SpideyDevil

Sheer Force of Will

They had parted ways around two, the sun had been coming over the peak and starting its slow descent, setting close to six.
Matt sent Peter a text around seven.
"My sources say not the Russians, not their MO, so he is probably still in the city, being kept somewhere underground if they were to guess"
And not the docks...
Something Matt had found only by beating his way through every low life along the water.
H

e had retreated to a rooftop closer to where he knew a group of carjackers often made trades with the chop shops that sold the parts, he was sitting low against the wall catching his breath when he sent the message to his new friend.
It wasn't the first time the cheerful gangly heater had crossed his mind since heading out in the Horns.
But each time he cropped up in his head Matt swatted the thought away with scolds of the irresponsibility involved with daydreaming. He only allowed it now under the reasoning that he had told the other man he would give word and now seemed as good a time as any as he waited for something to happen with the men below.
It would be five more hours before Matt finally located the boy.
It took somewhere around sixteen broken arms and plenty of noses, legs, and countless ribs to go along with them.
But he had pressed the right button eventually.
And he found himself sitting atop an abandoned building drenched in sweat and panting. Or rather a condemned building, it was heavily guarded, there were at least thirty men scattered about the floors, guarding doors and watching windows, and deep in the basement there was a faint quick heartbeat that Matt could only barely make out.
He couldn't fight his way through all those men at this point in the night, every muscle in his body was aching for him to rest, but he hardly caught his breath before he was off again.
It was best to pick them off one by one, which meant being quiet, and quick.
He made his way through the top three floors, knocking out stray men and dismantling their guns before moving to the next.
But the main group was guarding the basement, ten men on the one floor...
So Matt sought to draw them out, if he had to fight his way through them better to thin the herd.
He took a moment, shut his eyes and steadied his breath. Twisting the billy clubs in his gloved palms he said a soft prayer under his breath before lifting the club and giving, one, two, three knocks on a connecting pipe which rang loudly throughout the hollow building.
The radios of the incapacitated sparked to life with the same repeated message across the floors, a question of what the hell was going on, without any answer it was only moments before half the men were rushing directly towards Matt.
He stepped into the darkest shadows of the room and let them rush up the steps before attacking from behind, ruthlessly ricocheting the metal clubs off of the walls and floors to knock men out between his boots and fists.
Matt was in a different place, the headspace of the Devil and nothing was going to stop him from completing his mission when the Devil took him.

However, as Matt made his way down the last set of stairs, his fists aching and his own heart thunderous in his ears he had to stop, just before the door behind which the young boy sat shivering with fear.
He had few real thoughts now, quite simply he felt reduced to the rotation of 'I am so tired' and 'I am so close'; but hearing the boys heart, smelling the rank fear, it made him have another thought entirely: I can't scare this kid anymore.
So hesitantly he lifted his arms, something that took great effort at this point, and took the horned hood off of his head letting it drop heavily to dangle next to him as he opened the door, dripping from the ember locks darkened with sweat and blood, it decorated his nose and lips and stuck his hair at odd angles, he was still panting but he offered the boy instant reassurances, told him he was here to help. Only here to get him home to his mother.
And young Michael didn't take a lot of convincing, somehow Matt managed the strength to pick the child up but he only made up the steps...hesitating in the hallway for a moment before making the prompt decision to rush into a small room that was once an office, and place the young boy in a large stand up cabinet.
"I need you to stay absolutely silent, okay Michael? I am going to come right back for you, but no matter what you hear, stay quiet."
The boy nodded furiously, his crying starting to pick up, but Matt shook his head and offered a smile, still panting, "shhh..sh its okay. I got these guys alright? They are nothing to be scared of."
He placed a hand on the boy's head to give it a soft rub before he put his hood snuggly back in place.
There were men coming, a few had awoken it seemed and apparently called for back up, and Matt clocked someone coming down from one of the upper floors, heart beat faster than the others.