Danny drives back to his home when his phone rings. He answers, "Daniel Rand."
"Hello, Mr Rand. It's Dave from the PR Department."
"How are you, Dave?"
"Great. So the Board just saw the numbers. We're down a few points."
"I'm the CEO, remember? I'm aware of this."
As you know, we feel this might be due to bad publicity from Heroes For Hire. The media has already reminded the public more than once that Heroes For Hire is owned by Rand Corps."
"Well, we're on a case at the moment, so that should put us back in their good graces."
"We heard about that. There was something about Luke Cage getting in a fight and a gym exploding?"
"It wasn't a gym, it was a dojo."
"So a dojo exploded?"
"It didn't explode... Just parts of it."
"I assume the company is insured."
"Yeah, I've taken care of everything."
"That sounds great, Danny. Let's make sure you guys look good out there because if you look good, we look good."
Danny hangs up in frustration.
Later that day, Ava comes back to her apartment building with a bag full of groceries. She goes up the stairs and down her hallway where a shadow slowly emerges behind her. She nears her newly repaired apartment door and her pace slows down as she glances to the side and sees the shadow creeping along the wall. She slows down more, as does the figure behind her and once she stops at her apartment, she drops the bags and spins around, taking a fighting stance. A young African American man with a goatee raises his hands defensively, "Whoa. Wow, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya."
Ava sighs and lowers her fists, "No, I'm sorry. I thought... Sorry, I guess you just startled me."
"No problem," he extends a hand, "I'm Tyrone King. Uh, do you live here? I'm looking for an Ava Ayala?"
"I'm Ava. What can I do for you?"
"I'm an art collector. I knew your brother Hector."
"Hector? Really?"
"Yeah, I took one of his courses a few years back. Sorry to hear about his passing."
"Thanks. Uh,... So what brings you here, Tyrone?"
"A while back, he told me about some old talismans he had. Three of them. Apparently, they were of unknown origin but he thought they might be from China. He said they pieced together to form an amulet in the shape of a white tiger. I understand he left them with you?"
"So uh... What did Hector tell you about them?"
"That was it. He was planning to sell them to me before he passed. I understand if this is a bad time or -"
"No, no. It's fine," Ava furrows her brow curiously, "So Hector was planning to sell these things to you?"
"Yeah, that's what he said. I can show you the old emails he sent me if you like."
"That's okay. So, did he show them to you?"
"No, I was hoping you might have them. I'll give you a fair price, honestly."
"I think I know what you're talking about," she seems to think for a moment, "I think there was something like that in a box of stuff I gave to some friends. I can call them later and have them bring `em to you. Y'know, just to let you get a good look at them. We can discuss prices and everything later if you like what you see."
"That sounds great," he reaches into his pocket, "Let me give you my business card. It has the address to my gallery. Mind if your friends bring it there tomorrow?"
"Sure," she takes his business card.
"Okay, uh,... It was nice meeting you, Ava. I hope to see you again."
"Sure. I'll have my friends bring the talismans by tomorrow morning. Say around 10 o' clock?"
"I'll make an appointment. Take care," Tyrone waves and smiles as he leaves.
Ava is left in front of her apartment, contemplating the situation. At the office of Heroes For Hire, Cage sits quietly at his desk and stares at his Maggia notes. His concentration is broken, however, when the phone rings. He looks at the phone, reluctant to answer it as it rings a second time. He grimaces a bit and finally picks up on the second ring, "Yeah?". He hears Ava on the other end, "It's Ava. I think I found Master Kahn." Later, the three of them are in the office. "So do you believe your brother would agree to sell the talismans?," Dannys asks.
"No way," Ava shakes her head, "He promised to keep them and that's what he did. I never heard of this guy before. There's no reason why he would know about these things. I thought I should at least be cautious about this."
"Kahn is powerful enough, I wouldn't be surprised if he could change appearances," Danny explains.
"But this goes back to what I said earlier," Cage adds, "He can show up at any time and seems to know where they are, usually. Why would he bother disguising himself?"
"It draws less attention?"
"He didn't worry about that when he shot me through a wall."
"Maybe he decided to change his strategy," Ava adds.
"And this is probably a trap. We sure we wanna go in there?"
"Do we have a choice?," Danny asks.
Tyrone King's art warehouse is a two story building in Manhatten. Danny pulls his car up to it and he gets out followed by Cage who has the jade box in his hand. Inside, the gallery is filled with various sculptures, vases, and other artwork from different cultures and periods. "Nice place," Cage says as he admires the surroundings. Tyrone King approaches from across the gallery, "You must be Ava's friends," he smiles and extends a hand. Danny glances at Cage before shaking, "Pleasure to meet you." Tyrone motions toward the backroom, "I do most of my negotiating downstairs in my private collection. Care to join me?" They carefully follow him into a back storage room where they see an elevator. Tyrone presses a button, "So what do you guys do?". "We're students," Danny tells him. Tyrone nods and waits for the elevator to open before allowing them to enter. The three men go inside and the elevator doors close. The basement is dimly lit with several crates and more artwork; some covered and some not. He walks into the room and stops in the center.
"I take it, the talismans are with you?," he asks as he motions toward the jade box in Cage's hand.
"Maybe, but y'know, before we start negotiating, I have to wonder about something," Cage begins, "I'm a well-known bounty hunter who's had some bad press lately and my friend here is the CEO of Rand Corps."
"How is it, you don't recognize us?," Danny asks.
"Heroes For Hire? Ever hear of it?," Cage asks.
"I guess I don't get out much," Tyrone says with a shrug.
"Really? You look well-traveled," Danny continues, "Ever been as far as K'un L'un?"
Tyrone smiles, but it is a different smile than he had previously "I knew this charade wouldn't last long."
His form shifts. His suit soon turns into a black cloak and his face grows pale as his hair and beard grow out. Danny and Cage take a step back to get ready as Kahn appears before them. The lights in the basement grow even dimmer as Kahn sinks into the darkness and disappears completely.
"Here we go," Cage raises his fists in preparation.
