Back to GatefoldIssue #8 by D. Golightly
June 2017 |
“Out of the Past: Part Two”
“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. Danny Rand, the living weapon known as the Iron Fist, had blundered into the office of Agent Travers of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, and was now pinned down alongside Luke Cage. The pair of heroes had been sent after each other, mind-controlled, and targeted and they still had no real idea of why.
Having been separated from the Blade by the Prince of Orphans himself*, Danny was in part grateful that this chaotic mess was finally coming to a close. He just wished that it didn’t involve his life once again hanging in the balance – quite literally, as he and Cage dangled at the ends of the mystic green cloth that Aman suspended them by in Travers’ office.
*[Power Man & Iron Fist #3]
In Aman’s 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. Due to their close adventures over the years, and their consistent mingling of chi, Danny and Luke were deeply bonded. According to Aman, when he cut out their hearts it would unlock the power he so viciously sought.
The Prince of Orphans raised the Blade over his head, and swung it down with precision, the steel look in his eyes tempered by the lust of ultimate power.
But if the boys had learned anything over the years, it was that history was doomed to repeat itself. The best way to keep that from happening was to place trust in others, counting on them to pull through when you needed them to, regardless of their own motivations. Danny and Luke had both been part of teams over the years and knew the value of back-up. Even though he was knew to them, they decided to place their trust into the new kid on the block.
Just before the Blade sliced down into Danny’s chest, the office wall exploded inward. A dark-skinned teenager burst through, empowered by borrowed chi that in turn bolstered his strength, endurance, and resolve. Victor Alvarez smashed through the office wall like it was paper mâché, bowling over Aman and knocking the Blade from his hands.
“That’s how we roll!” he shouted. The teen brushed himself off, smiled, and threw a right-cross at Aman’s stunned visage.
But the Prince of Orphans, himself a master of the martial arts, easily countered the blow and struck Victor across the chin. The smack was quickly followed up by three jabs to the teen’s chest, causing him to double over and stumble backward into the office.
“Move!” Cage yelled, his adrenaline fueled by both fear and aggression. It was a command and a plea, directed at Danny.
Cage tore at his bonds, yanking a bit of slack into the fabric to get close enough to Aman to wrap his arms around his neck. He pulled upward and Aman rose, held a foot off the ground as Cage’s forearm crushed his windpipe. With the bonds under Aman’s control now loosened, Danny slipped to the floor and scooped up the Blade, even though he detested feeling it in his hands again.
“Stop!” Travers screamed. Mounted on the wall was a video-conference screen with his angered face splashed in the center. “Aman! Contain them!”
Aman twisted and struggled beneath Cage’s chokehold. In their struggle they smashed against the screen, destroying it and Travers’ visual into their brawl. He sneered as he pulled at the powerful arm wrapped around his neck, seeing Danny holding the sword again. He knew that the Blade, a weapon he had helped forge in the first place, could unlock total power over the mystical city of K’un Lun. Invigorated by the closeness of his victory, Aman raised up and redoubled his efforts to free himself.
Until Victor placed his palm against Aman’s chest, sapping his very life force away.
Aman crumbled, bending inward as Cage held him in place. Aman’s physical form, once strong and powerful, ravaged itself and the binding that Travers had placed over him again took shape. The Prince of Orphans shrunk down and his corporeal being converted into thick green smoke, which was in turn sucked back into the container that had been on Travers’ desk. It lay on its side on the floor now, battered but intact. Within moments the weakened Aman had been forced to return to his prison, a shadow of his former self.
Cage looked down at the pale, three-inch tall figure in the container and smirked. Then he looked down at broken screen and said, “You’re next, little man.”
Victor stood wide-eyed and unmoving, just staring at the shattered screen, finally saying, “I remember that guy. He’s the one that’s got a ton of ninjas working for him! It’s just like you told me, isn’t it?”
Cage nodded. “We think he’s a rogue Commission liaison, but we still don’t know what the hell he’s doing targeting us like this.”
Danny leaned down and picked up the container with Aman inside, holding it close. “John,” Danny said. “Tell us what’s happening. Your plan to control K’un Lun is all but over.”
“Travers has me bound,” Aman replied. “What could I possibly have to gain by helping you now?”
Danny studied the container carefully, turning it slightly in his hand. “I could get you out of this mess, that’s for sure.”
“We ain’t helping him!” Cage shouted as he brushed by Victor to get closer to the container. “He’s tried to kill us at least twice!”
Danny ignored Cage, instead focusing only on Aman. “Tell us what Travers is up to and why you’re partnered with him. Tell us…and I’ll help send you back to K’un Lun.”
“Danny!” Cage yelled.
A sly smile crept across Aman’s face and he looked into Danny’s eyes. “And what possibly reason should I have to believe you? Why would you give me the prize I desire most?”
Danny casually flipped the Blade around in his fingers in the hand that wasn’t holding the container up to eye level. “You’re defeated, John. Done for. We have nothing else to fear from you now that you’ve dropped the Blade of the Dragon. However, I’m willing to let the masters at K’un Lun take you off my hands. It’s a win-win. You’ll be out of our hair for good and you’ll be one step closer to your own goal.”
“You would banish me from this world, then?”
Danny nodded. “Make no mistake – I’m not handing you the keys to the city…or keystone as it were. You’ll answer for your crimes, but you’ll be out from under Travers’ thumb, too.”
Victor traded glances between Luke and Danny, feeling the intensity coming off of the former toward the latter. He stepped back just as Luke reached out and grabbed the container, shaking it slightly and knocking John Aman over.
“If we ever see you again, pipsqueak,” Cage said through ground teeth. “All bets are off.”
The Prince of Orphans sneered. “I would expect no less. The feeling, as they say, is mutual. Now, heed my warning of the one you call Travers, because his own history is as chaotic as this temporary pact between us.”
“Y’all talk weird,” Victor muttered, but they ignored him, instead focusing on Aman’s next words.
“Travers,” Aman began, “is not his real name. He adopted it and the guise to go with it. In fact, he is very familiar to the one you encountered in the swamp prior to our first meeting.” *
* [Power Man & Iron Fist #2]
“You mean that man-thing in the Everglades?” Luke spat out. “How’s he connected to this?”
“Travers’ name was originally Hargood Wilbur Todd Wickham, a scientist hired by an enemy of that swamp creature, who was obsessed with conquering the mysteries of dimensional travel. The Blade of the Dragon, the Everglades, us…we are all connected to the larger scheme at play.”
“But Stephen Strange is the one sent me to the Everglades in the first place,” Danny retorted.*
* [Implied off-panel at the end of Max 2000 #25]
“Yes, to the Nexus of All Realities. The Sorcerer Supreme was correct in sending you to the Nexus, or rather, to me. Did I not separate you from your burden?” Aman looked longingly at the Blade in Danny’s grip. “Wickham, or as he’s also know, Professor Slaughter, approached me after faking his death because he had learned of my connection to the mystical city. He wants for nothing more than to come out from the shadow of his former employer and unlock dimensional travel for himself. To him, it is the ultimate power that the Nexus keeps from him. He hoped that by collecting the sword with me that our mutual goal would be attained – me controlling K’un Lun and him gaining access to an avenue through the universe that did not directly tie to the Nexus or its guardian.”
Cage said, “So Travers, or Slaughter, or whoever he is did all this to avoid that swamp monster?”
Aman nodded. “He is a powerful foe. Slaughter’s continued pursuit of dimensional travel would forever be halted unless he could find a way to circumnavigate the monster. I was the key to his success, in exchange for the Blade and rule over K’un Lun.”
“Slaughter makes you this deal and you help to serve us up on a platter?” Cage asked. “Danny, we owe this guy nothing!”
“Where is Travers now?” Danny inquired.
“This office was merely to maintain his façade of a Commission liaison. His base of operations is uptown in a place you’ll both find quite familiar. I’ll take you there on one condition: you send me to the mystic city tonight. Keep your promise to me and remove me from under Slaughter’s foot!”
Victor had leaned back against the wall, content to watch the conversation unfold. He was baffled; completely lost in whatever it was they were talking about. He understood that they were making a deal of some sort, but what he didn’t understand was why they would give a guy that had just tried to kill them anything he wanted. Maybe he was too young to really get it, or maybe he was just mirroring the stance of Luke, his biological father. Either way, he wanted to stay out of it.
He had agreed to come to Travers’ office as their wild card because he wanted that scumbag to get what was coming to him. All the better if he was the one throwing the punches. His mother hadn’t raised him to be a brawler, but it just came naturally to him.
Luke and Danny traded another glance, and Danny finally said, “Deal.”
He tossed the container to Victor, who caught it clumsily and nearly dropped it. He buckled his knees and looked apprehensively between the miniature psychopath and the heroic partners. “What the hell am I supposed to do with him?”
“You have no obligation to help us,” Danny said to Victor, but he eyed Luke as he spoke. “But we could use it. If you’re up for it, I have any idea to finish this once and for all.”
Luke pulled his gaze off of Danny, his friend and partner for years, to look at Victor. He didn’t know if Victor really was his son like he claimed, but somehow, someway, he knew that there was a connection between them. He had never been a father figure before and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to be one now. What he did know was that this kid had the same kind of arrogant drive that had been part of his life over a decade ago.
Did he really want not just a kid getting put in harm’s way, but one that he was probably related to? What kind of dad would he be if he allowed his son to face supervillains and be put in danger all the time?
Victor tried to read Luke’s expression for some help in deciphering what was happening. They had no relationship to speak of, outside of what had developed over the last two hours, but already Victor was looking to Luke for insight.
Luke shrugged. He said, “It’s your call, kid.”
Victor thought about how helpless he had felt when Travers’ cronies had jumped him, how aggravating it was to avoid getting involved in the street gangs’ business on his way home from school, and how his mom had taught him to just keep his mouth in check so he didn’t bring any unwanted attention to them. He tightened his grip on the container and without further hesitation said, “Let’s bust this guy up.”
# # # # # # # # # #
The proximity alarm went off, filling the control center with an annoying blare. Professor Slaughter, still in his guise as Agent Travers, motioned for one of the monitoring lackeys to shut it off and bring up the security feed. Outside of the circle of destruction that had once been the headquarters of the Heroes For Hire in uptown Chicago, four figures had approached his hidden compound.
He let out a snarky laugh, surprised to see them, but happy nonetheless. Bound by restrictive cuffs that looked thick enough to hold an elephant in place were Luke Cage, the incorrigible Power Man, and his partner, Daniel Rand, the slippery Iron Fist. Standing behind each one were his two agents of chaos, John Aman and Victor Alvarez. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Victor kick the back of the knee of his own father, knocking him down and seemingly devoid of emotion.
He had won. Aman and Alvarez had succumbed to his control and were finally bringing his prizes to him. He couldn’t wait to hear their own hollow threats, especially now that they realized his own base of operations was in the subbasement of their former home.
Months ago, a lone villain calling himself Anarchy had decimated the H4H’s former headquarters, leaving behind a pile of rubble that was all but useless.* Slaughter had seen the opportunity to not only hide away where they would least suspect to look for him, but also use the back-up database records found there to help in his quest to learn more about Luke and Danny.
* [Max 2000 #25]
It had been the perfect cover to go alongside his subterfuge of the Commission. Now that he finally had his prey in his grasp, his plans were coming to fruition.
“Collect them,” he said absently to his staff.
Instantly, four of his psychically-controlled soldiers rushed off to enact his orders. He watched on the monitors as a segment of rubble was lifted away by a hydraulic press, allowing his minions to seemingly burst out of nowhere. They flanked Aman and Victor, along with the captured heroes, and ushered them inside.
The sublevel of the H4H’s once glorious training center was the only thing that hadn’t been destroyed. The remainder of the necessary demolition had already taken place topside, leaving what amounted to a landfill behind that had yet to be swept away. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw Luke and Danny realize where they were in person. His soldiers deposited them and stood back, their weapons trained on the captured heroes.
“Welcome,” he said with a flourish of his hands. “Or should I say, welcome back?”
“Figures you would be hiding down here in the basement,” Luke said. “Like a damn cockroach.”
“How the mighty have fallen, Power Man,” Slaughter quipped. “I suppose I no longer have a need for this Travers’ nonsense anymore. I assume that you blew my cover with your assault at the Commission office.”
He tapped a holographic projector on his belt and his features were replaced with those of a man in his sixties, complete with long brown hair instead of Travers’ short blonde locks. His cheeks were now more sunken in, giving him a more desperate appearance. His eyes darted back and forth in his eagerness to collect his prize.
The prize being access to the multitude of dimensions beyond their own. For years he had worked beneath another would-be villain, hopelessly fighting against that horrid creature that protected the Nexus. He knew that he was destined to conquer interdimensional travel and claim the spoils that would go with such power, and now it was so close he could taste it.
Having faked his death and used his psychic technology to subvert a support team of his own, he was finally in control of his own destiny. Professor Slaughter would be a name feared throughout the multiverse.
“Fitting that you end your lives here,” Slaughter said. “Whereas mine will be beginning anew.” He looked up at Aman, saying, “Kill them and open the gateway. Take me to my Valhalla and you will be free to control your precious mystic city.”
John Aman raised his arm and summoned the Blade of the Dragon once more. A green mist formed around his hand, lengthening to the shape of the Blade, and then it quickly condensed into solid matter. Luke and Danny kneeled before him with Victor standing at their side, seemingly unaware of what was unfolding before him.
“Are all of your goons down here with you?” Danny asked.
Slaughter shot him an irritated glance. “Still think you can escape? My warriors would collapse on you within moments. Your time is over, Iron Fist.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Danny nodded to Victor and leapt up on the balls of his feet and several things happened at the same time, throwing the controlled situation on its side. The cuffs holding Danny and Luke’s arms back evaporated just as John Aman brought his wrists together in a ring of crimson energy. Victor cocked his fist back and smashed his knuckles into Slaughter’s forehead, sending him scooting back across basement until he slammed into the wall.
Woozy, Slaughter tried to straighten up just as he saw his warriors descend on the heroes. Of course, he had been tricked. He chided himself for being so eager to collect his prize that he had just assumed that appearances were just as they seemed to be. Victor’s mind control must have worn off. No matter, regardless of how they had thwarted Aman as well he would stop them again.
“Kill them!” he shouted, but he quickly realized that there was no one left standing to give orders to. Shockingly, the few lackeys he had in the basement were already down for the count and the rest were not coming to his aid. “What? What have you done! Aman!”
“The Prince of Orphans will not be coming to your rescue,” John Aman said, or rather, the man impersonating Aman said. “He has accepted a better offer.”
With a wave of his hand, the green cloak and features of John Aman were gone, replaced in a similar fashion to what Travers’ himself had done. Instead of holographic technology concealing his true identity, however, it was pure magic that had hidden away the face of Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Slaughter noticed the crimson bands around Strange’s wrists and saw how the same magical constructs had been bound around the appendages of his fallen warriors. Between Strange’s magic and the quick strikes of Danny and Luke, his forces were defeated.
“No!” Slaughter shouted.
“Yes,” Luke said. “Your boy in the green hood is going to be sent on a one way trip to another dimension…without you. Courtesy of your friendly, neighborhood sorcerer.”
“And I’ve severed your control over Victor,” Danny added. “Aman told us where you were holed up, and Dr. Strange was more than happy to land a role in our little play.”
“Excellent casting,” Strange quipped, and he lashed out another crimson band that wrapped itself around Slaughter’s upper body.
The frustration and rage was boiling within him, but Slaughter was once again powerless to do anything other than strain against the magical bindings. His anger doubled at the sight of his enemies gloating over him and he swore that should he ever free himself again that they would pay with more than just their lives.
# # # # # # # # # #
“Thanks, Stephen,” Danny said. “We appreciate your help tonight.”
The pink visage of the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange, hovered silently before the trio of heroes. Three feet off of the ground, he looked at peace with his legs crossed and his cape flowing out behind him. If it wasn’t for the pinkish hue of the astral projection, they would swear that he was in Luke’s apartment alongside them.
“Thank nothing of it, Daniel,” Strange replied. “I am always at your service when it comes to banishing people like John Aman. The reinforcement of the binding placed on him should keep Aman out of trouble and in the control of K’un Lun’s masters for years to come.”
“And the Blade of the Dragon?” Danny asked.
Strange nodded. “It has been contained as well. It will not be used for nefarious purposes again. I bid you good night.”
The astral form of the world’s most powerful sorcerer faded away, leaving Luke, Danny, and Victor along in the apartment’s living room once more. An eerie silence fell over them. It had only been a few hours since SHIELD had arrived to take care of the cleanup uptown, but it already felt like a lifetime ago. Now the adrenaline had stopped flowing, the heart’s had stopped racing, and the adventure had come to a close.
“Do you have to get home soon?” Luke asked, facing Victor.
The teenager leaned back against the counter that separated the living room from the kitchenette. He looked down at his feet, seemingly unsure of how to tread this conversation. “Not yet,” he responded.
Something chirped in Danny’s sash and he extracted a smartphone from within its folds. “It’s Stark,” he said. “I’ll take this in the bedroom.”
They watched Danny leave and then glanced at each other briefly before looking elsewhere. Mere hours ago they had been back to back, fighting for their lives and enjoying it. Now they couldn’t string either side of a dialogue together and each passing awkward moment was riddled with intense discomfort. Neither of them would ever have thought that they would be in this situation, least of all in it after having overcome so much together in a single night.
“Does you mom…talk about me?”
Victor shook his head. “Maybe, like, once a year.”
Luke nodded, disappointed. “Did she ever say why she doesn’t talk about me?”
“That would count as talking about you.”
“Right. Right.”
After a long pregnant moment, Victor straightened up, saying, “Look, I should get going. Thanks for…you know, keeping me alive tonight and everything.”
“We made a good team, kid.”
“Yeah! I mean, yeah. We do. Did. We did make a good team tonight.” Victor moved to the door. “You know, I thought you would be taller.”
Luke raised an eyebrow and leaned forward from where he sat on the couch. “S’cuse me?”
“I dunno. Just thought you’d be this huge dude, you know?” He smirked. “I guess the news cameras add a few inches.”
“Is that right?” Luke returned the smirk, which was a mirror image of Victor’s. “Look, kid. I know this wasn’t the easiest thing in the world for you. Coming here, dealing with me…what I mean is that you’ve got a strong character. Your mom must be really proud of the man you’re becoming.”
“She says she is.”
“I know it. And I’d like…I’d like if maybe I could come by sometime. Just to check in. See for myself the man you’re turning into.”
Luke felt like he had laid all of his cards out on the poker table and stood up, waiting to see if his rival player could beat his hand or not. Would he fold? Would he raise over his bid? He felt like the world was holding its collective breath and that the rest of his entire life hinged on what was said next.
Victor opened the door without a word and Luke felt his stomach drop out from under him. The teen took a step into the hall before pausing and turning halfway around. Victor said, “Friday nights we have spaghetti.”
“I love spaghetti.”
Victor nodded and Luke wasn’t sure, but it seemed like his eyes were just a little larger. “Good. We eat at six.”
He closed the door and Luke heard his footsteps move down the hall, growing more and more silent with each rhythmic beat. “See you soon,” Luke muttered.
Danny stepped back into the living room and looked around. “Victor leave?” he asked. When Luke nodded he asked, “You okay?”
“I think I will be. Hell of a night, you know?”
“That I do. Well, that was Stark that called. He finally went through the legal hoops and has an offer for us ready.”
“Okay, hit me. How much control do we have to give him if he buys the Heroes For Hire brand?”
“Actually, he’s not interested in funding a new team or backing us to continue H4H at all.”
Luke sat up. “Wait, what? I don’t get it. After we cleaned up his mess in Madripor I thought he told you he wanted to talk about getting us up and running again.”
“Initially, that’s what he was considering. But after looking at the legal aspects of financing what amounts to a mercenary operation he decided he didn’t want to take on the liability.”
“Told you.”
Danny smiled. “Yes, you’re much smarter than me. But he does have an offer for us.”
“An offer to do what? Bodyguard? What the hell else would we even be qualified to do?”
“Teach.”
Luke sat back into the couch and crossed his arms, a look of irritation on his face. “C’mon, Danny. Be serious.”
Danny made his way to the fridge to extract two bottle of bear, slinging one over to his friend. “I am serious, and so is Stark. It seems that the Avengers have been interested in starting up a training program for new superheroes for quite some time; an initiative that’s meant to not only keep the next generation from killing themselves, but also offer a recruitment pool to bolster their membership.”
“Like an Avengers academy?”
Danny cracked open his bottle and pointed the tip at Luke. “That’s it exactly. And guess who he wants as his first instructors?”
Luke took a long pull from his own bottle, savoring the bitter liquid as it glided down his throat. He had never thought of himself as a teacher, but then again, before tonight he had never thought of himself as a father either. He had to admit that their experience could prove invaluable to untrained heroes that would otherwise be a danger to not only themselves, but the public in general.
“So, what, I’d be Professor Cage or something?”
Danny laughed. “Something like that. We’d have a lot of control over the curriculum and training regimen. We’d be heavily involved in recruiting the students, too.” Danny let his gaze linger obviously on the closed door to the outer hallway. “Know anyone that might be interested in signing up?”
Luke took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He supposed that he already had a topic of conversation ready to go for this Friday.
# # # # # # # # # #
NEXT: What’s next for Luke and Danny? Well, that’s up for debate. My intention was to end my run on the title with this last issue, but slipping the boys into a whole new arena is mighty appealing to me! What would Power Man & Iron Fist be like as hero-instructors? Would Victor join up and take on a name of his own – and what would that name be? Who else would be part of the first class of new heroes? Who are the other instructors?
I’ve been writing these two at M2K for twelve years, and while I thought I would get tired of them, I obviously haven’t yet. Who knows what the future holds? I guess we’ll see!
-D. Golightly
May 2017
John Aman reveled in the moment, slowly drawing the weapon back to deliver a killing blow. Danny Rand, the living weapon known as the Iron Fist, had blundered into the office of Agent Travers of the Commission on Superhuman Activities, and was now pinned down alongside Luke Cage. The pair of heroes had been sent after each other, mind-controlled, and targeted and they still had no real idea of why.
Having been separated from the Blade by the Prince of Orphans himself*, Danny was in part grateful that this chaotic mess was finally coming to a close. He just wished that it didn’t involve his life once again hanging in the balance – quite literally, as he and Cage dangled at the ends of the mystic green cloth that Aman suspended them by in Travers’ office.
*[Power Man & Iron Fist #3]
In Aman’s 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. Due to their close adventures over the years, and their consistent mingling of chi, Danny and Luke were deeply bonded. According to Aman, when he cut out their hearts it would unlock the power he so viciously sought.
The Prince of Orphans raised the Blade over his head, and swung it down with precision, the steel look in his eyes tempered by the lust of ultimate power.
But if the boys had learned anything over the years, it was that history was doomed to repeat itself. The best way to keep that from happening was to place trust in others, counting on them to pull through when you needed them to, regardless of their own motivations. Danny and Luke had both been part of teams over the years and knew the value of back-up. Even though he was knew to them, they decided to place their trust into the new kid on the block.
Just before the Blade sliced down into Danny’s chest, the office wall exploded inward. A dark-skinned teenager burst through, empowered by borrowed chi that in turn bolstered his strength, endurance, and resolve. Victor Alvarez smashed through the office wall like it was paper mâché, bowling over Aman and knocking the Blade from his hands.
“That’s how we roll!” he shouted. The teen brushed himself off, smiled, and threw a right-cross at Aman’s stunned visage.
But the Prince of Orphans, himself a master of the martial arts, easily countered the blow and struck Victor across the chin. The smack was quickly followed up by three jabs to the teen’s chest, causing him to double over and stumble backward into the office.
“Move!” Cage yelled, his adrenaline fueled by both fear and aggression. It was a command and a plea, directed at Danny.
Cage tore at his bonds, yanking a bit of slack into the fabric to get close enough to Aman to wrap his arms around his neck. He pulled upward and Aman rose, held a foot off the ground as Cage’s forearm crushed his windpipe. With the bonds under Aman’s control now loosened, Danny slipped to the floor and scooped up the Blade, even though he detested feeling it in his hands again.
“Stop!” Travers screamed. Mounted on the wall was a video-conference screen with his angered face splashed in the center. “Aman! Contain them!”
Aman twisted and struggled beneath Cage’s chokehold. In their struggle they smashed against the screen, destroying it and Travers’ visual into their brawl. He sneered as he pulled at the powerful arm wrapped around his neck, seeing Danny holding the sword again. He knew that the Blade, a weapon he had helped forge in the first place, could unlock total power over the mystical city of K’un Lun. Invigorated by the closeness of his victory, Aman raised up and redoubled his efforts to free himself.
Until Victor placed his palm against Aman’s chest, sapping his very life force away.
Aman crumbled, bending inward as Cage held him in place. Aman’s physical form, once strong and powerful, ravaged itself and the binding that Travers had placed over him again took shape. The Prince of Orphans shrunk down and his corporeal being converted into thick green smoke, which was in turn sucked back into the container that had been on Travers’ desk. It lay on its side on the floor now, battered but intact. Within moments the weakened Aman had been forced to return to his prison, a shadow of his former self.
Cage looked down at the pale, three-inch tall figure in the container and smirked. Then he looked down at broken screen and said, “You’re next, little man.”
Victor stood wide-eyed and unmoving, just staring at the shattered screen, finally saying, “I remember that guy. He’s the one that’s got a ton of ninjas working for him! It’s just like you told me, isn’t it?”
Cage nodded. “We think he’s a rogue Commission liaison, but we still don’t know what the hell he’s doing targeting us like this.”
Danny leaned down and picked up the container with Aman inside, holding it close. “John,” Danny said. “Tell us what’s happening. Your plan to control K’un Lun is all but over.”
“Travers has me bound,” Aman replied. “What could I possibly have to gain by helping you now?”
Danny studied the container carefully, turning it slightly in his hand. “I could get you out of this mess, that’s for sure.”
“We ain’t helping him!” Cage shouted as he brushed by Victor to get closer to the container. “He’s tried to kill us at least twice!”
Danny ignored Cage, instead focusing only on Aman. “Tell us what Travers is up to and why you’re partnered with him. Tell us…and I’ll help send you back to K’un Lun.”
“Danny!” Cage yelled.
A sly smile crept across Aman’s face and he looked into Danny’s eyes. “And what possibly reason should I have to believe you? Why would you give me the prize I desire most?”
Danny casually flipped the Blade around in his fingers in the hand that wasn’t holding the container up to eye level. “You’re defeated, John. Done for. We have nothing else to fear from you now that you’ve dropped the Blade of the Dragon. However, I’m willing to let the masters at K’un Lun take you off my hands. It’s a win-win. You’ll be out of our hair for good and you’ll be one step closer to your own goal.”
“You would banish me from this world, then?”
Danny nodded. “Make no mistake – I’m not handing you the keys to the city…or keystone as it were. You’ll answer for your crimes, but you’ll be out from under Travers’ thumb, too.”
Victor traded glances between Luke and Danny, feeling the intensity coming off of the former toward the latter. He stepped back just as Luke reached out and grabbed the container, shaking it slightly and knocking John Aman over.
“If we ever see you again, pipsqueak,” Cage said through ground teeth. “All bets are off.”
The Prince of Orphans sneered. “I would expect no less. The feeling, as they say, is mutual. Now, heed my warning of the one you call Travers, because his own history is as chaotic as this temporary pact between us.”
“Y’all talk weird,” Victor muttered, but they ignored him, instead focusing on Aman’s next words.
“Travers,” Aman began, “is not his real name. He adopted it and the guise to go with it. In fact, he is very familiar to the one you encountered in the swamp prior to our first meeting.” *
* [Power Man & Iron Fist #2]
“You mean that man-thing in the Everglades?” Luke spat out. “How’s he connected to this?”
“Travers’ name was originally Hargood Wilbur Todd Wickham, a scientist hired by an enemy of that swamp creature, who was obsessed with conquering the mysteries of dimensional travel. The Blade of the Dragon, the Everglades, us…we are all connected to the larger scheme at play.”
“But Stephen Strange is the one sent me to the Everglades in the first place,” Danny retorted.*
* [Implied off-panel at the end of Max 2000 #25]
“Yes, to the Nexus of All Realities. The Sorcerer Supreme was correct in sending you to the Nexus, or rather, to me. Did I not separate you from your burden?” Aman looked longingly at the Blade in Danny’s grip. “Wickham, or as he’s also know, Professor Slaughter, approached me after faking his death because he had learned of my connection to the mystical city. He wants for nothing more than to come out from the shadow of his former employer and unlock dimensional travel for himself. To him, it is the ultimate power that the Nexus keeps from him. He hoped that by collecting the sword with me that our mutual goal would be attained – me controlling K’un Lun and him gaining access to an avenue through the universe that did not directly tie to the Nexus or its guardian.”
Cage said, “So Travers, or Slaughter, or whoever he is did all this to avoid that swamp monster?”
Aman nodded. “He is a powerful foe. Slaughter’s continued pursuit of dimensional travel would forever be halted unless he could find a way to circumnavigate the monster. I was the key to his success, in exchange for the Blade and rule over K’un Lun.”
“Slaughter makes you this deal and you help to serve us up on a platter?” Cage asked. “Danny, we owe this guy nothing!”
“Where is Travers now?” Danny inquired.
“This office was merely to maintain his façade of a Commission liaison. His base of operations is uptown in a place you’ll both find quite familiar. I’ll take you there on one condition: you send me to the mystic city tonight. Keep your promise to me and remove me from under Slaughter’s foot!”
Victor had leaned back against the wall, content to watch the conversation unfold. He was baffled; completely lost in whatever it was they were talking about. He understood that they were making a deal of some sort, but what he didn’t understand was why they would give a guy that had just tried to kill them anything he wanted. Maybe he was too young to really get it, or maybe he was just mirroring the stance of Luke, his biological father. Either way, he wanted to stay out of it.
He had agreed to come to Travers’ office as their wild card because he wanted that scumbag to get what was coming to him. All the better if he was the one throwing the punches. His mother hadn’t raised him to be a brawler, but it just came naturally to him.
Luke and Danny traded another glance, and Danny finally said, “Deal.”
He tossed the container to Victor, who caught it clumsily and nearly dropped it. He buckled his knees and looked apprehensively between the miniature psychopath and the heroic partners. “What the hell am I supposed to do with him?”
“You have no obligation to help us,” Danny said to Victor, but he eyed Luke as he spoke. “But we could use it. If you’re up for it, I have any idea to finish this once and for all.”
Luke pulled his gaze off of Danny, his friend and partner for years, to look at Victor. He didn’t know if Victor really was his son like he claimed, but somehow, someway, he knew that there was a connection between them. He had never been a father figure before and he wasn’t sure he really wanted to be one now. What he did know was that this kid had the same kind of arrogant drive that had been part of his life over a decade ago.
Did he really want not just a kid getting put in harm’s way, but one that he was probably related to? What kind of dad would he be if he allowed his son to face supervillains and be put in danger all the time?
Victor tried to read Luke’s expression for some help in deciphering what was happening. They had no relationship to speak of, outside of what had developed over the last two hours, but already Victor was looking to Luke for insight.
Luke shrugged. He said, “It’s your call, kid.”
Victor thought about how helpless he had felt when Travers’ cronies had jumped him, how aggravating it was to avoid getting involved in the street gangs’ business on his way home from school, and how his mom had taught him to just keep his mouth in check so he didn’t bring any unwanted attention to them. He tightened his grip on the container and without further hesitation said, “Let’s bust this guy up.”
# # # # # # # # # #
The proximity alarm went off, filling the control center with an annoying blare. Professor Slaughter, still in his guise as Agent Travers, motioned for one of the monitoring lackeys to shut it off and bring up the security feed. Outside of the circle of destruction that had once been the headquarters of the Heroes For Hire in uptown Chicago, four figures had approached his hidden compound.
He let out a snarky laugh, surprised to see them, but happy nonetheless. Bound by restrictive cuffs that looked thick enough to hold an elephant in place were Luke Cage, the incorrigible Power Man, and his partner, Daniel Rand, the slippery Iron Fist. Standing behind each one were his two agents of chaos, John Aman and Victor Alvarez. He couldn’t help but smile when he saw Victor kick the back of the knee of his own father, knocking him down and seemingly devoid of emotion.
He had won. Aman and Alvarez had succumbed to his control and were finally bringing his prizes to him. He couldn’t wait to hear their own hollow threats, especially now that they realized his own base of operations was in the subbasement of their former home.
Months ago, a lone villain calling himself Anarchy had decimated the H4H’s former headquarters, leaving behind a pile of rubble that was all but useless.* Slaughter had seen the opportunity to not only hide away where they would least suspect to look for him, but also use the back-up database records found there to help in his quest to learn more about Luke and Danny.
* [Max 2000 #25]
It had been the perfect cover to go alongside his subterfuge of the Commission. Now that he finally had his prey in his grasp, his plans were coming to fruition.
“Collect them,” he said absently to his staff.
Instantly, four of his psychically-controlled soldiers rushed off to enact his orders. He watched on the monitors as a segment of rubble was lifted away by a hydraulic press, allowing his minions to seemingly burst out of nowhere. They flanked Aman and Victor, along with the captured heroes, and ushered them inside.
The sublevel of the H4H’s once glorious training center was the only thing that hadn’t been destroyed. The remainder of the necessary demolition had already taken place topside, leaving what amounted to a landfill behind that had yet to be swept away. He couldn’t help but smile as he saw Luke and Danny realize where they were in person. His soldiers deposited them and stood back, their weapons trained on the captured heroes.
“Welcome,” he said with a flourish of his hands. “Or should I say, welcome back?”
“Figures you would be hiding down here in the basement,” Luke said. “Like a damn cockroach.”
“How the mighty have fallen, Power Man,” Slaughter quipped. “I suppose I no longer have a need for this Travers’ nonsense anymore. I assume that you blew my cover with your assault at the Commission office.”
He tapped a holographic projector on his belt and his features were replaced with those of a man in his sixties, complete with long brown hair instead of Travers’ short blonde locks. His cheeks were now more sunken in, giving him a more desperate appearance. His eyes darted back and forth in his eagerness to collect his prize.
The prize being access to the multitude of dimensions beyond their own. For years he had worked beneath another would-be villain, hopelessly fighting against that horrid creature that protected the Nexus. He knew that he was destined to conquer interdimensional travel and claim the spoils that would go with such power, and now it was so close he could taste it.
Having faked his death and used his psychic technology to subvert a support team of his own, he was finally in control of his own destiny. Professor Slaughter would be a name feared throughout the multiverse.
“Fitting that you end your lives here,” Slaughter said. “Whereas mine will be beginning anew.” He looked up at Aman, saying, “Kill them and open the gateway. Take me to my Valhalla and you will be free to control your precious mystic city.”
John Aman raised his arm and summoned the Blade of the Dragon once more. A green mist formed around his hand, lengthening to the shape of the Blade, and then it quickly condensed into solid matter. Luke and Danny kneeled before him with Victor standing at their side, seemingly unaware of what was unfolding before him.
“Are all of your goons down here with you?” Danny asked.
Slaughter shot him an irritated glance. “Still think you can escape? My warriors would collapse on you within moments. Your time is over, Iron Fist.”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
Danny nodded to Victor and leapt up on the balls of his feet and several things happened at the same time, throwing the controlled situation on its side. The cuffs holding Danny and Luke’s arms back evaporated just as John Aman brought his wrists together in a ring of crimson energy. Victor cocked his fist back and smashed his knuckles into Slaughter’s forehead, sending him scooting back across basement until he slammed into the wall.
Woozy, Slaughter tried to straighten up just as he saw his warriors descend on the heroes. Of course, he had been tricked. He chided himself for being so eager to collect his prize that he had just assumed that appearances were just as they seemed to be. Victor’s mind control must have worn off. No matter, regardless of how they had thwarted Aman as well he would stop them again.
“Kill them!” he shouted, but he quickly realized that there was no one left standing to give orders to. Shockingly, the few lackeys he had in the basement were already down for the count and the rest were not coming to his aid. “What? What have you done! Aman!”
“The Prince of Orphans will not be coming to your rescue,” John Aman said, or rather, the man impersonating Aman said. “He has accepted a better offer.”
With a wave of his hand, the green cloak and features of John Aman were gone, replaced in a similar fashion to what Travers’ himself had done. Instead of holographic technology concealing his true identity, however, it was pure magic that had hidden away the face of Stephen Strange, Sorcerer Supreme. Slaughter noticed the crimson bands around Strange’s wrists and saw how the same magical constructs had been bound around the appendages of his fallen warriors. Between Strange’s magic and the quick strikes of Danny and Luke, his forces were defeated.
“No!” Slaughter shouted.
“Yes,” Luke said. “Your boy in the green hood is going to be sent on a one way trip to another dimension…without you. Courtesy of your friendly, neighborhood sorcerer.”
“And I’ve severed your control over Victor,” Danny added. “Aman told us where you were holed up, and Dr. Strange was more than happy to land a role in our little play.”
“Excellent casting,” Strange quipped, and he lashed out another crimson band that wrapped itself around Slaughter’s upper body.
The frustration and rage was boiling within him, but Slaughter was once again powerless to do anything other than strain against the magical bindings. His anger doubled at the sight of his enemies gloating over him and he swore that should he ever free himself again that they would pay with more than just their lives.
# # # # # # # # # #
“Thanks, Stephen,” Danny said. “We appreciate your help tonight.”
The pink visage of the Sorcerer Supreme, Stephen Strange, hovered silently before the trio of heroes. Three feet off of the ground, he looked at peace with his legs crossed and his cape flowing out behind him. If it wasn’t for the pinkish hue of the astral projection, they would swear that he was in Luke’s apartment alongside them.
“Thank nothing of it, Daniel,” Strange replied. “I am always at your service when it comes to banishing people like John Aman. The reinforcement of the binding placed on him should keep Aman out of trouble and in the control of K’un Lun’s masters for years to come.”
“And the Blade of the Dragon?” Danny asked.
Strange nodded. “It has been contained as well. It will not be used for nefarious purposes again. I bid you good night.”
The astral form of the world’s most powerful sorcerer faded away, leaving Luke, Danny, and Victor along in the apartment’s living room once more. An eerie silence fell over them. It had only been a few hours since SHIELD had arrived to take care of the cleanup uptown, but it already felt like a lifetime ago. Now the adrenaline had stopped flowing, the heart’s had stopped racing, and the adventure had come to a close.
“Do you have to get home soon?” Luke asked, facing Victor.
The teenager leaned back against the counter that separated the living room from the kitchenette. He looked down at his feet, seemingly unsure of how to tread this conversation. “Not yet,” he responded.
Something chirped in Danny’s sash and he extracted a smartphone from within its folds. “It’s Stark,” he said. “I’ll take this in the bedroom.”
They watched Danny leave and then glanced at each other briefly before looking elsewhere. Mere hours ago they had been back to back, fighting for their lives and enjoying it. Now they couldn’t string either side of a dialogue together and each passing awkward moment was riddled with intense discomfort. Neither of them would ever have thought that they would be in this situation, least of all in it after having overcome so much together in a single night.
“Does you mom…talk about me?”
Victor shook his head. “Maybe, like, once a year.”
Luke nodded, disappointed. “Did she ever say why she doesn’t talk about me?”
“That would count as talking about you.”
“Right. Right.”
After a long pregnant moment, Victor straightened up, saying, “Look, I should get going. Thanks for…you know, keeping me alive tonight and everything.”
“We made a good team, kid.”
“Yeah! I mean, yeah. We do. Did. We did make a good team tonight.” Victor moved to the door. “You know, I thought you would be taller.”
Luke raised an eyebrow and leaned forward from where he sat on the couch. “S’cuse me?”
“I dunno. Just thought you’d be this huge dude, you know?” He smirked. “I guess the news cameras add a few inches.”
“Is that right?” Luke returned the smirk, which was a mirror image of Victor’s. “Look, kid. I know this wasn’t the easiest thing in the world for you. Coming here, dealing with me…what I mean is that you’ve got a strong character. Your mom must be really proud of the man you’re becoming.”
“She says she is.”
“I know it. And I’d like…I’d like if maybe I could come by sometime. Just to check in. See for myself the man you’re turning into.”
Luke felt like he had laid all of his cards out on the poker table and stood up, waiting to see if his rival player could beat his hand or not. Would he fold? Would he raise over his bid? He felt like the world was holding its collective breath and that the rest of his entire life hinged on what was said next.
Victor opened the door without a word and Luke felt his stomach drop out from under him. The teen took a step into the hall before pausing and turning halfway around. Victor said, “Friday nights we have spaghetti.”
“I love spaghetti.”
Victor nodded and Luke wasn’t sure, but it seemed like his eyes were just a little larger. “Good. We eat at six.”
He closed the door and Luke heard his footsteps move down the hall, growing more and more silent with each rhythmic beat. “See you soon,” Luke muttered.
Danny stepped back into the living room and looked around. “Victor leave?” he asked. When Luke nodded he asked, “You okay?”
“I think I will be. Hell of a night, you know?”
“That I do. Well, that was Stark that called. He finally went through the legal hoops and has an offer for us ready.”
“Okay, hit me. How much control do we have to give him if he buys the Heroes For Hire brand?”
“Actually, he’s not interested in funding a new team or backing us to continue H4H at all.”
Luke sat up. “Wait, what? I don’t get it. After we cleaned up his mess in Madripor I thought he told you he wanted to talk about getting us up and running again.”
“Initially, that’s what he was considering. But after looking at the legal aspects of financing what amounts to a mercenary operation he decided he didn’t want to take on the liability.”
“Told you.”
Danny smiled. “Yes, you’re much smarter than me. But he does have an offer for us.”
“An offer to do what? Bodyguard? What the hell else would we even be qualified to do?”
“Teach.”
Luke sat back into the couch and crossed his arms, a look of irritation on his face. “C’mon, Danny. Be serious.”
Danny made his way to the fridge to extract two bottle of bear, slinging one over to his friend. “I am serious, and so is Stark. It seems that the Avengers have been interested in starting up a training program for new superheroes for quite some time; an initiative that’s meant to not only keep the next generation from killing themselves, but also offer a recruitment pool to bolster their membership.”
“Like an Avengers academy?”
Danny cracked open his bottle and pointed the tip at Luke. “That’s it exactly. And guess who he wants as his first instructors?”
Luke took a long pull from his own bottle, savoring the bitter liquid as it glided down his throat. He had never thought of himself as a teacher, but then again, before tonight he had never thought of himself as a father either. He had to admit that their experience could prove invaluable to untrained heroes that would otherwise be a danger to not only themselves, but the public in general.
“So, what, I’d be Professor Cage or something?”
Danny laughed. “Something like that. We’d have a lot of control over the curriculum and training regimen. We’d be heavily involved in recruiting the students, too.” Danny let his gaze linger obviously on the closed door to the outer hallway. “Know anyone that might be interested in signing up?”
Luke took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He supposed that he already had a topic of conversation ready to go for this Friday.
# # # # # # # # # #
NEXT: What’s next for Luke and Danny? Well, that’s up for debate. My intention was to end my run on the title with this last issue, but slipping the boys into a whole new arena is mighty appealing to me! What would Power Man & Iron Fist be like as hero-instructors? Would Victor join up and take on a name of his own – and what would that name be? Who else would be part of the first class of new heroes? Who are the other instructors?
I’ve been writing these two at M2K for twelve years, and while I thought I would get tired of them, I obviously haven’t yet. Who knows what the future holds? I guess we’ll see!
-D. Golightly
May 2017