Jessica's POV
I charged into the building with every intention to wreck shit—and that's exactly what Colleen and I did. I set my gauntlets on fire and barreled into the first sap I saw. He flipped back, unsurprisingly, his body lighting up with flecks of gold and black.
Fucking Hand ninjas and their undying bullshit. That murky nonsense they channeled let them move faster than most cars and hit harder than a truck. And even when you do kill them, you have to maim the bodies—otherwise, they pop back up like something out of a cheesy zombie flick.
The ninja drew his blade and readied himself to attack, but he was already dead. A beam of heat burst from my gauntlet, spearing through his heart and ripping through the back of another ninja who just happened to be in the way. They both crumbled, bodies spontaneously combusting.
Another ninja tried to ambush me from behind, but I ducked and lashed out with my elbow, discharging heat. I cracked his jaw and grabbed his hand before he could recover, pumping heat into his body—setting him on fire—before taking off his head with a brutal straight.
I grinned at the brutality and marveled at my progress. Believe it or not, my fights used to be a lot messier.
The vibranium bodysuit helps a ton. So does training with Colleen. According to her, I used to fight like a blind wildebeest on steroids—left nothing but chaos in my wake.
In comparison, she flowed like a ballet swan, twisting, cutting, and carving through Hand ninjas with her glowing blade.
The ninjas had started to swarm us now.
"Light it up?" I asked, and Colleen returned to my side.
She nodded, and we did. Matt might bitch and moan about how much control Dante has over us, but he'll be the first to admit the equipment Dante gifted us is top-fucking-shelf.
My body roared as my strength spiked when I tapped into one of the three Amplification Runes carved into my new and improved gauntlets. Then I triggered the Wind Runes in my boots. Colleen did the same, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
And for the first time since we'd ever fought them, I saw the ninjas hesitate.
Too bad it was already too late.
I laughed as I swung my fist and pushed heat outside my body. It gushed out of me like a burst dam, sweeping outward and drowning everything in fire. Colleen took off so fast I could barely track her afterimage, her enchanted blade sweeping through the reeling bodies of our enemies.
I cackled, soaking it all in. It'd been a long time since I'd had a proper release. After my enhancement, I gave up booze, and my dating pool shrank to a fraction of what it used to be. After a three-hundred-percent increase in my strength, I couldn't risk pulping some poor sucker mid-orgasm.
This—unfortunately—was probably as good as it was going to get for a while.
And for once, I was okay with that.
Matt Murdock's POV
I spun my glowing bo staff, parrying a palm strike from Alexandria before driving a thrust into her ribs, empowered by an Amplification Rune. Something cracked. She gasped and stumbled back, and I pressed the opening, snapping my staff apart and lashing out with both batons.
Her counterattack turned fiercer—harder, more vicious—each strike colliding with and dispersing against my weapons. I stepped back, narrowly dodging a kick from an invisible Bakuto aimed straight for my head.
He barely disturbed the air. I hadn't even heard him breathe, but my heat sense told me exactly where he was.
That was one of the things I'd gained after the enhancement, along with improved eyesight and upgrades to my other four senses.
Bakuto twisted into a roundhouse, swept low for my leg, then flipped into a handstand, his legs scything out. I avoided all but the last strike, catching it cleanly with my baton. He tucked his body, giving Alexandria a clear line.
Her fist flared like a miniature sun—and was yanked off course by Peter's web.
She pitched backward just as I snapped my batons together, flaring two of the three Amplification Runes on my collapsed staff. The stored energy detonated in a concussive wave, throwing Bakuto and Alexandria flat on their backs.
Peter followed up instantly, firing nets that glued them to the concrete. He'd done the same to Gao.
A moment later, the girls cut loose behind me, bathing the warehouse in heat and fire. Hand ninjas dropped like flies, much to my dismay.
The purest among them had stolen at least one life to fuel their immortality and techniques—but killing them still felt wrong. Worse, we had no realistic way to detain or punish them, even if my teammates were inclined to try. The Raft—S.H.I.E.L.D.'s super-prison—was gone, and I didn't like the idea of getting into bed with Nick Fury.
Dante had a lot of faults.
But being wary of a faceless mega-agency driven by political interests wasn't one of them.
Peter landed on top of the container.
"So…" he started awkwardly, "what do we do with this?"
"I think you mean them," I corrected, though I understood the confusion.
"I say torch it and be done," Jessica said, walking up, her gauntlets still glowing. Colleen appeared beside her in a wash of heat, sheathing her katana across her back.
"I think it's time we use that Beacon," Colleen said. "We have no effective way of containing whatever—or whoever—is inside that container."
I shot her a surprised look. Jessica did too.
"Why would we want to contain it?" Jessica asked. "You said it was apocalyptic."
"But it's also…like a person," Peter added. "I mean, I'm not gonna say no to another team member."
Jessica planted her hands on her hips. "So we're just letting anyone in now?"
Bakuto laughed—so hard he nearly cried—and the rest of the Hand seemed similarly pleased.
Something was wrong.
"For a man famous for his insight," Bakuto said, "you're awfully gullible."
My eyes widened. "Shit."
"They led us here," Colleen said immediately.
Jessica caught on a heartbeat later. Peter was right behind her. He touched the gauntlet on his wrist; it flared briefly, then went dark.
That was when it happened.
Black Sky's heartbeat accelerated.
Each thump came faster than the last.
We all heard it—but Jessica moved first.
She flared all three runes in her gauntlets and punched.
Peter barely cleared the blast radius.
The container vanished in a flash of light and pressure and took half the warehouse with it.
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