Devils and Goblins- oh my! (Gobby!)

[Matt Murdock]

Matt Murdock listened as his intro to law class. He was one of the few freshmen in the class- most freshmen were still getting some of the basic college requirements out of the way. He had to do that, too, but he was interested to see if law was really the right field for him to get involved in. He had passed the prerequisite freshman writing course last term, so the registrar had let him in, but not without warning him that it was one of the more difficult intro courses.

He sat in the lecture hall now, taking notes as the professor talked. Even in the back of the large lecture hall, his sensitive hearing allowed him to catch every word. He wrote notes in Braille, sure that every now and then one of his classmates was staring.

A loud, whining noise caused Matt Murdock to frown. What was that? A vacuum cleaner? It sounded awfully loud for one, but nothing else came to mind that fit that sound. It was strange, though- usually the janitors didn't clean the halls until later at night. Perhaps it was some other kind of machinery?

He tried to focus his attention back on the class, realizing that he was missing the lecture. However, the whine grew louder, to the point where the other students stopped writing and the professor stared, perplexed, at the lecture room door.

A moment later, the doors to the lecture hall exploded and flew off their hinges. The loud noise from the explosion, combined with the swirling air currents caused by something moving into the room at high speed, created a mental picture in Daredevil's mind. This was his radar sense at work, his mind and incredibly perceptive ears structuring the sound waves into an image. It was a form of echolocation more precise and complex than anything in nature.

Yet the image of the intruder into the lecture hall made no sense. The intruder appeared to be demonic in his visage, and flying on some sort of small hovercraft or glider.

Apparently you're no longer the only one in New York with a devil costume, Matt told himself. Now, move! Move! Get to somewhere where you can change into costume.

Matt dropped to the floor and began working on crawling away. It was a perfectly reasonable behavior, especially since he was blind. The screams of terror from his fellow students gave him more than enough sound to pinpoint the way out. The screams were also giving him a headache, however.

[Norman Osborn]

The Green Goblin had been busy as of late. A duel with Venom in the halls of OsCorp, his assault on Stromm in the middle of the day, and just a few nights ago, he met a private detective in an OsCorp facility. All of these events severely worried Norman for a singular reason. They had a single common thread. OsCorp. Again and again, the Green Goblin found himself tangled up in OsCorp business. If the media got wind of an event too many, he risks suspicion on his company, and perhaps even an inspection, which could prove disastrous. Therefore, he began to construct a plan to dig a trench between the Goblin and OsCorp. Recently, a Professor Donicus had published a revealing paper on some of Quest Aerospace's testing facilities. Let's just say that Quest wasn't the happiest camper at the perceptions of them the public ended up with. The Goblin might be able to help them out with the Donicus problem...

Donicus was a professor of law at NYU, and so, the plan went that the Goblin would take him out of the picture. Nobody would think that OsCorp, one of Quest's rival corporations, would dare try to lend a hand, so hopefully, either the Goblin is dismissed as a lunatic with no real motives or he is indeed working for Quest.

So, in order to make this operation a success, he needed people to see it. This would require the attack to be in the midst of a day, perhaps during a class of Donicus'. Donning his Goblin gear, the Green Goblin set out for NYU, intent on dismantling his reputation. His glider carried him to the institution with ease and speed and, recalling mentally where Donicus' schedule had him at the moment, he sped for one of the buildings. Rocketing through the main doors, he zoomed through the hallways, headed straight for the lecture hall in which the professor should be lecturing.

There. He stopped outside, facing the door, hovering on his glider. Some people in the hallway looked terrified or confused. Perhaps they recognized him from the Stromm incident. Perhaps they didn't. It was of no consequence. He tossed a pumpkin bomb at the door, blowing it to smithereens and shot through on his glider, straight at the man on the platform. His target had a mere moment to move, but was frozen in place by shock. Norman grabbed him around the neck and lifted him to eye level. Letting out a sinister laugh, he spoke. "Hey. What's up? HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

[Matt Murdock]

The students all rushed to get out of the single entrance from the lecture hall. Matt cursed. He would be lucky if he didn't get trampled. And several other people would be at risk for the same problem. Fortunately, someone grabbed Matt by his shirt, pulling him out of harm's way.

Over the panicked noises that the students were making, Matt heard the Goblin's hands tighten around the professor's throat. Matt cursed. For the moment he was helpless. Even if he managed to get above the throng of the mob to reach his professor, he needed to change into his costume before he could take action. He couldn't risk revealing Daredevil's identity. As much as Matt hated to admit it, the only course of action available right now was to leave the professor.

Matt managed to reach his hand out as he was dragged from the chaotic scene. Where was it? There! A backpack!

"Matt, this is no time to worry about your backpack!" the incredulous voice of Matt's rescuer demanded. John was the student's name, Mat recalled.

"This is my backpack, right?" Matt asked, gripping it tightly.

"Yes, it is! Now come on!"

Yes, he could feel the Braille lettering on it. His costume was shoved deep down in the bottom compartment, where no one would catch sight of it, provided he didn't provide anyone with the opportunity to go prying through his backpack.

Matt suddenly realized he was missing his cane. Despite his enhanced senses, the cane was still useful for finding his way.

Someone bumped into Matt, separating him from John. Without his cane, Matt had to rely on his enhanced senses to guide him through the mob as best they could, and hoped no one noticed anything odd about the blind kid.

His foot made contact with the wooden door of the lecture hall. He was about to go out into the hallway. He banged his book bag against the lecture hall door, and that simple sound, created an echo only his fine-tuned hearing could detect. He instantly knew the exact dimensions of the room. That noise, combined with the footfalls, heartbeats, and labored breathing of his fellow students, told him where everything and everyone was.

He managed to get out into the hallway, banging his bookbag against a wall. There. He tried to recall exactly where the bathroom was. Reluctantly, he sniffed the air, drawing on his olfactory sense. He shuddered as he caught the scent of the bathroom. He remembered that the girl's bathroom came slightly before the guy's- that was important information to recall.

Matt traced his hand along the hallway wall, glad that the students were spreading out and heading away. He was almost completely alone, now. He stopped at the appropriate bathroom and pushed on the door. He listened briefly for heartbeats or breathing, but heard nothing. He was completely alone.

He moved into a stall and unzipped his backpack. He breathed a sigh of relief as his hand felt leather beneath him. Provided his professor wasn't dead yet, he should be able to rescue him soon.

He began to change into his Daredevil costume.

[Norman Osborn]

Donicus clawed at Norman's gloves, gasping for air. The demented smile on the Goblin's face only grew larger as the professor's face began to turn blue. "W'what-" gasp "do you w-want with me?" gasp. Norman only chuckled as the words, barely a whisper, passed through his victim's lips. He liked to consider himself a civilized man, and laughing as this virtually innocent man died of asphyxiation was a most brutish behavior. However, at this point, the leering lunatic had not a care of anything beyond clearing his name, which had not yet even been dirtied. Well, I guess that depends on how you look at things.

He could not stay here too long. He had a company to run and his absence, if extended, may prove to cause some degree of suspicion. It is time to end this. With another maniacal laugh, he tightened his grip on Donicus' throat. The poor man's eyes began to bug from his head as he took his last few breathes. "Any last words?" the Goblin asked, smiling devilishly. After a short pause he smacked himself in the forehead with an open palm. "Oh, wait! That's right! You can't talk right now! Heeheeheehahaha!"

[Matt Murdock]

Matt finished zipping up his red leather jacket and grabbed the few billy clubs that he had with him. The rest of his collection was in his dorm.

He rushed out of the bathroom, hoping that no one had seen Matt Murdock enter and Daredevil leave. He strained his hearing, hoping to pick up his professor's heartbeat. It was faint, but still there. He had to hurry.

He tapped the walls with the billy club, listened to the slight noise, then took off, fixing his mental map of the building in his head. He heard his opponent's heartbeat and his professor's fading one- he was drawing closer.

"Leave him alone!" Daredevil shouted as he burst back into the lecture hall. He threw a billy club, intending to use it as a distraction to get the villain to release his captive.

Daredevil suddenly realized his foe's identity. The explosives, the glider the mad laughter, the demonic face...he had not seen pictures, but he could imagine that this must be the Green Goblin.

As the billy club soared toward its target, Daredevil leaped toward the glider, intending to dislodge his opponent.

[Norman Osborn]

"Leave him alone!"

Norman stopped laughing when he heard the shouted command from behind. What, now? Some random student that decided they had to try and be a hero. Well, the Goblin wasn't easily frightened. Turning from his purple-faced friend, Norman's head glanced over his shoulder. Nope, not a student. Worse. Another one of those costumed freaks. Of course, he means that completely hypocritically. Only half a breath later did Norman realize some projectile had been launched by his foe toward him. Regretfully, he had to release his victim in order to bat the weapon away, turning now fully to face his opponent.

However, to Norman's surprise, his attacked had now launched himself into the air, straight at the Goblin. Batting the entire body aside would be a hassle and he did not have much time to react. Bringing both forearms up in front of his torso as a shield prevented any damage or pain that might have been dealt by the blow, but his glider was knocked askew. Thankfully, the attack hadn't been powerful enough to dislodge him. "Sorry, buddy, I'm a bit tougher to crack than your average goblin, HAHA!" Flinging his arms out to the side and bringing them together, the Goblin's aim was to grab the target's head and follow it up with a headbutt.

[Matt Murdock]

Daredevil was grateful the small red cylinder had done its job, gaining the Green Goblin's attention and forcing him to release the college professor. It was far too early for a sigh of relief, though. The professor was still in harm's way. He had to keep the Green Goblin occupied while his professor tried to get away. And he had no idea how tough this Green Goblin foe might be. He knew from the paper that he was insane and loved tossing pumpkin-shaped explosives, but not much else.

While Daredevil's charge didn't knock the Green Goblin off his glider, it did knock him off balance. Daredevil began to prepare his next attack, hoping to keep the Goblin off balance. However, the Green Goblin's hands clasped his head with an iron grip.

Daredevil countered the grab before his opponent could hope to do more. He swung his own arms up and to the sides, forcing the Goblin's arms wide. He brought them back down, then arched his back as he brought one fast back up, trying to hit the Goblin with an explosive uppercut.

[Norman Osborn]

Before he had a chance to complete his two phase attack, Norman found that his opponent easily escaped from his grip and was already moving in to counter-attack. Obviously, he wasn't dealing with some amatuer, his assailant was somewhat skilled. It was then that his memory sparked. The red outfit, the little horns, the Double-D logo ( ) this must be Daredevil! That reporter...Urchin or something, wrote all kinds of articles on this guy. He called him "The Man without Fear". "Well, sometimes fear is a g-"

Norman was cut-off in midsentence as an uppercut knocked him from his perch atop the glider. He had even seen the attack coming, why did he allow himself to get lost in thought like that? He would have to take care to concentrate, this Daredevil guy was no pushover. Reaching into his pack, he flung three or four razor-bats in Daredevil's direction, his grin much smaller than previously, but still rather noticeable.

[Matt Murdock]

Daredevil heard the razor-bats whistling through the air. He flung himself to the left slightly, and the first missed him by an inch. The second he swiped at with his billy club and smashed to pieces, but he had no time to counter the third bat, and it clipped him in the side, tearing the suit and drawing a thin trail of blood. The leather had probably protected him from the worst of the blow- whyever had leather gone out of fashion when it was such a dependable clothing fabric? Still, like most cuts from something with an extremely sharp edge, it was probably going to take forever to heal.

Worst, though was the damage to Daredevil's pride. Stick had used an exercise similar to this to train him before, and he had launched far more than three shurikens at Matt. He was getting cocky from fighting too many low-class hoods. He know he had to do a better job of dodging those famous pumpkin bombs.

As the last razor-bat soared past, Daredevil cartwheeled- you're showing off again! toward his opponent. The cartwheel turned into a handstand from which Daredevil launched a spinning kick, intending to kick the Goblin in the side of the head.

[Norman Osborn]

The Goblin recovered and moved in to a ready stance, just in time to see his final razor-bat clip its target. Those things sure came in handy. Hopefully, this was a good thing. His opponent was skilled, no doubt, but they obviously weren't incredibly amazing or anything that should be too much of a worry. As long as he didn't lose himself, getting rid of the Devil wouldn't prove too big a problem.

The man in red began to move toward Norman. Unsure of the next blow his opponent would strike, the laughing lunatic called his glider to him as he jumped back. An angry sigh escaped his lips as he realized he had cornered himself. His back was against the wall and Daredevil was still coming at him. Hopefully, his glider would arrive first.

No such luck. The Man without Fear launched a kick at Norman's head, and Norman barely had enough time to react. Ducking underneath the leg, he pushed off against the wall forward, his right forearm positioned horizantally (sp?) in front of him. The attack targeted one of the most sensitive regions, the groin, and if it landed, Norman should have enough time to get out of here, his mission accomplished.

[Matt Murdock]

Daredevil saw the glider coming back around, and if he still had use of his eyes, they would have narrowed in suspicion. So, the glider could be controlled automatically. Very useful for the Goblin, no doubt, but a complication for him if he decided to use it as a weapon. He couldn't let his opponent gain the increased mobility and speed he would have if he was able to reposition himself on the glider.

He saw he had the Goblin up against the wall and pressed his attack. The Goblin dodged, then came up with an attack on his groin. It would take more than such an honest, straightforward attack to catch Daredevil off guard, though. After all, he had trained with a martial arts expert for several years. Daredevil's hand swept the attack aside and aimed a sucker punch at the Goblin's stomach.

[Norman Osborn]

Norman growled in frustration as his attack was merely swept aside. This guy may look kinda scrawny, but apparently looks weren't everything. Taking a moment to reflect on this, he realized that should have been screaming in his face from the first moment he donned this costume. Ah well. Who cares? Not the Green Goblin.

By ducking, he had put himself in a precarious position, all scrunched up and against the wall. This was not a good thing and he immediately realized he needed to somehow get around Daredevil, even if he was simply aiming to get to his glider. Taking the punch to the stomach, Norman smirked. There was some pain due to the pressure, but his superhuman durability and the chainmail under his tunic prevented any real damage. Reaching to place his right hand around the wrist of the affronting arm, he meant to slam an open palm into the corresponding elbow, hoping to break it or at least give his opponent a good amount of pain. With a chuckle, his grin grew to devillish proportions.

[Matt Murdock]

Daredevil hit something hard and unyielding as his sucker punch connected. The Green Goblin definitely was hiding something tougher than strong abs beneath that costume. Armor? The punch took his opponent back slightly, but his opponent seemed otherwise unaffected.

The Green Goblin's hand closed over Daredevil's wrist. Crap! The Green Goblin stretched his arm straight and Daredevil knew he was vulnerable. From such a position, the Goblin could pummel him at well, or even break his arm by applying pressure to his elbow joint. Daredevil countered by spinning toward his opponent. He sensed he wouldn't be able to pull free of the Goblin with mere brute strength, for he could already feel the Goblin's grasp bruising him beneath the leather costume. Daredevil let loose a backhand punch, forcing the Goblin to either take the blow or release him.

[Norman Osborn]

Norman was certain that he had Daredevil on the ropes when the hero pulled some fancy spin move and a fist was whipped toward the Goblin's mug. This would not turn out well if he didn't take action, and so, he released his opponent's wrist and swatted the fist aside and thrusted an open palm toward his opponent's midsection.

"If you wouldn't mind," Norman laughed, furious at himself for backing into a wall, "Could you step out of the way so that I may have access to my glider and get the heck out of here? HAH!" If he was not able to get around this nuisance of a person, he would have to begin taking more severe action. One way or another, he couldn't stick around here for the cops to show up. Or...perhaps he should stick around for the cops to show up? That way he would be sure that they blamed him and not Daredevil or something foolish like that. Witnesses could be so unreliable. Not only that, he was completely certain he could resist defeat at the hands of his sparring partner long enough for everything to coalesce nicely.

[Matt Murdock]

The Green Goblin's push sent Daredevil farther back then it seemed it should have, causing him to stumble and fall. Daredevil wondered if, like him, his opponent possessed some form of extraordinary ability. Or was it simple technology that enhanced the push, like that strange glider or the pumpkin bombs?

Daredevil rolled with the shove, trying to lessen the force behind his impact with the floor. He came up ready for more of a fight, as he had been taught.

"I'm afraid I can't let you get away," Daredevil said calmly. "I refuse to let you put more lives in danger."