Author's Notes: Windy and Guest (I'm sure you posted twice on the last one, heh), thanks a lot. If people loose interest in reading, then, well, I loose interest in posting. So I thank spize666 for commenting, even if their interest has been up and down. Now for those of you itching for a team and Kevin confrontation - here it is.
Warning: Some colorful language.
Disclaimer: Ultimate Spider-Man is not mine. Nor are any of its characters. That's Marvel's job. Any Original Characters and art you note, however, are all me. No. I'm not making money. Don't rub it in.

Chapter 22 - Danny

Peace. That would be the one word Danny would use to describe this place—his home, K'un-Lun. He could spend hours in his personal garden just watching the scene of his kingdom change with the day's hours. Morning. Noon. Night. It mattered not. The stark-white mountains surrounding the city had always been the perfect backdrop to the mounds of Chinese architecture and dull hum of activity. And no matter how long or at what time Danny chose to sit, it always eased him.

That peace was shaken almost daily, however, by a stranger that called herself Zeelan Weir. It went unsaid how she eluded the guards of his home—both personal and city-wide. She always side-stepped the topic and tried to convince him of impossible things instead. Like that he was actually a super hero named Iron Fist, who fought in New York City alongside a group of other heroes. What sense did that make? Yes, he had been given the chance once—to leave K'un-Lun's sanctity and attend the affairs left over from his deceased parents. But he had chosen not to do it.

…Right?

She made him doubt he did. And that unnerved him. One with no sense of self is merely lost. But he should not be lost—not in K'un-Lun. Naturally, he had attempted to push her away, for he could not stand the uncertainty. Yet, as the visits increased, her wide, pleading eyes would stop him like a spell. The haunted look in her oil black irises reflected something. In a way, he felt it was a part of him, a part that he had forgotten. And her strong, accented words—those disoriented his reality all the more.

How much longer could he hold onto his peace? It was slipping. He did not like that. Maybe that is why the heavier part of her words fell silent. In his mind, he could see her speaking; he could feel a shift inside him. However, he could not remember what was said…

"Namaste, my king," a quaint, soft voice called.

Danny turned his head sideways, gazing at a monk that bowed respectably. "Namaste. What is it, Jing?"

The bald man—standing tall and lean beneath his robe—flashed a light smile. "I wished to inform you that your lunch is ready."

"Oh. Thank you."

"It is still hot, so perhaps—"

"Yes." Danny grinned in return as he rose from his stone bench. Jing's dark eyes sparkled when they met him. With what? Danny never could tell. But the monk had always been a good guide and knew just how to relax the king. So he thought nothing of it when he followed Jing towards the palace.

Danny!

The faint voice echoed like a ghost from all around. The blonde halted under the overhanging roof of his garden's entrance and looked beyond the blossoming trees at the blue sky, waiting for the voice again.

Dan—

It was cut off by something. He knew not what, though. Not a soul could be seen in the area or on the roof or even atop the stone fence that enclosed the royal garden.

Danny.

Its third cry sounded more distant. Maybe he was hallucinating. Zeelan could not be real. The others would have found her by now, if she were. Yes, it would be best not to acknowledge her any longer.

"My king, what is it?" Jing asked.

Danny faced him, a convincing smile on his lips. "Nothing important," he answered lightly. Even when a familiar warmth reached out to him, he shoved it aside, adding as he entered the palace, "Come. Lunch is growing cold." He heard the soft clicks of Jing's shoes from behind.

"Very well…my king."

"Quit spacing like an over-fed pig and wake up already!" Kevin cried as he shook his sister with strong hands. The semi-tan teen twitched in her sofa seat, blinking. Her agape mouth closed as she swallowed a great amount of spit that threatened to dribble down her chin. And he didn't quite care for the glare she sent when he pulled her to her feet.

"What the—why aren't you in solitary, K?" she questioned, breathless.

"Come on"—Kevin spoke quickly—"We have to go!"

"Go? Where? Kevin!" The younger mutant snatched back her arm. Her eyes suddenly drew to the flashing, red lights around the recreational room she was just sleeping in and as the sirens wailed, she groaned.

"All power sources can be overloaded," Kevin noted darkly.

"So you broke out?" her sister countered in a scream.

"We don't have time for this; we have to go!" He reached for her again, but Zeelan stepped back, shaking her head. "Z—"

"Oh, you can be so stupid sometimes, you know?" she asked through clenched teeth.

Kevin felt his muscles grow rigid under her stare. "You…you won't come with me then?"

"And do what, K? Run?" Slowly, the sister shook her head and dug her hands deep into her jacket pockets. "I'm tired of that. It's why I came to the team to begin with."

"You didn't have to," remarked K under his breath. Still, it was just loud enough to be heard between the sirens.

"Yes, I did. We were out of options. But you were too stubborn to choose the lesser of two evils."

"Lesser? Not so much."

"Well, I don't recall SHIELD attacking our town. Invading, maybe. But not attacking."

"Why are you defending them? You can't really be on Fury's side!"

"Hell no!" Zeelan responded quick and furious, like she should.

"Then why won't you come with me?" Kevin retorted with a speeding heart. His window of opportunity was closing—he sensed it.

"Because we'd be running for the rest of our lives, K! From SHIELD. And what about our friends?"

"We'll find them."

"And rescue them ourselves? I don't think so. We need help. And I need to stay here for Danny. Do you know what you just interrupted?"

Kevin growled at the name. "He's not your problem."

"He could die if I don't work with Doctor Strange!"

"So?"

"'So'? K…" Z's glare failed her, leaving her soft. Black eyes glistened with sorrow. It hurt, but he kept an even glare. "What's happened to you?"

"Nothing," he spat. "I'm just stressed over getting the fuck out!"

Slam! Perfect. Kevin whirled, electricity surging through every ounce of him imaginable. He let it discharge without restraint, which fried a couple of flat screen televisions and overheated a few alarms. But he didn't draw back—especially when a trio of heroes flooded the room. They posed tensely, waiting. And the room filled with a new silence sans the ringing of distance sirens untouched by Kevin's power.

"Wait, please, all of you!" Zeelan cried earnestly while stepping between them. A force-field encased her in a tint of purple, which Kevin gawked at mildly. Since when could she form fields on command?

"Your brother just escaped prison, Zeelan," Spider-Man noted. He lowered his lithe form on the foosball table he perched on.

"I know," she countered, soft. But her shield remained up.

"You know we can't let him leave," White Tiger added from her crouch position on the floor. There was a dangerous snarl in her tone—animalistic. Even the feral atmosphere around her intensified.

"He's paying for what he did," finished Power Man, cracking his knuckles. Kevin met his sunglasses squarely then raised his chin.

"Just let me talk to him first," Z pleaded. It was nauseating how she lowered her shield and touched each of them like they were her friends. Worse still, they actually responded. "Kevin," the curly-haired mutant started once she turned back towards him, "You've changed."

The blonde frowned. "Why? Because I refuse to take any more of SHIELD's shit?"

"This has nothing to do with that. Ever since Enderlin, you haven't cared about others like you used to. That—that's not right. You care a lot about others. That"—a small hick paused Z—"That's why you grew up being my hero."

"Times change," Kevin remarked solemnly.

"But that doesn't mean you let change beat you into a—a sociopath."

"A sociopath would have abandoned the group all together."

"And what you've done is no better than that."

"Oh?" One of the K's brows rose.

"Do you know how far you've dragged them?" Breathy exasperation led the end of Z's question into a dark chuckle.

K immediately narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"Oh, I'm thinking," she said on the brink of—what he knew could be—a breakdown. "I'm thinking how silly I must be to consider you would do it. I mean, you have too much conscience for that."

"For what?"

"The last message you sent to Fury…"

Electricity fizzling, K's gaze turned stony. "You heard that?" he asked carefully.

She nodded, though she also forced a smile as if its power could erase the memory. "Yeah, but—but that was a lie…Right? You wouldn't—Yeah." Clearly, breath came hard for her. "You had already sunk to kidnap and blackmail. You—you probably didn't even touch Nova. Right? It had to be a bluff. Please…tell me it was."

Could he lie to his sister? No. But could he voice the truth? He tried, only he found he couldn't—not under the weight of Zeelan's broken expression. She grew silent and still with shock, unaware of the three that cautiously approached her sides, staring ahead. K didn't grace them with so much as a glance and when grim realization sparked in his sister's eyes, electricity recharged around his tense body.

"If one of them would have just broke"—he started darkly—"if they had just given you back, it wouldn't of had to come to that."

"No," Z whispered. Her one simple word broke the flood gate for all. The tears she tried keeping back slid down her freckled cheeks and weakened her knees.

In a split-second, a unanimous growl from the heroes sounded as Zeelan stumbled back. White Tiger reached Kevin first. She moved like a phantom—in one place one second, and another the next. The yellow slits of her white mask seemed to glow with livid hate and he had little chance to block the razor claws that dug across his chest.

"You son of a bitch!" she bellowed in disdain as the intense burn flared across his bloody wound. He teleported behind her, to kick her back, but a crushing force surrounded him—Power Man's arms.

"What gives you the right to treat him that way?" the dark-skinned powerhouse questioned. His low tone felt on the verge of tears and unbridled loathing, like he was fighting the urge to crush Kevin to death.

So, sucking in a deep breath, Kevin teleported from the hero's hold, unwilling to test the theory. He arrived beside a pool table behind the sofa and promptly found his feet glued to the floor by a thick, sticky substance. Once he glanced up, a fist met his face like a sledge hammer. Its force tore him from his gooey anchor, thrusting him across a second pool table into the metallic wall.

"All this time, Zeelan's been assuring us you wouldn't do it!" Spider-Man.

A powerful movement shook the floor as Kevin rose to his hands and knees. It drew closer until a large, tight grip wrapped around one of his biceps and ankle. Then, he flew haphazardly thought the air.

"You think you can get away with that?" Power Man roared as Kevin sunk deep into the other side of the wall. He had no time to hit the floor; White Tiger had skid to a stop before him and dug her claws into his arms.

"I swear if Sam dies from any wounds—" she snarled, tossing him towards the center of the room.

His ringing ears couldn't process the rest of her threat. But it probably involved his death. He found himself breathless yet again, his mind unable to catch up with everything around him. He laid still on a folded rug and willed for more strength. Yet electricity hardly flickered across his body. Of course, now of all times his exhaustion and starvations had to kick in.

'All well. There's really no choice.'

And with the last amount of his reserved strength he teleported to his feet, bracing for the oncoming attacks. He shocked White Tiger until she writhed with a sob in his hands. Then he tossed her muscular body into Spider-Man as he swung from the ceiling. Those two descended with a thud, and when Power Man barreled forward, K teleported out of the way in time for him to trip up on the rug.

"Pampered dogs," Kevin snapped while the figures recovered. "You can't lecture me when you have no idea what I've been through."

"There's no justification for what you've done!" White Tiger cried, flinching in her stance. Another growl left her throat and she dashed forward. But a force-field stopped her, pushed her back on her butt. The heroine glanced up and Kevin followed her lead to Zeelan.

"Don't hurt them," the white-haired mutant muttered. Her head remained down, her wild hair hiding her eyes like a solemn shroud.

"You can't be on their side," K remarked without thought or inhibition. "They took you from me!"

Gradually, Z turned until she faced her brother with a steely gaze that drove a knife into his gut. "I love you, K," she started in a dead tone. "But you need to face the facts. I don't agree with you. This team has been so helpful. Now they need me. I won't turn my back on them. I won't…I won't let Danny die just because he's part of SHIELD."

"So you'll turn your back on my side instead? Your own brother?" He could feel the surge rising through him—prickling with heat. It danced across his skin as if he were short circuiting. Maybe he was.

"My brother wouldn't let someone die over something so petty."

"What SHIELD has done to our family is far from petty! Have you forgotten how hard they hunted us along with The Trackers?"

"And have you forgotten what it means to be a good person?"

Kevin snapped. Before he realized it, he directed a surge of electricity at his sister. She blocked it with a force-field before it reached her. The sparks of white clashed against the purple for no more than a moment. Then, a second force-field bubbled by K's torso. It grew rapidly until it socked him in the stomach, pushing the air from his lungs. He scowled as the bubble faded then threw a second bolt of energy—this time, aiming for Zeelan's shoulder. It met its mark.

"What do you think I've been doing then?" Kevin screamed over some gibber from the heroes. "All this time, I've been trying to do all that I can for our group! All this time, I've been doing all I can for you! I've been protecting everyone!"

"Except the people we've come across!" A force-field formed in Zeelan's hands, but she never got a chance to toss it. Ava landed behind her, slipping her arms under the mutant's waist.

"We were being tracked," K countered as he felt Power Man grab him. Outside voices indicated Fury, Coulson, and several other agents had arrived. They didn't matter to Kevin, though. So he kept eye contact with his sister, mirroring her glare. "We can't save everyone."

"Since when did you start thinking like that?" Z shot back through small, desperate chokes.

"Since Papa died in Enderlin." He said this softly, he said it truly. But he couldn't stop. The anger was too much, and it flared in his tone, urging him in his struggle against Power Man's hold. "Humans make a mess of things. I see that now. And I want nothing to do with them."

"You don't mean that!"

"You shouldn't either, Z. You should've just left with me!"

"And let Danny die?"

"Yes!"

Now, Zeelan froze. She shook and soon her hand rose for another force-field that Ava prevented. The heroine was forced to wrap her arms tight around Z as the mutant reached forward.

"You want to know what side I'm on, K?" she screamed in a deafening tone that vibrated through her brother's body. "I'm on the side of good; the side where life is valued. So I will help Danny. No matter what. Even if it kills me, I will—because the world needs more people like him! And less selfish people like you!"

Then, all grew silent.

Author's Notes: Things are starting to boil over. It only heats up from here, so, four reviews and it shall continue. Peace! :P