In the wake of Shadowland, there’s a new protector of Hell’s Kitchen! He has no kingdom, no vibranium, and no high-tech safety net--just bloody knuckles and the will to prove himself in a foreign land where the fiercest of jungle predators stalks the most dangerous urban prey! His name is T’Challa, and in the aftermath of Shadowland, he will create a new life, a new identity, and learn what it is to be a different kind of hero. But with Daredevil gone, the bad guys are coming out to play, and a new nemesis--Vlad the Impaler--plots his bloody rise to power. Be there as national best-selling author and Edgar Award Winner David Liss and the pulp master Francesco Fracavilla (Zorro, Green Hornet) begin a shocking new chapter for the world’s most dangerous man!
Plot Summary
Our story begins with The Black Panther attacking a group of Romanian Mobsters in a Warehouse in Hell's Kitchen in search of the Kitchen's newest crime boss who goes by the name Vlad the Impaler. As the Panther fights his way through the hordes of Vlad's cronies he comes across Vlad's son who tells him that he only found this place because his father wanted him to. Snipers then train their sights on the Black Panther who dives behind some crates for cover. The story then cuts to a few weeks earlier with T'Challa meeting with Matt Murdock to discuss the recent events that occurred in Shadowland. Matt tells T'Challa that he is leaving to go find himself cause he fears after all that has happened that it may have cost him his soul but while he is away he'll Kitchen will still need a protector to which T'Challa volunteers to be while Matt is gone not only to keep the people safe but also to prove himself after have his kingship taken away after destroying Wakanda's Vibranium supply in order to keep it out of Doctor Doom's hands. The story flashes forward another few days to T'Challa meeting with Foggy Nelson under a bridge where Foggy tells him he has set him up with a job as a manager at a place called "Devil's Dinner" as well as an apartment and a new identity complete with a set of fake immigration papers. Foggy tells him that he is taking a huge risk doing this for him because he is facing felony changes should T'Challa get caught but T'Challa promises to protect his new identity with his life. After his meeting with Foggy the Panther goes to his new place of work and tries to turn the failing place around by hiring a new staff and dealing with complaining customers T'Challa then goes to his new apartment and gets acquainted with his new neighbors where he sees a boy with bruises all over his face and offers to teach him some self defense techniques but the boy's father tells him it's alright and that he is already teaching him Muay Thai so that he can defend himself. T'Challa then enters his dwelling and video chats with his wife Storm telling her how alone he feels and misses her but that he must remain this way if he is ever to return to greatness again to which she agrees that she will stay away from him until his return. Next we meet the story's antagonist Vlad the Impaler who is living with his wife and little son in a lavish New York City apartment he goes off to take his son to school when his older son shows up telling him he's needed at "Work" his little son asks if he can come with him but Vlad tells him that his education is more important than his work. After dropping his son off at school Vlad and his older son enter a pet shop in order to execute a underling who has been stealing from his organization. Vlad tells the man that he has given him every chance to stop what he was doing after getting caught the first time around but that he's run out of chance with his latest theft. Before killing the man Vlad shares with him one of his greatest secrets that he was experimented on as a child in Romania in order to create make a Romanian equivalent to Captain America which they succeeded at with just one small difference Vlad is able to convert matter into energy. Vlad kills the man by electrifying his sword and impaling the man hence the name. A week later the Black Panther begins his war on crime in Hell's Kitchen which has soared since Daredevil's absence
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