Chapter 2 – Stranger In A Strange Land

Hammer Falls, Kingpin's Sovereign Land

The men called Prodigy and Kuro Shinzou entered the battered ruins of uptown Republic City. It was all like he had left it, skeletons and bricks on the roads…destruction and death, the perfect place for a God of War. But then again, that man was holed up inside his War Palace, within the nation of The Northern Land of Conquerors.

This place belonged to the Kingpin, but he seemed to have forgotten the areas around his 'mansion' which was just a battered City Hall. The two former heroes walked through the streets, the empty streets. They looked around for anything out of the ordinary, if you could call this ordinary. Nothing.

"Look." Prodigy said as he pointed to a huge crater. "What happened?"

Kuro walked towards him, and looked at the crater. "I was there…when it happened. Thunder was heard…and the Son of the Gods fell on this spot." He said.

"Thor…fell?" Prodigy asked.

"Yeah…" Kuro responded as he hopped inside the crater.

"Wait." Prodigy said, but Kuro was already inside. He looked at the still glowing Mjolnir, as if it was still awaiting its master's call.

"The power of the elements…and the divine." Kuro said as he analyzed the hammer deeply until he found inscriptions on the side of the mallet, they were upside down but he could read them. "''Whoever lifts this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.' Interesting."

"What is it?" Prodigy asked from street level.

"Thor's hammer…it's still pulsing with energy." Kuro responded.

"What does it mean?" Prodigy asked.

"…I don't know." Kuro answered as he stood up and climbed up from the hole. He looked at Prodigy and then at the road ahead. "Let's keep moving."

As they walked once more, they started chatting in what they had been up to. Prodigy told on how he almost got caught by the Hulk Gang and how Magneto almost had him beheaded. He had made it out alive twice, but wondered if he should've stayed to help the oppressed…except those in Genosha, they looked happy.

"Terrific stories…at least one of us has that spark within them." Kuro said.

"We are heroes, Kuro, even if some of us made mistakes in the past." Prodigy said. As they walked they encountered the fallen down Shinzou Towers.

"My home…" Kuro said as he noticed the destroyed logo of the Shinzou Enterprises…strangely the entire building rested on top of a gigantic skeleton. "Who was this?"

"You don't know? In the fighting, they had the building thrown on Loki, Thor's brother. It killed him instantly." Prodigy answered. "Only thing that worked was his staff which still had Asgardian magicks within it."

"Oh…I don't think it's just magic." Kuro said as he began to walk around to see the skeleton's horned helmet.

"What do you mean?" Prodigy asked.

"Nothing…I don't think we are safe here. We need to find the Avatar's location." Kuro said as he stood back up from looking at the gigantic skull of the fallen God of Mischief.

"Korra? I thought she was dead and the Avatar Cycle was broken." Prodigy said as he followed Kuro.

"I've feeling that our Avatar hasn't kicked the bucket just yet and the Kingpin will tell us where she is." Kuro said.

Quin Ruins, Hulk's Domain…a couple of days before

The once respected city of Quin was now no more than building engulfed in sand. There were some people living around, within the broken skyscrapers. Every other week, members of the Hulk Gang would enter the city and ask for one sacrifice for Lord Branner-Xing or the Hulk. The inhabitants didn't know what happened to their loved ones once they were taken away…it was better that way.

One day, from the sands there came a man walking through the old road to the city. He was dressed in all black and wielded some body armor on his shoulders, forearms, chest and knees. His long black graying hair, his white tanned skin and grey beard spoke highly of the man's age.

The most unusual feature of this man was not on his face but on his chest. A big white skull was painted on top of the black body armor…which resembled that of the old metalbender's, but heavily modified. On his back was a long 'rifle' or the Type 66 Long Hand Cannon, developed by the now extinct Will-Anx Armories. On his legs were two standard high caliber hand cannons and on his neck hanged one single bullet…probably for him to use on himself one day.

The people of the city turned village beheld at the stranger who entered their town, his appearance surprised them. A stranger in a strange land…he entered the building where members of the Hulk Gang were demanding sacrifices.

The Hulk Gang…a bunch of inbred freaks. Spawns of the original Hulk, these disgusting freaks of nature were born gamma irradiated and with a taste for violence…or so they were taught. The Hulk had conceived these…'Abominations' with his own blood cousin…that was what it was say anyways.

The stranger entered and looked at the big and green bullies, their odd hairstyles and leather clothes made them be more comical for the stranger who chuckled at the sight.

"Who is this puny man?" One of the green Hulklings said.

The strange man didn't respond but just whipped out his rifle, and aimed to the Hulkling's head.

"Ha! Bullets don't hurt us!" The Hulkling laughed.

"Dumb puny man!" The other one added.

"This is no normal bullet…it's a fifty caliber experimental round…capable of piercing platinum." The strange man said as he shot the rifle. The huge bullet ripped through the air and into the Hulkling's head. The gigantic body fell on the floor.

"YOU PUNY MAN!" The other Hulkling yelled as he rushed towards the strange man. The strange man dodged the raging green monster. He began shooting at the gamma behemoth, the bullets ripped through his back, but he didn't fall.

The Hulkling smashed the area around, and the strange man took out his high caliber standard hand cannons and began shooting. The much faster handguns boomed through the air, hitting the behemoth, it still kept coming. The strange man shot one last time to the head…and the beast fell.

The people around came out of their hiding, looking at the two huge green bodies on the floor and the strange man with the skull on his chest standing over them. One of the older folk stepped out from the crowd and walked towards the strange man.

"Who…who are you?" The old man asked.

"Call me…The Punisher." The strange man responded as he placed a cigar in his mouth and lighted it.

Hammer Falls, Kingpin's Sovereign Land

"You're kidding right? That place is a fortress." Prodigy said to Kuro.

"Might be…they are using hand cannon technology right?" Kuro asked, Prodigy nodded. "Well, I have the equalizer here."

Kuro took out a metal gauntlet out of his rucksack; it was part of his Iron Man armor. "The suit is still missing, but this part would make it easier for us to get in."

"I wouldn't count on it." A female voice was heard from the alleys.

"Who's there?" Prodigy asked.

"I'm Spider-Girl…" Spider-Girl said as she came out of the shadows crawling on a wall. "I hate the Kingpin as much as y'all and I know a way in."

"The daughter of Spider-Man and Spider-Woman, you been hiding in this city all along?" Prodigy asked.

"Kind of, the underground creeps gave us shelter…but it's time to put down Kingpin." Spider-Girl said.

"Then its settle…Kingpin's terror ends and he will tell us Korra's location." Kuro said as he wielded the Iron Man gauntlet once more.