footsteps heading towards him.
"Long time no see, Adam," Matt said as he sat across from him. Despite his blindness, his gait was sure, and his sense of surroundings was keen.
"Hi, Matt Thanks for coming." Adam greeted him with a nervous smile.
"I must admit that I didn't expect to see you here Adam. What brings you to Hell's Kitchen?" Matt asked in a calm tone, Adam pushed the coffee cup towards Matt and took a deep breath, still not knowing how to face the man in front of him.
"I found your high school registration papers in my mailbox. It was really a surprise to me." " Matt commented upon noticing Adam's nervousness,
"After our fight, I thought you had decided to take a different path, for a while I thought I would never hear from you again." Matt continued in a reproachful tone.
"Well, despite everything that has happened, you are my legal guardian. That means that legally I still need your signature for many things." Adam responded jokingly. Upon hearing this, Matt nodded and his expression softened a little.
"After that night I have been thinking a lot about what happened and what I will do from now on" Adam continued now in a more serious tone.
"I don't really have the answer yet, but I think I should definitely finish high school before making any other decision," Adam concluded, now much calmer.
"I understand. It is an important step to go back to school. I'm here to support you in that, Adam." Matt responded.
The awkward atmosphere began to dissipate as they both drank their coffee. The conversation between Adam and Matt Murdock flowed naturally as they caught up after not speaking for over a month.
The topics came and went but both men tacitly avoided talking about vigilantism, that was until Matt decided to broach the topic.
"Adam, how are you doing with your powers? Have you continued training like I taught you?" Matt asked, Adam was silent for a moment and his relaxed expression soon became wary.
"Yes, I have followed your instructions to the letter. But my powers… continue to increase, even after I have stopped my… killing." Adam responded as he brought the coffee cup to his lips.
Matt frowned, a mix of curiosity and concern crossing his face.
"That's interesting, and a little worrying. How about we have a friendly confrontation? It might be a good way to evaluate your progress." He suggested Mat, surprising Adam since the young man did not expect that the serious and disciplined Matt Murdock could come up with something like that. "I think it's a good idea. I accept the challenge." Adam agreed.
After finishing his coffee, Matt called the waiter and asked for the bill,
"As your legal guardian, it is my duty to make sure you are okay, even if it means covering your expenses from time to time." "He said Matt as he saw Adam start to take out his wallet."
"I won't object to that. Thanks, Matt." Adam answered laughing and let his guardian pay the bill.
Once Matt paid the bill, the two headed to Matt's apartment in Hell's Kitchen. There, Matt had a free room adapted for his training, the space in the room was clear, with enough area to move freely, Adam and Matt soon prepared for the confrontation, Matt stood in front of Adam, his posture relaxed but alert.
"Remember, this is just training. There is no need to hold back, but there is no need to hurt yourself either." Matt clarified, he knew that Adam was superior to him in physical strength, at least he was a month ago when they faced each other, and if what Adam said was true, Maytt was sure that Adam could beat him even more easily now. Even so, Matt had not given up, he was sure that if he took advantage of any carelessness on Adam's part, he could end up winning this confrontation.
"Understood. "I'm ready when you are." Adam confirmed as he finished stretching his muscles.
With a nod from Matt, the confrontation began. Initially, they moved cautiously, studying each other. Matt, despite his blindness, moved with astonishing precision, his heightened senses compensating for his lack of vision. Adam, for his part, relied on his superhuman strength and speed, a product of his emerging powers.
The sound of his movements echoed in the room, a dance of blows and dodges. Matt surpassed Adam in technique, his every move a testament to years of practice and discipline. However, Adam was not far behind; His strength and speed were formidable, allowing him to keep up with the pace set by Matt.
"Use your powers, Adam. "I want to see how far you've come." Matt said after a few minutes of hand to hand combat.
"Okay, but remember you asked for it," Adam warned, then dove into his shadow and disappeared, only to reappear behind Matt, using the latter's shadow as a portal. Matt, with his super hearing, detected the movement and launched an attack, but his fist pierced Adam's figure, as if he were a ghost.
"I now master dimensional drift, as you call it." Adam said with a smile.
Matt remembered that this was one of the first abilities Adam had awakened.
'The dimensional shift allowed Adam to keep his body in the shadow dimension while projecting it to the real dimension, allowing him to avoid any physical attacks, the disadvantage of this ability is that he cannot touch anyone while he is using it, in addition to his state intangible was susceptible to any magical or energetic attack, as his master had proven by hitting Adam using chi' matt remembered all the information he had about this ability and prepared to face it,
Mat believed that, despite the versatility of this ability, Adam could also have serious problems if he faced another spatial ability user but fortunately Adam has not faced anyone like that yet.
Adam vanished again, this time appearing in the shadow of a shelf on the other side of the room.
'Shadow jumping was another of Adam's first abilities, even before the dimensional shift, it allows him to move between the shadows that surround him, the condition for this is that the shadow he goes to must be within his field of vision' Matt reviewed and pricked up his hearing to look for where Adam had teleported to.
Adam soon reappeared near him, throwing several punches that Matt barely managed to dodge or block before disappearing again, bringing Matt into a defensive position during the fight.
After several rounds using this technique, Adam once again moved away from Matt but this time he focused on Matt's shadow, which seemed to come to life and wrap around Matt like a lasso, leaving him tied by his own shadow.
"This is my new ability, I call it shadow binding." Adam said.
"It allows me to manipulate the shadows around me as if they were another limb, allowing them to interfere on the physical plane," Adam explained before relaxing the force with which Mat was bound by his own shadow.
Matt, taking advantage of this, freed himself in one fluid movement and stood up.
"Another troublesome skill," Matt said as he once again took a fighting stance.
The training continued, with Adam demonstrating greater control over his powers, using them more and more effectively and creatively during combat, Matt, for his part, teaching Adam how to maintain the balance between the use of his powers and the need. to remain human.
At the end of the confrontation, both were breathing heavily, sweat beaded on their foreheads, but the smiles on their faces were evident.
"Awesome, Adam. You have great potential. But remember, you must always maintain control over your powers and not let them control you" Matt offered advice to the young girl under his tutelage.
After their intense training, they both took a shower to get rid of the sweat, Adam headed to his old room at Matt's house, the place where he had stayed for several nights while he learned to control his powers, Adam took a change of clothes from his old room and put it on, then he went out to the living room and found Matt in the kitchen preparing something.
"Tell me boy, are you staying to eat?" Matt asked Adam,
"Of course, why not," Adam responded after thinking about it a little, then he went to the table and sat down, while he waited for Matt to finish cooking, Adam turned on the television and put on the news channel, a habit that both how matt had developed during his days as vigilantes.
After a couple of minutes Matt finished preparing the food and proceeded to serve two steaming plates, and they both sat at the table.
"Nothing like a good meal after a hard workout, huh?" Matt said with a smile.
"Definitely. Thanks for this, Matt." Adam answered and then they both started eating while he watched TV.
but what was a moment of camaraderie was soon interrupted by the news. The screen showed the image of Wilson Fisk, also known as the Kingpin, and the reporter announced his release due to insufficient evidence.
Adam's fork stopped in midair, and Matt clenched his fists on the table. Their disbelief and frustration were palpable in the room.
"We did everything we could, Adam." Matt said after letting out a resigned sigh.
"But it seems it wasn't enough." Adam answered while clenching his fists, he knew many of the things that Wilson Fisk had done in Hellskitchen, and although it was not directly related to the death of his parents, the man's misdeeds had earned Adam's hatred, which is why he had attacked last time, he wanted to eliminate the cancer that Wilson Fisk represented for the city.
"It's not over yet. We just need to gather more evidence before trying again. This time I'll make sure he ends up behind bars myself." Matt said in apology, he knew of the hatred and contempt that Adam had towards Kinping, he knew that he had even decided to kill him in an attempt to bring justice to the man's victims, however, he had stopped him, even though Adam did what he did. What he believed to be right at the time, Matt feared that if he didn't stop, the carnage around him would only continue to grow and become what he himself so despised.
Determinedly, Matt turned off the television, and they both finished their meal in silence.
After saying goodbye to Matt, Adam left the apartment and took a taxi back to his apartment in New York.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of Hell's Kitchen, the underworld was searching for Ghost and Daredevil, orchestrated by Kingpin, who had put a price on his head.
Adam looked out the taxi window, unaware that the eyes of danger were on him and his guardian.