Chapter Four

One Final Breath

They ran out of the building as quickly as possible, wanting to escape the Scoop and the villains. Spiderman leapt out of the previously made hole in the wall carrying a big blob of web to which the villains were stuck.

"Thanks guys!" He said as he jumped overhead.

"This is really a busy city, isn't it?" Elektra asked.

"Villains, heroes... It's like a comic book."

The sun was setting on another day. The sky appeared orange and the three looked back towards the Port, not even 100 yards away. The Lighthouse was spinning its beacon again, as though it had never been as lifeless as it was just yesterday morning.

Waves sloshed against the jagged rocks over the edge of the island.

"The sunset really is beautiful, isn't it?" Anna asked.

"Yup," Kit said, standing up. "Come on, we better find this islands Nightmare..." He said, goofily.

They all laughed. That old man must have been crazy.

The streetlights flickered on, as the sun was a good three-quarters of the way hidden behind the horizon.

Spiderman suddenly dropped from the sky before them and stood up, with his hands on his hips. "You guy's should hurry up and get inside. The sun is setting."

"Why?" Elektra asked, worried.

Seemingly out of nowhere, the brilliant colors of the sky were gone. Darkness filled the sky. A police car came screaming down the street towards them!

The car threw on its breaks and screeched against the pavement before ramming into a red fire hydrant, making a geyser of water spray into the air.

All was quiet except a police radio echoing from the car. Kit and Spiderman approached the wreckage slowly, ready to attack. They circled the car, looking into it... No one. They listened intently to the police radio. It was tuned to a news channel.

"...Every hero gone. It would appear that the villains have won. The heroes are nowhere to be found. The police have given up, abandoning posts as the town goes into a panic. It appears that not even Spiderman can save us this time."

"Wha... Take over my city? Ya right. Come on guys. We're going to put a stop to this Nightmare's Business." Spiderman said.

"What?" Kit, Anna and Elektra said, standing up.

Spiderman looked to the ground and nodded. "You all are completely clueless. Carnage. The head honcho of the villain world!"

"Nightmare? They're real?" Elektra asked.

"Ya. It's really not as fun of a city at night." Spiderman said. "Welcome to Marvel Island Under Siege." He outstretched his arms, introducing them to the city... but a much different version. Fires roared from openings in buildings and windows were shattering all over the city. People were screaming.

But one sound was absent: The sirens. Police sirens, alarms, and security systems. It was all gone.

A cat meowed in the distance and a trashcan lid was knocked off of a can. Their attention was diverted to a red blur, leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the distance.

"Daredevil." Elektra said, sounding worried. "He followed me. He killed my father back in New York. He has to pay for what he's done."

Kit grabbed her wrist as she began to run towards the skyscrapers. She turned to him. "I don't want to loose you again."

She looked into his eyes. "I'll find you..."

"Now go!" She yelled, "Find the Nightmare. Save the city... I'll be back soon."

Kit watched her run into the distance. Suddenly, thunder roared in the distance. Small droplets of rain fell from the clouded sky.

He turned his head to them. "I hafta protect her. Go." He sloshed through puddles as he ran behind her, taking long strides.

"Let's go!" Anna called to Spiderman. They ran off towards the building.

They ran up an old fire escape and hopped onto a building's roof. From one side to the other were strung long linens and blankets.

They approached just in time to see the man dressed in red, now recognizable as red leather with two devils horns on the mask. He was using a long bo-staff to move the linens out of his way as he searched...

Without warning, linen was ripped off the line as Elektra spun around, kicking him in the face. She approached him as he lay on the ground and crossed the sais in the air in the shape of an "X."

"Remember me?" She asked, tauntingly.

Daredevil leapt to his feet and began retreating through the linens as Elektra followed, slicing them off the wires on both sides of her, slashing madly as the man walked backwards shouting, "Wait, Elektra! It wasn't me! It was a hitman named Bullseye. He's here, to kill you!"

Elektra stopped her advance and gripped the sais threateningly. "I didn't kill your father!" Daredevil insisted.

"Lair!" She cried, spinning around to kick him once more. She slashed at him and he blocked with his staff. She tried slicing down at him from above, but once more, he used his staff to halt the devastating attack.

He leapt onto a crate to escape her slashes, but she simply sliced at his feet.

He flipped backwards through the air and onto a rooftop below. Elektra simply jumped after him.

Kit, Anna, and Spiderman rushed to the edge of the building to look down upon the two. Elektra faced her back to him and elbowed him in the stomach. He gasped and fell backwards into a brick wall.

She threw a razor sharp sai into the bricks. It sat, implanted, mere inches from his face.

He leapt forward, and grabbed Elektra, disarming her of her remaining sai. She struggled to escape his grasp for a moment before she kicked his shin, elbowed his stomach and pushed him to the wall once more.

While he gasped after having the air pushed out of his lungs, she took once step onto the wall, pulled her sai out and took another step onto the wall before back flipping and landing in front of him, grasping one sai.

She took a giant leap towards him and placed her hand on his chest before stabbing the sai through his shoulder, breaking the glass window behind him.

He slowly slid down the wall as she stared at him. She approached him and knelt before him, sticking a sai point right on this throat. "I want to see the face of my father's killer before he dies."

"Wait, Elektra!" The weak man groaned. She removed the mask.

She gasped. "Matt..." It was Matt Murdock, Elektra's old friend from New York. She instantly dropped her sai, looking at his messy dark brown hair and light eyes. He was blind.

"I'm so sorry..." He cried, her voice shaking.

Matt sighed, "I was just trying to protect you... Bullseye... Elektra."

She placed her hands on his head and lowered her own as she cried.

A wolf whistle sounded in the distance. Elektra took a moment to realize that it wasn't one of her own party. She gasped.

"That him..." Matt began, "That's Bullseye. You have to run."

"I can't... I have to..." she called.

Kit leapt down to the dying man. "Elektra..." She stared at Matt. "Quick, we need to get out of here."

"No..." She said. "I'm sorry."

Kit took out his pistols and aimed for the direction from which the whistle came. "I have to finish this." She said, grabbing her sai as they clinked against the pavement. She stood up.

Kit backed off.

The man whistled again and chuckled. Elektra closed her eyes and gripped the sai. "Hey, orphan!" He mocked. "Let's play..." The man was bald with a Bullseye design engraved on his forehead. He wore a long, black coat and had silver belt that shimmered in the moonlight. He brushed back his long trench coat. Elektra ran towards a different rooftop and leapt up to it. She glared at Bullseye.

"Come on." He said. Elektra threw a sai, spiraling it threw the air. Bullseye caught it between to fingers and laughed. He flipped it around and sent the blade whizzing for Elektra.

She reached out her hand to catch it and suddenly hunched over. She slowly turned towards Kit, her hair slowly flowing over her shoulder. She finally stood upright, sai sticking through her hand. Her finger twitched.

Bullseye gave a mock, "Awww..." and jumped onto another building.

Elektra gasped and held the sai's leather-wrapped handle. She slowly pulled it out of her hand, leaving a small red wound.

"She gripped only one sai and ran towards him, leaping onto his rooftop and trying to stab him. He used his long, thick coat to deflect the blade. She tried to kick him, but her foot went directly over his head when he ducked. She took one long swipe... leaving a small scar on Bullseye's face. He patted it and smiled.

She tried to stab him twice. He punched her in the face. Elektra glared and tried to attack his face from the side. He grabbed her wrist, stopping the sai inches from his own face. He punched her, and then she punched him, making him release her hand.

She slashed multiple times, narrowly missing each time. Finally, he grabbed her arm and punched the sai out of it. He then pushed her onto the ground.

She began to sit up and he cartwheeled over her back, forcing her back on the ground. He walked a few steps away, arms out triumphantly. She forced herself to sit up.

"You're good baby... I'll give you that." He said. "But me?" He flicked his wrist and an ace of spades appeared. "I'm magic!" He shrugged.

He launched the card through the air, cutting Elektra's neck-guard off and leaving a short, red cut along her throat. She grasped her throat, gasping.

He neared her and reached for her neck. She did her best to fend him off. He finally grabbed her neck and lifted her off the ground.

He kicked up her red-tinted sai and caught it with his other hand. "And now, for my next trick." He spun the sai in the air and grabbed it.

"NO!" Matt and Kit yelled at once, running towards her.

Bullseye thrust the sai threw her stomach.

The back of her outfit stretched out to a point before he quickly removed the sai and threw her onto a lower rooftop.

A helicopter spotlight appeared overhead, searching the rooftop. Bullseye threw the sai down onto the lower rooftop followed by a single red rose, which landed inches from Elektra.

"This is the police. Put your hands in the air and do not move."

Bullseye jumped off the roof on the opposite side of Elektra. Kit rushed to her side, followed by a limping Matt. She gasped. "Help me."

"Just stay with me." Kit ordered.

Her breathing slowed. "Get Stick." She ordered.

Kit looked towards Anna and Spiderman. "Find someone named Stick!" He yelled up to them. They nodded and took off in separate directions into the city.

"We need to get you to an ambulance." Matt declared.

Kit stood up. "I'm goin' after Bullseye."

He began to run away. She weakly reached up, hand trembling and grasped his wrist. He turned to her. "I'll find you."

Her hand became limp and her chest stopped rising. She was gone.

Kit breathed heavily and picked up her sais, making them chime against the hard rooftop. He picked up the red rose Bullseye had left and placed it in a pocket behind his jacket.

"I'll be back. Make sure this Stick guy knows what he's doing."