New York
Hot soup is poured into a metal bowl. A reporter stands inside a small soup kitchen, facing a camera while a line of homeless or impoverished people stand in a line behind her. "David, I am standing in a recently opened soup kitchen in Brooklyn. Here, homeless people are receiving a free, hot meal, all thanks to one man. If you look behind me, you may notice a familiar face," the camera zooms in revealing Danny Rand dishing out bowls of soup alongside other volunteers, "That is Daniel Rand of Rand Corps. Continuing his humanitarian efforts, he has recently opened this soup kitchen tonight, making it the second time he has done so. You may remember Mr. Rand has inherited his parents' company following..." Daniel pours soup into a bowl and smiles at the man receiving it, "Enjoy." The man thanks him and moves along. Soon, a board member at Rand Corp comes up behind Danny and whispers, "Hey, this is great PR for the company, Danny. Why don't you pour out a few more bowls, say something nice for the cameras and you can call it a night." Danny turns to him with an annoyed look, "I'm staying at least until my shift is over. I'm here because I need to be, not to impress people."
The board member rolls his eyes, "Fine. Just promise me you'll at least go home in the limo tonight and not take a stroll through the neighborhood like last time."
"I'm interested in how these people live. I wanna see the area."
"You can see plenty of this area on the evening news. This is a rough neighborhood, Danny."
"I grew up in a rough neighborhood."
"Trust me, it was nothing like this one."
"Yeah, you're right..."
The board member smiles, pats him on the back, "See ya at the office, Danny," and leaves.
"... This place doesn't disappear every ten years," Danny continues under his breath.
A few hours later, Danny strolls down the sidewalk. The area is dirty with gang tags on the walls, litter on the street, and few people outside. He passes a man sitting on a stoop without a second glance and doesn't realize that the man continues to watch him. Once, Danny passes, he stands up and quickly follows him. Danny turns a corner and the man comes after him, producing a gun from his coat. "Hey," he shouts, finally getting Danny's attention, "Give me your wallet!". Danny notices the gun but his expression barely changes.
"Look, if you need anything, there's a soup kitchen -"
The man cuts him off, "I said gimmie your wallet!"
"We don't have to do this."
"Yeah, we do."
"Last warning."
"Man, gimmie your damn wallet!"
The man storms forward, gun still drawn. As he does so, Danny launches himself toward the man, grabbing him by the wrist. He twists as a single shot goes off to the side, then delivers an elbow to the man's face and he collapses in an unconscious heap at his feet. Once the threat is neutralized, Danny takes a look at the man's gun which is now in his hand. He checks the area to make sure no one is watching then raises the weapon and clenches his other fist. There is a glow between his fingers that gets brighter until his entire hand is emitting chi energy. Once he has summoned the Iron Fist, he strikes, hitting the gun and blasting it into pieces, then tosses what's left across the street and moves on.
A few minutes later, he is in the back of his limo. The driver turns around, "Ready to go, Mr. Rand?"
"Yeah, looks like it."
"It's a rough neighborhood."
"So I've heard. Listen, if anyone else at Rand Corps asks, I got into the limo right after my shift was over and went straight home."
"You got it."
The limo pulls out and they drive through New York; meanwhile, Danny calls a number on his phone. Elsewhere in the city, a lone figure sits in a parked car across from a hotel as a ringtone is heard. Inside, Misty Knight answers.
"Hey, Danny."
"Hey. Working late tonight?"
"Yeah, Colleen has us on a stake out tonight. Some dude cheating on his wife."
"Those are most of your cases, aren't they?," he jokes.
"Well, this is the world of private investigators. Not as exciting as living in other dimensions and getting powers from a dragon, I'm afraid."
"A dragon's heart, actually," he says with a laugh.
"Oh, excuse me."
"Anyway, I'll let you go before Colleen finds out you're on the phone during a stake out."
"Relax. She won't find out."
Just then, the sound of radio static cuts the conversation short. Perched on a nearby rooftop, Colleen Wing sits with a radio in one hand and a camera in the other, "Misty, are you there?". She jumps and snatches her walkie-talkie with her free hand, "Yeah. What's up?".
"You're not talking on the phone during a stake out are you?," she asks dryly.
"Uh,... No."
"Busted," Danny laughs.
"Goodnight, Danny," Colleen says with a smirk.
"Goodnight, ladies," he quickly hangs up.
"I need you alert, Misty," Colleen scolds her.
"I am. I'm down here, still waiting for our 'John Smith' to show up with his 'Jane'."
At that moment, a man walks up to the hotel, along with a beautiful blonde woman. Misty snaps to attention, "Oh, speak of the devil. There's John now." Misty casually gets out of the car and follows nonchalantly. Up on the roof, Colleen gets her camera ready, "Be sure they're going to their usual room." Inside the hotel, Misty can see ¨John¨ nodding to the clerk and being given a key almost immediately. "Looks like it," Misty says over radio. Colleen readies her camera and aims it at the hotel window across the way. There, she sees John entering the room with ¨Jane¨. She removes her overcoat, revealing a sexy red dress. Colleen starts snapping pictures as he removes his coat and tie and she closes the curtains.
Down below, Misty makes her way back to her car but a middle-aged woman rushes to her, "Did you catch him yet?".
"Mrs. Gregg, you're not supposed to be here," Misty tells her.
"I know but I just couldn't resist catching him in the act."
"That's what you paid us for. Now please, you have to leave before he spots you."
"I wanna see what she looks like."
Colleen overhears the argument over the walkie-talkie and quickly snatches the radio, "What's going on down there?"
"Um, Mrs. Gregg has decided to join us."
"Crap! She shouldn't be here!"
The woman makes her way past Misty and races toward the hotel, "It's room 312, right?". Misty persues her, "No! Mrs. Gregg, wait." On the roof, Colleen turns and heads for the fire escape, "I'll be right down there, Misty. Don't let her go up to his room." Inside the hotel, Misty runs up the stairs after her, "I think it might be a little late for that." She runs to the hotel room and starts hitting the door with her fists, "Come out of there, Phillip! I know you're in there!". Misty pulls the woman back and literally begins to drag her back to the stairs, "This is not a good idea, ma'am."
The John pokes his head out of his hotel room, "Lydia, what are you doing here?"
She yanks herself free from Misty, "So who's the blonde bimbo? I know she's in there with you."
"I'm not with anyone!"
The blonde woman pushes him aside and storms out of the room, still wearing the red dress, "Who are you calling a bimbo?"
He steps out of the room entirely, now wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts, "Shut up! What're you doing?"
"I knew it!," Mrs. Gregg shouts.
Misty tries to defuse the situation, "Mrs. Gregg, please... let's just go."
"Who the hell is that?," he asks.
"She's one of the private investigators I hired to prove you're cheating."
"Um,... hi," Misty says sheepishly.
"You've had people spying on me?," he asks angrily.
Colleen shows up at this point, camera in hand, "Oh,... This is bad."
"Hey, give me that camera," he races toward Colleen, but she tosses it in the air, forcing him to stop and watch as it flies to the ceiling, then she plants her foot against his chest and kicks him to the ground before catching the falling camera. The lady in red puts her hands up offensively and faces Misty, "You're not the only one who's taken self-defense." She throws a punch that is casually caught by Misty, "It ain't self-defense, honey," then she thrusts her palm in her face, rendering her unconscious. "I don't have to take this," the John picks himself off the ground and charges at Colleen again, only for her to take him out with a roundhouse kick. With both of them unconscious in the middle of the hall and various hotel customers poking their heads out their rooms curiously, Misty and Colleen back away slowly in embarrassment. "That was awesome!," Mrs. Gregg says cheerfully.