16TH FINALS: LUKE CAGE VS. SWORDSMAN

Upon her return, the Garden, the now human-sized Wasp was welcomed back by her teammates with open arms, all of whom congratulated her on her win. The first of which was her best friend, Ms. Marvel. "Good work, Jan!" she told the Wasp, putting her hand on her shoulder, but gently for that, she might still be sore from her match. "Way to do everyone a favor by beating that creep."

The next to speak up is Thor, who gave Wasp a broad smile. "Agreed," said the Thunder God warmly. "And you have reminded us, especially myself, not to incur your wrath."

This, in turn, caused Spidey to let out a small laugh upon hearing Thor's words. "No argument here," said the Web-Head in agreement.

Wasp let out a small laugh upon hearing the Web-Head's words, then gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Good answer, bug boy."

The happiness amongst the Avengers is brought to a halt when Luke Cage stepped forward, popping his knuckles. "Yeah well, now it's my turn for whoop up on these fools!" said the less than pleased Luke as he glared at the Thunderbolts. "Show them that I don't appreciate them imprisoning my friends after cheating to win like the punks that they are!" It wasn't long before the Hero for Hire set his sights on his upcoming opponent, Swordsman. "And I'll do it by making an example out of him!"

The announcer heard Luke's declaration, and fearing that he'll start a fight before the match even begins, he soon stepped in to confront him. "Well, before you do that," he said timidly. "Let's go ahead and provide you with a weapon for your match. After wall, with Swordsman having a...well, 'sword,' we should keep things fair, don't you think.

Luke let out an irritated grunt up hearing this, knowing full well that there was nothing fair going on throughout this entire tournament. At the same time, however, he knew that it was pointless to argue about it. "Fine, not that I need a weapon, but let's just get on with it so we can start the damn match!"

This gruff reply caused the announcer to let out a sigh of relief. "All righty then," he told the Hero for Hire. "Let's get you prepped up!" With that said, the announcer stepped to the side and allowed Luke to witness two agents wheeling in a crate containing what appeared to be shiny steel close quarter weapons, from broadswords to mace and so on. With microphone in hand, the announcer said this to Luke in a somewhat mellow dramatic fashion to get a rise out of the crowd. "Please select your weapon!"

Luke, rolling his eyes in annoyance, nonetheless walked over to the center of the stage and arrived in front of the crate so he can begrudgingly choose a weapon for his match against Swordsman.

Meanwhile, over at the Thunderbolts corner, Swordsman watched Luke walk over to the crate and chuckled, for his mind, it didn't matter what weapon Luke would choose, he would never be in his league, weapon or not, and thus knew he had this match in the bag.

As for Luke himself, he looked through all of the weapons, but felt that none of them were 'his style.' Naturally, this made him frustrated, and was just about to remind the announcer of his bulletproof skin, and hopefully convince him just to let him fight with his hard steel hands. However, before he could, he noticed the giant chain that was part of the crate and keeping the weapons in place, and thus gave the Power Man an idea. "Hey, is that chain made of Adamantium?"

The announcer looked at Luke with a bewildered expression as he answered him. "Yes...why?"

"Because THAT'S my weapon!" Luke declared, then grabbed the middle of the chain, but knew he might not be strong enough to break something as strong as Adamantium. As such, he turns to the shocked announcer. "You got anything that can cut this?"

Before the announcer could protest, Iron Man soon stepped in. "I do, Luke," said the Shell-Head as he walked to the crate, and once he approached it, he held up his right gauntlet and out popped a bronze-colored rod. "Antarctic Vibranium rod. Capable of emitting vibrations that weaken the molecular bonds in metals and causing them to liquefy. Including Adamantium," After stating the rod's purpose, Iron Man looked to the announcer, who by now was worried. "And don't worry, you can send me the bill," he told him, then through his helmet, sent a mental command to his right gauntlet, causing the rod to start vibrating and thus gently pressed it down on the left end of the chain, causing the link holding it up to practically melt and fall to the stage floor.

Back in the Thunderbolts' corner, the Swordsman continued to look on in disgust as he watched Iron Man walk over to the right end of the chain, press the rod down and allow the chain itself to drop to the floor completely, as well as enable Luke himself to bend down and pick it up. "Apparently, once a thug, always a thug," said an unimpressed Swordsman, then through the corner of his left eye, saw the Patriot standing right next to him and let out an aggravated sigh. "Let me guess; this is the part where you tell me not to underestimate him?"

Though his faceplate hid it well, the Patriot gives Swordsman a stern look, not taking kindly to his teammate's snarky remark. "Indeed, and I trust that Atlas' loss taught you that?"

"Josten was a brainless thug who deserved to lose!" Swordsman replied. "I, on the other hand, am one of the greatest sword fighters and keen strategists on the planet," As he continued, Swordsman watched as Luke place the chain behind his neck and walk over to the teleportation pads. "I know exactly who I'm dealing with, and more importantly, I know how to win this match." The blade-wielding Thunderbolt then turned to the Patriot one last time with a confident smirk. "And when I return after winning, a raise in pay is the perfect way of saying 'thank you.'" With that said, and with his trusty sword slung over his shoulder, Swordsman proceeded to walk over to the teleportation pad.

The Patriot, on the other hand, only crossed his arms as he watched Swordsman walk away, finding his bravado irritating. "We'll see, Von Strucker. We'll see."

Meanwhile, Swordsman finally stepped on to the teleportation pad, where the chain carrying Luke was always waiting. With the two fighters now accounted for, as well as giving each other death stares, the pads activate and teleport both Luke and Swordsman...

...to a large platform built right in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, where once Luke and Swordsman arrived, they were greeted by cheering German fans standing behind yellow energy ropes, and with large holo screens above the platform for the spectators sitting too far out to see the fight.

Once Swordsman was finished basking in the Thunderbolt fans cheering for him, he used his right hand to pull out his sword and gets in a fencing stance. "How about it, Mr. Hero for Hire? Are you ready to taste cold steel?"

Luke answered his sword-wielding enemy with a sneer. "I was about to ask you that myself, punk" he retorted as he took the chain off of his neck and began wrapping it around the knuckles in his right fist "Because I'm gonna make you EAT that damn sword!"

Moments later, the Ref Bot, with the announcer's face on the screen, floated in between both men, just to make sure that both fighters didn't start fighting until he officially started the match. Once he saw that the two men were ready, he mentally commanded the Ref Bot to shoot up into the air and say the one phrase that everyone, especially the combatants, were waiting for him to say. "FIGHTERS BEGIN!" yelled the announcer, with the holo screens translating the words through German subtitles, resulting in the German spectators to cheer.

Swordsman wasted no time in attacking first as he lunged forward and thrust his sword forward, intending to dart the tip of the blade into Luke's belt buckle.

Luke, however, threw a downward right hook, and with the chain wrapped around his knuckles, successfully deflected the blade and pushed it downward, As he did this, Luke stepped to the right side, and in the process, allowed Swordsman to run past him and nearly tumble over.

Swordsman just barely stopped himself from falling face-first into the platform. Once stabilizing himself, The Thunderbolt looked over his right shoulder to get Luke back in his sights, then attempted to fight back by going for a low backhanded slash, with the Power Man's belt-buckle still being the target.

Fortunately for Luke though, he anticipated this move and quickly hopped backward, narrowly dodging the tip of the Swordsman's blade. Sadly though, he knew that he was not out of the woods just yet, for he spotted Swordsman now dashing towards him while holding his sword overhead then went for a downward slash. Luckily for Luke though, this attack reminded him of one of the many street fights he got involved in where one person came running towards him with a broken beer bottle, and thus instinctively, held his chained right fist up to block the Swordsman's slash, then with his left fist, gave Swordsman a jab to his orange faceplate. Though Luke only put twenty percent of his strength in that punch for the sake of not taking Swordsman's head clean off, it was still strong enough to send the Thunderbolt flying a couple of feet backward and landing hard on the platform floor. Now in control, Luke walked over to the fallen Swordsman and stood over him, looking into his cracked faceplate. "You lucky I held back, fool!" Luke told his dazed opponent, then wounded his chain wrapped right fist back and threw a downward punch to destroy Swordsman's belt buckle and win the match.

However, Swordsman snapped out of his daze quick enough to see Luke's fist coming his way and thus rolled to the right side, causing Luke to punch his entire fist into the platform and getting it stuck in the process. Afterward, Swordsman popped back up on to his feet, and secretly pressed two sewn in the palms of his gloves. This, in turn, activated millions of nanites flowed throughout his suit and increased the hitting power in his hands and feet. Moments later, Swordsman ran in and threw a right legged rising ax kick, nailing Luke in the face with enough force that it pulled his fist out the platform, but left him standing in a daze and allowing his chain to fall off of his hand. Seeing that the Hero for Hire was now wide open, Swordsman charged in and threw a right legged sidekick, hoping to nail Luke's belt buckle while he was still defenseless.

Luke, on the other hand, proved to be just as quick to recover as he shook his head to regain focus and spotted Swordsman throwing the kick, which prompted him to throw his right arm downward to not only block the kick but also push Swordsman's foot outward to the right side, forcing the Thunderbolt to spin around. And, thanks to his years of street fighting experience, Luke spotted Swordsman going for a spinning right back-fist, and knowing that his opponent was somehow stronger than he appeared, leaned back to save his chin from getting hit. After standing up straight, Luke saw Swordsman going for a left hook, causing the Hero for Hire to hold up his left arm to successfully block the attack, but also allowed him to fight back by using his right leg to throw a knee strike, aiming for Swordsman's belt buckle.

Unfortunately for Luke though, Swordsman was able to stop this attack by throwing both of his arms downward in an 'X' shaped fashion blocked the strike. Though the force of Luke's blow was still strong enough to send him back flying backward, Swordsman still managed to land back on his feet and into a fighting stance thanks to his nanite enhanced boots.

As for Luke, he still pressed on his attack by picking up the chain, then ran towards Swordsman and upon approaching him, used the chain like a whip. This action resulted in Swordsman holding up his left arm to not only block the chain strike but allow the chain itself to wrap around his arm. However, Luke revealed that the whip strike was nothing more than feint in order to trick Swordsman to holding up his arm, and thus made his real move pull the Thunderbolt towards him.

But despite being pulled towards Hero for Hire, Swordsman still used this to his advantage waiting until he was close enough, then attacked by throwing a left legged front kick to Luke's chest, then followed it up with a right round kick, nailing Luke in the right temple and sending him down on one knee. Once landing on his feet, Swordsman soon realized that he was still holding Luke's chain in his left hand, causing him to think that it could be handy, especially when saw Luke shaking his head and trying to stand up. This, of course, caused Swordsman to let out an annoyed grunt as he approached the kneeling Luke. "Don't you have the good sense to stay down?!" he barked as he held the chain over his head, then threw it downward in an attempt to strike Luke's head.

However, Luke recovered just in time to see this coming, and thus stopped the attack by using his left hand to reach up and catch Swordsman's left wrist. Moments later, he used his right hand to grab his opponent's right foot, and in one swoop, lifted the Thunderbolt up and over his shoulders as he stood back up on his feet. Now in control, Luke fell backward and thus drove Swordsman down hard on the platform surface on his back. After delivering such a devastating move, Luke immediately sat up and got back on his feet, and as he turned and looked down, he saw Swordsman had released the chain and was now writhing in pain. "Not to punks like you!" Luke said defiantly, then picked up the chain then wrapped it around his right fist so he can destroy Swordsman's belt buckle with a chain enforced punch and he can bring this fight to an end.

However, little did Luke, or any of the cheering German fans know was that one of the Patriot's spies, a hooded man, was in the crowd with a small mirror cupped in his right hand. Once he saw the Power Man with the chain over his knuckles and winding his right fist back, the spy went into action by using the mirror to reflect light off of the sun and flashing it into Luke's eyes, causing the Hero for Hire to stagger backward and away from the fallen Swordsman.

This leaves Swordsman to recover popping back up into a kneeling position, and upon seeing Luke blinking his eyes to regain his sight, he used this opportunity to fight his sword, then point his right hand at the direction of where it was laying. "Magnet," he said quietly into the intercom system in his helmet, which in turn, was a voice activation in his glove to generate a small magnetic field, and thus pulling the sword towards him and allowing him to catch the handle once it made its way into his open palm. Now with his trademark weapon, Swordsman stood back up on his feet, then charged toward Luke once again and made his move by thrusting his blade forward into the now blinded Luke's mid-section, more specifically, his belt buckle.

However, though Luke was momentarily blinded, he still remembered some of the lessons he learned from his times sparring with Iron Fist. Such as using his other four senses to help him be one with his environment. And this knowledge served him well, as he could hear and feel Swordsman's footsteps on the platform, and more importantly, coming towards him. This allowed Luke to save himself by rolling to the left side and dodging the tip of his opponent's sword.

Though he stopped himself from falling over, Swordsman was growing frustrated with how much trouble Luke was giving him, and looked to the right side to see that Luke himself was now in a kneeling position, and tried to take advantage of this by running forward and holding his sword over his head.

As for Luke, he quickly reacted his sight and soon looked over his shoulder to see Swordsman coming towards him and throwing a downward slash, prompting the Hero for Hire to take hold of the chain with both hands and hold it over his head in a horizontal manner, blocking the blade. After stopping the attack, Luke steered the blade to the right side, then fought back by getting up and giving Swordsman a hard left rising elbow strike to his faceplate, shattering it entirely and revealing the face of Andreas Von Strucker, who despite taking such a powerful hit, rolled on his back and popped back up on his feet, albeit with a now bloody nose. Now fully recovered and on his feet, Luke took the chain in his right hand, then charged towards Andreas and whipped his metal linked weapon once again, aiming for his enemy's exposed face.

Sadly, Andreas held his sword in front of him in a vertical fashion, causing the chain to wrap around it. With his strength-enhancing gloves, Andreas yanked the chain out of Luke's hand and threw it out into the crowd.

Most of the spectators saw the chain coming their way and wisely moved out of its way...all except the Patriot's planted spy, who took the chain to the face and fell to the ground out cold.

Back in the match, Andreas is once again in a fencing stance, ready to strike the now weaponless Luke. "Not so tough without your pitiful choice for a weapon, are you?"

As for Luke, he only stood tall and gave Andreas a defiant scowl. "Says the spineless punk whose about to use a sword to strike an unarmed man!"

"Well," Andreas replied in a cocky tone. "In this case, whatever works." With that said, the Thunderbolt thrusts his blade towards Luke's belt buckle, knowing that he has this match in the bag.

But surprisingly, Luke utilized his high speed and reflexes by clapping both of his hands and stopping the blade before it could reach him, leaving Andreas himself in a state of shock. A split second later, he yanked the sword, as well as his magnetizing glove, out of the Thunderbolt's hand and threw it to the side, leaving the bewildered Andreas without a weapon.

Now desperate, Andreas took his left fist, which still had a nanite enhancing glove on it, and went for a left uppercut.

Luke, on the other hand, saw this coming and used his left hand to catch Andrea's fist like it was nothing. Once he had his opponent literally in his grasp, Luke began crushing Andrea's hand, which in turn caused the glove to short out and make Andreas scream in pain. Looking at Andreas in pure disgust over his actions in this match, Luke clenched his right fist and gave the Thunderbolt an uppercut to his jaw, one that was strong enough to send him up into the air. Luke then waited until he spotted his now airborne enemy's belt buckle, then deliver a stiff left jab, one that succeeded in hitting and destroy the buckle, as well as send Andreas flying back a few feet.

As for Andreas himself, the yellow energy soon engulfed his body while in mid-air, and by the time he hit the platform, he was already frozen stiff.

This resulted in the Avengers fans within the German crowd to cheer, as well as the Ref Bot floating over next to Luke, who by now was rubbing his knuckles. "Ladies and gentlemen," said the announcer with his face on the Ref Bot's screen, as well as the holo screens above the platform. "Here is your winner...LUKE CAGE!"

Luke could hear the cheering from the German crowd, as well as the crowd from the Garden via the Ref Bot's screen, but he didn't particularly care for it. For now, all that mattered was stopping Osborn and saving his fellow Heroes for Hire, Iron Fist and Ant-Man. He then took a moment to look down at the frozen and defeated Andreas. "If you can hear me, thanks for helping me let off some steam," Luke told his fallen enemy. "But just so you know, what I did to you was a slap on the wrist compared to the beating I'm gonna give Osborn!"

WINNER: LUKE CAGE