Back to GatefoldIssue #7 by D. Golightly
|
“Out of the Past: Part One”
“This beating is long overdue,” Luke Cage said.
Cage cracked his knuckles while he waited for Danny Rand, his partner in heroics, to step out of the passenger seat of his black Dodge Charger. Taxi cabs, busses, and other vehicles roared by them without giving them pause, not exactly reckless with pedestrians so close to the lanes, but not exactly caring how close they were either. That was Chicago. In L. A., the traffic would just grind along. In New York City, the traffic would run you down. In Chicago, it was just part of the background.
That was one thing Cage always loved about this town, and one of the main reasons he had tried to establish himself here over the last few years. Whether it was playing alongside Danny, Monica, or whoever else was on the Heroes For Hire squad, or just on his own as private security, Cage felt like he fit right in. He was part of the cityscape here.
It didn’t matter that Luke looked like he had been dropped by an elephant. It didn’t matter that Danny had lacerations on his neck and a goose egg-sized welt forming on his forehead. They were just part of the city.
“Let’s get some answers before we smash his face in,” Danny replied. His green and yellow Iron Fist uniform had been too slashed up to wear for this confrontation. “And we would have taken care of this by now had we not been contracted to babysit Stark’s latest toy.”*
* [In PM & IF #4]
“Or been jumped by Travers lackeys,” Luke replied.
Danny nodded at the towering skyscraper before them. The behemoth office building was located in downtown Chicago and was home to numerous franchises, departments, branch locations, and even a local bank. Despite the several hundred people that went through their daily paper-pushing in the Dormont Building, however, Luke and Danny were only interested in one person.
“Luke,” Danny said. “About what the kid said. About what he claimed.”
Cage waved him off. “Later. We’ll catch up with him soon. Right now the only thing I’m interested in is knocking the teeth out of our boy upstairs.”
As they entered the main lobby and headed toward the main elevator bank, Danny said, “I tried to look into him, but he’s got a smokescreen so thick it would take a hurricane to get any clarity. I asked a friend of a friend, who’s connected to Valerie Cooper, to get us the skinny on this guy, but he’s like a ghost.”
“So you said on the way here. Does that mean he doesn’t actually work for the Commission on Superhuman Activity?”
“Not necessarily.” They entered an elevator among the bank that would take them to the top third of the building, and Danny pressed the button for the correct floor per the tenant index they passed in the lobby. “The Commission is just like any other government agency. They all have restricted personnel of one sort of another.”
“I don’t care if he’s the President’s brother,” Luke shot back. “He could have the security clearance of God for all I care. The guy hypnotized me and put a subliminal command in my head to kill you on sight.”*
* [The first three issues, but there was a little more to it than that!]
“Oh, I’m not calling him a saint. I’m just saying he’s a total mystery to us. Before we make him unable to talk, let’s get some info out of him first. Like, why the hell is he so crazed on killing us?”
The elevator chimed their arrival at the correct floor and the doors slid open. Luke ground his teeth and took half a step out before Danny put his hand on one of Luke’s biceps to hold him back for a second. Luke looked at the hand and traced the arm back to Danny’s face.
“Luke,” Danny said. “Seriously.”
Luke flashed him an award-winning smile. “I got you, bro.”
Then he stepped into the small waiting area, picked up a lounge chair in one hand, and tossed it into the closed doorway with a sign on it that read ‘COMMISSION LIAISON – TRAVERS.’
# # # # # # # # # #
Two Hours Ago…
“All I’m saying it take what Stark tells you with a grain of salt,” Luke stated.
Danny stretched as he rose out of the his seat aboard the charter jet. The long flight had been tiring, despite the few hours of sleep they had stolen during the trip. Coming all the way from Madripor to Chicago wasn’t something either of them would do again anytime soon, not just because of the extended flight. Their ears were still ringing from the skirmish with Mr. X, Dreadknight, and the Daughter of the Warlord, Sing-Chu.*
* [Last ish]
“You think I was wrong to broker a deal for Stark to fund Heroes For Hire?” Danny asked. “I just figured I would strike while the iron was hot. He was grateful to us for recovering all of the tech that had been stolen from him. It seemed like a good opportunity.”
Cage slid his small bag out of the overhead compartment, saying, “Danny, last week I ate nothing but canned soup. I’ll take Stark’s money no problem. Plus, if our business is up and running again, that’s a big thumbs-up from me. But all you did was get a hollow promise from a business man. I was with you until he started talking about running everything by his lawyers.”
The pair exited the jet, happy to be back on firm ground once more. After a quick check at customs and a long explanation to security about their business in Madripor, the pair finally managed to get to the long-term parking lot and slide into Luke’s Charger.
After a long silence, Danny finally said, “Think I could get Misty to come back?” Luke gave him a long sideways glance with eyes raised that spoke volumes. “Right. Bad idea.”
“It’s the biggest of bad ideas,” Luke countered. “Bro…you cheated on her. With another black woman.* Do you have any idea how long a black woman can hold a grudge, let alone two of them?”
* [Back in the H4H series hosted here at M2K!]
Danny tossed his hands up in defense. “Hey, I’m only human.”
“You’re lucky I’m your friend, Danny,” Luke replied. “I think any other man would think you were a total scumbag. But I know you better than that.”
After parking in the sublevel garage of his apartment building in uptown Chicago, Luke and Danny retrieved their bags from the truck and made their way upstairs. The building was old and the elevator was consistently on the fritz, but the quick ascent didn’t bother either of the heroes.
“We always talk about my love life,” Danny said as Luke slipped his key into his apartment’s door. “What about you?”
Luke scoffed. “Bro, ain’t no woman that has an interest in a freelance hero.”
“Your double negatives aside—”
WHAM!
The door exploded outward in a haze of splinters and shrapnel, throwing Danny back against the hallway wall. Caught off guard, Luke backpedaled out of the way and tossed a quick look at his partner to make sure he wasn’t injured.
Seeing that he was okay, Luke dropped his bag and dove through the now open doorway, tucking into a roll and coming up a few feet inside the apartment. He quickly surveyed the scene and locked eyes with his much younger assailment just as he was grabbed around the collar and tossed overhand through the apartment.
Luke’s nearly indestructible body blasted through the sparse furniture like a wrecking ball, smashing a dining table and two chairs. Luke was up again in an instant, but his aggressor was on top of him just as fast.
“My apartment can’t take getting trashed again,” Luke said. “You picked the wrong house to rob, kid!”
The attacker, who had dark skin and looked to be in his late teens or early 20s, slapped his hands around Luke’s collar again, fully intending to carry out the same throw again. While Luke wasn’t the master hand-to-hand combatant that his partner was, he had been in enough straight brawls to know a thing or two. He brought both arms up inside the grip and pushed his wrists against the kid’s forearms, putting his incredible strength behind the countermove. From there he could reverse the hold, pick the guy up in a similar fashion, and toss him instead of being tossed himself.
…except that Luke’s strength instantly vanished the moment his skin touched the younger man’s.
The kid replicated his prior throw, sending Cage smashing through the kitchen counter in the open floor plan. What surprised Luke even more than his apparent lack of his signature strength, was the blood now streaming down his face from a scalp laceration.
Seeking the crimson color streak on his hands when he tried to wipe it away, he was momentarily shocked. Taking the opportunity that was handed to him, the youth leap across the apartment, closing the fifteen foot gap between them in a single bound, and gripped Luke yet again.
This time the kid drove his face straight down into the floor, smashing his nose. Stunned, Luke was beginning to feel woozy for the first time since his prison days. With his power set had come an amazing fortitude and sense of endurance, all of which had now vanished.
On his knees and his head pulled back, Luke say the kid cock his first back for what was obviously a killing blow. There was nothing in his face to betray emotion, nothing but a blank look indicating his total willingness to murder.
“Stop!” Danny shouted as he burst back into the apartment.
He slipped his forearm behind the kid’s elbow and yanked back hard, pulling him off balance. The kid stumbled and Danny quickly spun around, driving his own elbow into the kid’s chest. The kid rallied, however, and came back at Danny with his arms swinging.
Ducking and weaving between the strikes, he realized he would need to use his legendary technique to end the fight as quickly as possible. He had never seen Cage busted up like this before. He might even need medical attention. Time was now of the essence.
Thankfully, years of discipline meant he could summon the necessary focus in an instant. Within a mere moment Danny’s hand was transformed, encased in his own chi, and converting it unto a thing of iron.
…except that all of his summoned power was drained away when the kid caught his fist in midair.
The kid lashed back with a haymaker across Danny’s jaw, which sent him reeling. Moreover, the kid had somehow taken more than just his concentrated chi energy. He had drained him of his resilience inner strength. It was like his life force had been siphoned off somehow.
A knee to his gut and a double-fisted strike to the back of his neck dropped him to the floor. The kid stood over him, looking between him and Luke, as if he was struggling to come to a conclusion. After a long and tense moment, the kid reached down and tried to grab Danny by his collar.
“I don’t know who the hell you are,” Luke Cage said, “but you about to find out you messed with the wrong crowd!”
The kid looked up just in time to see a cast iron skillet pound into his face. The strike was decimating and could have killed anyone that hadn’t shown the concentrated strength that their assailant already had. The momentum of the hit spun him halfway around and he then fell back into a pair of stools that had been positioned at the kitchen counter. He hit the apartment floor, apparently out cold.
“Danny,” Luke muttered as he reached to help his friend up. “You aight?”
Danny shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “Yeah. Just peachy.” He glanced down at the unconscious kid. “Any idea who he is?”
“None. He suck away your strength, too?”
Danny nodded. “Never felt anything like that before, except for…”
Luke was wiping the blood off of his face with a kitchen towel, thankful that the laceration had cauterized enough to stop bleeding. “Except for when?”
Danny looked up from the kid directly into Luke’s eyes. “Except for when you tried to kill me. When he drained away the iron fist technique, our chi connected. It was just like when my chi mingled with John Aman. I touched his consciousness for a brief moment. Luke, I think this guy is being mind controlled just like—”
“Travers.” Luke spat out the name, lacing it with distaste. “That explains the stupid look on his face. You’re saying Travers sent him to kill us?”
“I’m saying that we need to know more.”
Two minutes later they had the kid strapped to Luke’s one and only office chair with several titanium coils he kept at home for calisthenics. The alloy had been reshaped by a friend of his that ran the gym at the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation and was guaranteed to give someone with Luke’s strength a good work out. It would also serve as an ad hoc way to keep the kid tied up until they could get some answers out of him.
“Okay,” Danny said as he stood over the kid. “Here goes nothing.”
Danny once again summoned his life force, his chi, to filter through his body and manifest in the physical world. His fist began to glow once more, although this time it took him a few seconds longer than he would have preferred. He took an extra moment to focus and then placed his palm against the kid’s forehead, connecting with one of his chakra points.
“Yeah,” Danny said with his eyes closed. “Definitely the same connection I’ve felt before. Travers had his hooks in this kid’s brain. Let me see if I can sever the—AH!”
Danny stepped away just as the kid sat up straight, or at least as far as the coils would allow him. Luke and Danny both tensed for a moment as the coils strained under the pressure he exerted, but ultimately settled when it seemed he would be unable to break free.
“Easy, kid,” Cage said, ready for another brawl.
“Easy?” the kid questioned. He looked over both Luke and Danny, and then down at his restraints. “What’s going on? Who are…” His attention snapped back to Luke and he said, “Ah, crap.”
Luke’s eyes opened wider. “Do we know each other?”
“Uh…not really.”
Danny raised a placating hand. “Just relax for a minute. Tell us what you last remember?”
“I was picked up by some…can’t believe I’m saying this…ninjas. They grabbed me and this dude was holding me hostage or something. Then everything went white. Now I’m here.” He looked down at the coils. “Mind letting me out of this?”
“Not a chance,” Cage replied. “Are you a mutant or something?”
“Huh?”
“You got powers, kid. How did you get them?”
“Oh.” He looked around the apartment, like an answer might jump out and strike him. He avoided eye contact with the both of them as he spoke. “I was kind of born with them. I guess I’m a mutant. I never really thought of myself as one, though. I mean, it’s not like I’m deformed or something. I don’t stand out.”
“What exactly can you do?” Danny asked. “When our skin connected with yours, it was like you could drain away our strength.”
The kid nodded. “I stole your chi. I convert it into physical strength. Don’t worry; it’s not permanent. I just use it to get me out of trouble.”
“Well, now it’s gotten you trouble,” Luke added. “The guy who kidnapped you: his name is Travers and he sent you here to kill us. Any idea why he would pull you in particular to send our way?”
He blatantly hesitated, his mouth hanging open, causing Luke and Danny to trade looks. He squirmed slightly, but this time more from apparent discomfort than from being held down.
“Cough it up, kid,” Luke finally said. “We don’t have any beef with you. You were being mind controlled before, but it looks like Danny snapped you out of it with his mysticism stuff.”
“It’s not mysticism, Luke,” Danny whispered.
“Not now, bro,” Luke whispered back, and then more loudly at their prisoner, he said, “Let’s start with your name.”
“You…want to know my name?”
Luke nodded.
“Victor,” the kid replied. “Victor Alvarez.”
“Okay, Victor, that’s a start,” Luke replied. “How old are you?”
“I’m…eighteen.”
“Where are you from?”
“Hell’s Kitchen. I live on the east side, with my mom. She’s Dominican. She says that’s the only part of town where she fits in.”
“But you keep a low profile?” Danny asked
Victor nodded, but he maintained eye contact with Luke. “My mom didn’t want me getting wrapped up in this superhero garbage.”
“So, why would Travers ever think to send you, a kid from the Kitchen with no real experience in this kind of thing, up against us?” Danny inquired and turned to Luke. “It makes no sense. Maybe it’s misdirection?
“Maybe there’s more to the story,” Luke responded.
“Maybe I’m your son,” Victor blurted out.
For the second time that day, Luke felt like he had been hit by a truck. He felt his stomach drop out and even with his returning strength he could have been pushed right back over. Danny’s brow furrowed and he stared at Victor, unclear on what exactly was happening.
“Luke, do you—” Danny started to say.
“What’s your mother’s name?” Luke asked.
“Reina.”
Luke shook his head, trying to think of an explanation that fit better than the obvious. He almost didn’t want to believe what was right in front of his eyes, but as he stared at Victor he could see the resemblance with his mother, Reina Alvarez, a woman he had known a lifetime ago.
“This can’t be happening,” he finally muttered.
“Look, I never came to you for anything,” Victor spat out. “My mom…well, she didn’t want me getting into that superhero crap, right? So…she kept me off your radar.”
“She never told me,” Luke stated.
“She never wanted to,” Victor shot back. There was an air of aggression lacing his words, like he didn’t want to speak but he couldn’t help himself. “It’s hard enough being Afro-Dominican without everyone in the ‘hood knowing your dad is not only an ex-con, but a superhero, too. We don’t need you.”
“Sweet Christmas,” Luke muttered, and he finally broke eye contact with Victor. He crossed his massive arms over his chest, trying to collect his thoughts and finding that he just couldn’t do it.
“Okay,” Danny said after a moment of silence. “Let’s just back up a bit.”
“I met up with Reina right before I went to prison,” Luke said. “I was Carl Lucas back then. I was just a punk kid. God, I can’t believe this. Your mom was beautiful and we just hit it off right away, you know? Then I went to jail. I made so many idiot mistakes back then.”
“Like me?” Victor stated, his eyes narrow.
Luke spun on him. “I never said that. This is crazy. I don’t even know you! I can’t…I just can’t—”
Danny stepped between them. “Alright. That’s enough. We’ll figure this out, but first we need to take care of some things first. Like, what are we going to do with Travers?”
Luke glanced at Victor, found that he couldn’t hold his gaze any longer, and then turned away. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Luke said. “We’re going to finish this. Tonight.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Now…
Travers’ doorway burst inward, doing very little to stop the lounge chair that Cage had thrown. Splinters of wood and bits of glass covered the floor as Cage, his strength and determination now fully restored, almost casually walked into the set of offices.
“Anybody home?” he asked as he cracked his knuckles.
Iron Fist stepped in beside him, scoping the scene. An empty secretary desk had been knocked ajar from Luke’s entrance. A potted plant in the corner had been knocked over. Opposite the desk was a large printer and a few filing cabinets, but otherwise the room was completely empty.
Another closed door faced them, beckoning them to come into the interior office. Danny held up a hand to stop Cage from ripping apart the next doorway, and he cautiously stepped forward and tried his luck at simply turning the knob. The door lock clicked and the entrance slid open.
Iron Fist mock bowed at Cage, ushering him to enter the empty interior office. Another desk, another potted plant, a TV mounted on the wall, and another filing cabinet. No Travers.
What they did see that instantly brought them on guard, however, was a tiny man trapped inside a glass orb sitting on the desk. Iron Fist leaned down and squinted at the captive man, who was only a few inches tall.
“John Aman?” Iron Fist said. “What the hell is going on?”
The Prince of Orphans looked up at them, smug and unyielding. “Hello, Daniel,” he said. “I see you brought your accomplice along. It’s about time you showed up.”
“Aman?” Cage asked as he stepped closer. “The guy that jumped me using your body? Or whatever he did with your chi. Ha! Travers shrink you down, huh?”
Aman narrowed his gaze and crossed his arms in irritation. “Hardly. I am his own personal genie, for lack of a better analogy. But that is of little concern of yours.”
The boys traded looks. “Why is that?” Iron Fist inquired, but Aman only smiled beneath his green hood.
The trademark high-pitched and momentary flip of electricity coursing through a freshly turned on TV broke the silence. They turned to the wall-mounted television, seeing a hard-boiled man with blonde hair, a chiseled jaw, and blue eyes.
“Travers, I presume,” Cage said with a growl. “What’s the matter? Afraid to come give us the office tour in person?”
“Oh, I’m nearby, but fortunately for you I have preparations to make elsewhere.”
“Enough of the cat and mouse bullshit!” Cage hollered. “Let’s finish this! I don’t know what your beef is with the both of us, but it’s time we hashed it out. You send me to kill Danny, then the genie in a bottle over here, and now this Victor kid to kill us both!” He got close to the screen, his anger seething off of him. “Just tell us what the hell you want!”
Wisps of green smoke lingered around them, but their attention was purely focused on Travers digital image that it went unnoticed until it was too late. With a sickening snap, the smoke congealed around their arms and legs, solidifying into green cloth. They were hefted off the ground and pulled apart, and even though both of them struggled they were both held captive.
Their eyes trailed the cloth back to the source, seeing a fully enlarged John Aman standing before them, the folds of his cloak lashed around their appendages. “We want two things from you,” Aman said. “We already have one of them.”
With a wave of his arm, and practiced concentration, a spike of yellow energy formed inside his fist. The spike grew and elongated until it resembled a sword, at which point the energy died away, leaving behind the Blade of the Dragon, the very same mystical weapon that had been bonded to Iron Fist and since stolen by Aman.
“You spurned this gift,” Aman said to Iron Fist. “It is the key to overtaking K’un Lun, and you spurned it! I helped forge it, you know. Years ago. Decades. A lifetime ago. Why did you even bother taking it from Chiantang in the first place?* Because of that I question whether or not you are entitled to bear the technique of your namesake, but it is moot now.
* [Danny discovered the weapon in Chiantang’s citadel in M2K’s Heroes For Hire #10!]
Aman moved closer to the struggling heroes, bringing the tip of the Blade close to Iron Fist’s chin. “Your chi has mingled with your friend here many times over. It’s why you are such close acquaintances. You feel that bond lingering subconsciously. It begets loyalty and devotion. It is also stronger together than apart. Because of this shared inner strength, by using both of your life forces I will be able to use the Blade as a key back to the ancient city.”
“Danny,” Cage said, “what the Sam Hill is this guy going on about?”
“They want to kill us with the Blade,” Iron Fist replied as he struggled, “because doing so will somehow grant them access to K’un Lun.”
“Bravo!” Travers’ digital representation said from the TV now behind them. He clapped, mockingly. “But not just access, my friend. No, no, no. Control.”
“The Blade of the Dragon isn’t just the key to the city, Daniel,” the Prince of Orphans said. “It’s the keystone of the city.”
John Aman reveled in the moment, slowly drawing the weapon back to deliver a killing blow. In his eyes Iron Fist could see desperation mixed with ecstasy, marking him as a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The only thing standing in his way of complete gratification was the beating hearts of Daniel Rand and Luke Cage.
The Prince of Orphans raised the Blade over his head, and swung it down with precision…
NEXT ISSUE: Yowsers! The boys have gotten themselves in real hot water this time! The truth about Agent Travers will finally be revealed as our heroes fight to not only save themselves, but multiple dimensions!
Cage cracked his knuckles while he waited for Danny Rand, his partner in heroics, to step out of the passenger seat of his black Dodge Charger. Taxi cabs, busses, and other vehicles roared by them without giving them pause, not exactly reckless with pedestrians so close to the lanes, but not exactly caring how close they were either. That was Chicago. In L. A., the traffic would just grind along. In New York City, the traffic would run you down. In Chicago, it was just part of the background.
That was one thing Cage always loved about this town, and one of the main reasons he had tried to establish himself here over the last few years. Whether it was playing alongside Danny, Monica, or whoever else was on the Heroes For Hire squad, or just on his own as private security, Cage felt like he fit right in. He was part of the cityscape here.
It didn’t matter that Luke looked like he had been dropped by an elephant. It didn’t matter that Danny had lacerations on his neck and a goose egg-sized welt forming on his forehead. They were just part of the city.
“Let’s get some answers before we smash his face in,” Danny replied. His green and yellow Iron Fist uniform had been too slashed up to wear for this confrontation. “And we would have taken care of this by now had we not been contracted to babysit Stark’s latest toy.”*
* [In PM & IF #4]
“Or been jumped by Travers lackeys,” Luke replied.
Danny nodded at the towering skyscraper before them. The behemoth office building was located in downtown Chicago and was home to numerous franchises, departments, branch locations, and even a local bank. Despite the several hundred people that went through their daily paper-pushing in the Dormont Building, however, Luke and Danny were only interested in one person.
“Luke,” Danny said. “About what the kid said. About what he claimed.”
Cage waved him off. “Later. We’ll catch up with him soon. Right now the only thing I’m interested in is knocking the teeth out of our boy upstairs.”
As they entered the main lobby and headed toward the main elevator bank, Danny said, “I tried to look into him, but he’s got a smokescreen so thick it would take a hurricane to get any clarity. I asked a friend of a friend, who’s connected to Valerie Cooper, to get us the skinny on this guy, but he’s like a ghost.”
“So you said on the way here. Does that mean he doesn’t actually work for the Commission on Superhuman Activity?”
“Not necessarily.” They entered an elevator among the bank that would take them to the top third of the building, and Danny pressed the button for the correct floor per the tenant index they passed in the lobby. “The Commission is just like any other government agency. They all have restricted personnel of one sort of another.”
“I don’t care if he’s the President’s brother,” Luke shot back. “He could have the security clearance of God for all I care. The guy hypnotized me and put a subliminal command in my head to kill you on sight.”*
* [The first three issues, but there was a little more to it than that!]
“Oh, I’m not calling him a saint. I’m just saying he’s a total mystery to us. Before we make him unable to talk, let’s get some info out of him first. Like, why the hell is he so crazed on killing us?”
The elevator chimed their arrival at the correct floor and the doors slid open. Luke ground his teeth and took half a step out before Danny put his hand on one of Luke’s biceps to hold him back for a second. Luke looked at the hand and traced the arm back to Danny’s face.
“Luke,” Danny said. “Seriously.”
Luke flashed him an award-winning smile. “I got you, bro.”
Then he stepped into the small waiting area, picked up a lounge chair in one hand, and tossed it into the closed doorway with a sign on it that read ‘COMMISSION LIAISON – TRAVERS.’
# # # # # # # # # #
Two Hours Ago…
“All I’m saying it take what Stark tells you with a grain of salt,” Luke stated.
Danny stretched as he rose out of the his seat aboard the charter jet. The long flight had been tiring, despite the few hours of sleep they had stolen during the trip. Coming all the way from Madripor to Chicago wasn’t something either of them would do again anytime soon, not just because of the extended flight. Their ears were still ringing from the skirmish with Mr. X, Dreadknight, and the Daughter of the Warlord, Sing-Chu.*
* [Last ish]
“You think I was wrong to broker a deal for Stark to fund Heroes For Hire?” Danny asked. “I just figured I would strike while the iron was hot. He was grateful to us for recovering all of the tech that had been stolen from him. It seemed like a good opportunity.”
Cage slid his small bag out of the overhead compartment, saying, “Danny, last week I ate nothing but canned soup. I’ll take Stark’s money no problem. Plus, if our business is up and running again, that’s a big thumbs-up from me. But all you did was get a hollow promise from a business man. I was with you until he started talking about running everything by his lawyers.”
The pair exited the jet, happy to be back on firm ground once more. After a quick check at customs and a long explanation to security about their business in Madripor, the pair finally managed to get to the long-term parking lot and slide into Luke’s Charger.
After a long silence, Danny finally said, “Think I could get Misty to come back?” Luke gave him a long sideways glance with eyes raised that spoke volumes. “Right. Bad idea.”
“It’s the biggest of bad ideas,” Luke countered. “Bro…you cheated on her. With another black woman.* Do you have any idea how long a black woman can hold a grudge, let alone two of them?”
* [Back in the H4H series hosted here at M2K!]
Danny tossed his hands up in defense. “Hey, I’m only human.”
“You’re lucky I’m your friend, Danny,” Luke replied. “I think any other man would think you were a total scumbag. But I know you better than that.”
After parking in the sublevel garage of his apartment building in uptown Chicago, Luke and Danny retrieved their bags from the truck and made their way upstairs. The building was old and the elevator was consistently on the fritz, but the quick ascent didn’t bother either of the heroes.
“We always talk about my love life,” Danny said as Luke slipped his key into his apartment’s door. “What about you?”
Luke scoffed. “Bro, ain’t no woman that has an interest in a freelance hero.”
“Your double negatives aside—”
WHAM!
The door exploded outward in a haze of splinters and shrapnel, throwing Danny back against the hallway wall. Caught off guard, Luke backpedaled out of the way and tossed a quick look at his partner to make sure he wasn’t injured.
Seeing that he was okay, Luke dropped his bag and dove through the now open doorway, tucking into a roll and coming up a few feet inside the apartment. He quickly surveyed the scene and locked eyes with his much younger assailment just as he was grabbed around the collar and tossed overhand through the apartment.
Luke’s nearly indestructible body blasted through the sparse furniture like a wrecking ball, smashing a dining table and two chairs. Luke was up again in an instant, but his aggressor was on top of him just as fast.
“My apartment can’t take getting trashed again,” Luke said. “You picked the wrong house to rob, kid!”
The attacker, who had dark skin and looked to be in his late teens or early 20s, slapped his hands around Luke’s collar again, fully intending to carry out the same throw again. While Luke wasn’t the master hand-to-hand combatant that his partner was, he had been in enough straight brawls to know a thing or two. He brought both arms up inside the grip and pushed his wrists against the kid’s forearms, putting his incredible strength behind the countermove. From there he could reverse the hold, pick the guy up in a similar fashion, and toss him instead of being tossed himself.
…except that Luke’s strength instantly vanished the moment his skin touched the younger man’s.
The kid replicated his prior throw, sending Cage smashing through the kitchen counter in the open floor plan. What surprised Luke even more than his apparent lack of his signature strength, was the blood now streaming down his face from a scalp laceration.
Seeking the crimson color streak on his hands when he tried to wipe it away, he was momentarily shocked. Taking the opportunity that was handed to him, the youth leap across the apartment, closing the fifteen foot gap between them in a single bound, and gripped Luke yet again.
This time the kid drove his face straight down into the floor, smashing his nose. Stunned, Luke was beginning to feel woozy for the first time since his prison days. With his power set had come an amazing fortitude and sense of endurance, all of which had now vanished.
On his knees and his head pulled back, Luke say the kid cock his first back for what was obviously a killing blow. There was nothing in his face to betray emotion, nothing but a blank look indicating his total willingness to murder.
“Stop!” Danny shouted as he burst back into the apartment.
He slipped his forearm behind the kid’s elbow and yanked back hard, pulling him off balance. The kid stumbled and Danny quickly spun around, driving his own elbow into the kid’s chest. The kid rallied, however, and came back at Danny with his arms swinging.
Ducking and weaving between the strikes, he realized he would need to use his legendary technique to end the fight as quickly as possible. He had never seen Cage busted up like this before. He might even need medical attention. Time was now of the essence.
Thankfully, years of discipline meant he could summon the necessary focus in an instant. Within a mere moment Danny’s hand was transformed, encased in his own chi, and converting it unto a thing of iron.
…except that all of his summoned power was drained away when the kid caught his fist in midair.
The kid lashed back with a haymaker across Danny’s jaw, which sent him reeling. Moreover, the kid had somehow taken more than just his concentrated chi energy. He had drained him of his resilience inner strength. It was like his life force had been siphoned off somehow.
A knee to his gut and a double-fisted strike to the back of his neck dropped him to the floor. The kid stood over him, looking between him and Luke, as if he was struggling to come to a conclusion. After a long and tense moment, the kid reached down and tried to grab Danny by his collar.
“I don’t know who the hell you are,” Luke Cage said, “but you about to find out you messed with the wrong crowd!”
The kid looked up just in time to see a cast iron skillet pound into his face. The strike was decimating and could have killed anyone that hadn’t shown the concentrated strength that their assailant already had. The momentum of the hit spun him halfway around and he then fell back into a pair of stools that had been positioned at the kitchen counter. He hit the apartment floor, apparently out cold.
“Danny,” Luke muttered as he reached to help his friend up. “You aight?”
Danny shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs. “Yeah. Just peachy.” He glanced down at the unconscious kid. “Any idea who he is?”
“None. He suck away your strength, too?”
Danny nodded. “Never felt anything like that before, except for…”
Luke was wiping the blood off of his face with a kitchen towel, thankful that the laceration had cauterized enough to stop bleeding. “Except for when?”
Danny looked up from the kid directly into Luke’s eyes. “Except for when you tried to kill me. When he drained away the iron fist technique, our chi connected. It was just like when my chi mingled with John Aman. I touched his consciousness for a brief moment. Luke, I think this guy is being mind controlled just like—”
“Travers.” Luke spat out the name, lacing it with distaste. “That explains the stupid look on his face. You’re saying Travers sent him to kill us?”
“I’m saying that we need to know more.”
Two minutes later they had the kid strapped to Luke’s one and only office chair with several titanium coils he kept at home for calisthenics. The alloy had been reshaped by a friend of his that ran the gym at the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation and was guaranteed to give someone with Luke’s strength a good work out. It would also serve as an ad hoc way to keep the kid tied up until they could get some answers out of him.
“Okay,” Danny said as he stood over the kid. “Here goes nothing.”
Danny once again summoned his life force, his chi, to filter through his body and manifest in the physical world. His fist began to glow once more, although this time it took him a few seconds longer than he would have preferred. He took an extra moment to focus and then placed his palm against the kid’s forehead, connecting with one of his chakra points.
“Yeah,” Danny said with his eyes closed. “Definitely the same connection I’ve felt before. Travers had his hooks in this kid’s brain. Let me see if I can sever the—AH!”
Danny stepped away just as the kid sat up straight, or at least as far as the coils would allow him. Luke and Danny both tensed for a moment as the coils strained under the pressure he exerted, but ultimately settled when it seemed he would be unable to break free.
“Easy, kid,” Cage said, ready for another brawl.
“Easy?” the kid questioned. He looked over both Luke and Danny, and then down at his restraints. “What’s going on? Who are…” His attention snapped back to Luke and he said, “Ah, crap.”
Luke’s eyes opened wider. “Do we know each other?”
“Uh…not really.”
Danny raised a placating hand. “Just relax for a minute. Tell us what you last remember?”
“I was picked up by some…can’t believe I’m saying this…ninjas. They grabbed me and this dude was holding me hostage or something. Then everything went white. Now I’m here.” He looked down at the coils. “Mind letting me out of this?”
“Not a chance,” Cage replied. “Are you a mutant or something?”
“Huh?”
“You got powers, kid. How did you get them?”
“Oh.” He looked around the apartment, like an answer might jump out and strike him. He avoided eye contact with the both of them as he spoke. “I was kind of born with them. I guess I’m a mutant. I never really thought of myself as one, though. I mean, it’s not like I’m deformed or something. I don’t stand out.”
“What exactly can you do?” Danny asked. “When our skin connected with yours, it was like you could drain away our strength.”
The kid nodded. “I stole your chi. I convert it into physical strength. Don’t worry; it’s not permanent. I just use it to get me out of trouble.”
“Well, now it’s gotten you trouble,” Luke added. “The guy who kidnapped you: his name is Travers and he sent you here to kill us. Any idea why he would pull you in particular to send our way?”
He blatantly hesitated, his mouth hanging open, causing Luke and Danny to trade looks. He squirmed slightly, but this time more from apparent discomfort than from being held down.
“Cough it up, kid,” Luke finally said. “We don’t have any beef with you. You were being mind controlled before, but it looks like Danny snapped you out of it with his mysticism stuff.”
“It’s not mysticism, Luke,” Danny whispered.
“Not now, bro,” Luke whispered back, and then more loudly at their prisoner, he said, “Let’s start with your name.”
“You…want to know my name?”
Luke nodded.
“Victor,” the kid replied. “Victor Alvarez.”
“Okay, Victor, that’s a start,” Luke replied. “How old are you?”
“I’m…eighteen.”
“Where are you from?”
“Hell’s Kitchen. I live on the east side, with my mom. She’s Dominican. She says that’s the only part of town where she fits in.”
“But you keep a low profile?” Danny asked
Victor nodded, but he maintained eye contact with Luke. “My mom didn’t want me getting wrapped up in this superhero garbage.”
“So, why would Travers ever think to send you, a kid from the Kitchen with no real experience in this kind of thing, up against us?” Danny inquired and turned to Luke. “It makes no sense. Maybe it’s misdirection?
“Maybe there’s more to the story,” Luke responded.
“Maybe I’m your son,” Victor blurted out.
For the second time that day, Luke felt like he had been hit by a truck. He felt his stomach drop out and even with his returning strength he could have been pushed right back over. Danny’s brow furrowed and he stared at Victor, unclear on what exactly was happening.
“Luke, do you—” Danny started to say.
“What’s your mother’s name?” Luke asked.
“Reina.”
Luke shook his head, trying to think of an explanation that fit better than the obvious. He almost didn’t want to believe what was right in front of his eyes, but as he stared at Victor he could see the resemblance with his mother, Reina Alvarez, a woman he had known a lifetime ago.
“This can’t be happening,” he finally muttered.
“Look, I never came to you for anything,” Victor spat out. “My mom…well, she didn’t want me getting into that superhero crap, right? So…she kept me off your radar.”
“She never told me,” Luke stated.
“She never wanted to,” Victor shot back. There was an air of aggression lacing his words, like he didn’t want to speak but he couldn’t help himself. “It’s hard enough being Afro-Dominican without everyone in the ‘hood knowing your dad is not only an ex-con, but a superhero, too. We don’t need you.”
“Sweet Christmas,” Luke muttered, and he finally broke eye contact with Victor. He crossed his massive arms over his chest, trying to collect his thoughts and finding that he just couldn’t do it.
“Okay,” Danny said after a moment of silence. “Let’s just back up a bit.”
“I met up with Reina right before I went to prison,” Luke said. “I was Carl Lucas back then. I was just a punk kid. God, I can’t believe this. Your mom was beautiful and we just hit it off right away, you know? Then I went to jail. I made so many idiot mistakes back then.”
“Like me?” Victor stated, his eyes narrow.
Luke spun on him. “I never said that. This is crazy. I don’t even know you! I can’t…I just can’t—”
Danny stepped between them. “Alright. That’s enough. We’ll figure this out, but first we need to take care of some things first. Like, what are we going to do with Travers?”
Luke glanced at Victor, found that he couldn’t hold his gaze any longer, and then turned away. “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Luke said. “We’re going to finish this. Tonight.”
# # # # # # # # # #
Now…
Travers’ doorway burst inward, doing very little to stop the lounge chair that Cage had thrown. Splinters of wood and bits of glass covered the floor as Cage, his strength and determination now fully restored, almost casually walked into the set of offices.
“Anybody home?” he asked as he cracked his knuckles.
Iron Fist stepped in beside him, scoping the scene. An empty secretary desk had been knocked ajar from Luke’s entrance. A potted plant in the corner had been knocked over. Opposite the desk was a large printer and a few filing cabinets, but otherwise the room was completely empty.
Another closed door faced them, beckoning them to come into the interior office. Danny held up a hand to stop Cage from ripping apart the next doorway, and he cautiously stepped forward and tried his luck at simply turning the knob. The door lock clicked and the entrance slid open.
Iron Fist mock bowed at Cage, ushering him to enter the empty interior office. Another desk, another potted plant, a TV mounted on the wall, and another filing cabinet. No Travers.
What they did see that instantly brought them on guard, however, was a tiny man trapped inside a glass orb sitting on the desk. Iron Fist leaned down and squinted at the captive man, who was only a few inches tall.
“John Aman?” Iron Fist said. “What the hell is going on?”
The Prince of Orphans looked up at them, smug and unyielding. “Hello, Daniel,” he said. “I see you brought your accomplice along. It’s about time you showed up.”
“Aman?” Cage asked as he stepped closer. “The guy that jumped me using your body? Or whatever he did with your chi. Ha! Travers shrink you down, huh?”
Aman narrowed his gaze and crossed his arms in irritation. “Hardly. I am his own personal genie, for lack of a better analogy. But that is of little concern of yours.”
The boys traded looks. “Why is that?” Iron Fist inquired, but Aman only smiled beneath his green hood.
The trademark high-pitched and momentary flip of electricity coursing through a freshly turned on TV broke the silence. They turned to the wall-mounted television, seeing a hard-boiled man with blonde hair, a chiseled jaw, and blue eyes.
“Travers, I presume,” Cage said with a growl. “What’s the matter? Afraid to come give us the office tour in person?”
“Oh, I’m nearby, but fortunately for you I have preparations to make elsewhere.”
“Enough of the cat and mouse bullshit!” Cage hollered. “Let’s finish this! I don’t know what your beef is with the both of us, but it’s time we hashed it out. You send me to kill Danny, then the genie in a bottle over here, and now this Victor kid to kill us both!” He got close to the screen, his anger seething off of him. “Just tell us what the hell you want!”
Wisps of green smoke lingered around them, but their attention was purely focused on Travers digital image that it went unnoticed until it was too late. With a sickening snap, the smoke congealed around their arms and legs, solidifying into green cloth. They were hefted off the ground and pulled apart, and even though both of them struggled they were both held captive.
Their eyes trailed the cloth back to the source, seeing a fully enlarged John Aman standing before them, the folds of his cloak lashed around their appendages. “We want two things from you,” Aman said. “We already have one of them.”
With a wave of his arm, and practiced concentration, a spike of yellow energy formed inside his fist. The spike grew and elongated until it resembled a sword, at which point the energy died away, leaving behind the Blade of the Dragon, the very same mystical weapon that had been bonded to Iron Fist and since stolen by Aman.
“You spurned this gift,” Aman said to Iron Fist. “It is the key to overtaking K’un Lun, and you spurned it! I helped forge it, you know. Years ago. Decades. A lifetime ago. Why did you even bother taking it from Chiantang in the first place?* Because of that I question whether or not you are entitled to bear the technique of your namesake, but it is moot now.
* [Danny discovered the weapon in Chiantang’s citadel in M2K’s Heroes For Hire #10!]
Aman moved closer to the struggling heroes, bringing the tip of the Blade close to Iron Fist’s chin. “Your chi has mingled with your friend here many times over. It’s why you are such close acquaintances. You feel that bond lingering subconsciously. It begets loyalty and devotion. It is also stronger together than apart. Because of this shared inner strength, by using both of your life forces I will be able to use the Blade as a key back to the ancient city.”
“Danny,” Cage said, “what the Sam Hill is this guy going on about?”
“They want to kill us with the Blade,” Iron Fist replied as he struggled, “because doing so will somehow grant them access to K’un Lun.”
“Bravo!” Travers’ digital representation said from the TV now behind them. He clapped, mockingly. “But not just access, my friend. No, no, no. Control.”
“The Blade of the Dragon isn’t just the key to the city, Daniel,” the Prince of Orphans said. “It’s the keystone of the city.”
John Aman reveled in the moment, slowly drawing the weapon back to deliver a killing blow. In his eyes Iron Fist could see desperation mixed with ecstasy, marking him as a man with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The only thing standing in his way of complete gratification was the beating hearts of Daniel Rand and Luke Cage.
The Prince of Orphans raised the Blade over his head, and swung it down with precision…
NEXT ISSUE: Yowsers! The boys have gotten themselves in real hot water this time! The truth about Agent Travers will finally be revealed as our heroes fight to not only save themselves, but multiple dimensions!