Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Elektra didn't answer for a moment as Matt repeated his question. "You were willing to bury us both under Midland Circle. I tried to reach you but you didn't listen. So, why are both of us still alive?"
Elektra sighed before trying to gather her thoughts. "The explosion sucked us both into sewers… we ended up on a waterfront and some followers of the Hand found us."
"The Hand…" Matt trailed off. He was confused but decided to let Elektra say her piece before hastily jumping to conclusions.
"I ordered them to nurse you to health and I sought out Izo. He wasn't exactly in a mood to listen at first… and it took a lot of persuasion to make him come." Elektra continued. "But then, my servants, or at least they were until that point, found out that I betrayed their cause and tried to kill me." Matt chuckled, despite his current state, already suspecting how it went down. "Izo arrived soon after that and both of us have been taking care of you." She looked ashamed of herself and Matt could hear the pain and strong emotions in her voice. "I just… I just couldn't leave you there to die, after everything we've been through."
Matt listened and despite his weakened senses, he found no hint of deceit in her voice. He was glad that there was still a good part of her in there somewhere but the emotional scars from losing Stick and fighting his lover were still fresh in his mind. "But that barely changes anything. You tried to kill my friends. You killed Stick and who knows how many innocent people. I want to believe that there's still light in you but… I just don't know what to think right now. I mean… where do we go from here now? I want to believe that we can work through this but…" He trailed off, not sure what to think at the moment.
"You should rest, Matthew." Elektra ordered. "You're too weak to do anything."
Matt tried to get up but groaned in pain as Elektra held him down and he slowly passed out.
Matt paced down the cabin before walking out with a cane as he limped. He barely smelled the scent of nature, or heard rustling of leaves or the snap of his own fingers but still it was all muffled and he couldn't fully recognize the environment.
"Your senses are not back at full, are they, Matthew?" Izo asked.
Matt shook his head. "No."
"I've been where you're at." Izo smiled.
"You…" Matt turned to him with interest.
"No, I… I used to be blind." Izo said. "I… tried to learn to see through the darkness, so for quite an amount of my life, I blinded myself from perceiving the world through my eyes and see more than I could without looking. It is a skill not easily mastered, as you probably know." Matt knew what the man was talking about, remembering trying to hone his radar sense with Stick's training. "Sometimes, without eyes, one can see even more."
"Why did Elektra reach out to you?" Matt asked. "She didn't seem very fond of you."
"Believe me, I'm the last person anyone from Chaste would turn to." Izo laughed. "I admit I may have been brash, arrogant and foolish but they were quite a lot of idiots too. Stick was willing to kill the Iron Fist to stop the Hand, yet you stopped him. And what happened? Clashing of moral grounds never ends well. Or when Iron Fist turned against all of you because you didn't want to let the Hand take him? This world is full of fools and the fool, who believes is a reasonable and wise one, is usually the greatest fool of all. Add in passion, love and all that shit…" Izo sighed. "Fool turns into a suicidal. Or the appropriate name… Daredevil."
Matt and Izo laughed at the irony.
Matt was hanging on a branch of a tree, doing pull-ups but due to his injuries, he fell down soon enough as he groaned in pain, while hitting the ground.
"Matthew, what are you doing?" Elektra demanded as she approached him.
"Trying to build myself back up." Matt said weakly.
"You're still too weak." Elektra pointed out as she carried him on her shoulder. "You should rest."
Matt laughed softly. "You haven't given up on me?"
"Never." Elektra smiled.
After some rest and taking medicine from Elektra, Matt approached a sink with a small porcelain watering can and poured some water into it before putting it into his nose hole and then, Matt spat out some blood and coughed out before cleaning his mouth and nose and panting out. Matt cleaned his hands before he realized that his hearing was slowly getting better. Matt touched the mirror as he felt some light rumbling before touching a wooden wall and feeling again some light rumbling. As Matt went out, he could hear the nature fully, birds whistling, leaves rustling…
"Your senses are returning." Izo said, smiling.
Matt and Izo were sparring, with Izo using a bo staff and Matt using some practice batons as Izo blocked his attacks. Matt thought for a moment that he was getting back in shape before Izo suddenly pushed him back as he threw a stick above Matt as a branch fell on him from a tree behind him as it knocked Matt down, while he groaned in pain.
'How was it possible that I didn't sense the tree?'
"Do not focus only on your opponent. You must be able to sense your surroundings." Izo said.
Matt wouldn't let the pain or the fact that his senses haven't returned fully, take his spirit away. Matt grunted as he got up and attacked with batons as Izo blocked and tried to hit Matt in the leg but Matt dodged and spun around as Izo stumbled and Matt hit him in the hip and kicked him in the chest. Izo raised his staff as Matt aimed for his head and then Izo hit him in the chest and then in the back as Matt almost fell down but he managed to jump and hit Izo in the head, knocking him down as Izo laughed.
"Impressive… for a cripple." Matt said.
"I cannot judge your skills for certain, Matthew… but you're a fine warrior." Izo said, getting up.
"Let's go again." Matt said.
"I don't think so." Izo said before Matt suddenly felt sharp pain in his body as he collapsed on the ground. "Your spirit is strong… but your body is still fragile. Give it time to heal, Matthew."
Elektra put a piece of cloth into a bucket of water as she washed the blood off Matt's wounds on his battered body.
"Thank you." Matt said. "For everything."
"You don't owe me a thanks, Matthew." Elektra said. "I know you're tenacious but I think it's better for you to heal first before you start training."
"You may be right there." Matt admitted as Elektra laughed.
"You rarely agree with me." Elektra said.
"What happened in New York?" Matt asked as Elektra paused. "Elektra."
She took a breath. "When I went to check on your friends… Franklin and Karen are doing fine… or as fine as they can, given the circumstances, from what I've seen. The woman, the dark-haired one, the investigator… she's going through some rough times. I'm not sure what happened. The man with indestructible skin…" Elektra hesitated for a moment as Matt sensed the disturb in her tone and she obviously felt uncomfortable. "Let's just say he's not the man you remember. And I've heard that the Iron Fist is protecting your city in your absence." Matt smiled, glad that Danny was honoring his final wish but was worried for his other allies and friends. "Do you wish to return to New York?" Elektra questioned.
Matt considered. Everyone in New York believed that he was dead… if he would return, what was there waiting for him? He did get along with Danny, Jessica, Colleen and Luke, when the Hand was threatening the city and their loved ones but considering how much the things have changed… what could he expect?
"I don't know." Matt admitted. "What do you want, Elektra?"
Elektra considered, not sure what to believe. The Hand now wanted her dead for taking out their leaders. And none of Matt's allies or friends trusted her at the moment, considering she had tried to kill them in the past. "All I know is that wherever my path takes me, I want to walk down it with you."
"Then I guess only God will know where will the road take us." Matt shrugged.
New York City
A green van labeled "Yin-Yang Won Ton" was driving down the streets before it blocked a way to a white van as the Asian drivers, wearing grey caps and working clothes, in the white van grumbled and honked. "Come on."
From the green van went out a man with a cap, glasses and black leather jacket, shirt and jeans, nearing the white van as the driver panicked and was about to drive away but his colleague at the passenger seat suddenly pulled out a gun with a silencer, killing the driver as men in black jackets, jeans, wearing glasses and ski masks and holding guns with silencers went out from the green van and carjacked the other van, throwing down the dead driver. The Asian knocked on the container. "Open up."
The men in the container, guarding the cash and holding machine guns opened but the thugs with silenced guns killed them as they hijacked the van and drove down a road before in front of them appeared Danny, in green hoodie and yellow bandana, gesturing for the van to stop. The thieves looked in confusion before deciding to run Danny over as the driver hit the gas pedal on the floor, with the van driving quickly towards Danny but Danny rushed at the van before stepping aside and moving away as he charged his Iron Fist and hit the front light of the van, punching the hood of the van off as it was forced to pull over as the driver went out, grunting in pain. Danny knocked the driver out as the other thief pulled out his gun and fired but Danny dodged and vanished as the thief panicked, going out, readying his gun as he scoured around but Danny surprised him from behind, grabbing his hand in which he held the gun and kicking him towards the side of the van, knocking him down. The remaining thugs with machine guns opened the door of the container, firing but there was no target to shoot.
Danny was on the top of the van before he held onto the edge and jumped down, kicking the two thugs as they staggered back into the van. Danny punched one of them in his face, knocking him down as the other thug fired but Danny grabbed his weapon and hit him with it in the face before kicking him in the chest as he staggered back before the first thug got up, grabbing Danny but Danny gave a series of punches into his face, knocking him out. Suddenly, he heard Chinese as more thugs appeared with machine guns, opening fire but Danny took cover behind the door. As soon as he heard them reloading their weapons and nearing the van, Danny opened the door quickly, knocking one of the thugs down before he jumped down and did a roundhouse kick to the face of another thug, causing for him to fall down and drop his weapon. He grabbed the weapon of the third thug before punching him in the face and slapping him in the chest, knocking him down.
The thugs got up and pulled out knives, ready to attack. One of them engaged Danny but Danny grabbed his wrist and punched him in the face, knocking him down before blocking the attack of another thug with his hand and hitting him in the face as he fell down and then he dodged the attacks of the third thug before punching him in the face. The other thug got up and attacked but Danny grabbed his hand and hit him in the face and chest and then again in his face, knocking him down before the third thug scratched Danny in his arm but Danny grabbed his hand and twisted his arm, disarming him and punching him in the face, knocking him down.
Danny briefly checked on his wound before more thugs with machine guns arrived to assist and surrounded Danny. Danny charged his Iron Fist and hit the ground as the shockwave knocked the thugs back and they hit the ground hard, yelping as the trash cans flew as well.
Danny neared one of the thugs on the ground before checking one of the knives they used.
"I'll make you eat that blade." The thug said in Chinese.
Danny shrugged as he threw the knife away and knelt down, grabbing the thug by his jacket and showing his fist. "Now, you saw what this can do. So, apologize, before I break your face."
"I'm sorry." The thug said in Chinese, not wanting to be hit with Danny's Iron Fist.
"See? That's better." Danny said. "You're a Golden Tiger, yes?"
The thug nodded as the police sirens echoed in the distance.
Danny let the thug go and left the scene.
From above, the man in yellow hood and red and black mask observed the scene as he narrowed his eyes. "Impressive… but brash. You will be an easy prey."
Later, Chikara Dojo
Colleen was at the table, with earphones on, plugged into a laptop as she was writing something down before Danny entered.
Colleen put down the earphones and sniffed. "Is that garlic shrimp I smell?"
"And moo shu." Danny showed her the bag of food.
"Mmm. You spoil me." Colleen smiled.
"Fuel to keep the midnight oil burning." Danny put the bag on the table.
"You missed midnight by a couple of hours." Colleen pointed out as she and Danny kissed.
"What are you working on?" Danny asked as he sat down.
"The… USCIS I-485." Colleen read from the paper. "Can't make the first step in permanent citizenship easy or everyone would apply." She deadpanned before typing on the laptop as Danny chuckled. "I'm helping Diana Tsai put hers together."
"Oh, she works at that little anime store on Forsyth, right?" Danny remembered.
"Mmm-hmm." Colleen nodded.
"Huh. I should swing by and see her." Danny got up.
"So you can bring more junk up in here?" Colleen drawled.
"Hey, it's not junk, it's research." Danny protested as he approached the computer on the other table. "I missed the last fifteen years of culture, I need to catch up."
Colleen sighed, smiling as she closed her laptop and turned to Danny. "I kind of like that you don't know who SpongeBob is."
"He's a sponge named Bob." Danny tried as Colleen laughed before on one of the screens of Danny's computer showed a map of New York and police radio band and then she noticed the news bulletin on the robbery that Danny just stopped as she neared him.
"Oh, shit. You really did some damage." Colleen pointed out.
"They killed three security guards." Danny tried to defend himself. "I couldn't take the chance on letting them get away, so… I stopped them."
"Looks like a war zone." Colleen said, worried as she looked closer at the damage Danny had done.
"They didn't respond well to "please"." Danny explained as he got up. He sat at another desk, taking off his shirt as on his chest was branded the Shao-Lao dragon tattoo.
"You know that's what you said the other night, right?" Colleen reminded as she turned to Danny with concerned look, while he was checking on the wound on his arm. "When you knocked the wall out of the back of that nightclub."
"I'm just trying to keep the peace." Danny said. "Situations… they happen." He bit off some of a tape before covering the wound on his arm with a clean cloth and taping it. "Maybe if you started coming out with me…"
"Mmm-mmm." Colleen immediately shook her head. "Let's not have this discussion again, OK?" She sat next to him as Danny was treating his injury. "Oh, come on, let me." She taped the cloth. "I like what I do at the center. You know, I help people, I'm a part of the community." Danny handed her more piece of tape. "Besides, last time I got involved…" She turned to her katana on a stand, remembering her encounter with her former master. "Things went sideways."
"Hey. You saved Misty." Danny assured her as she smiled softly. "And Claire."
"Hmm. That's the glass half full version." Colleen argued.
"It's the truth." Danny insisted.
"OK." Colleen got up. "Come on."
"What?" Danny asked.
"How about one last heroic mission before we get some shut-eye?" Colleen asked, holding his hand.
"I thought you wanted me to rest." Danny argued.
"Hmm… You did bring me takeout all the way from Hester Street." Colleen reminded as Danny chuckled before they entered the bedroom and laid down on bed, kissing and making out.
The next day, Chinatown
Davos was walking down Chinatown into the fishery as Hai-Qing Yang, leader of the Yangshi Gonshi, also known as the Hatchet Men, approached Davos.
"Good afternoon." Yang greeted Davos politely.
"I got your message about the shipment." Davos said. "I trust it's still on its way."
"It is." Yang assured him. "The issue is the price of passage, which has gone up."
Davos briefly took a breath, taking ahold of himself and in no mood for games. "We had a deal, Mr. Yang." He warned.
"I control these docks." Yang reminded. "But others want what I have. If I lose control, your shipment will fail to clear customs."
"That is not an option." Davos said, glaring, having no tolerance for failure or disappointment.
"The new price is four million." Yang said.
Davos stepped up to Yang. "Where I'm from, Mr. Yang, those who go back on their word, are tossed to the bottom of a ravine. As a child, I would walk among their corpses and break their bones for extra measure."
More members of Yangshi Gonshi, with hatchets in hands, surrounded Davos to prevent him from attacking their boss, not that it intimidated Davos, more like annoyed him. "I will discuss the terms with my partner." He was about to leave the fishery before Yang spoke up.
"My wife likes to tell me this place is a cautionary tale." Yang said. "All the little fish that thought they were headed upstream… now someone else's meal."
Davos turned around again before smacking one of the Hatchet Men in the face and grabbing his hatchet and slashing him in his wrist before hitting another one in his arm. The thug was about to attack Davos but Davos neared the hatchet to his throat as the thug froze in fear. Davos lowered his weapon as the thug sighed in relief and held his arm.
Davos glared at Yang. "No more stories. You raise the price again, you, your wife and your business will suffer." He dropped the hatchets and left the fishery as Yang considered. It was obvious that Davos wasn't a man he would want as an enemy.
Elsewhere
The Asian woman got up from her bath, wrapping a towel around her naked body as the man in yellow hood and red and black mask entered.
"Well?" The Asian woman asked in English.
"The Rand boy is a formidable warrior." The masked man said. "But… he's brash… lacks discipline. The other son of K'un-L'un… he seeks to claim the body of the former Iron Fist but Yangshi Gonshi are not making it easy on him. The Meachum woman has sent a scout to observe Rand and the traitor. She is… an odd one, that is certain."
The woman narrowed her eyes. "Is there any indication that this boy from K'un-L'un would…"
"He certainly is full of anger, contempt and resentment. I have no doubts he shall confront the Iron Fist and shed blood soon enough, to get what he wants." The masked man said. "He has reached out to the Crane Sisters…"
The woman smirked. "Surely that fool isn't trying…"
"It would seem so." The man said.
The woman laughed and looked intrigued. "Interesting development. Perhaps we can use this."
The man looked annoyed. "Surely you do not want to sway him to us? He was born and raised in K'un-L'un, he'd never…"
"Of course not. But if he succeeds… we'll have the means to claim the Iron Fist's power as our own." The woman said.
"And what of Black Sky and the Devil?"
"Let the Devil recover." The woman ordered as she poured herself some tea. "If we want retribution, it would be dishonorable to attack an injured warrior. Much greater challenge and honor would be to face the Black Sky, the Devil and the Iron Fist with the traitor in full strength."
The masked man pulled out four knives and turned around, hitting the photos of Daredevil, Elektra, Danny and Colleen hanging on a wall.
Author's Note:
So, what do you guys think?
Please review and let me know if you have been enjoying this.
