Cage walks home now that he no longer has a car. As he comes to a bus stop, he notices some men harassing a young woman; they grab her and try to pull her away as she shouts for help. He quickly approaches them, "Hey, the hell you think you're doing?". At once, they turn and one of the men shouts, "Yo, take off!"

"Let her go."

"You're Luke Cage, right?," one of them asks as he steps forward.

"That's right."

"Man, you ain't as big as you are on TV. We ain't afraid of you."

"Well, then you're dumber than you look."

The girl uses the distraction to run away. The young men let her go, now turning their attention to Cage, crowding around him menacingly. Undaunted, he notices that all of them have dagger tattoos on their right hands, an indication they belong to a familiar gang.

"You boys belong to the Rivals?"

"Maybe we do. You got beef?," they crowd in closer.

"Yeah, I got beef."

The man turns, laughs to his friends, then snaps back, throwing a punch which connects against Cage's jaw. This results in Cage not flinching at all and the young man screaming in pain as he shatters his fist. He shrinks back, clutching his hand in pain as his friends rush him away. They hop in their nearby car as Cage raises his hands invitingly, "Hey, where you goi'n? I thought you weren't afraid." Tires squeal and the car pulls away. Cage quickly follows on foot, leaping onto the trunk of a parked car, running over the vehicle, and finally leaping high into the air, his super strength propelling him very far.

The men in the car suddenly hear and feel something hit the roof as it caves in partway. Outside the car, Cage holds on. He raises a fist, digging it into the roof behind the windshield. The men inside scream as a hand makes its way into the cab and pulls, peeling the metal back, creating a large hole in the top of the car, just enough to show his face, "Stop the car!" The driver screams and swerves the car back and forth across the street. Cage almost loses his grip as he is yanked around, making the hole much larger. He grabs hold with both hands just before the car makes a sharp turn, almost spilling him into the street. A piece of metal breaks lose in his grip and he nearly falls off, grabbing the side of the car instead. He now faces the driver's side window, "I said stop the car! You hard of hearing?". The driver looks ahead and notices a bus coming in the opposite direction. He smiles and swerves toward it. "Sweet Christmas," Cage mutters just as the bus hits him. The back of his head is scraped along the side of the bus, shooting sparks as he grunts loudly. Finally, the bus knocks him loose and he is flung into the air and directly into the path of a semitruck. He shouts just before the truck hits him, completely demolishing its front end and sending Cage down the road where he bounces off the pavement, taking a chunk of granite with him. The young men in the car look back to see Cage's location, not noticing where they're going. A car side-swipes them, making them spin around in a complete circle before hitting a stop sign; bringing them to a halt. Cage picks himself up and rubs his chin, "Oh yeah... Almost forgot what that felt like."

The driver in the car shakes his head, attempting to fight disorientation. His friends check themselves and look up in time to notice Cage walking in their direction. "Start the car! Start the car!," they shout. Before the driver has the opportunity to do so, Cage slams his fist through the hood and jerks, completely ripping it off and tossing it to the sidewalk. Then he places both hands onto the sides of the engine and pulls with all his might, eventuallly ripping it out of the car as well. It is dropped on the pavement at his feet, cracking the ground underneath. He glares at the frightened men inside, "I'm not gona tell you a third time." The men quickly scramble out of the car and onto the ground, apologizing profusely. A group of people quickly gather around him, taking pictures and video with their phones.

"Hey Cage," one of them asks, "Did these guys have a bounty of their heads?"

"Nah. This one's free."

The next day, Cage recieves a phone call.

"Hello?"

He hears a familiar voice, "I saw a video of you on the internet."

"Oh, hello Mr. McIver."

"You beat up some gangsters in Harlem?"

"Yeah, they were -"

"We don't need to go around looking for action. We have to be delicate with the battles we choose."

"I didn't go looking for anything. I just caught some Rivals on the street."

"Look, Cage, I understand you have some anger toward the Rivals but I run a business. I provide services. I did not hire you as a free agent. You should have walked away from the situation."

"What, and let them do God knows what to some girl?"

"You could have called the police."

"Trust me. I know that neighborhood. The cops would not show up."

"You shouldn't have gotten involved."

"If I see something going down, I'm getting involved."

"Cage -"

"And what's this I hear about you wanting to continue Burstein's experiments? You want some more Luke Cages running around or something?"

"Have you spoken to Burstein recently?"

"Yeah. He told me what you're planning."

McIver's door opens. He looks up from his desk and extends a finger to the figures coming into his office. "Cage, I'm afraid I'll have to continue this later."

"No, we're gonna talk about this now."

"Need I remind you that if you want to remain on parole, you need to stay employed."

"I'm well aware of that!"

"Good," McIver hangs up.

Cage angrily drops his phone and paces around his apartment.

McIver turns in his chair to the figures sitting on the other side of his desk and calmly folds his hands in front of him, "Please try to call next time." Across his desk sits Sonny Caputo, an African American man in his late thirties. Standing behind him are two bodyguards. One is a Latino man wearing sunglasses and the other is a Native man. These men are Shades and Comanche.

"Cage rolled a few of our boys yesterday," Caputo snarls.

"I know. Trust me, it's been taken care of."

"We promised not to take revenge so you could make bank. If Cage goes after us, we go after Cage."

"Mr. Caputo,... Sonny, our deal is still on. Don't be impatient."

"I need to know I can trust you."

"You can and I'm willing to prove it," McIver leans in, "I promised I would get your friends out of prison, didn't I? I plan to make good on that."

"Now you're talking."