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***
I stood in the middle of Matt Murdock's dojo, listening in the darkness. A couple of hours ago, two letters had appeared in my inbox, one of which had led me here.
The first, quite expectedly, was from my parents, showing my favourite 'oldies' posing against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean coastline. Dressed in Hawaiian shirts, with stereotypical necklaces of flowers, surrounded by crowds of dancers and musicians.
A short note assured me that all was well, they were healthy, safe and happy, and most importantly, their father had been extremely lucky to win the lottery, which would allow them to extend their holiday a little longer rather than sit at home doing nothing.
For a brief moment the thought flashed through my mind as to why they were allowed to holiday for so long..... But I put it out of my mind, because the second letter was short and very informative.
In broad brushstrokes, rough and commanding, the silhouette of a dragon's muzzle was drawn on the old parchment, staring straight at me. As I stared at the drawing, which I couldn't replicate even with my best efforts, a single name came to mind, making my face stretch into a smile.
Without fear, I walked round in a circle and infused my body with Qi, feeling the energy flowing around me. My body became strong, and a real engine settled in my chest, pumping my blood.
-Come on, Danny. I can't wait all night.
Iron Fist jumped down on me from the ceiling. Until the very last moment, he almost stopped the flow of Qi in his body, so I lost sight of him, and only a split second before he hit me did I feel a flash of power behind me.
My hat flew off. And I felt the images on the mask flicker around in frustration, fighting each other, clashing and fighting amongst themselves.
"Let's see how much better I've become."
Rummelling the wooden floor, I push my body forward. In a veritable rain of splinters, I fly into the body of a surprised Rand.
-Holy shit!
Iron Fist. He lived up to his nickname. Our hands collided with each other. Golden flashes of shadow illuminated the darkness of the dojo as the two martial artists smashed everything in their path.
Wooden beams broke beneath my feet, gym equipment shattered, and the blind lawyer's stupid favourite punching bag was punched through.
My body burns with the amount of energy, it frantically churns inside, accompanying each blow. The world sinks into shadows, dragging me down with it, and only the knowledge that Danny is on the side of justice allows me to hold back the blows at the last moment.
Our battle is like a disco under a statoscope. Flashes of chi. Twitchy movements picked out by sparse beams of light.
After missing a few hard blows to the body, I feel my body going into flight, tearing down the last surviving pieces of interior.... But there is no pain, and no fatigue. I'm perfectly fine, my body is healthy and ready to continue.... I'm ready to go on.
A flicker of sanity flashes at the edge of my consciousness, but I firmly shove it aside.
-Phew, that was cool. Although I do have a few questions.... Sean?
My mouth tastes like blood. I spit it right into the mask, feeling the piece of cloth absorb the scarlet liquid, adding it to the series of crazy pictures dancing on this bizarre white canvas.
Something crunches in the body. And a stream of Qi rushes to my ribs. Apparently Rand broke something for me. I don't care.
-Shawn, you better stop, mate, or I won't be able to hold back any longer.
-Analogous.
The show goes on. Gold flashes flashed from the small windows of the dojo in the pouring rain that poured down from the dirty clouds over New York City, adding more and more black colours each time.
Iron Fist breaks my arm. He takes it in his grip, trying to disarm me, but that's his weakness. He doesn't want to use his full power... Unlike me.
Shadows devour the dojo. The colours evaporate, leaving only two bright shades of black and white. The latter blinds my eyes to the point of pain, but without it there is nothing else, so I endure, endure, and get angry.
The crack of bones makes Danny recoil. He loses concentration for just a moment, which I take advantage of by punching through his liver, folding the body of the mighty dragon slayer to the floor.
He mumbles something to himself. Talking about how this was already unnecessary....
"Superfluous? But we fought... Why did we do it? Danny?".
The questions swarmed in my head. One by one, piling on and complementing each other, chasing away the encroaching shadows, bringing colour back into this beautiful world.
The noise of the city returned abruptly. I felt the weight of the battle come over me, shaking my legs and forcing me to kneel beside Rand.
-Kha-kha... Why the fuck did I come to Kun Lun? You ungrateful little shit. You could have killed me, couldn't you?
-Я... I'm sorry, old chap. I don't know what came over me.
-Oh, that hurt," Rand leaned back and stroked his injured stomach, feeding the wounded area with Qi, "next time, use your head.
-Yeah, sure," Holding out my hand to Rand, I received a languid shake of my head. The Iron Fist remained lying on the floor, -Okay, I'm going to go. I'm gonna take a break.
-Whatever. I'd rather die. I'll see you tomorrow, but no fighting.
-Yeah.
***
Daniel Rand looked at the cloaked figure with a glance, and rose from the floor, taking a new look at the ruined hall. It looked as if a hurricane had blown through the area, with impact marks here and there, and in some places the wood had even begun to smoulder.
-I've got to deal with this," the man jerked sharply, still clutching his stomach, stroking the sore spot. Though he was overplaying in front of his student, and he was feeling better by the second, but when he told the boy about the possibility of death, he wasn't joking, -What happened here while I was away.... That mask is creepy, too.
Cleaning up the aftermath of their fight, Iron Fist scrutinised the places where Sean had rampaged, using Qi generously.... and that even sounded silly. Just a few months ago, his disciple could barely steadily strengthen his body, maintaining a normal fight for a few minutes, and here was something like this.
Running his hand along the edges of the hole in the floor, Danny could taste the vile tang of decay, the stench of graveyard earth and decay. Darkness, shadows and other abominations. There wasn't much of it, just a slight veneer, but he could feel every nuance of it perfectly.
-Ah, Sean. Always trouble with students.
Rand sat down tiredly on the floor, checking again and again the residual trace of Qi that hung in the air. The longer he did so, the more determined his face became.
-I guess I'll have to deal with this," Danny felt a strange mixture of feelings, where Iron Fist's duty and his mentor's gradually came to a consensus.
Getting to his feet, Rand stretched his stiff neck, digging into his memory, recalling where his apprentice lived and what he had said about his surroundings. Friends, parents, girlfriend... Iron Fist had to visit them all, find out everything that had happened to his apprentice during his mentor's absence and, if necessary, shake them down for all they knew.
***
Several days passed like a blur. I felt the shame and elation of defeating Rand, but there was something deep inside of me that felt like I'd failed to finish what I'd started, like I'd chickened out.Thoughts were finding their voices now and then, bombarding my tired brain day after day, preventing me from studying, learning, and working under Otto's supervision. The sensitive Octavius was quick to spot my problem and even suggested I take some time off to sort things out, but just imagining being alone with my thoughts, not immersed in my work, gave me chills.
It was scary, uncomfortable, and just plain sad to the point of disgusting. I was fighting bandits, mafia, supervillains..... Just two, but a lot of people don't have that on their record, and this. I wilted like a rag, slowly sinking into apathy and my own far-fetched noir, which every day took more and more colours from the world.
Only the patrols at night still helped to cope with all this shit.
His hand slipped habitually into his pocket, groping for the mask. The soft fabric seemed to grow denser and harder, gradually losing its tantalising properties. It was like a reflection of myself, gradually becoming stale and coarse.
I wanted to talk to Gwen, to cuddle and just walk around with my girlfriend, but a single phone call made it worse. A couple of quiet sentences, we broach the subject of discord and here we were, arguing and bickering like a divorced couple.
My fist clenched to a crunch, deforming the surface of the table.
-Pete's gone, too. It's pretty obvious where he's gone.
The forum open on the laptop was scrolling through a recently posted video of a guy in a bright red and blue suit riding between houses on a spider web, shooting white liquid through the windows to the delight of onlookers. On the second tab of the browser there was a similar picture, only there was a female character, shining her juicy arse in a tight black and white suit, but I didn't even want to think about her right now.
-Eh, Man, but Spider, without him we're like without hands-.
Singing the song, I sat down in front of my laptop again, watching the video clips of the new superhero and protector of the city.
Parker's wearing his famous costume after all. He probably made it himself, but whereas before I'd directly wanted to catch a legend from my childhood in action, now it was annoying and infuriating.
"Hero. Friendly neighbour. I've been saving this town for years, but no one even mentions it...".
Involuntarily I shake my head, sweeping away the insane and unrelated thoughts. After all, I made that choice myself. I chose to be stealthy, to be part of the city at night, to operate from the shadows while the rest of us fought in the light. No superpowers, no serums, no mutant powers. Leaving the bright and colourful appearances to others to keep his loved ones safe, increase his anonymity and become a hero, a real one. That with your own powers protects the city, rather than getting them gift-wrapped. To stand in line with other unknown heroes, struggling day in and day out.
George Stacey's tired face immediately flashed before my eyes. It had been a long time since I had met that obnoxious "bobby". The end of the war in the underworld was taking all his energy, so now he didn't have time to get rid of other bastards on the sidelines. George wanted to put Kingpin away and I couldn't blame him for wanting to, but he didn't stand a chance.
-And it's dangerous. You're better off trusting your fists, your brains, and your proven techniques, not some green sludge from a test tube that'll make you Superman at the drop of a hat," I returned to my thoughts on superpowers, and once again I convinced myself that I'd done the right thing by not even trying to get the powers of a spider or something else. I need to think about something else, or I'm going to break something.
***
The block of flats gave me a muffled groan from behind the doors. Almost an entire floor of tenants were left lying on the floor as I stepped between their bodies and made my way to the roof, hoping to get a taste of New York before I took my well-deserved rest.
A monstrosity of concrete and steel, pierced by the lash of shadows and the screams of broken souls.
A vile edifice created by politicians to convince a docile herd of their sincerity and righteousness. It is filled with filth, soaked into the very walls of this place.
The faces in the windows are like the black stains of hell itself, spewing their dead complaints against the veins of vice and madness that run through the walls. This burial ground of the living and the hustle and bustle of the city, it suffers and screams from the foul oppression of a drug craze flaunting the calling rhythms of marijuana and cocaine. In every corner of this godforsaken world dwells the shadow of death, turned to the art of pictorial nightmares pulling in the darkness of filth and degradation.
The Latin American music, a strange mixture of rap and folk music, was ear-splitting, but at least it drowned out the screams of the injured and maimed bastards.
The uncomplicated tune suited this cursed place perfectly, but with each step I took, I could only hear the rhythm of the drums while the rest of it burned away, devoured by the shadows creeping out of every corner.
My hands automatically cleaned the knife covered in the blood of a few dozen thugs from the local branch of the syndicate. Drug dealing will always remain the scourge of this city, but I won't give up trying.
The bodies beneath my feet hide in the gloomy darkness that covers my eyes. They are no longer important, only helpless, and only their pleas still pierce my ears, making me cringe beneath the mask.
The ghastly figures on the white cloth distort in time with my own thoughts, they roar and thrash and cry for blood.... But there won't be any. Not today and not now.
I will crush and beat anyone who has anything to do with this, but gutting their bodies, cutting off their lives, hanging their bodies like crazy bastards? No way.
-Nasty town. Are you trying to break me?
I wanted to talk, to say something intelligent, but part of me refused to say the usual pathetic rubbish. The deed was done, and now it was easier to just walk away. No need to build up the image of a dorky hero with eighth-grade syndrome. My gloves are covered in blood, and the grey in the hair of the sellers only confirms that from now on no one will think of me as a third-rate hero.
-I will be a terror to you all. So creepy and crazy that you'll stop going out on the streets for fear of my appearance.
As I opened the door to the roof, two familiar figures stood before me.
-You've already become one, Shawn.
-Iron Fist.
-Sorry, mate. We're doing this for your own good. Just relax and let Danny help you....
-Doing what?
-Fuck, Spider, I told you to be quiet," Rand rubbed the bridge of his nose unhappily, but I could feel the Qi current in his body, he was ready to go full speed into battle at any second, even beyond his strength, "now it's only getting more complicated.
-I told you it was stupid to try to trick him. Besides, if we'd called Spider-Girl, it would have been a lot easier.
-Yeah, well, that's all I need is some teenage angst and love talk.
-Hey!
-Enough of this idiocy," my voice caught the attention of both of them. I tilted my hat and peered out from under the brim of my old friends, figuring out in my head what their plan was, "Do what you came for or get out.
-Sean," Pete, who had been hanging upside down, jumped down onto the roof, standing up on both feet and coming towards me, "what are you doing? We just want to talk and help you. Take off your mask and we'll-
-You want to take off my mask? Then take yours off first.
My voice clearly made Parker realise there was no easy solution.
-There's nothing wrong with that," Pete listened to me and pulled the red and blue cloth off his head, revealing his tired and worried face, "see? Now come on you, mate...
For a fraction of a moment I froze, not knowing what to do. But the force bubbling up inside me told me it was just a ruse, a trap and a fake.
"He wants to take her away. Strip us of our powers, leave us a mere human...".
My thoughts travelled swiftly, and I acted even faster. The mask is everything. The mask is Rorschach. I am Rorschach.
-That's not going to happen," the pepper spray hidden in my sleeve shot straight into Pete's face, unleashing a cry of pain and surprise. I tried to send my old friend flying with a kick, but my arms were crossed in defence, and then I was almost knocked out. Rand didn't hesitate, lavishing me with punches.... But he didn't hit to kill me. You're weak, Rand. You have so many opportunities to fix this city for the better, but instead you just sit on your arse, jerking off to your dragons.
Daredevil's baton strikes him in the groin, and a charge from a tazer pulled from his coat pocket sends him flying. But I'd be disappointed if a stunt like that could knock out my former teacher.
-I'd rather do that than become a butcher and a whiner for chafing over a piece of cloth!
He's smiling. He's laughing and having fun, feeling like everything's going his way. I could feel it all over my body, but I couldn't figure out what it was....
-I'm sorry, sweetheart," the strong whip gripped my leg, pulling it back and throwing me off balance, "this is not how I imagined our first meeting.
***
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