Editing The Secret Defenders (Hybrid 70) (section)

==='''Matthew Murdock/The Adversary'''===

“Matthew Murdock for the defense, Dishonor.” Matt looked at his client, whose barely restrained anger was not helping their standing in this case. Not that this particular judge took much pity on those who showed contrition, but a modicum of respect for the proceedings never hurt. “Dishonor, my client was forced to sign under duress. It is an accepted principle of interdimensional law that external pressures are a viable influence on contractual dealings. However, Cytorrak v Faust clearly establishes that one contracting party may not exercises direct physical or overt magical influence in order to…”

When Matt Murdock was ten years old, his father Jack made an ill-considered bargain. He was hardly the first boxer to sign a contract without reading it fully, or to consequently end up little better than chattel to his promoter. He did have the singular misfortune to sign his soul away to a demon literally, rather than in the more common figurative sense. In return, Jack Murdock got to be heavyweight champion of the world for three years. His son was given the opportunity to learn at the best prep school in New York, then Cornell and Harvard Law.

While Matt was an undergrad, they came for Battlin’ Jack. The black forces lacked even the decency to come in the dead of night, instead taking the elder Murdock at the dinner table, in front of his son. And so it was that Matt Murdock added sorcery and demonology to his pre-law courseload. He thought at first to storm the very gates of Hell to win his father’s release. But his study suggested that, really, most demonic dealings were, at heart, contract law. Simple contract law. Astoundingly carelessly written contract law. After he passed the bar, Murdock skipped the usual PD and corporate law career tracks and, using his father’s money, opened the only interdimensional law firm on Earth.

His clients call him an angel. Some called him “blind justice” after he sacrificed his sight for deeper magical knowledge and mastery over his own fear. Amongst his colleagues, he is known simply as The Adversary.