Hello everyone and welcome back to a new chapter.
This is the final chapter to Tales of Infinite Wars season 1.
Not much to say as I'll cover more in the end of the chapter so stick around.
Huge thanks to jesicabavcar for helping me put this chapter together.
Without further ado, I hope you all enjoy
Bronx, New York
Detective Byrd kicked an empty bottle of some sort of chemical out of the way and huffed. Despite having arrived on the scene fairly quickly, they hadn't found much. The warehouse was empty except for the crates that hid some drugs, but it was not nearly as much as they'd expected. The rest of the place was clean, no fingerprints, no evidence, no clues.
Had the Nomads been warned? Had they emptied the storage in advance to thwart their efforts?
"Byrd," his partner, James, called from the other side of the room. He was standing next to a hunched old man in a dirty janitor uniform, who kept wringing his hands nervously as he looked from side to side.
Frowning, Byrd made his way over there. "What do you have here, D'Angelo?"
"This man works in the building next door at night. Says he saw something interesting a few minutes before we arrived." The pointed look James directed at him gave Byrd an inkling of where this was going and his hand twitched in anticipation.
He directed his hard stare at the old man, who flinched slightly and started babbling. "Yes, right. I always thought there was something weird about this place, with all those big, angry men coming and going, but no one else paid attention to it, which was a bit suspicious if—"
"Please, cut to the chase," Byrd interrupted, ignoring the look D'Angelo threw his way that practically said he's an old man, give him a break.
"Right, right," the man said, wiping a hand through his sweaty forehead. "I was doing my job of course, on one of the upper floors, when I looked out the window and saw...something."
"Something?" Byrd raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, it looked like a man, but he was— he was covered in white." The detectives exchanged a look before the man kept going. "He jumped from the roof and into this warehouse and, just a couple of minutes later, everyone started leaving the place like ants in a flooding nest. You guys showed up not long after that."
Byrd nodded. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, sir. If you wait here, an officer will come to ask you some more questions. D'Angelo," he called, turning around and walking away, his partner hot on his heels. "Seems like White Tiger was busy tonight. If it was recent, he might still be around the area, and he's the only lead we have. Find him."
-Scene Cut-
Hector stumbled into Jack's apartment, closing the door behind him and peeking through the blinds to make sure he hadn't been followed.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jack said, coming in from the living room. "Dude, it's the second time you entered my house like this; one of these days I'm gonna have a fucking heart attack."
"Sorry, amigo." Hector moved away from the window once he was satisfied, trying to hide the limp from his friend. "Do you mind if I use your bathroom?"
"Why are you walking like that? What's wrong with you?" Jack said instead. Damn, he was too smart for his own good.
"Nada, estoy bien. I just tripped on my way over here, it's still a bit hard to move with this thing," Hector joked, pinching the tight fabric around his thighs. Then he made his way over to the bathroom, punching his friend lightly on the shoulder as he passed by.
Jack sighed and followed, leaning on the door frame to prevent Hector from locking himself in. "Man, we've been friends for seventeen years. Do you really think I can't tell when you're lying? What happened?"
To buy himself some time, Hector focused on getting out of the suit and back into his normal clothes, then went over to the sink to splash water on his sweaty face. When he rose up to look himself in the mirror, he caught Jack's reflection crossing his arms in wait.
"Fine," Hector huffed and turned so he could lean on the vanity. "I found a clandestine lab and went to take a look. Jack, you should have seen that place, it's stocked full and—"
"Please don't tell me you started a feud with a drug cartel," Jack pleaded, rubbing a hand through his temple.
Hector snorted, "Of course not. I just wanted to find some information."
"How did you get hurt then?"
"I went to ask very politely about what they were talking about and—" when Jack gave him his best no nonsense face, Hector sighed and deflated a bit, "—Ok, I went for the leader and some guy knocked me over. Maldito cabrón, he was built like a tank."
"Is that how you got injured?"
"Yeah, he took one of my punches as if it was nothing! He can't be a regular dude." Jack raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth, but Hector beat him to it. "I know, I know what you're going to say. But Jack, listen. They are bringing something in. Something dangerous. I can't let that happen if I can do something about it. It wouldn't feel right."
They stared at each other for long moments. Hector needed his friend's help and Jack knew this, but Jack was also against Hector doing what he was doing. He also knew that Hector would run off whether he helped him or not, and that he had a better chance of survival if he collaborated with him.
Finally, Jack sighed in defeat. "Ok, ok! What do you know?"
Hector's smile was grateful as he pushed against the vanity and turned to search for a first aid kit. He had a small cut on his fist and he would need to have a look at his ribs at some point, but he didn't want to do it in front of Jonathan when he'd just agreed to help.
Instead, he focused on relaying the information he'd gathered. "So there's a gang called the Nomads, who are probably the owners of that lab. Someone hired them to protect a cargo that will arrive in a week, coming from Chile. It will be at the docks, but I don't know the exact time."
"Who hired them?"
"I don't know that either. I feel like I've seen him somewhere before, but I can't quite put my finger on it. He seemed powerful," Hector said, recalling the way he dressed, his words and attitude, "and dangerous."
"Hm." Jack contemplated for a bit, watching as Hector dabbed an antibiotic-drenched piece of cotton over his hand. "I'll look into it. If anything useful comes up, I will let you know."
Then he snatched the healing tools from Hector and forced him to lift his shirt, ignoring his spluttering and protests. There was an angry bruise already covering a big portion of his torso and Hector winced when Jack proded at it.
"Does it hurt when you breathe in?" he asked.
Hector swatted his hand away. "No, but it does when you touch the freaking thing."
"You're lucky you don't have a broken rib," Jack said sternly. "I will help. But you have to promise to be careful, ok?"
Hector glanced at the severe look on Jack's face, at the worry hidden behind the exasperation. He smiled warmly at his friend and nodded. "Yeah, I promise."
-Scene Cut-
Ronald Bloch walked through the familiar street, skirting through puddles and making sure he stayed well in the shade of the building to his right. The Silent Ones were always on his back about not letting anyone see where he was going whenever he came back to report to them and if he heard one more thing about it, he was pretty sure he would smash someone's head into a wall.
He smirked at the image. Oh, he would take great pleasure in silencing one of those silent idiots. Did they think that just because of his size, he couldn't find ways to slip by unnoticed? They underestimated him. But well, Ronald was used to that by now.
Growing up as he had, on the streets, doing any type of job he could get his hands on to survive, he grew used to people trying to manipulate him, thinking he was stupid. Especially after he'd gotten arrested. He supposed he'd been a bit reckless back then, when he refused to be a lackey for the dominating prison gang. But why would he have wanted to work when he'd already been arrested?
He should have known what his refusal would lead to. Maybe he was a bit stupid for not suspecting it when he was cornered in an empty corridor. At least he took great pleasure in the knowledge that he'd sent three of them to the infirmary and that they'd needed to rely on a prison shank to take him down. He'd been left alone in a pool of his own blood and would have died if he hadn't been disposable enough for some Doctors to want to do some weird shit experiment on him.
But after whatever they'd done, he'd gained a lot of strength and a new resistance to wounds, which led to him being even more reckless, but who cared? Thanks to those assholes that wanted him as a guinea pig, he'd been able to escape prison and become an Enforcer. Now there were people that were willing to pay him big money to do their dirty work.
Hence, the reason why he was knocking at a secret door one Sunday at 11 pm.
The surly looking man that received him guided him through a long corridor, until they arrived into a spacious living room, with expensive furniture, a huge flat screen TV and art pieces scattered like trophies. Sat on one of the largest sofas Bloch had seen to date, was an elegant man, around his late forties, fit for the scene. He was tall, with broad shoulders and an angular face, and was wearing a tailored suit that had basically been made for the sole purpose of reminding everyone else that he was the one in charge; one of the top members of the organisation.
"Roxxon," Bloch said by way of greeting.
The man looked up from the iPad he'd been tapping on and smiled in that cold and calculating way he always did. "My dear friend, Ox. I hope you have good news for me."
Ox snorted, refusing to be intimidated by the barely concealed threat. "The pigs showed up. Someone must have called them, so I had to bail. But I reckon I did some pretty good damage to that pale moron."
"Ah, yes. The White Tiger, he calls himself. Did he get away too?" Philip asked with a sharp edge to his voice.
Closing his fist tightly, Bloch forced himself to keep a huff in. Philip Roxxon could be a dangerous motherfucker and there was a fine line that Ox was always toeing but should never cross. He knew that. So he just cast a boring expression in his boss' way and explained what should have been obvious. "Well yes. Like I said, the police showed up. I don't know how the hell he got inside without getting caught, but he's definitely on our lead. He knows about the shipment too, so we might need to change our plans."
Roxxon laughed and focused on his iPad again. "Don't worry about that. We have a secret weapon, you see. He just recently came back after completing a job in Mexico; a member of the order tried to deflect and we had to...take care of it." An evil smile spread on his face. "And then there's also Fantomex. Even if our kitty friend decides to show up, he'll surely take care of him."
-Scene Cut-
Later on the same night, exhausted and drained of all energy, Hector stumbled up the stairs to his room. He was shuffling quietly through the corridor so as not to wake up the rest of his family but, just as he passed by the door to Aya's room, he heard something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
He waited, still as a stone and, sure enough, a couple of seconds later he heard it again. A small, tiny hiccough that tore at Hector's heart.
After pushing the door open slowly, he was greeted by a sight that he never wanted to see. Aya was sitting against the headboard, curled into a ball, thin arms hugging her legs tightly as great, heaving sobs shook her small body.
"Oh, pumpkin." He rushed to her side and sat on the bed next to her, pulling her into his chest.
Aya looked up from her knees, cheeks wet and her big eyes puffy. Her voice shook when she spoke next. "Papá?"
"Si, amor, aquí estoy," he shushed, running a hand on her back in a soothing motion.
"You were gone," she cried harder, burying her face and clutching at his shirt tightly. "I went to your room but you weren't there and I didn't know where you'd gone," she sniffed.
Hector's eyes burned. When was the last time he'd spent proper quality time with his daughter? In his plot for justice, he'd been neglecting Aya and the loss of her mother, he hadn't been there for her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, tightening his hold on her. "I'm so sorry. I promise I'm still here, ok? I will never leave you." He pulled back so he could look into her face and wipe the tears that kept trailing down. "You're the most precious, beautiful thing I have and I'm not going anywhere."
A small smile lit up her face and, as Hector returned it, he was reminded of exactly why he'd decided to do all of this, to accept the powers bestowed upon him and use them for good. It was all to make his neighbourhood safe, to aim for a better city. But none of that would amount to anything if he couldn't make Aya happy.
-Scene Cut-
The click-clack of the keyboard going at top speed filled the dark room where Jack was sitting, eyes focused on the computer screen. He stopped for a second to take a sip of his coffee and think about where he could begin his search.
Since Hector had barged into his flat the day before, injured and trying to hide a limp, Jack had been delaying this. Getting information and encouraging his friend to put himself in danger was not something he wanted to do, but he was pretty sure that Hector would do something even if he didn't help him, and he probably had better chances at survival if he gave him the intel he needed.
With that thought in mind, he started by checking out what ships would be arriving in New York from Chile during the next week. It wasn't all that hard to access the information he needed and he wondered, not for the first time, why these companies didn't get better security.
He made a copy of the list and scanned through it, highlighting anything that seemed important; mainly all the ships marked around the day that Hector had mentioned. Then something caught his eye and Jack went rigid.
Snapping out of it, he clicked a few times and dug a bit further, but there it was, clear as day: a ship owned by Roxxon Corporation.
He didn't recall their company ever having anything to do with these kinds of transactions, but he supposed it wasn't that far-fetched either. Could it be just a really big coincidence?
There was a way he could easily find out who from Roxxon had ordered a shipment from Chile. It would only take a bit of effort on his part. Jack tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking hard. Should he do it?
He stared at the ceiling for long seconds, weighing the pros and cons of hacking into the company's servers. If they found out, he would most likely be fired. But it wasn't very likely that they would notice these things if they didn't have anything to hide. Jack was good at what he did. And he wanted to know exactly who he was working for.
Taking a deep breath, he focused back on the screen and started typing again. It didn't take long to find the information he needed, and something settled in his stomach like a stone when he did. It'd been his boss who'd authorized the shipment.
Something was not right. For the heir to such a big conglomerate to authorize something like this personally, there had to be something more.
Well, he'd already come this far, hadn't he? Hacking into his boss' files was just one step further.
The security in his computer was a lot tighter than the rest, there were a lot of hidden folders and codes to break, and Jack dived into the task fully. It took more time, but when he finally found everything he needed, he was a bit shocked, to say the least. There was a plethora of information incriminating Philip Roxxon of fraudulent transactions and acquisition of illegal goods, as well as details on who the man Hector had encountered at the warehouse was. Not only that, it appeared that Philip was part of a criminal organisation, but Jack couldn't find anywhere what exactly those people were after. By the looks of it, nothing good.
Jack stretched his arms until his back popped and then sighed. "Looks like it's gonna be a long day."
-Scene Cut-
On the other side of the city, two men were moving around a weapons room, arming themselves, strapping holders to their thighs and getting their suits ready. Erik noticed how, at a simple glance, they seemed to be complete opposites, which was probably the reason why they were such a great pair. He was half-dressed, the dark skin on his arms marked by hundreds of tiny scar-like dots, dark hair shaved on both sides and woven into locs in the middle. Charles, instead, was already covered from head to toe in a white suit with zig-zagging black lines, a sleeveless trench coat with the same pattern and combat boots. His mask only revealed his clear eyes, which were calculating and cold as they stared at his partner.
"I heard you had fun in Mexico?" he asked.
Erik didn't even look up from where he was checking the magazine on his gun. "The chase was entertaining. Not much of a fan of the drama that followed, though."
After gathering all of his weapons, he finished dressing and noticed that Charles was tinkering with his gauntlet. The other man looked up and saw the curiosity in Erik's eyes as he studied the device. "It's a special glove," he explained. "It glows when it's fully charged and amplifies the strength of my punches."
Erik pondered this for a second. Charles already had super soldier strength, but so did their target. Could a simple gauntlet make a real difference? "Will it work?"
Charles smirked under his mask and walked over to the back wall, where he assumed a fighting stance. In a flash, he delivered one single punch right in the middle and watched as the concrete was smashed into pieces, the entire wall crumbling like dust. A few lowly guards that were patrolling on the other side jumped up and, after looking at Charles for two seconds, scrambled out of sight.
Charles relaxed his posture and turned to look calmly at Erik. "It will finish him off."
-Scene Cut-
Jack opened the door to his flat and dragged Hector inside in a rush, throwing the lock on as soon as they were both in.
"You told me to come as soon as I could, what happened?" Hector asked, eyeing his friend with worry in his eyes.
"This is big, H. Bigger than we thought." He walked over to the living room and sat on the couch, his elbows pressed against his knees and hands joined together to keep from fiddling with them.
"Did you find out when the ship is arriving?" Hector followed and settled on the armchair in front of his friend.
Jack huffed a joyless laugh. "And then some." He took a deep breath and focused his stare on Hector's. "It's not just the Nomads you're up against. The ones behind this call themselves The Silent Ones. Does it ring a bell?" Hector shook his head and Jack smiled wryly. "I put my best skills to the test here, so I hope you appreciate my efforts. Apparently, they are a criminal group that stems from the Hand organisation; they went rogue and created their own faction, they've been trying to establish their own power since then. I don't know exactly how they're planning to achieve this, or what they want to do once they have it."
"Do you know who's in charge of it?"
Sighing, Jack looked down. "Yeah."
He didn't add anything for a while and Hector's worry kept growing. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I—" he sighed again and seemed to steel himself. "Roxxon. Philip Roxxon is one of the top members behind it. He personally authorised the shipment and all."
Hector was gaping at him, opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water. "But that's—"
"I know. I know, ok? Listen, you can't be reckless about this. This is not just some small prey, they are a monster corporation and you will get yourself killed if you dive in without thinking."
"Well, but we have to do something!" Hector rose from his seat, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.
"Will you calm down and let me finish? I found something else." Hector eyed him suspiciously and Jack raised an eyebrow, waiting until he huffed and sat down again. "Remember that man you mentioned that was in the warehouse? Well, his name is Bryce Allen. I hacked into security cams all over New York, so I will get notified whenever he shows up."
Hector was stunned into silence, staring at his friend in awe. "Wow. You really are the perfect sidekick." He laughed when Jack aimed a blow at him.
"I'm not your sidekick."
He was about to say something else when his computer started beeping. Both men looked at each other before going over to check it. Hector saw that a notification had popped up on the screen, but he had no idea what it meant.
"Right on cue," Jack smirked. "That's Bryce right there. You want to stop the cargo? Start with this guy. Get as much information as possible so you can get an idea of what you're getting yourself into."
After Jack gave him the exact location he needed to go to, Hector left and found a dark alley where he could transform into White Tiger. Taking special care not to attract attention to himself, he jumped on the roof and followed the coordinates Jack had given him to one of the oldest parts of town.
Finding Bryce was easier than he'd thought. He really ought to thank Jack properly, the amount of intel he'd gathered in such a short time surpassed all of his highest expectations. He remembered Allen very well from just a few nights ago, but there were too many people around, so he followed quietly behind him as he took a couple of turns, walking aimlessly. Where was he going?
Finally, they reached an area that was almost deserted, surrounded by old buildings that seemed to be mostly empty, and White Tiger figured this was his best shot. He leapt from the roof and landed neatly in front of the man, who jumped back with a yelp.
"Hello. Remember me?" Hector said, but the man was already turning around and trying to make a run for it. He chuckled. "Looks like you do."
He grabbed the man from the collar and pushed him back against a wall, pressing the edge of his forearm to his throat.
"What do you want?!" Bryce yelled, struggling to get free.
"Oh, I thought I mentioned that on my last visit, my apologies," Tiger said in a light tone. Then he got his face closer to Bryce's and his voice got a threatening hue. "What are the Silent Ones after?"
Bryce's eyes widened and he looked away. "I don't know what you're talking abou—agh!" Hector pressed down on his throat and let the claws on his other hand out.
"Look." He brought one sharp finger to the man's cheek, who followed it with big, trembling eyes. "There're two ways that this can go and I think I don't need to explain them to you. So, make this easier on both of us and start talking."
"Ok, ok! They… they have a weapon, the— the Equinox Blade. I don't know what it does!" he hurried to add when Hector dug his claw a little bit on his skin. "I only know that it's being shipped to New York soon and that with it, the Silent Ones and the Ten Rings will become allies and that will solidify their hold on New York."
"When are they meeting? And what are they planning to do after?" Hector pressed on.
Bryce gasped, trying to get more air into his lungs, hands grasping uselessly at Hector's arm. "They will exchange—"
The sound of something small travelling through the air reached Hector's ears a millisecond before it impacted Bryce's temple. The bullet went clean through his head, blood splattering the wall to their left just as Bryce's body went limp.
White Tiger let go of him and took two steps back, watching in horror as he crumpled to the floor like a rag doll. He turned around to see who had taken the shot, hiding like a coward with a sniper rifle, but before he could even take a look, something landed in front of him, bouncing until it stopped by his feet, and Hector didn't have time for anything else.
"Mierda."
He managed to cover his face just as the grenade blew up, the force of the explosion sending him flying back and hitting his head pretty badly. White dots danced in front of his vision as White Tiger got on his hands and knees. In the corner of his eye, he saw a blurry figure advancing on him and White Tiger had to force his shaky legs to get up. He raised his guard just as the man, who was clad all in black, threw a punch at him which Hector barely managed to block. Had he been a normal human, he was pretty sure his bones would have been broken.
Hector retaliated with a roundhouse kick, but the other man easily grabbed his leg and held on to it as he rotated slightly and dug his elbow into Hector's nose.
He stumbled back, feeling the blood under the mask but not taking his eyes away from the other man. They faced each other, walking in a slow circle.
"Are you the one that killed Bryce?" Hector asked.
"He was a snitch," the man shrugged. "And you pry too much."
He dashed to the side, jumped on a crate and pushed off the wall to aim a hard kick to White Tiger's head, which snapped violently to the side. He was pretty sure he would get a crick in his neck if things kept up in this manner, but his vision was still swimming too much for him to feel steady on his feet.
Hector breathed in to calm his racing heart and focused on his adversary. For the first time since acquiring his powers, he realised how much of a difference there was between himself and other super humans. Had all of his training been in vain?
Letting out a frustrated groan, Hector barrelled forward and grabbed the guy across his middle, intending to take him back against a wall. But the other dug his heels and pushed back, throwing his whole weight into it.
It seemed as though Hector was going to be crushed but, in the lapse of a second, the man in black stopped pushing for a little bit, enough to make White Tiger lose his balance, and then shoved him back.
Confused, White Tiger looked up, only to see his enemy getting a bit further away.
"What is this cabrón doing now?" he muttered, but only an instant later he heard it. It was the same sound as before so, this time, Hector wasn't as surprised when the grenade hit the ground. However, he was still standing too close to it, so even though he tried to take cover, he was blasted back anyway.
A cloud of dust was covering the street; it looked as though there had been a war here. Hector coughed and dragged himself until his aching back was resting against an old building. Using it for support, he got up with a lot of effort and took a trembling step forward. He wasn't sure if he could move more than that.
He was assaulted by a sudden vision that scared him more than the prospect of his imminent death: Aya, sitting in her bed, crying herself to sleep with none of her parents to comfort her. He was going to leave her alone. Yeah, the rest of his family would be there for her, and that gave him some peace, but he'd promised her. And he was going to break that important promise yet again.
Another man, dressed in white and holding an M79 launcher in one hand, walked through the smoke next to the one in black. The latter stopped a few feet away, while the first walked until he was standing right in front of Hector, looking down his nose at him.
"Who are you?" Hector rasped.
"I'm Fantomex," he said, before throwing a thumb over his shoulder. "This guy over here goes by Killmonger. And this is the last time you'll see either of us."
His right hand started glowing in a purple light and Fantomex delivered a single punch to White Tiger's chest. He went flying back, hitting the wall behind and breaking through it, then hitting something else. Pieces of debris blasted around him until he finally landed with a thud and skidded across the floor inside the building.
The floor started rumbling as he heard more cracks everywhere. He raised his head slightly. Hector watched, unable to move and as if in slow motion, how dark lines formed on the concrete columns and started spreading like spiderwebs, going up, up, up.
He only had time to send a prayer for his daughter before the roof caved in and stones as big as motorbikes fell down.
Outside, Killmonger and Fantomex watched as the building collapsed entirely, burying the White Tiger under its weight.
"Well, that's what I call a job well done. You hungry?" Fantomex said as they both walked away.
Killmonger only rolled his eyes. "You're unbelievable."
-Scene Cut-
Awilda was fuming as she made her way to Jack's flat. Hector hadn't been home since he'd left for his friend's place the day before in the afternoon and Aya was worried sick asking where he was. She could understand that her brother was going through a lot of shit after Holly's death and that it was really hard on him, but Aya needed him. They all needed him.
She knocked on the door, a bit harder than was necessary, and waited. There was a clamber from inside as someone rushed to the entrance and, two seconds later, the door swung open and there was Jack.
"Hec— Oh." He recoiled in surprise. "Awilda? What are you doing here?"
"Where's Hector?" she demanded, pushing her way in. She didn't wait for a reply as she searched the living room and the kitchen, but there was no sign of him there. Jack watched her and let her do as she pleased, letting a few seconds pass before he replied.
"I...I don't know." There was such a hint of desperation in his voice that Awilda had to do a double take. Jack was fixing his hair, which was slightly dishevelled. Actually, now that she paid attention, all of him was slightly dishevelled; it looked like he hadn't slept well and seemed a bit agitated.
Something cold ran through her body. "What do you mean you don't know? He came here yesterday, didn't he?"
"Yeah, but… he left last night and didn't come back yet," Jack muttered as he started pacing the room back and forth. "Maybe I should go look for him? No, but what if he comes here?"
"Jack," Awilda called, as calmly as she could manage. She waited until his eyes were focused on her, until she knew she had his whole attention. "Where's my brother?"
If you were to grab a bird and plunge it underwater, it wouldn't have looked half as lost as Jack did at that moment. He stared at her and she could almost see his brain working at top speed and coming up empty. Eventually, he opened his mouth to say something just as the front door banged open.
Both of them jumped but, while Awilda gaped at the scene in front of her, Jack rushed to help the man stumbling over the threshold. He was covered in blood and dirt, his clothes torn in several places, where deep cuts and gashes tore at his flesh.
"Hector?" Awilda whispered, her voice cracking.
His head shot up and he winced at the sudden movement. His face was a mess, half of it was an ugly shade of blue and she was pretty sure that his nose might be broken.
Awilda moved aside to let them both through so Jack could lay Hector on the couch. She rushed to close the front door and join them there, where her brother was breathing heavily and Jack had gotten a first aid kit from who knows where.
"I told you to be careful, what the hell happened?" Jack scolded as he started cleaning Hector's worst cuts.
"I was just testing my durability," Hector said with a cheeky smile that was meant to lighten the mood, but the effect was dampened by his whispered curse when he reopened his split lip.
"Well, your fucking test owes me a new freaking couch now. Are you ok?"
"Ok?" Awilda asked, baffled. Words finally were coming back to her and in rising intensity. "How can you ask if he's ok? Look at him! What the fuck is going on?"
"Awilda, please, I will explain but I'd very much like to take care of these wounds first."
"You need to go to a hospital."
"And how would I explain all of this? Trust me, this is better. Just— just, please, don't freak out." He pleaded. He let Jack clean all of the wounds and then took his necklace off.
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.
"I wanna try something."
Carefully, Hector placed the necklace on top of the worst of his injuries, near his stomach, and waited. At first, nothing happened. But then, slowly, the torn muscle started closing on its own, until it was completely closed, leaving a scar that already looked a month old.
Jack's mouth was hanging open, and he looked at the amulet with renewed interest, feeling impressed. "How did you know that would happen?"
"While I was laying in a pile of rubble, I noticed that even though my body heals faster than it did before, the area closer to the necklace was in a much better state than the rest of me. But I couldn't tell if it would prevent an infection or not, so…" he gestured vaguely at Jack's tools and shrugged.
They proceeded to do the same with the rest of the presents left by Killmonger and Fantomex and, by the end, Hector was feeling almost like a whole man again. He would still need to take it a bit easy for the next few days, but at least he knew he wasn't going to die.
Sighing, he plucked up the courage and looked up to stare at his sister, who had been quiet through the whole process. A quiet Awilda was never a good sign.
She was looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time, mind going a mile a minute as she tried to process what she'd just witnessed. Eventually, she returned the stare and asked, only barely flinching, "What is that thing?"
Hector toyed with the necklace in his hands, feeling the smooth surface of the jade, the shape of the tiger, the heavy chain. "Something I bought in Mexico. I didn't know what it was then, and after Holly's funeral I just...I don't know, I guess I wanted to feel close to her. The thing is, I tried it on and now I have all these powers and—"
"And what, you decided to go and get yourself killed? Do you have any idea how many…" she trailed off as something seemed to click in her head. "It's you," she said and, even though she hadn't been all that surprised by the amulet's healing abilities, she looked stunned now. "You're that guy, the new one that's been on the news lately. White Tiger."
There was no point denying it, so Hector just nodded. He wasn't ready for Awilda's reaction, though. Her brow lowered in an angry frown and her hands curled into fists as they started shaking.
"How can you do something like that?"
"Awilda, I'm not one of the bad guys, I'm trying to help—"
"And what about your family?!" she yelled, shutting him up. She stopped to take a breath and calm herself, before lowering her voice. "What about Aya? What would happen to her if you were gravely hurt?"
Oh. So that's what she meant. Despite everything, Hector had to keep a chuckle in. Awilda and Jack were truly similar at times. "I know the risks, sis. But it's precisely because of Aya that I'm doing this. There's a lot at stake here and some really dangerous guys are involved. If I don't do something, who will?"
"Oh, I don't know," Awilda said, sarcasm dripping off her tongue. "The police? The fucking Avengers?"
"I don't think the police are ready for this, and are you friend's with Tony Stark without any of us knowing or something? 'Cause last time I checked, the Avengers weren't taking commissions."
They stared each other off for a bit, Jack sitting there and staring from one to the other, not sure what to do. Eventually, Awilda's mask broke slightly and some of her worry showed on her face. "Do you have to?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, sis. I think I do."
Awilda took another huge gulp of air and relaxed her posture, opening her fists. Hector released a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding. "Fine. I won't say anything, but you better not lie to me anymore."
Hector gave her a small smile. "Promise."
A clap startled both of them. "Well," Jack said, "now that that's settled, can you please tell me what happened last night? Did you find Bryce?"
"Yeah, I did. Apparently, the Silent Ones are looking to get friendly with the Ten Rings. The cargo they're expecting is a weapon called the Equinox Blade, which they plan to give to them to get more control."
"Did Bryce tell you what that thing does?"
Hector's face got sombre. "No. He was shot before he had a chance to. By the same guys that did this to me, some black and white dudes called Fantomex and Killmonger."
"They killed him?" Awilda gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth.
Hector nodded before focusing on Jack again. "Have you heard anything about that?"
"No, not at all." Jack was already standing up and going to his computer. "But we'll find out."
Brother and sister let the man do what he knew best and just sat together as he typed away on his computer. Hector found that he kept nodding off, which wasn't a surprise after the night he'd spent. Man, he was dying to fit in a nap.
After what could only have been about twenty minutes, Jack hummed thoughtfully. "The only thing that mentions anything about a blade like that comes from an old Japanesee tale. I'm not sure if we can trust this, but it's the only lead we have."
"What does it say?" Hector asked, sitting forward.
"That it's a katana that was forged during the Kamakura period. According to the legend, the sword drove its swordsmith mad before consuming his soul."
A heavy silence settled between the three of them as they pondered this and what a criminal organisation could do with such an item.
"Do you think that's what it really is?" Awilda asked.
"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised," Hector huffed. "But one thing is for sure. We have to stop this exchange before the Silent Ones can grow even more powerful."
-Scene Cut-
A few days later, Jack was coming back home after doing some grocery shopping. The task felt incredibly mundane after everything he'd been going through lately with his friend but well...he still needed to eat.
And feeding Hector had never been cheap, but he'd been training non-stop since they'd found out what the Blade was for and heck, the man could probably eat a truck. He'd been coming often to his place so they could make plans and decide how they should act and, in turn, his fridge had suffered severe consequences.
So it was loaded with four heavy bags of food that Jack arrived home that afternoon, ready to stock up his pantry. Only, he'd only taken two steps into his kitchen when he jumped and dropped everything on the floor.
Right there, leaning on the counter and looking at his nails in a bored fashion, was none other than his boss. Philip looked up when he heard the thud and smiled viciously.
"Ah, Jonathan, you're back."
Jack stared, dumbfounded, for so long that Philip raised an amused eyebrow. He flinched again and shoved his hands in his pockets to hide the slight tremor and reached for his phone covertly. There was no good explanation for the heir to Roxxon Corporation to be at one of his subordinate's home, so Jack already knew what Philip was going to say even before he opened his mouth again.
"Looks like you've been busy," he said, bending down to pick up a fallen orange, then throwing it from hand to hand. "Working, going to the shop, hacking into your boss' computer…" He let the words hang in the air and his expression changed to one of cold contempt. Then he made a signal to someone behind Jack and, before he could do anything, two masked men grabbed him and pressed a wet cloth to his nose.
Jack struggled without success but, soon, his strength started leaving him and his vision was quickly going black. He could barely make out Philip's silhouette as he approached and bent so his eyes were at the same eye level.
The last thing he remembered before he lost consciousness were his venomous words, "It's a shame, you know. I quite liked you and I hate to have you silenced. But I can't let you ruin what I've been working towards for so long."
-Scene Cut-
Getting in touch with the detectives was harder than Hector had thought.
He hadn't wanted to do it in the first place, but Awilda and Jack had insisted that the police should also know about the terrorist's plans. They had agreed to contact the ones on the case, in the hopes that they could help them stop the Silent Ones. Of course, Hector knew which officers had been assigned to the White Tiger, the same ones that had also been investigating the Nomads. But he couldn't just call the police station and be like "Hey, yes, this is White Tiger", could he?
Luckily, Jack had been great help with that and had provided Byrd's private number. The problem was that, apparently, the man didn't take calls from unknown numbers. So it had taken eight calls from Hector's disposable phone until someone picked up.
"Who's this?" was the first thing the gruff voice said.
"Hello, Detective. I know you've been on my tail for a while now, but you should know we're on the same side," Hector said, cutting to the chase.
There was a short pause and then, "Are you implying that you're the White Tiger? Is this some sort of joke? I don't have time to waste with you, kid."
"Kid?" Hector laughed.
"Well, I figured only kids wanted to dress up as superheroes," Byrd drawled.
This is taking us nowhere. "Look, I know you have no reason to believe me, but I have some information for you that could save a lot of lives. So buckle up and listen."
He then proceeded to relay all of the information they had gathered, including when the ship would arrive and when the exchange might take place. It took a while and, at the very least, the detective didn't interrupt.
He was almost finished when his emergency transponder went off.
"Hello?" Byrd asked when Hector stopped abruptly to check it. His face paled when he saw that the signal was coming from Jack's place. Jack was in trouble.
"I'm sorry, Detective, I have to go."
"Wait!"
But he was already gone, the line going dead on the other side.
Byrd looked at his phone, nonplussed. What had just happened? How did a lowly vigilante have more information than they'd gathered in all this time?
"Do we trust him?" D'Angelo asked.
Byrd turned to glance at him, sitting comfortably in his chair, one leg crossed over the other. "Of course not. Get ready, James, we're going to investigate."
-Scene Cut-
Hector burst into Jack's flat, breathing quickly. His worry only spiked up at the state of his friend's home; something was definitely wrong.
The place had been ransacked, turned upside down in the search of who knows what. There were signs of struggle in the kitchen, where food was spilt all over the floor. So Jack had been in the house when this happened, and there was only one conclusion Hector could arrive at: he'd been kidnapped.
As Hector moved to investigate the rest of the house, he stepped on something that made an ugly crunching sound. He lifted his feet and looked down to see Jack's phone. Or at least, what was left of it.
The thing had been completely smashed, probably to avoid him being followed or called.
"Fuck!" Hector kicked the remains, which went flying across the room and got embedded into the table's leg.
There had to be some clue as to who'd been here and where they'd gone. Hector walked around the house, thinking up a hundred plans already. He would turn up every stone and smack every criminal in the head if he had to, but he would find his friend.
When he walked into Jack's room, something surfaced in his brain. He ran to the desk and dug until he found the laptop that Jack kept hidden there, turning it on as he tapped his fingers impatiently. He remembered a bit of the security program Jack had shown him and he opened it up.
A tiny signal was beeping like a beacon, coming from a specific location at a warehouse. He sighed in relief. "Jack, you motherfucking genius."
Hector had made fun of Jack when he'd shown the two transponders he kept on him at all times since he'd started with the whole superhero affair. But Jack had simply said that it was only logical to do that, as one would serve as bait in case of emergency, while the second was the real deal. And he'd been right once more.
He watched the red dot blinking on the screen, a silent plea for help.
"I'm coming, Jack. Please stay safe."
-Scene Cut-
"It shouldn't be long for the exchange to happen," Ox said as he walked around the room with the three prisoners. "Man, I really wanted to have a look at those Ten Rings dudes and the Equinox Blade, see what all the fuss is about. But Philip said it's a special meet up to 'solidify their partnership' and I had nothing to do there. Don't you think that's unfair?"
He looked at Jack for answers, not that he could give any with his mouth gagged and all. Jack glanced at the two detectives trapped with him. He had no idea how they'd ended up here too, a tall dude had brought them in a bit after he himself had been locked in this room with the monstrous man in front of him now.
Ox chuckled and pretended to think hard about something, then raised his finger as though he'd gotten a great idea. "I know! They're still in this building, maybe if I hurry up and finish you off, I can still go and watch. But who should I start with?"
The smile on his face stretched, deforming his features into an evil smirk. He glanced between the three of them, studying each one in turns, before reaching a hand over to grab Jack by the shoulder.
A loud yelp sounded just outside the room which made the four of them halt.
"What the fuck?" Ox muttered, dropping Jack on the floor and moving to the door to check what was going on.
Before he could open it though, the wall right next to it got smashed and a white figure charged forward, hooking Ox by the neck and throwing him on the floor. Jack almost whimpered, he'd never been happier to see Hector in his suit. He could see that his friend was seething, his muscles were taught and he stood firmly in front of the giant man, chest rising and falling in deep motions.
"What?!" Ox yelled, hurrying to get on his feet.
"I learned this one from your friends," Hector said and then promptly kicked him in the chest, sending him crashing against the debris and causing the ceiling on that side to collapse on top of Ox.
Jack and the detectives watched from the side, eyes wide, as the man was buried under tons of concrete and didn't get up again. Then Hector was at their side, untying them and helping them to their feet.
"Hec—White Tiger," Jack caught himself in time. "You're here."
White Tiger snorted, but he was still looking at him carefully, checking for injuries. "Of course I'm here. I'm sorry you got dragged in all of this." Then he glanced at the detectives. "You too. I didn't mean for anything to happen to you."
"There's no time to waste, the Ten Rings are here already," Jack urged, already walking to the hole in the wall.
Hector reached for his shoulder and made it so they were facing each other. "You have to get out of here. Go get help, I'll stop the exchange."
Jack didn't want to split, that usually never ended well. But he knew he would only be a nuisance, his worth wasn't on a battlefield, it was behind the scenes. So he squared his shoulders and nodded.
"We're coming with you," D'Angelo said. Byrd nodded along.
"Ok, let's go," Hector said, before turning to Jack. "Be careful."
They went their separate ways, Jack going to where Hector had come from and the other three fighting their way in. More and more guards kept coming to meet them. Hector got rid of them swiftly, and the ones that he missed were taken care of by the detectives. With the commotion they were making, he was sure that they wouldn't have the surprise factor on their side, so they had to be quick.
Yells and shots came muffled into the room where Philip Roxxon was standing in front of the representative from the Ten Rings. A big box was sitting between them, the lid open to display the Equinox Blade inside. Killmonger and Fantomex were standing behind Roxxon, along with more armed men, and they both turned sharply at the sound.
"What is that?" the Ten Rings' man asked.
"Nothing to worry about!" Philip smiled. He then turned to his two mercenaries and whispered angrily. "Find whoever that is and kill them!"
The representative looked from the other side of the room, eyes narrowing suspiciously. "It's a setup," he said.
"No! I swear—"
But the man was not listening to Philip. "It's a setup! The deal is off!" He took cover behind his men, walking backwards with his eyes focused on Roxxon. "Kill everyone in the room! No one messes with the Ten Rings!"
"No, wait—" Philip tried to reason in vain. The man had already left the room and, as soon as he did, all hell broke loose.
The Silent Ones and the Ten Rings started shooting each other, Philip was shoved behind the protection of his men, and Killmonger and Fantomex left in search of whoever was behind this.
"We'll go find Roxxon," Byrd said, after the hall was almost cleared. "We can't let that bastard get away."
Hector nodded. "I will retrieve the Equinox Blade."
Byrd glanced at him and it looked like he wanted to say something, but then he just tapped D'Angelo's shoulder and beckoned him along. "C'mon, let's go."
They left first while White Tiger stayed to knock the last guards out. Then he pushed on to where he could hear shots being fired but, when he took a sharp turn at a corner, he was stopped by two men standing in the way.
"Hello, amigos," White Tiger said, almost laughing at the surprise in Killmonger and Fantomex's postures. He raised his arms in a mock welcome gesture. "I hope you didn't miss me too much."
"How are you still alive?" Fantomex asked, aghast.
"Well, you see," White Tiger drawled. He drew his claws out, the jarring sound of metal feeling like music to his ears by now, and lowered his stance, "I'm not that easy to kill."
He used a small table on the side to jump up, turn on himself to concentrate the energy and kicked Killmonger with both feet on the stomach, throwing him on the ground. Using the momentum, White Tiger turned and slashed at Fantomex's thigh, drawing four red gashes that started oozing blood.
The hallway seemed to be an inconvenience for the two of them, but Hector was used to fighting in close spaces. By then, Killmonger was already on his feet, so Hector unleashed an onslaught of punches on him, striking all of his vital points. He put all of his strength into a right hook and aimed it at the right spot on his chin.
Killmonger was thrown back a few feet and laid there, knocked out. Not wasting a second, White Tiger lifted his leg up and back, superkicking Fantomex, who'd been approaching from behind.
"Not so tough now without all your bombs, huh?" Hector taunted.
"This time, I'll make sure you stay dead," Fantomex spat. He rushed forward and dug his knee into Hector's side, and Hector retaliated by grabbing his arm and pulling him down straight into his fist.
They exchanged blows as they moved along the hall, for every one that Hector landed, Fantomex got another one in, and it didn't look like any of them was ready to give in. Fantomex then lunged himself onto White Tiger, and both of them came crashing through a door and into the meeting room.
The place was now empty except for all the bodies lying around, covered in blood; it was a massacre. Fantomex paid no heed to any of that though. Instead, his eyes focused on the center of the room and he got up in a flash, dashing there.
Hector was confused as he took everything in, what the hell had happened here? The detectives couldn't have done all of this. But he didn't have time to ponder more about the fate of all these men, 'cause a sharp pain under his rib snatched all of his attention.
He looked down. There was a blade piercing into his body and he could practically see the smirk in Fantomex's eyes as he turned the katana, making Hector yell out in agony.
"That's not possible," Hector mumbled. His suit had enhanced durability, it couldn't simply get cut by a sword. But it seemed like there was more to the Equinox Blade than they'd thought, if it could bypass the amulet's powers.
Hector could feel his strength draining out of him the more the blade was dug into him and he searched for something that could help him. He felt a tug coming from the amulet and, next thing he knew, Jade spirits in the shape of tigers burst out of nowhere, charging at Fantomex and forcing him to drop the blade.
"What is this?" Fantomex stumbled back as the green tigers tore at him mercilessly, driving him back.
Hector panted heavily, his vision going blurry and legs growing weak. Using whatever strength he had left, he pulled the Equinox Blade out with a pained groan and called forth another tiger. Between the beast and himself, they destroyed the weapon, just as Hector fell on his knees.
The sirens wailing in the distance was the last thing Hector heard before the last of his energy evaporated and he released a last sigh as he collapsed on the floor.
-Scene Cut-
Hector woke up hours later, back in Jack's flat. He had no idea how he'd gotten there and, when he tried to move, he winced and had to lie back down. Jack entered not long after, followed by Awilda, and explained that he'd gotten him out of the warehouse right before the authorities arrived. They both attended to his wounds and made sure he was ok, while Jack mentioned the info he'd manage to obtain, that everyone had been apprehended except for Killmonger and Fantomex, who'd fled. Jack also promised to be on the lookout, in case they decided to show their faces again.
Awilda turned on the TV just as a news anchor appeared with the latest scope: Roxxon Corporation CEO, Philip Roxxon, had been arrested for having ties with the Mafia. An image of a livid, raging Philip was shown, as he was being dragged into a police car.
Detective D'Angelo appeared next, giving a statement of how everything came to happen. He said they'd gotten an anonymous tip, and that Roxxon Corporation would be under investigation by the FBI. The reporter on site was then shown asking people what their thoughts were after discovering that such a respected man of society was actually a criminal. Most of them were outraged, an old man with a big moustache and glasses even went as far as saying that "You can never trust those big business men, they're all greedy cowards."
Jack told them that he'd leaked all the files he'd gotten from his boss' computer to the police, so the company would most certainly be shutting down.
"Do you think you'll have a spot open at the convenience store?" he joked, making all of them laugh.
The next few weeks went by in a blur of events and emotions.
White Tiger met up with the two detectives to discuss something he'd been thinking about. Byrd and D'Angelo thanked him for saving their lives, saying they were sorry about their misunderstandings, but White Tiger said that he had just been doing what was right. He said that he wanted to cooperate with them, to work together so they could protect the Bronx. And for that, they needed to trust each other, so Hector took the first step into that new relationship by unmasking himself, revealing his true identity to them. The detectives thanked him again and they shook hands, sealing their newfound allyship.
Then Hector's family got a call from the bank, saying that their debt had been resolved. They asked how that was possible and who could have done such a thing, but the bank simply said that an unknown benefactor had taken care of their payment. So, confused but overflowing with joy, Hector's family threw a party at the store, where Hector spoke with Jack about what the future could hold for them. Jack asked how he wanted to be involved in this crazy world, but Hector said that, right now, he wanted to focus on his family.
Aya came up to them then and asked Hector to dance. He smiled and lifted her up, making her giggle as they twirled around their loved ones.
Hector ended up accepting Gabriel Cortes' offer to go to Mexico. The LSW show came faster than he'd expected, and Hector found himself fighting one of the best luchadores in a short time. He was being pushed around the ring, but he couldn't wipe the smile off his face, he'd missed wrestling so much. And what better than doing it with his family cheering for him at the ringside. He ended the match with a successful Tiger Pounce that finished his adversary off and Aya rushed into the ring, ignoring her aunts chastising, to hug her dad as he told the commentators that he wanted to dedicate the match to his late wife.
Yes, those were certainly an eventful couple of weeks, Hector thought as he ran across the building tops of New York. He'd never expected his life to be turned upside down in such a way, that he would become a superhero. There's still a lot of uncertainties, as he has no idea where tomorrow might take him but, for now, he's happy and content with his life, his family, his responsibilities and he wouldn't change a thing.
As he stared at the sunset, he hoped that Holly was proud of him and promised to protect his own home from anyone that would threaten it, so their daughter could live in peace. She would never have to experience such pain in her life, as long as he was around.
-Scene Cut-
A man covered in shadows entered the dark building with his head bowed.
"Hello, Filipe," a voice greeted him. "It's good to see you haven't gone back on your word. The Nomads paid your family's debt so, as you know, it's your turn now to repay us. Are you ready?"
Everything for the ceremony was ready. Filipe Ayala raised his head and jutted his chin forward. "I'm ready."
And that's a wrap.
Season 1 is now officially wrapped, man I didn't think I would get to this point but I reached the finish line so to speak. None of this could have been possible if it weren't for Free Man Writer so please give him a round of applause and seriously thank you for letting do this to expand the Infinite Wars universe.
I want to admit that the stories could have been a lot better but I'm hoping that I can get better and better with each chapter as the series continues.
As for the White Tiger origin story, the finale looks like it was rushed and that some parts could have been expanded and explained better but I felt that I would be stuck doing all that and never get around to finishing it as I'm busy with work and other stuff. It's no excuse for the quality that was presented and I will try to do better next time.
As for what happened in the story, Hector is now the protector of Bronx as the White Tiger with allies and friends at his side. I know it's weird that Hector would reveal his identity to the Detectives but I did that to set up what will transpire in Infinite Wars season 3. All will make sense once season 3 starts and hope that everything will eventually make sense. I chose Fantomex as one of the villains as I thought he looked really cool and thought he would make a great villain at least in the MCU. Who knows if he stays a villain or not but you'll have to wait and see.
Anyways, check out the main story Avengers: Infinite Wars by Free Man Writer and Jebest to get the full story and the state of the SW galaxy in the latest chapter. Season 2 just wrapped up and teased many things to come in Season 3 which I'm very excited to see go down.
If any of you have questions, leave a comment and review which is very much appreciated.
Everyone, take care
Spanish Translations
1. Nada, estoy bien: Nothing, I'm fine
2. Maldito cabrón: Fucking bastard
3. Papá?: Dad?
4. Si, amor, aquí estoy: Yes, love, I'm here.
5. Mierda: Shit
6. Cabrón: Fucker
7. Amigos: friends