Lawyer Is a Dangerous Profession

The Presidential Suite occupied the top floor of the hotel.

Thanks to the power of money, Russell now owned the entire hotel. Everyone there, including the manager, worked for him.

The fact that their guest was an extremely dangerous Mutant meant nothing to the hotel staff and security guards, who were earning a year's wages in a single day.

They certainly didn't think Mr. Russell was dangerous. He was gentle and generous, nothing like the cold, ruthless man in the videos online.

At the manager's eager insistence, the Aqua Regia in the bathtub had been replaced. The fresh batch was stronger than before.

Under the lights, the orange liquid gave off a dangerous fluorescent sheen, like a cocktail mixed all wrong.

When Russell lay down in it, the familiar sting returned. His skin reacted in less than half a minute. The corrosive liquid ate through the surface cells, exposing the bright red dermis beneath.

Then his Superhuman Healing kicked in. New tissue grew up from the base of each wound, covered it, closed it, was eaten away again, and healed again.

[Super Self-Healing Experience +0.8]

[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]

Compared to his first soak in Aqua Regia, it still wasn't efficient enough.

He couldn't help it. Russell's body had grown stronger, especially its resistance to corrosion. He suspected that bathing in acid so often lately had greatly increased that resistance.

He needed to go faster.

Rogue stood in the bathroom doorway, clutching the collar of her bathrobe, her eyes as wide as ping-pong balls.

She watched Russell sit half-submerged in the pool of orange liquid. His skin bubbled and dissolved in the deadly chemical, then healed.

It happened so fast it looked unreal, like a videotape playing in reverse. The sight was almost too much to take in.

Now she had some idea why Russell had told her not to regret it when the time came.

"Wh-what are you soaking in?" Her voice trembled.

"Aqua Regia." Russell kept his eyes closed, enjoying himself. "Concentrated Nitric Acid and Concentrated Hydrochloric Acid, mixed three to one. The stuff that dissolves gold."

Rogue opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

She had imagined all kinds of ways Russell might "train": punching bags, weightlifting, running, even meditation.

But soaking in acid that could dissolve gold? That had never crossed her mind.

Felicity and Laura, standing nearby, were used to it by now.

"Come here." Russell beckoned with a finger that was already healing.

Rogue edged toward him. Every step was slow, as though she were approaching an Abyss she wasn't sure she could return from.

"Give me your hand and absorb as much as you want. Don't worry about me."

With her heart in her throat, Rogue slowly held out her hand.

Russell took her wrist, his grip firm enough that she couldn't pull free.

That familiar sensation returned.

Strength drained away. Life seemed to be drawn out of him, as if something had grown from her body, reached into his, and begun dragging something back.

[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]

[Mental Defense Experience +1]

[Psychic Telekinesis Experience +1]

The corners of Russell's mouth lifted slightly.

Aqua Regia and Rogue, working together.

Chemical corrosion from the outside, energy absorption from within.

Every cell in his body was under two different kinds of pressure at once.

One was the acid's fierce physical assault from outside; the other was the deadly drain from within.

Together, they did more than add up. One plus one equaled three, then four, then five.

He was training three abilities at once: Superhuman Healing repaired the damage caused by the Aqua Regia, Mental Defense fought the haze Rogue's ability cast over his consciousness, and Psychic Telekinesis kept the two forces in balance.

He was like a general under attack on three fronts, fighting on every side and winning on every side.

Rogue could feel Russell's body replenishing itself automatically.

She was absorbing his power without being able to stop, yet he was losing it more slowly than she could take it. Her ability hadn't weakened. His body was evolving.

Each time she drained him, his cells learned to regenerate faster. Each time she weakened him, his mind learned to hold its boundaries more firmly.

"Don't lose focus. Feel the power inside your body. Try to accept it, and find the switch that controls your absorption."

Listening to Russell, Rogue gathered her thoughts and paid close attention to the changes in her body.

A little over half an hour passed.

"That's enough." Russell released her hand.

Rogue took two steps back and leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Sweat covered her forehead, and fear had drained the color from her face. She had finally found someone unaffected by her curse, and she'd been terrified she might hurt him the next moment.

But her eyes shone with the feeling that she had just done something extraordinary.

"Did... did I help?" she asked timidly.

"You did." Russell stood up in the bathtub. Aqua Regia streamed down his devilishly sculpted body, leaving a scatter of tiny bubbles on the tiles.

He wrapped a bath towel around his waist and glanced at the system panel.

[Host: Russell]

[Age: 18]

[Mutant abilities: Superhuman Healing: 3421/12500 Level 4; Psychic Telekinesis: 574/12500 Level 4; Mental Defense: 1876/5000 Level 3]

[Atomic-level Precision Control: Unlocked]

[Subatomic-level Precision Control: Locked]

[Emotion Points: 500341]

Thanks to the kindly media man J. Jonah Jameson, his Emotion Points were rising remarkably fast.

But Mental Defense was still more than three thousand points short of Level 4.

At this rate, even if Rogue went without sleep, it would take him a day or two to reach Level 4.

And that... was still too slow.

He needed a more efficient method.

When he came out of the bathroom, Felicity was sitting on the sofa, leafing through a book on New York's architectural history. It was her third attempt. Each time, she said, "I'll finish it this time," and each time, she stopped at the same chapter.

Laura sat cross-legged by the window, gazing up at the blue sky. He couldn't tell what she was thinking.

Rogue followed him out and perched timidly on the very edge of the sofa, like a newly adopted kitten still testing whether its new home was safe.

"You three." Russell stood in the middle of the living room, his gaze moving from Felicity to Laura, then to Rogue. "I need your abilities."

Felicity put down her book. Laura looked away from the window. Rogue sat up straight.

"Felicity, I need you to attack my mental barrier with your Telepathy. Use everything you've got. Don't hold back because you're afraid of hurting me. You can't."

Felicity nodded. She tapped her fingers twice against her knee, a habit she had when she was nervous.

"Laura, attack me with your claws as fast as you can. Don't deliberately aim away from vital spots. Heart, throat, eyes—go for whatever will kill me."

Laura's steel claws sprang out, their silver-white Adamantium gleaming coldly under the lights.

Her expression didn't change, but her eyes lit up. Fighting was what she did best.

"Rogue, if you can, keep absorbing my power. Don't stop or let go unless I collapse."

Rogue nodded hard. Her palms were sweaty, but her gaze was steady. She was glad she could help someone, and she was also trying to convince herself that she could find a cure for her curse.

Russell's right. If I keep absorbing his power, I'll find the switch that controls it. I know I will.

Russell stood barefoot on the living room carpet, a towel around his waist and water still dripping from his hair. He looked at the three girls before him.

A telepath, a warrior with claws, and an energy absorber. Yet he wasn't particularly pleased.

If reaching Level 4 was this difficult, how hard would Level 5 and beyond be? Perhaps putting his own power to work on himself was the best approach.

He could, for instance, place his body under a gravitational field that kept it constantly on the verge of breaking down and rebuilding.

The only reason he hadn't tried it was that he worried about upsetting his body's balance. Waiting until he was stronger would be safer.

"Mary, have some fruit from the table and take a break. The rest of us will start."

Russell looked at Felicity. She nodded and made the first move.

Her body didn't move. Her mind did.

Her Telepathy drove into the depths of Russell's consciousness like an invisible blade.

It wasn't a probe or a light touch. She struck with everything she had, as though she meant to wipe his mind clean.

[Mental Defense Experience +1]

Russell's head tipped back slightly, as if someone had pushed him.

But his mental barrier didn't crack. It didn't even shake.

After Professor X's probing and Hound 10's energy attack, his Level 3 Mental Defense had grown harder than steel.

Laura's attack followed without warning, like a strike in a real fight.

Her steel claws came from three different angles, aimed at his throat, heart, and abdomen. She moved like lightning, striking from angles as cunning as a snake's.

What she had learned in the Laboratory wasn't how to fight. It was how to kill. Every movement was designed to cause the greatest damage in the least time with the least effort.

[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]

Russell didn't dodge.

Claws pierced his throat and emerged from the back of his neck; pierced his heart and came out through his back; pierced his abdomen and emerged beside his spine.

Blood sprayed into the air, then suddenly vanished.

[Psychic Telekinesis Experience +0.1]

Laura's expression shifted as her claws entered Russell's body. She felt his muscles contract around them the instant they pierced him, gripping the steel.

If her claws hadn't been made of such an exceptionally sharp material, she doubted those strikes would have pierced his defenses at all.

"Keep going," Russell said through his punctured throat.

Almost hanging from Russell's body, Laura wrenched free the claws on her hands and feet.

The wounds began healing the instant the claws came out. They didn't slowly close from the edges inward. New tissue grew from the base, the sides, and even inside the blood vessels, all at once.

In just one second, the wound in his throat closed, his heart restored itself, and the hole in his abdomen disappeared without a trace.

After a short rest, Rogue rushed in again and seized both of Russell's arms.

She pushed her ability to its limit, following his instructions to drain him with everything she had and hold nothing back.

[Super Self-Healing Experience +1]

[Mental Defense Experience +1]

[Psychic Telekinesis Experience +0.5]

Russell stood in the middle of the living room while all three attacked him at once.

Felicity battered his mind with Telepathy. Laura repeatedly drove her steel claws through his body. Rogue drained his power without pause.

Three kinds of pressure, three kinds of pain, three kinds of despair—all piled onto one man at the same time.

He didn't fall. He didn't even close his eyes.

The numbers on the system panel leaped wildly.

Every second brought more experience. Every second pushed the progress bars forward.

Russell grinned.

"Keep going."

"Keep going!"

"Keep going!"

East Broadway, Downtown Manhattan.

Matt Murdock crouched in a dark alley, his back against a cold brick wall as he gasped for breath.

His suit was rumpled, his tie crooked. A cut on his forehead was still bleeding, and the knuckles of his left hand were swollen like sausages.

Even his stylish glasses had flown off somewhere. His unseeing eyes stared into the darkness like two dry wells.

A few hours ago, he had been Daredevil: guardian of Hell's Kitchen, a nightmare to criminals, the bane of everyone who did evil under cover of darkness.

His heightened senses had let him "see" everything within several blocks—heartbeats, breathing, footsteps, even the minute changes in a person's blood vessels when they lied.

His superhuman strength had let him punch through brick walls, kick car doors off their hinges, and take on a dozen burly men without getting winded.

Now he had none of it.

Russell had taken his powers. They might return in a few hours, a day, or even longer. Matt didn't know.

The only thing he knew for certain was that, right now, he was an ordinary man. A blind man.

A blind man with no powers, walking alone through the streets of New York. His old combat training left him with the skills of an ordinary special forces soldier.

A blind special forces soldier.

Matt had taken a wrong turn earlier and entered an unsafe alley. He'd fought two thieves there and come away hurt.

As he felt the burning pain in his fingers, he had to admit the truth.

He had never feared the scum in the alleys before. He had been Daredevil, the more frightening presence in the dark.

Not anymore.

"Well, look what we've got here."

A taunting voice came from deeper in the alley, and Matt's heart sank.

He could hear the malice in it. He had met plenty of men like this before.

"A blind guy in a suit," another voice said from behind him.

Matt turned, pressed his back against the wall, and listened.

He heard at least four sets of footsteps—no, at least five. Their steps were heavy enough to make out even without his heightened senses.

"Buddy, you took a wrong turn," the first voice said with a laugh. "This is our turf. Anyone coming through here has to pay a toll. Got it?"

Matt said nothing. Two men had been hard enough to handle. Fighting five head-on would be foolish.

He reached into his pocket and took out his wallet.

It held a few dozen dollars, several cards, and a business card for his law firm.

He held it out.

Someone took the wallet. Matt heard it open, heard the bills being pulled out, then heard the wallet hit the ground.

"That's all?" The man sounded annoyed. "You're a lawyer, and this is all you carry?

"Have I lost touch with the world? Since when did you damned bloodsuckers turn into good little boys?"