16TH FINALS: IRON FIST VS. SURGE

Yee Wo Street in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, this was the place for the first match of the sixteenth finals, and a large number of Asian natives have gathered around a large, almost Lei Tai platform which was built in the center of the street and towered over the spectators, but fortunately, had holo screens floating and rotating around the base of the platform so they could see the fight. It wasn't long before the two combatants, Iron Fist and Surge, finally arrived on top of the platform, much to the jubilation of the cheering fans below.

For Iron Fist, he would normally feel happy and honored to be in such places as Hong Kong, for since he started training in K'un Lun, he developed an appreciation for Asian culture. But sadly, the Living Weapon had no time to appreciate his settings, for he knew he had quite the task in defeating his unhinged opponent, Surge, and remembering what he did to Vision, had quite the challenge of keeping the spectators, including himself, out of the crossfire.

Surge, on the other hand, just stood there while not taking his eyes off of Fist, waiting eagerly for Ref Bot to hurry up and start the match so he can give the Living Weapon the 'shock of his life.'

Back in the states, things were just as dire back in Nick Fury's safehouse, meaning that after successfully curing both May Parker and Cap from the Morlun virus, Beast now found himself about to treat Spidey, who is now sitting on the side of a hospital bed and with the Wasp standing beside him and Gwen standing by the wall and not far from them, giving Spidey himself an angry scowl. Before examining the Wall-Crawler, Beast noticed a big wet spot on the place of the mask which was above the brow. This concerned the furry X-Man greatly, for he wasn't sure if it was sweat or blood. Knowing that he couldn't afford to jump to conclusions regarding Spidey's injuries, Beast tells Spidey this as gently as possible. "Spider-Man, I realize this might sound...uncomfortable for you. But for the sake of me treating you properly, I must ask that you remove your shirt...and mask."

Usually, the Web-Head would be taken aback by such a request in removing his mask, but upon remembering that everyone in the room, except the sleeping May Parker, now knew who he was, including the fuming Gwen, thus knowing that keeping his identity a secret was meaningless at this point. "Sure thing," he told Beast sadly. "Besides, might as well, anyway." With that said, Spidey placed both of his thumbs underneath the bottom of his mask, then winced as he gently pulled it off of his head, the now bloodied face of Peter.

A shocked Wasp gasped loudly upon seeing Peter's face was now a crimson mask, no doubt from the head-butt he received from Wolverine. "Oh my god...!"

Gwen was even more horrified. True, she had long since gotten used to seeing Peter getting roughed up from bully's like Flash Thompson, but seeing him like this made her heartbreak.

This indeed shook the normally reserved and laid back Beast, but only further proved that Wolverine was not himself in his match with Spidey. For while he knew that Wolverine could be rough, he never acted this rough, especially with teenagers. Nevertheless, he reached down and pulled out a white box that was his first-aid kid, placing it next to Peter on the bed. "All right, let's go ahead and take off your shirt too, so I can get to work on those cuts as well as that ghastly wound on your forehead.

Peter answered the furry X-Man with a nod, and thus reach down his waist and slowly took off his shirt, wincing in pain and requiring Wasp's help to remove it.

As first, Gwen stood transfixed as Peter slowly revealed his upper body as he took his shirt, from his abs, his sides, it practically made her heart pound. However, once he got the shirt off and showed his bleeding claw marks, she stood there horrified. While she was still mad at him for how Peter lied to her, about being a superhero this whole time, she always hated the sight of Peter with injuries such as this. Feeling like she's stood by long enough, Gwen stepped away from the wall and proceeded to walk over to Beast and offer her assistance.

However, Gwen was stopped when Sharon walked in to inform Peter and the others about the incoming match. "Just a heads up, the next match is about to start."

Wasp gave Sharon a nod, knowing that as a participant herself, she had to see the match to see her next potential opponent and how they fight. "I'll be right there," said the founding Avenger, then turned to face Beast, who by now was reached in his pocket and pulled out a pair of large, rubber gloves that he and Forge made together to fit over his large, clawed hands. "Take good care of the Web-Head, Doc."

"I intend to, Ms. Van Dyne," Beast replied as he put on both gloves, opened up his first-aid kit and pulled out some gauze, a roll of metallic string, a bottle of alcohol and small scissors to begin work on Peter's cuts. "Now then, lay on your back, son."

Wasp then turned her attention to the wounded Peter and gave him a small and gentle smile as he, with assistance from Beast, slowly laid down on the bed. "Sit tight, Pete, I'll be back."

"Take your time," Peter replied, looking up at Wasp, then felt the stinging sensation of Beast using an alcohol-soaked gauze to wipe the blood off of Peter's forehead and disinfecting the wound, causing the young man to wince for a brief moment. "I'm not going anywhere."

After nodding at the young man, Wasp gave Peter an encouraging wink, then turned around and walked over to the screen to see Iron Fist's match.

As Peter laid there, allowing Beast to treat him, he turned his eyes to the left to see his Aunt May, sleeping and for the most part, appearing to be comfortable and stable. "Aunt May! Is she...?"

"She's fine, son," Beast replied as he pulled the gauze away, and knowing that he had to get started on those claw marks on Peter's chest right away, he soon looked up at Gwen. "But it looks like I might need some help in treating both of your wounds. Maybe one of the agents can..."

It was here that Gwen quickly stepped in to offer her aid, despite her current feelings towards Peter. "Wait, let me help!" she said, getting Beast's attention. After hesitating for a bit, still finding the X-Man's appearance off-putting, she quickly regained her composure and gave off a more pleading demeanor. "I took a first-aid class once. Just...please."

Realizing that he had no time to argue, Beast felt he had no choice but to accept Gwen's help, and while still applying pressure on Peter's forehead, he used his other hand to pull out a box of 'regular' rubber gloves and hands it to her. "Put these on."

Not wasting a second, Gwen pulled out to gloves and quickly put them on.

Moments later, Beast pulled out a clean gauze and held it in front of Gwen as she finished putting both gloves on. "Now, take this apply pressure on the wound over Peter's forehead to stop the bleeding."

With those instructions, Gwen took the gauze, then stepped over to Peter and placed the gauze over Peter's head wound, all the while Beast pulled out a rag and soaked it with alcohol so can clean the cuts before stitching them up.

As for Gwen, she looked down at Peter, and once again gave him a furious look. "Don't assume that these wounds will get out of giving me an explanation, Peter Parker!"

Peter let out a saddened sigh through his nose as he looked up at Gwen to address her. "I don't."

Meanwhile, back in Hong Kong, the Ref Bot was already in between Fist and Surge, with the announcer's face present. "Now gentlemen, I'm hoping that Wolverine's actions earlier told you that we forgot about the rules of safety," he told them somewhat sternly, receiving a nod of acknowledgment from Fist, but an annoyed grunt from Surge, which intimidated the announcer. "Well, all right then, let's not hold up the action any longer." With that said, the announcer commanded to Ref Bot to shoot up into the sky and hover over the two combatants. "BEGIN!"

Upon hearing those words, Fist wasted no time in charging both fists with chi energy and got into a fighting stance, ready for Surge to make the first move and whatever attack he threw at him.

As for Surge, he soon produced electricity into his hands, then made his move by throwing his hands backward and shot two electric blasts at the platform which was strong enough to propel him into the air. Moments later, he held both of his hands over his head, created a massive electric hammer construct and threw it downward, attempting to pound Fist into the platform.

Naturally, Fist saw this and quickly lunged and rolled to the left side, dodging Surge's attack and made him hit the platform with an impact similar to that of three lightning bolts and making a considerable crack. As he rolled back up to his feet, Fist saw Surge make his hammer construct disappear, then charged his hands with energy, turn to his direct and run towards him. Fist, however, only waiting for the Thunderbolt to get close enough, then once he saw him throw a right hook in such a sloppy form and with no form of discipline whatsoever, the Weapon from K'un Lun easily dodged it by merely leaning back. After avoiding such a poorly executed attack, Fist spotted Surge going for a left cross, and thus held up his fiery left hand to easily block it, then responded by throwing a quick, chi-charged right jab to Surge's face, and whiled he was stunned, through a left front kick into his abdomen to force the Thunderbolt to bend over, then capitalized by throwing a hard right legged round kick into his masked head, sending the Thunderbolt down chest first to the canvas.

Though dazed at first, Surge shook his head and tried to grab Fist's leg with the intent of tripping him. However, thanks to his years of training, Fist easily anticipated this and hopped backward to avoid it.

Meanwhile, back in Nick Fury's safehouse, Wasp and the others watch on with pure astonishment on how quickly Fist took Surge down with little to no effort, but Misty Knight only watched the fight with a proud smirk. "That's my man!"

Back in Hong Kong, Fist was still in his fighting stance. "All right, good news and bad news," he thought as he watched Surge get back up to his feet. "Good news is that as far as hand to hand combat goes, this Surge has little to no experience."

The angry Surge growled as he got back up on his feet, then produced more electricity from out of his hands and formed another construct, this time being a giant, hissing snake.

Something which left Fist a little worried. "Bad news is that he makes up for it with raw, almost god-like electrical powers. So much for this being a walk in the park," Despite this predicament, First still stood his ground. "Doesn't mean I won't win though."

Moments later, Surge took his left hand and pointed his finger at Fist, causing the electric snake to strike at the Hero for Hire.

Fortunately for First, he quickly dashed to the right side and successfully avoided getting hit by the snake construct. Once he stopped himself, Fist saw looked through the corner of his left eye to see that the snake had circled back around and tried to strike him down again. Instead of running, however, Fist decided to charge his right hand with chi, hold it over his head with his hand in a knife-edge fashion, and once the snake was close, delivered a massive chop to its head, causing it to split in half and dissipate. After dealing with the construct, Fist turned his eyes to the right to see that Surge was running towards him, holding an electric sword construct over his head, intending to cut Fist entirely in half. Once he saw that he was in danger, Fist charged both hands then clapped them above his head to catch the electricity-based blade before it could even touch his head. From here, the Living Weapon delivered a stiff right legged sidekick into Surge's chest, sending the Thunderbolt stumbling backward and falling on his backside. As the construct dissipated in his fiery hands, Fist shook his head at Surge in both disappointment and pity. "Such a shame that you did not receive the proper training and guidance," he told the Thunderbolt as he walked towards him. "I would've loved to have fought you at your maximum potential."

Suddenly, hearing the word 'maximum' caused Surge's eyes to literally spark with rage...

...for it made him think back to when he was Electro and was fighting Spidey in Doctor Octopus' underwater lair. At that time, he was firing electric blasts at the Web-Head, who easily dodged every one, all the while making his infamous 'Max jokes.'

"Max, Maxie," quipped Spidey as he swung to and perched on top of a large tank. "Maximillian, Maximum."

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" yelled the enraged Electro as he shot an electric bolt from out of his mouth.

Spidey then jumped off the top of the tank to avoid the bolt, then swung over to the ceiling and made Electro shot another electric blast upward, which Web-Slinger also avoided by jump down from the ceiling and allow the blast to hit the ceiling and caused a bolder to fall right on top of the bolt shooting villain, resulting in yet another humiliating defeat for him...

...a defeat in which consumed Surge with uncontrollable rage, so much so that he screamed and created a wave that shot out and hit Iron Fist, sending the Hero for Hire flying backward and landing hard on the edge of the platform. While the electric attack did not hurt Fist too severely, it did leave him dazed and confused as he barely managed to stand up on his feet, and showed that his belt buckle was not destroyed, but was severely cracked.

This did not stop the seething Surge, however, as he recovered by shooting two electric blasts into the platform surface and pull himself back up. "I'm...not...MAX!" he roared with fury, then fired another electric blast from out of his right hand and successfully hits Fist's belt buckle, destroying it as it also sent him flying off the platform and into the crowd.

While in mid-air, yellow energy engulfed Fist's entire body, freezing him in place as the surprised and scared crowd moved out of the way and quickly backed away and allowed the frozen Fist to land on the ground.

Meanwhile, back in the states, the people in the Garden is filled with cheers from the Thunderbolt fans, upon seeing Surge's victory, but the Avengers were all in complete disbelief. But it is Luke Cage, Fist's partner, who is the most shocked and distraught at what just happened. "FIST!"

Also shocked at seeing what just happened in Hong Kong were the people in Nick Fury's safe house, with Misty looking both worried and horrified. "DANNY!"

Back in Hong Kong, the surrounding spectators all stood in awe, until the Ref Bot floated down and hovered right next to the victorious Surge. "Ladies and gentlemen," he cried out, getting the spectators' attention. "Here is your winner...Surge!"

This news caused much cheering from the Thunderbolt fans in the crowd, but Surge did not listen to them. All he did was cross his arms and pop his neck. "So much for the 'kung-fu master," he thought. "But I'm really hoping that you don't get eliminated just yet, Web-Head, because I plan on giving you the shock of your life!"

WINNER: SURGE