Post by Deleted on Feb 8, 2016 19:52:00 GMT -7
HELL IN THE KITCHEN!
Heroes Overwhelmed as Hell's Kitchen Gang War Escalates!
By Ben Urich
OP-ED:
Once upon a time, Hell's Kitchen was earmarked for gentrification. Real-estate was bought, zoning commissions were on board, and money both laundered and legitimate was flowing in and out of pockets like water down stream. And then one day we looked up into the sky and saw aliens, super-criminals, terrorists, and even mythological deities come down upon our city like a dam breaking under pressure. Just like that, construction companies became the biggest businesses in New York City, but everybody had forgotten about upgrading; the world needed to rebuild.
And then a crime wave not seen since the seventies had overrun the streets of Hell's Kitchen. Not powerful beings who could level buildings on a whim, but the angry, the lost, and the disenfranchised living under Mob Rule. Drugs became the new currency of status, and the control of it meant you were royalty. Both organized and street crime battled for control of a private war that few wanted to be a part of, but often did. It became a place where hope had come to die.
Until one had enough.
This man, however, was not just any man, and yet he was no avenging angel that had come from time, space, or advancement of science. This man was one of the devils that the Kitchen created. A literal Daredevil; A Man Without Fear. Block by block, from mugger, to dealer, to pusher, to supplier, to racketeer-er, this costumed vigilante with a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck fought day-in-and day out to clear the streets away from its criminal element. Those that survived unified under one banner: The so-called Kingpin of Crime. Two men with very similar visions for the city, but with two very different methods: Control? Or Justice for all? That was what the city needed to decide for many years, and many many bodies in caskets.
Despite all of this, the Kitchen endured and eventually, people began to return to it, seeing the potential many once saw barely a decade ago. Businesses re-opened, people got their jobs, this paper even wrote a piece about a student who later invented many products we now take for granted at Horizon Labs. Daredevil, and the many defenders of New York, whether they wore a mask or a uniform, showed this city how to stand up to evil and that together, through community, it would thrive. And for a time, thrive it did.
Fast-forward to the past couple of months: Since the supposed superhero "Civil War," regardless of one's personal politics on such a hot topic of freedom-versus-security, many a costumed hero and villain began to disappear, as if shaving off the rust and lime from a bath tub. However, those that continued on had only gotten stronger, and more deadly. In the Kingpin's absence, another Civil War of sorts has begun, and its front lines are now in heart of Hell's Kitchen. Explosions in the Kitchen have become more commonplace than a school shooting, and social media has not wasted a second in making their opinions known on the matter. Rumors are abound that the criminal known only as Mr. Negative has assembled an army of followers to try and pick up where the Kingpin left off; People like the insane criminal known as Shriek have caused riots that once again threatened the integrity of this city; criminals like Mysterio and Nuke have even gotten in on the chaos, and the machine gun-toting vigilante, the Punisher, has even pulled double duty, recently being sighted at a standoff with Negative's men that nearly leveled a fifth of Hell's Kitchen. Unlike the hero Civil War, however, nobody, not even criminals, profit from this.
These are not gods or aliens or monsters causing this destruction; these are mortal men. These are not kings of nations or Mutants fighting for their rights, but ordinary people with a lot of bullets and bombs fighting for control of land that they would see turned to glass under their own feet. With all the debate in congress about the need of the SRA, where are they now when New York City has once again become a war zone created by the lowest and most angry of people? While heroes like Daredevil, Spider-Man, and even the X-Man, Wolverine, who was recently spotted in this maelstrom of destruction, as well as others struggle to keep the ordinary people safe from harm, regardless of whether or not they are "registered" in the eyes of the government, I must ask, not as a journalist but as a citizen of this city: what is the government going to do about it? If this continues, even the Mayor himself will have to call a state of emergency, which by the standards of today, is a considerable measure...
follow Ben on Twitter @benurich, and subscribe to the Daily Bugle for the latest updates happening in NYC!
Heroes Overwhelmed as Hell's Kitchen Gang War Escalates!
By Ben Urich
OP-ED:
Once upon a time, Hell's Kitchen was earmarked for gentrification. Real-estate was bought, zoning commissions were on board, and money both laundered and legitimate was flowing in and out of pockets like water down stream. And then one day we looked up into the sky and saw aliens, super-criminals, terrorists, and even mythological deities come down upon our city like a dam breaking under pressure. Just like that, construction companies became the biggest businesses in New York City, but everybody had forgotten about upgrading; the world needed to rebuild.
And then a crime wave not seen since the seventies had overrun the streets of Hell's Kitchen. Not powerful beings who could level buildings on a whim, but the angry, the lost, and the disenfranchised living under Mob Rule. Drugs became the new currency of status, and the control of it meant you were royalty. Both organized and street crime battled for control of a private war that few wanted to be a part of, but often did. It became a place where hope had come to die.
Until one had enough.
This man, however, was not just any man, and yet he was no avenging angel that had come from time, space, or advancement of science. This man was one of the devils that the Kitchen created. A literal Daredevil; A Man Without Fear. Block by block, from mugger, to dealer, to pusher, to supplier, to racketeer-er, this costumed vigilante with a little bit of skill and a whole lot of luck fought day-in-and day out to clear the streets away from its criminal element. Those that survived unified under one banner: The so-called Kingpin of Crime. Two men with very similar visions for the city, but with two very different methods: Control? Or Justice for all? That was what the city needed to decide for many years, and many many bodies in caskets.
Despite all of this, the Kitchen endured and eventually, people began to return to it, seeing the potential many once saw barely a decade ago. Businesses re-opened, people got their jobs, this paper even wrote a piece about a student who later invented many products we now take for granted at Horizon Labs. Daredevil, and the many defenders of New York, whether they wore a mask or a uniform, showed this city how to stand up to evil and that together, through community, it would thrive. And for a time, thrive it did.
Fast-forward to the past couple of months: Since the supposed superhero "Civil War," regardless of one's personal politics on such a hot topic of freedom-versus-security, many a costumed hero and villain began to disappear, as if shaving off the rust and lime from a bath tub. However, those that continued on had only gotten stronger, and more deadly. In the Kingpin's absence, another Civil War of sorts has begun, and its front lines are now in heart of Hell's Kitchen. Explosions in the Kitchen have become more commonplace than a school shooting, and social media has not wasted a second in making their opinions known on the matter. Rumors are abound that the criminal known only as Mr. Negative has assembled an army of followers to try and pick up where the Kingpin left off; People like the insane criminal known as Shriek have caused riots that once again threatened the integrity of this city; criminals like Mysterio and Nuke have even gotten in on the chaos, and the machine gun-toting vigilante, the Punisher, has even pulled double duty, recently being sighted at a standoff with Negative's men that nearly leveled a fifth of Hell's Kitchen. Unlike the hero Civil War, however, nobody, not even criminals, profit from this.
These are not gods or aliens or monsters causing this destruction; these are mortal men. These are not kings of nations or Mutants fighting for their rights, but ordinary people with a lot of bullets and bombs fighting for control of land that they would see turned to glass under their own feet. With all the debate in congress about the need of the SRA, where are they now when New York City has once again become a war zone created by the lowest and most angry of people? While heroes like Daredevil, Spider-Man, and even the X-Man, Wolverine, who was recently spotted in this maelstrom of destruction, as well as others struggle to keep the ordinary people safe from harm, regardless of whether or not they are "registered" in the eyes of the government, I must ask, not as a journalist but as a citizen of this city: what is the government going to do about it? If this continues, even the Mayor himself will have to call a state of emergency, which by the standards of today, is a considerable measure...
follow Ben on Twitter @benurich, and subscribe to the Daily Bugle for the latest updates happening in NYC!