Night time. An abandoned warehouse in New York. A few lights hang low, casting only a small amount of light on the men standing around a table. The men on one end all weild guns while the man on the other end has a metal briefcase. He places it on the table and flips it open, exposing a few pounds of cocaine. "Straight from Columbia as promised," he tells them, "The finest stuff you'll get in New York." A man opens a knife and cuts a bag open. He dips the knife in, taking some of the white powder onto his blade before laying it onto a mirror on the table. He takes a straw and prepares to snort it when the skyline above them shatters.
The silohuette of a man drops down several feet, hitting the concrete hard enough to crack it under his shoes. The men spin around, asking no questions as they open fire with their 9mm's. Bullets hit the man as sparks fly but he does not fall. Instead, he rushes forward. One gunman begins to panic and fire wildly, the light from the burst of gunfire exposing the face of their assailant with each shot. It is the face of a large, African American male in his twenties: bald with a goatee. This is Luke Cage. With each shot, he gets closer and closer until the gunman is hurled back across the room. Luke Cage backhands another gunman, sending him into the wall behind them. The dealer scrambles to put his drugs back in his briefcase, not bothering to stick around. Meanwhile, a hand snatches one gunman while the other hand snatches a second gunman. Cage raises the two men into the air, one in each hand, and slams them together before dropping them. The dealer takes his briefcase and runs toward the door. Cage notices this and kicks the table, sending it through the air where it hits the dealer in the back and knocks him down. Cage walks toward him but another thug steps in his way who pulls a switchblade and flicks it in his face before driving it toward him. Cage opens his palm, allowing the blade to get crumpled against his skin. The thug looks at his dented knife with astonishment just before Cage casually swats him out of the way. He strides over to the dealer and hefts him against a wall, the dealer clenching his eyes, expecting a severe beating. Instead, Cage pulls out his phone and brings up a picture of the dealer's wanted poster.
"This you?," he asks.
"Y-Yes," the dealer replies as he slowly opens his eyes.
"Good," he scrolls down, showing the reward money, "This is how much money I'm gonna make bringing you in."
"What?"
"Thought you might like to know. You have a pretty sweet price on your head. It's impressive. I mean, I've caught quite a few guys so far and this is the highest I've been paid yet. Should be an honor for you."
"Who... Who are you?"
Cage shoots the dealer a look.
LUKE CAGE: HERO FOR HIRE