Welcome!

[Peter Parker]

Okay, so it didn't feel like the smartest thing he could do right now...or really...ever. He knew what he had done the other night, and remembered it down to the most excruciating detail. He wasn't proud of it, but he just couldn't leave things the way they were.

Every time Peter remembered his feet connecting with Elektra's jaw...the way it sent her crashing across the room, breaking tables and chairs in her path...it made him wince. The problem was that he had liked it!

It was the same thing with the fight that happened with Daredevil afterwards. Every hit, every blow...every cruel word had felt right...and justified. Peter shook his head as he walked down the streets of Clinton. That suit had taken hold of him in the worst way!

So now here he was. In Hell's Kitchen. Preparing to...what? Probably die.

He had to do this though. He had to make things right for once. For sure nothing else in his life was ever going to be right. If he could just amend this one thing...

Peter kept his eyes to the skyline as he went deeper into the city. Matt probably already knew he was there.

[Elektra]

Elektra was tired of being inside, tired of being laid up, and tired of Matt fussing over her. Parker had beaten him up almost as badly, which meant he should have been laid up with her.

But not Matt Murdock. He was so stupidly overprotective. Granted he'd already lost her once, so some of it was understandable. Annoying, but understandable.

Regardless, as soon as he returned to work (and knowing him, it would be both jobs), Elektra has taken the opportunity to quit his apartment and stretch her damned legs. The concussion had abated, although it still felt like her jaw was on fire when she chewed or talked.

Carefully applied make-up hiding the ugly bruise on her jaw, the assassin dressed casually in some gray sweats and decided to head to her secret dojo over the antique shop. She couldn't let her edge dull, not in her line of work and because Kingpin still had a price on Matt's head.

Sais hidden under her jacket, small knives hidden various places and her bag of gear slung over one shoulder, Elektra headed through the streets of Hell's Kitchen.

She was halfway to her dojo when she spotted a familiar figure, his attention towards the sky, walking through the streets of Clinton.

Peter Parker...aka Spider-Man.

And Matt wasn't around to save his ass. A cold smirk crossed the assassin's face as she ducked into a convienent alley. The pain of the expression reminded her of Parker's humiliating victory over her.

That had been on his terms. She'd never underestimate him again. At least, for the brief period of time he got to walk this earth.

Flipping out her cellphone, Elektra brought up Parker's name and hit call. Her painful grin widened as the cuckoo clock sounded from her target. She waited for him to answer, gritting her teeth as pain surged through her jaw.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Parker," she growled as a greeting. "And a death wish."

If Peter knew anything about her and her reputation, he'd be very worried about the call.

Elektra talked to you while she killed you.

[Peter Parker]

Peter had no real plan in his mind on how this was going to look. He pretty much just flat out assumed that a group hug was not going to be the outcome...though he’d have been lying to himself if he said he didn’t hope in some way that it would. The vision of Daredevil’s angered face flitted through his mind, followed by a slow motion replay of Elektra crashing through the tabletop to the barroom floor.

And just then his phone rang.

Fishing it out of his pocket, Peter stared at it. Disbelief filled his heart as he flipped it open and put it slowly up to his ear.

"You've got a lot of nerve, Parker," came the familiar voice. It didn’t sound happy. It didn’t sound welcoming. It didn’t sound like there was a group hug in his immediate future. "And a death wish."

Licking his dry lips and swallowing painfully, Peter looked around the rooftops again. A suspicion crept up on him that he was being followed. He could feel her eyes on him.

“Okay,” he said nervously. “And I deserve it.”

He didn’t elaborate.

[Daredevil]

Pain.

So much of Matt Murdock's life was dominated by that one word and all that it could imply. Just four letters long, there really was no describing just what 'it' could mean to a person like Matt--when the pain was real. There were times in Matt's life when he wondered if it wasn't just his skin that 'felt' more keenly than ordinary people. When he'd 'watched' his father's heart stop, when he'd felt the crushed, bloody mess that had once been Jack Murdock's face, it had felt like a dozen hearts cracked inside his chest.

Since then, Matt's life had been defined by pain, both emotional and physical. In time, he came to realize that it was unhealthy (and immature) for him to imagine that his emotions were more powerful, valid, or even more important than anyone else's. Everyone felt heart ache. In a town like Hell's Kitchen, that was a guarantee worth fighting over.

As Matt soared through the night, rushing toward the cold, hard concrete below face first, and quickly approached terminal velocity, his thoughts were focused on the agony he felt. His best friend in the world was in very real danger, and it was entirely Matt's fault. The thought that something might happen to Foggy filled Matt with feelings of loneliness that he hadn't felt since he was a teenager.

Matt was not a man with many friends, and a man who he felt would never betray the trust he was rarely inclined to offer had betrayed him in every way he could have imagined, short of shouting to the world his secret identity. Peter Parker, geek extraordinaire and the most unpopular of super-heroes, Spider-Man, had attacked the woman Matt loved, nearly snapping her jaw, and then tried to kill Matt by tossing a motorcycle at his head.

In short, the stiffness and torturous pain in his arm, knee, and the bruises covering almost everywhere else was only a reflection of the real anguish Matt felt inside.

Gloved fingers caught around a flagpole. Matt's shoulder burned and popped as the stresses of gravity and inertia tugged on it. His body whipped beneath the pole at breakneck speed, but Matt spun around and around it, slowing his fall and actually gathering momentum so that, when he released, he shot skyward. Finally, he landed with a grunt on top of a building. Breathing heavily, he crouched and opened his senses.

Pain or no, he had a promise to keep. A promise that meant everything to him. For tonight, that was all that mattered. Hell, he thought, it'll feel good to work out some of this frustration.

The smirk that accompanied the thought fell like a millstone as a very familiar, and unwelcome, sound caught Matt's ears. A cellphone ring that only one man in New York City would choose as his own. Focusing his hearing on the location of the ringing, he heard an even more familiar voice speak to cell phone's owner.

Elektra, Matt thought as her words carried up to him. There was unmistakable venom in her voice, a murderous intent that he hadn't truly heard since the night she'd pinned him with one of her knives. The night she'd died.

The voice that responded was Peter's. Surprisingly, there was no hint of the self-satisfied confidence and sarcastic pride that had dominated his words a few nights earlier. His voice was flat. If anything, Matt would say he sounded... resigned to the fate Elektra was offering.

Still huffing, Matt pushed to his feet and took off running. As he ran, he found Elektra. Not surprisingly, considering her skills and techniques, she wasn't far from Peter at all. And, like almost every time the three of them were in close proximity, Matt dropped to the street between them, though he knew it was doubtful Peter had spotted Elektra.

"Get out," Matt said, knowing he didn't need to specify the 'where' he meant. "Now."

[Elektra]

“Okay,” he said nervously. “And I deserve it.”

To Elektra's chagrin, Parker sounded defeated at her threat. His posture told the same story. There was nothing of cocky bastard who'd put her through the table. She ground her teeth a heartbeat, a bit taken aback by being confronted with the pathetic kid with girl troubles she had spared.
She didn't want to kill that Peter.
Her hesitation left an opening. An opening swiftly filled by none other than Daredevil's red leather clad form. He rushed past her, putting himself between Elektra and Peter. Matt wasn't any happier to see Parker than she was, but he had no intention of killing the annoying Spider-Man.
”Get out,” he ordered coldly. “Now.”
Elektra snapped her phone shut and stepped out of alleyway, tucking it away. Her eyes never left Peter as she strolled casually towards Daredevil, drawing a sai as she went. The dull ache in her jaw reminded her of that night in the bar and what Parker was capable of. Well, had been capable of when he got over himself.
“You deserve it?” she mocked as she reached Matt's side. “Just like I 'deserved' what you did to me?” She gritted her teeth, the pain in her jaw worsening. Making her angrier.
Unfortunately, Matt was there, putting himself in between them as always. No matter how angry he was by Parker's betrayal, he'd never kill him. Or allow her to in his presence. She knew it and Matt knew she knew it.
She glared at Parker, then sheathed her sais half-turning to Daredevil. “You heard him,” she said in an icy tone. “Get out.”
Elektra didn't feel the need to add the 'or else' in that statement. Peter knew what the 'or else' was.

[Peter Parker]

No sooner had Peter apologetically explained that he understood why Elektra wanted to kill him (in so many words), than suddenly a typically grim-faced Daredevil dropped to the ground beside him. Peter jumped backwards a step with a start.

"Get out," Daredevil growled angrily. "Now."

Of course it was impossible not to draw attention. A few cars actually stopped in the middle of the road to try and see what was going on with the infamous costumed vigilante.

“You deserve it?” Elektra chided over Matt's shoulder. Peter looked over and realized she had drawn her sai-thingies. “Just like I 'deserved' what you did to me?”

And as much as Elektra had made him angry in the past...as much as he had wanted to hit her before, he couldn't find it in him to even joke about her deserving what had happened to her. He shook his head. "No."

Elektra just glared at Peter, and for the first time he felt his blood run cold from it. It made him realize that never before had he really been in danger around her. Now she would kill him and not lose a night of sleep over it.

“You heard him,” she said icily. “Get out.”

The threat was implied and Peter did wish that he could obey just then. But he shook his head. "I...can't," he said as he hung his head a little. "You see, I've effectively destroyed every friendship I ever had (really)...and I need a chance to explain...or at the very least to apologize."

He made it a point to make eye contact with Elektra, and tried to with Daredevil, but found it as impossible as it was pointless. He took a deep breath. How could he really say that his clothes made him do it??

[Daredevil]

As always, the sound of Elektra drawing her sai rubbed Matt the wrong way. Her faithful use of the lethal weapons was a constant slap in the face of everything he'd come to believe and work for. Still, she was an independent woman. Her spirit (and her perfume) were what attracted Matt to her in the first place. It was just becoming harder and harder for Murdock to reconcile her penchant for murder in his mind.

On the street nearby cars actually stopped. Matt, who had managed to keep Daredevil an urban myth for years and, more importantly, keep images of Daredevil out of the newspapers, balked at the attention suddenly thrust upon him. Was this what Peter was up to? Some kind of trap?

Scanning the surrounding area, Matt didn't sense anybody hiding on top of the buildings or hiding for some kind of ambush...

That left the question, had Peter planned for this reconciliation to be so open? Did he mean for it to be a mark of trust? That he wouldn't be able to use his powers so openly without exposing himself? Or did he think that the public attention would spare him the wrath of Daredevil and (more importantly) Elektra? If he was counting on the latter, then Matt really did feel sorry for him.

Elektra repeated Matt's urgings that Parker vacate Hell's Kitchen. There was real danger behind her voice. Daredevil shouldered his way between them yet again. There was something about Peter that was different than before... More importantly, he sensed honesty and genuine sorrow as Peter responded.

"I...can't. You see, I've effectively destroyed every friendship I ever had (really)...and I need a chance to explain...or at the very least to apologize."

"Fine," Daredevil said. "Explain." Shifting under the scrutiny of the passersby, Matt found himself walking backwards, heading for an alley he smelled nearby. "The short version. And it had better be good."

[Elektra]

Elektra didn't like this going down in the middle of the street anymore than Matt did. Not that she hadn't confronted (and killed) people in open ground and plain sight of bystanders. It was just that having Daredevil showing up in the middle of the street was drawing attention.

She would have been more suspicious of Peter's motivations, but there didn't seem to be anyone waiting in ambush and Parker wasn't in costume. Which meant he couldn't use his powers without exposing his identity. Elektra had seen personally that he wasn't any good at using his powers on the down-low.

What was bothering her more was his total change in demeanor from the night he'd attacked her. He wasn't acting pissy or cocky, and he seemed genuinely penitent when he replied to their warnings to leave.
"I...can't. You see, I've effectively destroyed every friendship I ever had (really)...and I need a chance to explain...or at the very least to apologize."

Elektra frowned at this. Explain, and apologize? He sounded like the simpering kid with girl troubles again. And he sounded sincere. Her gaze flashed to Matt, gauging his reaction. Her instincts and training told her Parker was being honest. But Daredevil could tell if people were lying.

"Fine," Matt said. "Explain." Elektra's brows raised, and she glanced slightly around at the area and the crowd. This was a bit public for Peter to be saying his sorries. Daredevil seemed to agree and was moving towards a more appropriate alleyway. "The short version. And it had better be good."

The assassin smirked grimly at that sentiment as she headed into the alley herself. Leaning against a fire escape, she crossed her arms, giving Parker a penetrating glare.

Matt was right. This had better be good.

[Peter Parker]

In the slight pause between when Peter volunteered himself for explanation and when Daredevil finally gave consent, Peter actually did fear for his life. Sure, he probably could maneuver his way out of this if he really had to. He was undoubtedly faster than both of them...but Daredevil was no easy opponent, and Elektra probably had him beat in the fighting department. His guess was that fighting both of them at once might be a fatal mistake...and so he feared for his life momentarily.

Luckily Daredevil bade him to explain. Adding, "The short version. And it had better be good.", as an afterthought.

The blind Daredevil walked backwards, stepping over broken bottles and debris as if he had eyes in the back of his head along the way. He was heading toward a dark and abandoned alleyway. Not a good sign.

Elektra followed, and leaned against a fire escape while Peter brought up the rear. He loosened the collar at his neck. “No pressure,” he said under his breath. He felt like he was standing before the firing squad.

They didn’t know about his Spidey-sense, did they? He didn’t tell them...he was pretty sure. Why that mattered right now didn’t speak highly of what he thought his fate was going to be.

“Okay, you know how they say the clothes make the man?” He couldn’t believe he was going with this...but it was the truth. The truth might set him free. Or it might see him dead...

Peter cleared his throat. “The other night...I was with this girl named Black Cat...” He put his hands up toward Elektra. “It wasn’t like that! We were just talking. We meet sometimes on the rooftops and just talk. I mean, I don’t plan it out or anything...we just are two costumed individuals who happen to...”

The stony looks he was getting stopped him in his tracks.

“Anyway, we were just sitting there...far apart...and talking...and then suddenly this thing started attacking me.” Peter was gesturing wildly. “It shot these tentacles out at me and wrapped around my foot...then started crawling up my skin. I couldn’t get it off!”

By this time there was no avoiding the fact that he sounded insane.

“I passed out. When I woke up I was in Cat’s bed.” He put his hands up again. “Not like that!” He shook his head. He would have made it like that in a heartbeat, if she’d let him.

“My suit had turned black...and so had my heart.”

God...so lame.

[Daredevil]

At times, Matt wondered to himself if it would make others uncomfortable if they knew just how much he could learn about them through his enhanced senses. Would they feel like he was invading their privacy if they knew he could smell what they'd eaten, at times who they'd been with and, depending on what part of the city they were, where they'd been. He could hear the false fit of dentures, the rumblings of indigestion, and whispered secrets never meant for him to know.

Matt didn't even have to try to learn these things. In fact, most of the time he was constantly struggling to keep them at bay. When Peter Parker started talking, though, Matt's senses washed over him like a shower. He sniffed the air, smelling the nervous sweat starting to accumulate under Parker's armpits through the cheap antiperspirant he persisted in buying. He could feel the flashes of warmth with each mention of the Black Cat and the time they spent together. Most importantly, though, he could hear Peter's heartbeat. Strong, but not like it had been the last time they met. It sounded more like the normal Peter, albeit nervous and excited. Matt had his head turned slightly, aiming his ear straight for Peter's chest.

Though what he said was fantastical, Peter firmly believed in his heart that he was telling the truth. Surprisingly, things started to make sense.

"My suit had turned black...and so had my heart,” Peter said.

"So that thing... That creature that was... on you. It was alive. And it... controlled you?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know, Peter. Those things you said... That wasn't some creature talking through you. Those grievances with Elektra were yours..."

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. "I don't doubt that there was something... foreign involved. I heard it. I saw it. But... there's something you aren't telling us."

[Elektra]

Black Cat, hmm? Elektra remembered her. "I've met her. She said you two were like this," the assassin held up two fingers together. "Somehow, I figured she wasn't on the up and up. She was way outta your league, Parker."

Of course, so was Mary Jane, but it really wasn't about Parker's messed up love life.

From what Peter was saying, he had bigger problems than his usual girl troubles. A black thing had attacked him and possessed him. It was far-fetched, but Matt confirmed it.

"So that thing... That creature that was... on you. It was alive. And it... controlled you?"

Elektra had heard stranger things. Hell, she'd fought stranger things.

"I don't know, Peter. Those things you said... That wasn't some creature talking through you. Those grievances with Elektra were yours..." The assassin smirked at that.

"I don't doubt that there was something... foreign involved. I heard it. I saw it. But... there's something you aren't telling us."

Elektra had her own concerns. "Where is it now, Parker?" she demanded. She wasn't interested in his apology when there was some dangerous entity on the loose.

[Peter Parker]

"I've met her. She said you two were like this," Elektra then held up two fingers together. "Somehow, I figured she wasn't on the up and up. She was way outta your league, Parker."

It only sparked a small reaction inside of Peter. He was more concerned with reconciliation here right now than he was playing the one up game with Elektra. He ignored the comment out of hand.

Daredevil was inclining his head at Peter in a way that made it look like he was distracted. Somehow Peter knew he was paying closer attention than most people were capable of, however. By the time Peter had finished with his lame sounding explanation, Daredevil turned his face back toward him and paused in thought.

"So that thing... That creature that was... on you. It was alive. And it... controlled you?"

"Look, I know how lame it sounds...not taking responsibility and all. But I would have never actually done, or even said the things I said-"

"I don't know, Peter. Those things you said... That wasn't some creature talking through you. Those grievances with Elektra were yours..."

The interruption caught Peter off guard, more for the truthfulness of the statement than the timeliness of it. "Don't get me wrong," Peter said with his palms up defensively. "Elektra is a pain in the ass...I think she goes out of her way to be a pain in the ass. I think she went to pain in the ass class at P.I.T.A. University." He didn't explain that the acronym stood for pain in the ass. He paused, wondering if he was going the right way with this. "But if I was in control of myself, I would have never done or even said what I did. Never. I'm a grumbler. I usually just grumble under my breath. Or maybe I carry on conversations with imaginary Elektras later on, and then I really let her have it."

Was he saying too much?

"Come on, like you don't do that," he accused Matt.

He was saying too much. Looking back at Elektra he addressed her question. "I don't know what happened. There was some loud noise, and I felt excruciating pain...and then I woke up and it was gone." He shook his head. "I've been looking all over for it, but I don't even know what it is, and asking people if they've seen my clothes just gets me funny looks. An old lady tried to mace me."

[Daredevil]

If Peter was trying to apologize and make nice, he had a funny way of showing it. Matt had a hard time believing that anyone or anything could control another human being completely. He had to believe that, at least to some extent, each person was a master of their own destiny. One of God's greatest gifts to his children was the right to choose.

Wasn't it?

When Peter had fought Elektra and Matt before, it had certainly seemed that he was at least partially in control. When Matt confronted him on this point, though, Parker's response was less than complimentary.

"Don't get me wrong," he said. "Elektra is a pain in the ass...I think she goes out of her way to be a pain in the ass. I think she went to pain in the ass class at P.I.T.A. University."

If Elektra were a normal person, Matt figured he might have heard a dramatic increase in heart rate or felt her seethe with anger. With Elektra, though, the changes he could sense were minimal. Of course, the fact that there was a change at all was telling enough. Parker was skating on some thin ice...

"But if I was in control of myself, I would have never done or even said what I did. Never. I'm a grumbler. I usually just grumble under my breath. Or maybe I carry on conversations with imaginary Elektras later on, and then I really let her have it."

That much, at least, was the truth. He'd heard Peter grumbling quite often. Matt had decided long ago to keep that fact (and the things Parker was always saying) to himself, to prolong their alliance as long as possible. Reading things at face value, though, it seemed to Matt that Peter's tendency to suppress his frustrations might have lead him straight into a psychotic episode.

Of course, that didn't explain that thing that Matt had heard.

"Where is it now, Parker?" Elektra asked, confirming that she, too, was at least considering Peter's side of the story.

"I don't know what happened," Peter replied. "There was some loud noise, and I felt excruciating pain...and then I woke up and it was gone. I've been looking all over for it, but I don't even know what it is, and asking people if they've seen my clothes just gets me funny looks. An old lady tried to mace me."

"Jesus, Parker," Matt said. "Does everything have to be a joke?" The frown on his face had grown steadily angrier. The old lady joke with the mace crack (and he really hoped it was a joke) was the last straw.

"When I have a disagreement with Elektra, we talk about it. Like adults. And I very, very rarely have automobiles thrown at me. This is serious. And if this entity is still out there, running amok and making people violent like you say, we need to track it down. And soon."

[Elektra]

Actually, Parker was right. Elektra hassled him, and anyone else who served her needs, on purpose. Usually to serve some ulterior motive. She had to give him credit for finally figuring that out.

But it was not the issue here. The issue was whatever had made him grow a spine and an attitude and try to kill them both. So she was getting pretty annoyed when the conversation got hung up elsewhere.

And Peter's answer didn't make her any happier. "I don't know what happened," [he] replied. "There was some loud noise, and I felt excruciating pain...and then I woke up and it was gone. I've been looking all over for it, but I don't even know what it is, and asking people if they've seen my clothes just gets me funny looks. An old lady tried to mace me."

Elektra rolled her eyes. This was serious and Parker was making jokes? Wait, he always made jokes. Nothing new there.

Except Matt had had enough of it. "When I have a disagreement with Elektra, we talk about it. Like adults. Well, after the initial stupidity, threats of violence or actual violence, but it was very adult-like. "And I very, very rarely have automobiles thrown at me. This is serious. And if this entity is still out there, running amok and making people violent like you say, we need to track it down. And soon."

"How long has it been since it detached from you?" she asked. "And what did it look like? Did it seem to respond more to certain emotions or situations?" She took a deep breath, asking the last resort question, since she wasn't that good at futuresight meditation.

"Do you have anything that it was attached to besides you?"

[Peter Parker]

"Jesus, Parker," Matt said. "Does everything have to be a joke?"

“It’s the only way I can deal with things!” Peter snapped back. He was tense. This was hard for him. His life sucked right now.

"When I have a disagreement with Elektra, we talk about it. Like adults. And I very, very rarely have automobiles thrown at me. This is serious. And if this entity is still out there, running amok and making people violent like you say, we need to track it down. And soon."

Peter pulled at his hair. “Don’t you think I know that? If it could turn me into that dangerous a person, what could it do to anyone else? I’ve looked all over for it.” His shoulders slumped. “And despite it looking like I’m making light of this...I haven’t slept in days because of what I did.” He shook his head. “I couldn’t be sorrier.”

"How long has it been since it detached from you?" Elektra asked suddenly. "And what did it look like? Did it seem to respond more to certain emotions or situations?" Before Peter could answer the volley of questions, she added another, stranger question. "Do you have anything that it was attached to besides you?"

Before Peter could think he said, “HUH?” Then he shook his head. “Look, all I remember about it is that it basically looks like tar. It’s black and lustrous and seems capable of stretching and constricting for movement. Oh, and once you get it on you...there’s nothing you can do to get it off.”

He sighed and looked at the ground.

“I’ve looked everywhere, but how do you find a puddle of black goo in New York City?”

[Daredevil]

"Well..." Matt said, rubbing his chin as he thought. "A puddle of tar couldn't have traveled very far, right?"

He remembered the agony reflected in the entity's reaction to the explosion. It seemed as if the creature, whatever it was, was just as sensitive to sound as he was.

"We definitely know it doesn't like loud noises..." he continued, thinking aloud. "But we might draw a little attention, sweeping the city with air horns."

He shook his head. He still felt riled about Peter's attempt at an apology. A part of him wanted to beat the little snot senseless. How did he manage to change the subject? When did this become a team rally to save the world from an entity that, as far as Matt knew, could be stored in Peter's closet for a more convenient time...

He was mad and felt indignant at being robbed the right of being pissed off.

"I don't know," Matt said. "Maybe it's already attached to somebody else... Has anyone close to you been acting strange? Maybe more violent or... uninhibited than they used to be?" He didn't really know why, but Matt suddenly realized that he'd turned his head in Elektra's direction when he said that.

[Elektra]

Elektra didn't care about Parker's apology. He could go nurse his guilt later, because there was a bigger issue here.

And as usual, Peter failed to even be remotely useful. “HUH? Look, all I remember about it is that it basically looks like tar. It’s black and lustrous and seems capable of stretching and constricting for movement. Oh, and once you get it on you...there’s nothing you can do to get it off.”

She resisted the urge to palm her face in frustration. God, for such a smart guy, Parker could be really dense sometimes. A lot. Okay, most of the time.

“I’ve looked everywhere, but how do you find a puddle of black goo in New York City?”

She'd been trying to figure that out, but he wasn't being very useful in that. Luckily, Matt was thinking along the same lines she was.

"Well, a puddle of tar couldn't have traveled very far, right?" Thank God, someone else was thinking of trying to predict its future behavior by analyzing what they knew about it. "We definitely know it doesn't like loud noises. But we might draw a little attention, sweeping the city with air horns."

"If it doesn't like loud noises, it's in the wrong city," she mused aloud. "Which also limits the areas that would appeal to it."

And Matt had picked up on her train of thought again. "I don't know," [he] said. "Maybe it's already attached to somebody else... Has anyone close to you been acting strange? Maybe more violent or... uninhibited than they used to be?"

Elektra noted his head turning towards her as he asked. Yes, at least one of them understood. It wasn't surprising it was Matt.

Giving Peter a pointed look, she commented dryly. "Some days, I just want to smack you with the Art of War, Parker." Shifting off the wall, she began reciting. "' Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made; before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made; many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?'"

Figuring this was going to go right over his head, Elektra sighed and summed it up. "To defeat your enemy, you have to figure out what they're likely to do, where they're likely to go, and form a plan of attack. Then you go searching for your black puddle of goo."

Jesus, how did he get anything done with how disorganized and tactically inept he was?

[Peter Parker]

"Well...a puddle of tar couldn't have traveled very far, right?"

Peter still couldn’t exactly believe that he was getting out of this without a beating. He swore that the very least that Elektra was likely to give him was a severe beat down. And he still wondered just how far he would have let her take that exactly. She sure seemed mad enough when he first saw her today to actually...kill him. But he obviously wasn’t planning on letting anyone actually kill him. The least he deserved was for her to kick him in the face and have Daredevil throw a motorcycle at him.

Inwardly Peter groaned. He sucked so bad.

"We definitely know it doesn't like loud noises..." Daredevil continued, thinking aloud. "But we might draw a little attention, sweeping the city with air horns."

Oh right, that would so not work.

"If it doesn't like loud noises, it's in the wrong city," Elektra chimed in. "Which also limits the areas that would appeal to it."

This was going about as well as he thought it would. Of course he had already thought of all of these issues, more or less. This was more about him wanting to apologize for being a total jackass, and less about trying to track the goo. Not that he couldn’t use the help of course. Even though they were going over the same areas he had already covered, he still needed the help because...well, he hadn’t found the thing yet.

"I don't know," Matt said. "Maybe it's already attached to somebody else... Has anyone close to you been acting strange? Maybe more violent or... uninhibited than they used to be?" And then he looked at Elektra. Strange. Peter tried not to read into it.

“Strange is really relative for us, you know that?” He scrubbed a hand through his hair in frustration at the idea that he couldn’t find the creature. It felt like the other shoe was going to drop and that the other shoe was filled with nuclear weapons of mass destruction. “My scope of friends is limited to you two, a girl who wears S&M gear and steals things, and Mary Jane. And I haven’t seen or heard from her in...well about the same amount of time that the thing has been gone.” He made a face. Coincidence?

”Some days, I just want to smack you with the Art of War, Parker." Elektra smarmed just before moving off of the wall. "' Before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will win, because many calculations were made; before doing battle, in the temple one calculates and will not win, because few calculations were made; many calculations, victory, few calculations, no victory, then how much less so when no calculations?'"

Battle? Temple?? Okay wait a minute...who said he hadn’t been calculating again??

“O...kayyy.”

"To defeat your enemy, you have to figure out what they're likely to do, where they're likely to go, and form a plan of attack. Then you go searching for your black puddle of goo."

“Well that much I already tried. It likes dark and quiet places...and I can’t tell you how I know this exactly, but it needs a host. Or maybe it just thinks it needs a host. Or something. My guess? It’s already attached to someone.” He didn’t look happy about that at all. “So we just have to find someone who dresses in black and acts like a total tool and we should have our guy.” He looked at Elektra. “Or girl.”

[Daredevil]

Before Matt knew it, Elektra started spouting her Art of War double-talk. When boiled down, a lot of the stuff she said was just common sense. When she finally recapped, Murdock couldn't help thinking to himself that they had just been doing what she suggested.

He loved Elektra. Had loved her more deeply than any of the numerous women he'd known. Sometimes, though, she could be a little... extreme. And for Matt, that was saying something.

“Well that much I already tried," Peter replied. "It likes dark and quiet places...and I can’t tell you how I know this exactly, but it needs a host. Or maybe it just thinks it needs a host. Or something. My guess? It’s already attached to someone.”

He concluded by suggesting that they look for somebody wearing black and acting like a tool. The first wasn't much benefit for a guy like Matt, and in a city like New York City, you couldn't spit without hitting an asshole. He was beginning to see why Peter might have had difficulty tracking down this entity.

Matt raised his hands. "Hold on a second," he said. "I know we're all concerned about this 'tar' spreading havoc around the town, but it's not like just everybody has the strength and abilities of Spider-Man. I mean, how much trouble could they cause? I think maybe we should focus on a more direct issue... Like where our 'alliance' stands? And where we go from here..."

[Peter Parker]

(not sure what's going on with Dee...but I'm posting since it's been 20 days)

"Alliance?" Peter looked back and forth between them. "Look, I hardly even expect you guys to talk to me anymore." He glanced again at Elektra. "I'm actually surprised to still be conscious and breathing to tell the truth."

He shook his head and did the thing he always does when he doesn't know what else to do...scratched the back of his head.

"I don't know. I'm sure there are some serious trust issues now. A lot of friendships don't really survive getting kicked across the room or having a Harley thrown at you."

He didn't want to make a joke out of it...actually he wasn't trying to at all.

"I'd be willing to go to counseling or maybe I could do laundry for a week..." He doubted that would be enough. "Do either of you need a superhero slave? Temporarily..."

He had to clarify that part.

"Okay look, just think it over. In the meantime we need to find this suit before it fixes on someone else. I couldn't control it and I have all these spider powers and stuff. Just think what kind of darkness it might bring out in the wrong kind of person."

They had so already been over this.

"And maybe someone can help me try and find MJ. She's been avoiding me for awhile now."

[Daredevil]

As far as Matt was concerned, he had precisely three friends in his life. Foggy, Karen, and Elektra. Jessica was a recent addition to their family, but he'd recently overheard something that made her a most definite enemy. He still didn't know what he was supposed to do about that.

And Peter? Well, Peter had been a very powerful ally. Someone who was working towards the same goal as Matt and Elektra and who they knew they could trust. Anything past that... Well, Matt didn't trust lightly, so he supposed they had definitely begun developing a friendship. The trust thing had hit a major roadbump. With his lie detection skills, though, it wasn't anything Matt was overly concerned with.

He believed Peter's story, as outlandish as it was. And if their partnership meant that they had a chance of taking down the Kingpin well... That wasn't something Matt took lightly.

When Peter suggested that they start working to track down the mysterious black substance and, separately, help him find his girlfriend, Matt rubbed his forehead and sighed. If Peter and Elektra didn't have any problems starting up where they'd left off, then he certainly didn't.

"Okay," he said. "Let's get started..."

//Should we wrap this up?