Take It To The Top

Our urban crimefighters, Spidey and DD, never heard of anyone called "Lawman." He must have been new talent. Nor did they have any clue as to who was in charge of that area of the Kingpin's territory. We didn't know where Electro was either. So that left us just one easy to find target.

The man on top. The Kingpin.

We had just hammered out the plan of attack when the nurse arrived to check on me. She gasped in utter shock. Not by my visitors. But by the fact that her patient, me, was last seen battered, bruised and doped out on meds. Now I was wide awake and without blimish. Without any sign of injury at all. How could I explain my sudden recovery without reveiling the fact I was a mutant?

"How could you possibly...?  You were..."

"Our 'Jane Doe' here is quite a mystery." DareDevil stated.

Jane Doe? The hospital doesn't even know who I am. SWEET. I later learned that Spidey and DD came up with the "Jane Doe" for this very situation. The fact Johnny and Ororo were also here really sold it.

"DareDevil and I suspected there was something odd about her." Spider-Man said. "Which is why we called in the Fantastic Four and the X-Men."

"Yeah." Threw in Johnny. He then held up the hyper-sonic. "I was going to do a bio-scan to determine the exact nature of her physiology. Maybe, like me, she's a mutate. Someone who gained super powers from an outside source. Might even be a mutant. An alien. Or even a goddess from Asgard."

"And if it turns out she IS a mutant." Ororo said. "Then she'll fall under the X-Men's jurisdiction."

"You couldn't just ask her?" The nurse asked as if they were a collection of idiots.

Now I had the baton. Time to run with it. Hope I don't overdo it.

"They did ask. But I...I just don't know. I-I can't remember anything except waking up in great pain. And these two masked men were there. Helping me."

"Amnesia." The nurse assumed. Then she sighed. "Well. Go ahead and scan her. Let's find out what she is."

Oops. Now what?

Johnny held up the hyper-sonic and adjusted the setting.  He then triggered the "scanner" and I started glowing. Thank God it was the lowest setting or the nurse, and everyone else, would have been blinded for life. Fully healed as I was the sound I was absorbing would be channeled directly into creating light.

"The light of the scanner is probing her entire body. We should..." Johnny bluffed. Then he turned it off. "She's a mutant."

"Her power must have manifested in front of witnesses." Ororo said as straightfaced as could be. "They panicked and attacked her. Beat her near to death. She'd be dead now if it weren't for DareDevil and Spider-Man."

Mental note. NEVER EVER play cards with these people.

The nurse fell for it and when she left I decided to call Harry, my manager. I just had to know if the others were all right. And by now he would know.

Thank God they were all alive. Apparently Electro just zapped them unconscious and locked them in the cellar.

"What the hell happened, Alison?"

Harry sounded angry.

"Electro kidnapped me." I answered. "He was hired to do so by some mobster in retaliation for me stopping another woman from being kidnapped earlier. I-I won't go into the grusome details. But I got away, I'm okay, and I'm, just now, able to call you."

"Be in my office FIRST thing Monday, Alison."

He's angry all right.

"O-Okay."

"I'm seriously thinking of terminating your contract."

Oh God, no.

"H-Harry?"

"Eight AM sharp or you WILL be let go."

Then he hung up on me. I knew why he was mad. Because I wasn't there there was no concert. I made him look bad. But, dammit, there was a reason.

"Alison?" Ororo asked.

"Ali?" Johnny added. "You're pale as a sheet."

Spidey jumped off the wall and landed opposite the others.

"Your friends? They're...?"

"Alive, Spidey. They're...they're fine."

But I'm not. I tried to help someone and got kicked in the teeth for it. Now the career I've dreamed of since childhood may crash and burn.  Well, nothing I can do about it till Monday. Less than two days away. So if my career, my hopes and dreams, is gonna go down in flames then I'm taking a bunch of assholes down with me. Starting with the Kingpin! He and his goons are gonna PAY!

"I need some clothes."

"You're in luck, Alison." Ororo said.

It was still dark when five costumed figures left Mercy Hospital. One of them was wearing the ugly black and yellow uniform of the original X-Men. I'm grateful Storm brought me something to wear. I just wish it was something...else. As we approached the fantasti-car Daredevil brought up an interesting point.

"If this comes to trial you won't be able to pull off the 'Jane Doe' con. You'll have to reveal that you, Alison Blaire, ARE a mutant."

"Right now DD I don't care. I can't, and won't, let them get away with this."

"All right then. We proceed as planned. Just remember. There are lines I will not cross. I hope you don't either."

I hope I don't either, DD.

I wanted Kingpin, and his goons, to know it was Dazzler and not some New Mutant they were facing. So I had Johnny take me to my apartment to change clothes. The silver suit I thought I retired was taken out of mothballs. I had enough blue greasepaint left to recreate my stylized mask. Once Dazzler was ready to go for it we took off.

The Fisk Building was a skyscraper with a penhouse on top. By now the sun was out. Fortunately it was still early enough that no one else was inside except for the Kingpin and his goons. There would be no innocent bystanders to worry about.

Johnny dropped Spidey and me off at an adjacent building that was a little higher up. From there we could see the rooftop of the Fisk Building. Spidey and I would wait ten minutes. Giving the Torch and the others time to get into position. DareDevil, Johnny and Ororo would cover the bottom of the building to insure Kingpin wouldn't escape via the ground.

There were five guards on the rooftop. One at each corner and one guarding a helicopter.

"What's the deal with the belt?" Spidey asked.

"My belt?"

"There's an 'X' on the buckle."

"A gift from the X-Men. I helped them with a situation and my suit got torn up pretty badly. They made me a new one. The belt buckle is actually a souped up MP3 player. Turn the 'X' and my downloaded music starts to play. And because it's so close to my body nobody but me can hear it. It's a pretty nifty power source and it beats lugging a transister radio."

Ten minutes had passed. Spider-Man scooped me up in his arms and then stood on the edge of the building. He leaped and I closed my eyes and tried my darndest NOT to scream. We landed on Kingpin's roof. (Thankyou,Godthankyou,Godthankyou,God), Spidey put me down.

"All yours, Kiddo. Break a leg." He then leaped backwards and disappeared over this building's edge. It was all on me now. I HAD to confront this monster on my own. Kingpin HAD to know I was a serious force to be reckoned with.  And if I couldn't do this. If I failed. Then Spidey and the others WOULD be the ones to avenge me.

I turned on the MP3 and Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly" vibed through my body. In less time than it takes to tell I started glowing with particles of light twinkling and swirling about me. I unleashed a dazzle-burst that took out the three goons on this side of the roof. The two on the corners and the one on the chopper. I noticed that these guys were decked out like some para-military group complete with balacavas covering their heads. The two from the other side came a'charging. As expected they both aimed their high powered rifles at me. I pointed and fired off focused dazzle-beams that hit 'em both point blank in the face. They went down like phasers on stun.

I headed for the penthouse. From the corner of my eye I saw Spider-Man webbing the struts of the helicopter. If Kingpin somehow got past me and tried to escape he wouldn't be doing it in this contraption.

Inside, with weapons aimed and ready to fire, more of those black-garbed gunsels watched as the tip end of a laser beam cut through the heavy, bulletproofed, doors. When the doors fell they saw me and immediately opened fire. They saw me go down as the rounds cut through my glowing body. There were cheers and expletives of joy as the glow died down.

Five of the creeps came out to admire their handiwork. One of them looked at the corpse and swore. There were no bullet holes. No blood stains.  Hey. It was all I could do to make it look lifelike.

"Psyche!" I said.

The chumps turned around and saw me leaning against the wall by the doorframe where doors used to be. My arms were casually crossed and I was smiling a sweet smile dipped in pure evil. I then laughed and my hologram faded away as I let fly another dazzle-burst. Like the others, all five of 'em went down.  I then stuck my hand out, the palm facing the inside of the penthouse. I fired off a strobe and then entered.

There were five more of these jerks. Thankfully they were all dazed. I wanted to do more than just point and zap. I wanted to get physical. Share some of the pain I had to endure.  So I ran and leaped into the air. Cramming my boot into the face of the middle goon which sent him flying backwards and crashing to the floor an unconscious heap. I then grabbed the next nearest goon by the nape of the neck, bent him over, and flung him headfirst into a wall. The third got a serious right cross to the jaw. I then picked up one of their rifles and just clubbed the last two unconscious. The combination of the strobe and physical blows was enought to take them all out.

I saw the elevator and went over to it. But before I could do what I wanted I heard footsteps. More of them was coming up via the adjacent stairwell. If I was fast enough I could do it. I waited by the fire escape door and shortly heard the pushing of crypto-lock keys on the other side. When the door opened I let loose another strobe beam. Then I booted the first man to get him out of the way. I charged into the stairwell and lit up the whole area with another dazzle-burst. The reenforcements all passed out. Punching and kicking would have been more fun. But sometimes you just have to be practical.

I waited and listened. Satisfied that no one else was coming I lasered off the crypto-lock keypad and secured the door. I then checked the elevator. The car was still here. Which meant my prey was still here. Unless he wasn't here in the first place. (Be my luck if he wasn't.)  I lasered the control buttons. And then I turned off my MP3 power source. Then I went to full sound absorption mode and listened. Seriously listened.

In full sound absorption I had was akin to super-hearing. In a noisy area it didn't help much. But in a QUIET area. Quiet like it was right now. I could pinpoint sound that no one else could. I moved about slowly. Then I heard it. Slight sound of movement behind a wall. There was the door. I headed for it.

[Watching from his monitor the Kingpin, and his two remaining men, saw the silver-garbed masked woman approach. Once that glowing freakshow tried to go through the door she'd trigger the hidden taser trap. But suddenly she lasered the wall near the door and then the door.]

I heard the hum. If I went through that door I knew something bad would happen to me. So I turned the MP3 back on and lazed the wall near the doorframe until the hum died. Then I lazed the door and kicked it. Leaping across the doorway like the hero in a gunfight I pointed at the two gunsels I saw on each side of this incredibly huge man. I fired my dazzle beams and they fired their rifles. My beams hit the targets. Their bullets hit the wall behind me as I hit the floor. The guns went silent and I stood up. The henchmen were slumped on the floor. The Kingpin, my gosh he was as big as the Thing, looked annoyed. He was cool as a cucumber. I'll give him that.

"Who ARE you?" Kingpin asked.

He was serious. Manzilla here was actually serious! Puts me through hell and he doesn't even recognize me? Well he was gonna find out who I was. Oh GOD he was gonna find out. My surpressed anger FINALLY getting a chance to boil over.

"I'm the one you hired Electro to kidnap.

"I'm the one you had BEAT NEAR TO DEATH!

"I'M THE ONE YOU TRIED TO PUBLICALLY HUMILIATE!!

"I'M THE DAZZLER!!!

"AND I'M PISSED OFF!!!!"

And, with that said, I unleashed another dazzle-burst.

Figures he'd make it difficult. We were in a meeting room of some sort. There was a conference table between us. Near him was a tray of snacks. He grabbed it and used it to cover his face thus blocking the light from his eyes. It was reflective so I doubt I could laser it in two.

[Kingpin noticed the flare-up of light had dissipated. He looked over the tray and saw the woman called Dazzler still standing at the other end of the conference table. She was clearly winded from her fruitless effort to take him down. He flung the tray like it was Captain America's shield directly at her. He then charged around the table towards the incandescent intruder.  But he stopped the instant he saw the tray literally go through her.]

I figured he'd try something like that if I appeared weak. Once the tray flew through my hologram I stepped back into the room. He was open so I pointed and fired a dazzle-beam. I yelled "TIMMMMMBERRRR!" as he yelped and staggered backwards before falling to the floor with a THUD! And, like everyone else I zapped this morning, he lay there unconscious. 

"Damn, Dazz."

Spider-Man entered the room to see me standing over Kingpig.

"I heard the Kingpin cry out and then the THUD. Then the glowing stopped." He pulled out what appeared to be a camera and started taking pictures. He was all over the place taking pictures like a professional photographer.

"What are you doing?"

"Dazz. This is HISTORY in the making. No one. Not me, not DareDevil, no one has ever taken down the Kingpin on the first try. But YOU did."

Hopefully there will never be a rematch. Something tells me he'd be better prepared next time.

"Did you find out what you needed to know?"

"No. We're gonna have to revive him. Could you be a dear and fetch the others? I proved to Kingpig here I could take him down on my own. Now I want him to know I'm NOT alone. Oh and could you bring some smelling salts?"

The others arrived and landed the fantasti-car on the roof. Johnny and Ororo gathered all the weapons and the Torch then melted them into slag. Then they raided the kitchen and made breakfast. DD and Spidey, with smelling salts from the fantasti-car's first aid kit, joined me in the meeting room.

"Wow, Dazzler." DD said. "I am impressed.

"He wasn't prepared for someone like me. That's why he went down easy. Shall we?"

Spider-Man, the only one strong enough, placed Kingpig into a chair. Then I hit him with the smelling salts.

Kingpin awoke to see me standing there with Spider-Man hanging from the ceiling and DareDevil standing in the corner. He looked down then up at me.

"I'm not restrained?"

"You are no threat." I said matter of factly.

His eyes narrowed. Mine glowed. Both our lips were tight.

"Not impressed, showgirl."

"So you know what I am as well as who I am. So riddle me this, Jabba. Why hire Electro to kidnap me? Why have your goons work me over and leave me tied up NAKED on Bronson Street? Why have a sign there that says 'I, Dazzler, will nevermore meddle in the business of the Kingpin?' Why do all THAT if I'm just an unimpressive showgirl?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

[DareDevil cocked his head.]

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" I screamed. Body glowing. Light particles flashing and swirling. "DON'T YOU DARE LIE TO ME! Now I want the creep you put in charge of dealing with me. And I want that creep, Lawman!"

"Law Man? Who the hell is Law Man?"

"DAZZLER!" DD raised his hands in a calming motion. "A moment, please."

"Go on."

"Fisk." DareDevil said. "You deny taking ANY retalitory action against this woman for stopping a kidnapping?

"What kidnapping? What the hell's this about, 'Devil?"

"You didn't hire Electro? You didn't order this woman to be beat up and left hung to dry on Bronson Street? Where the attempted kidnapping took place? To set as an example to anyone else who would defy you?"

"NO!"

"Has Dazzler ever interfered with any of your operations in the past? Do you have ANY reason at all to want to harm her?"

"I never had any dealings with this woman before. And, until this very morning, she hasn't given me just cause to want to harm her."

It was like watching an old Perry Mason rerun. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if there was a lawyer under those horns.

"Dazzler. I'm sorry." DareDevil said. "But he's telling the truth."

"No! He can't be!" I protested.

"Dazz." Spider-Man said softly. "I've worked with ol' Hornhead often enough to know he has an uncanny, almost supernatural, knack for reading people. If he says chunky monkey here is telling the truth...Well you can pretty much take it to the bank that he is."

"Okay. So he's not DIRECTLY responsible." I replied. "Still it was HIS people that hurt me. His lieutenant, or whatever, hired Electro. Had some thug called 'Lawman' beat me up. I want them. And I WILL get them." And I made a point that Mr.'Fisk' KNEW I was talking to him. "No matter what."

"There is no one in my organization called 'Law Man.'" Kingpin said. "Young lady, are you sure of your facts?"

"Yes. I don't know the lieutenant's name. But he and Lawman made it clear they worked for you."

"Dazzler?" DareDevil chimed in. "Would you be able to recognize the lieutenant's voice if you heard it again?"

"It's seered into my memory."

"Call him, Fisk." DD ordered. "If he's her man then we'll deal with him and that will be that. But if he's not. Then someone is obviously out to frame you. We need to find out. And then find out who and why."

Kingpin sighed. He got up and went over to the telephone. He tapped the buttons and put the phone on speaker.

And when the suspect answered my heart bellyflopped into my stomach.

It wasn't him.

"Hello?"

"Kingpin here."

"Yes, Boss?"

"Did you recently hire Electro to kidnap a woman called, Dazzler?"

"No, Boss. I didn't. Who's Dazzler? Wait. She ain't that singin' hero groupy? Th' one that dresses like a clown and runs around on roller skates like it was still the 70s?"

And the knife got twisted further.

All I could do was shake my head no and say, "Not him."

"Never mind." Kingpin said. "Just confirming something."

As he hung up DareDevil nodded his head, expressing that the Kingpin was still telling the truth.

I had been PLAYED! Suckered into believing the Kingpin was guilty.

Kingpin sat back down and pressed his fingertips together. He reminded me of that Mr. Burns character from the Simpsons.

"So I AM being framed." He said. "And Dazzler here appears to be the cause of it."

"Me? But..."

"Whoever hurt you wanted to convince you I was responsible. Why? We have no connection, no dealings directly or indirectly.  So why use you to get at me?"

What was so black and white a moment ago was now blurred into gray. This incident had now become a full scale mystery. 



A long winded entry by A beautiful picture by

Dazzler, DareDevil, Spider-Man, Kingpin (c) MARVEL