"So what exactly is the plan here, Frank? A dead man and a mass murderer just walk in and ask for an appointment with Daniel Rand?" Matt asked skeptically.
A bus zoomed past them as the crosswalk sign turned green.
"Who said anything about asking?" Frank chuckled.
"So we're gonna break into the office of a billionaire?"
Frank smirked, "Is it really breaking in if you don't get caught?"
"Frank…" Matt said in a warning tone.
"Come on, Red, we need the mighty Defenders for this mission," Frank laughed.
The two made their way through the ground level, slipping past security guards and receptionists until they reached an elevator.
Frank leaned against the back wall as Matt sent them up to the top floor, the doors almost closed when a hand was stuck between them, forcing them to open again.
An Asian man, wearing one of the security uniforms, wormed his way into the elevator before it took off, shooting a smile at Matt and Frank.
"What floor?" Matt asked.
"Top floor," he answered, a little too jovially for Frank.
"Hmm, what a coincidence," Matt said as the elevator began to take off.
"So, why are you going to go see Mr. Rand?" The security guard asked.
"We're a couple of his old friends from high school, haven't seen each other in about five years," Frank lied, "Why do you care?"
"Oh, just making conversation, I don't like silence—"
Matt roared as he flipped into the air and brought his foot down on the security guard's face, knocking him unconscious.
"Jesus, Red! The hell did you do that for?" Frank was honestly shocked by that.
Matt kneeled in front of the man and pulled his collar down a bit, revealing a twisted red serpent tattoo on his neck.
"He's a part of The Hand, we need to get to Danny as fast as possible, who knows how many of them are here," Matt grunted.
The elevator reached the top floor, the two ran out, past the dead secretary lying on the floor, and flung open the doors.
They immediately jumped to the side when the body of a man in a red ninja garb was launched past them, and into the closing elevator doors.
Daniel Rand was a man of average height, with curly brown hair and a beard that ran across his jawline and framed his mouth, he wore a very standard black and white three-piece suit, and his hand grew a brilliant yellow.
More bodies of Hand ninjas laid strewn about his office, all groaning in pain. The glow died from Danny's hand as he straightened his tie before he finally noticed the two men that had entered.
"Frank Castle? Matthew Murdock? Could've sworn both of you had died," he shrugged.
"Yeah, not yet," they said in unison.
"So,what do I owe the pleasure, and why should I not call the cops on your buddy there, Matt?" Danny asked as he sat down on his desk.
"Because he needs our help," Matt sighed.
"Oh?"
"I need help killing an old demon of mine. In exchange, I'm willing to give up The Punisher forever," Frank explained.
"And, who exactly is this 'demon'?" Danny asked.
"Billy Russo. He's the last person alive to have any connection to what happened to my family, escaped to Japan, and started up his gang again," Frank answered.
Danny looked at him skeptically before turning to the blind man, "You believe him, Matthew?"
"Not entirely, but—" Matt sighed, "But I believe that we should at least try."
Danny grabbed an apple from a bowl and tossed it in the air a few times before chuckling, "So we're getting the Defenders together again."
"Did- Did I miss something? Why have both of you called us that?" Matt asked.
"Come on, I know where Jessica is," Danny said, although muffled due to the fact that he was chewing.
"Hey, answer my question!"
Jessica groaned as she rolled out of bed while her skull was pounding, probably from a hangover judging by the nearly empty whiskey bottle in her right hand.
The incessant knocking on her door wasn't making it any better, so she quickly threw on an oversized shirt to cover up her lady bits and wandered over to the door.
"...Ok, I know at least one of you is a ghost," Jessica mumbled.
"Not a ghost, Jess'," Matt sighed.
"Drunk hallucination then?"
"It's ten-fourteen AM, why are you drunk."
Jessica picked up a hammer from the drawer next to the door and chucked it at Matt, only for him to catch it a mere inch from his face.
"Was that really necessary? You could've just reached out and touched me," Matt said.
"Ugh, I'm too hungover to ask about that whole story. So, what do you want?" Jessica asked as she tossed the whiskey bottle away.
"We're getting The Defenders back together," Daniel grinned.
"God, I hate that name," Jessica groaned.
"Yeah, I'm not too fond of it either," Matt agreed.
"Listen, you help me track down Billy Russo so I can blow his head to a thousand different pieces then blow up his body. I give up Punisher, no more killing," Frank explained.
Jessica looked between the three of them before blowing a strand of hair out of her face, "Fuck it, I don't have anything else to do and I need a break from this whole PI thing. Let me change."
A few minutes later Jessica returned in jeans, a white t-shirt, a leather jacket, and a dark blue skirt.
"So, what are we gonna do about Luke?" Jessica asked.
"What about Luke? We were just gonna go get him next," Matt shrugged.
"Uhhhhhh..."
"Oh boy, here comes the punchline," Frank muttered.
"Jessica, what's wrong with Luke?" Danny asked.
"Only the fact that he's now Harlem's new crime overlord," Jessica bluntly answered.
"What?!" Matt and Danny yelled in unison.
"Huh, don't think I can kill a guy with unbreakable skin," Frank said.
"How did this happen?" Matt asked.
"Well, after Mariah Stokes died, Harlem's Paradise was given to him, and he soon pressured all of the other crime lords to submit to him. Kinda hard to say no to a guy who is invincible and could crush you like a twig. Then he began to run everything, drug deals, weapons deals, the works."
"Why would Luke do this, it doesn't make any sense," Danny muttered.
"It's completely out of left field," Matt agreed.
"Ah well, what's one indestructible man, let's get ready to go," Frank shrugged.
"No, we have to stay here and fix this, Frank," Matt said.
"What?"
"By the time we get back, this situation could be too far gone, so we need to stop Luke now," Danny nodded.
"After all, a man with practically zero ways to be hurt is much more dangerous than Billy Russo," Jessica chimed in.
Frank just groaned as he stared up at the ceiling, "God, I hate it when other people are right."
Meanwhile, In Japan
Nemuri flicked on the lights and dropped her jacket against a recliner. Her safe house was a little beach house on Dagobah beach, a cozy place where she liked to relax when the media got a bit too invasive, although it did get a little creepy at night.
She may have to hide her collection of beach house related horror movies, just so Inko doesn't get freaked out.
"So, I'll be here during the day, and at night the Midnight Boys will be here to keep watch. Never ever let anyone in that isn't me, the boys, or Izuku," Nemuri explained as Inko plopped her bag on the couch
Nemuri turned to Inko, watching her head drop down into her hands. Nemuri plopped down next to her, hesitantly caressing her shoulder, "Are you ok?"
"Well, I just saw my son for the first time in months, and not only did I only get to see him for about thirty minutes, but he's a vigilante being hunted down by the Hero Public Safety Commission, who could kill him and leave him in an alley somewhere, and now I'm on the run from them as well," Inko ranted.
Nemuri just pulled her in closer, letting the green-haired woman rest against her shoulder. After a few minutes, she pulled her shoulder back to look into Inko's green eyes.
"If it makes you feel any better, Izuku isn't going out any time soon. I've seen him fight, he's a devil on the battlefield, it's gonna take a lot for those HPSC goons to take him out. Plus, he's got a whole gang to watch his back, trust me, Inko, your son is fine," Nemuri smiled.
Inko smiled back, "Thank you, Nem'."
So, I hope you guys are enjoying this pov change, I'm gonna be focusing on The Defender a lot more now, so I hope you don't find the chapters boring or anything. Discord links:
The Hoard: https/discord.gg/2Nw3AjvDK6
LoM: https/discord.gg/DXq8n6VE4G
That's it for now, Peace.