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Chapter Text

"Well, Mr. Specter", Matt said to the man in front of him, "I think it would be better if we just settle this issue outside the court."

"Yeah", Harvey Specter said, sounding really calm.

"Spider-Man really is frustrated with the Bugle", Matt said, "But we need to save Mr. Jameson's face too. So this is the best option"

"Yeah, it sure is", Specter said with a sigh.

"I know", Matt said, "My client doesn't even want monetary compensation. He just wants the Bugle to stop calling him a dangerous criminal. It's affecting his psyche."

Harvey tried to say, "Well, he man has been implicated in a number of robberi-"

"In all those cases, the robbers were caught and the loot was returned", Matt pointed out.

"Well then, see you at the Bugle on the due date", Harvey Specter said as Matt nodded. The two shook hands firmly.

"Murdock", Harvey said, "With Foggy gone, this must be really difficult for you. What do you say, you want to join me, Mike, Rachel and Donna at Pearson and Hardman?"

"No", Matt said, "I think I will manage just fine on my own. Thanks for the offer though."

"Your choice", Harvey shrugged and walked away after the two lawyers exchanged a nod. The two were enemies in court and other legal matters but they were on friendly terms outside.

Matt then started reading and signing some papers when he heard a familiar heartbeat.

He looked up as Natasha walked towards him. Her hair were just as long and red as the last time they had met. But instead of her black catsuit, she was wearing casual clothes.

"Hello, Matt", she said with a smile as Matt got up.

"Hi, Natasha", Matt said with a smile as the two hugged.

"How are you?" she asked.

"I'm good", Matt said as he sat back down and Natasha sat on the chair in front of him, "Just doing my lawyer stuff. But tell me, to what do I owe this visit?"

"Well, I am still wondering how to phrase it accurately", Natasha said.

"Just say it", Matt said, "I don't think you will hurt my feelings in any way."

"That's what I am afraid of", she said.

"Okay, what is it?" Matt asked, his interest piqued.

"There is this visitor we have got recently", Natasha started explaining, "He's….not from around here. He calls himself Loki. He is from Asgard. And he has stolen something."

"What?" Matt asked.

"Something S.H.I.E.L.D. calls the Teserract", Natasha said, "Based on the intelligence we have got so far, he wants to wage war on humanity."

"Oh, my God!" Matt sighed, "And you're telling me this because?"

"You know why", she said.

"Oh, come on", Matt said in an annoyed tone, "You know I left the Devil behind."

"The Devil is something you can never leave behind, Matt", Natasha said with a serious look in her eyes, "And tell me, if you had to save these people from a threat they can't fight by themselves, wouldn't you?"

Matt had no reply to her.

"As I expected", Natasha said, "We contacted Oliver too."

"Oh!" Matt said simply, "So I guess an archery contest must be going on between him and Clint currently."

"Not really", Natasha said with a sigh, "Loki has this powerful stick. He used it to mind-control Clint and a scientist of ours."

"What?" Matt asked.

"You see why I am here now", Natasha said.

Matt got up and said with a sigh, "Okay. I am coming. But I'm not going to fight anyone."

"We'll see about that", Natasha said with a smirk as the two started walking out, "How's Laurel?"

"Laurel", Matt said with another sigh, "Been a while since we talked."

"I think you two had something good going on there", Natasha said, "Don't do things you will regret later."

"Just take me to your base", Matt said firmly and Natasha started walking out, with him following.

Chapter Text

S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier

Matt and Natasha walked around the place until the latter saw two individuals walking towards them. One of them was a medium sized man wearing a suit and shades while the other was a tall, handsome man with a noble look on him.

"Agent Romanoff", the medium sized man addressed her before gesturing to the other man, "This is Captain Rogers."

"Ma'am", Rogers simply addressed her in a polite tone.

"Captain Rogers?" Matt asked with a wide jaw as he remembered who Captain Rogers was.

"Yes", Coulson said, "This is the man."

"Hi", Natasha simply said to Rogers before introducing Matt to the two, "This is Matthew Murdock."

"It's an honor to meet you, Captain", Matt said as he raised his hand and Steve Rogers shook it firmly.

"They need you on the bridge", Natasha told Phil Coulson.

"See you there", Coulson said as he walked away.

"There was quite the buzz around here", Natasha told Steve as the three walked, "Finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon."

"Can't say I blame him", Matt commented.

"Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asked Steve.

"Trading Cards?" a puzzled Steve asked.

"They're vintage", she revealed, "He's very proud."

That moment, Matt heard two familiar heartbeats in the vicinity.

"Well, Matt", Natasha said, "Two of your old friends are here."

Matt went to talk to them while Steve and Natasha spotted Bruce Banner and walked up to him.

"Oliver!" Matt said, causing the man to turn to him.

"Matt!" Oliver said with a smile, "It's good to see you again."

"It's good to see you too", Matt said and the two old friends shared a hug.

"Can't say I thought I would see you over here", Oliver then said honestly as the two broke away.

"Honestly, I didn't think that either", Matt admitted, "But Natasha is very persistent."

"She sure is", the younger man said as he walked up to the two, "I mean, she trapped me in a web. Not that it was needed, as I would have come anyway."

"So you're Spider-Man", Matt said to him, "Well, you're older than I thought."

The young man raised his hand and Matt shook it, "I'm Peter Parker. Research assistant and photographer for the Bugle."

"So wait, let me get this straight", a genuinely puzzled Matt said, "You work as photographer for the man who has it out for your alter-ego and so as Spider-Man, you're suing him too?"

"Uh, that pretty much covers it", Peter said lamely, "But I need to have a clear mind while helping people. What about you? Haven't seen you around dressed as Daredevil for a long time."

Before Matt could respond, Oliver said on his behalf, "Personal reasons."

"Gentlemen", Natasha said as she walked up to them with Steve and Bruce, "You may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath."

Matt then heard the sound of turbines starting and the five men walked over to the edge.

"Is this is a submarine?" Steve asked.

"Really?" Banner said out loud, "They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?"

That moment, the Helicarrier started rising up into the air.

"Oh, no", he then said, "This is much worse."

"Well", a wide eyed Oliver said as he turned to Matt, "This is going to be something."

"No kidding", Matt said as he nodded in agreement.

Chapter Text

"I mean, if it's not too much trouble", Coulson told Steve as they talked about the "Captain America Trading Cards."

"No, no. It's fine", Steve said humbly.

"It's a vintage set", Coulson explained, "It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..."

"We got a hit", Agent Jasper Sitwell said as he showed everyone a location on his computer, "Sixty seven percent match."

Turning back to the computer, he then clarified, "Wait, cross match, seventy nine percent."

"Location?" Coulson asked as he walked up to him.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Canning Strasse", Sitwell revealed as an image of Loki in a formal suit popped up on screen, this time a 100% match, "He's not exactly hiding."

"Captain, Oliver", Fury said as the two turned to him, "You're up."

As Steve nodded and walked towards where his suit was kept, Oliver walked up to Matt.

"Want to come?" Oliver asked softly.

"What use would I be?" Matt asked him with self-loathing in his voice.

"You are pretty useful in a fight", Oliver pointed out.

"As long as I am not morally compromised", Matt pointed out.

"Come on!" Oliver said in an annoyed tone, "Matt, you cannot just bury yourself under Blue Talon's death forever. He was going to kill Natasha. What would you prefer? Tell me!"

Matt had no reply.

"As I expected", Oliver scoffed on his face before adopting a gentler tone and putting a hand on his shoulder, "Look, I know you broke your rule and that you feel guilty for taking a life. But you have to learn to live with what you have done. Otherwise, you will lose the good in you."

At that, Matt lifted his face up to meet Oliver' gaze.

"Besides, if you're not going, I won't go either", Oliver said.

With a sigh, Matt said, "All right. I will come. But I won't fight anyone."

"At least you're coming", Oliver said as he walked away to suit up, "That's a start. And Peter?"

"I think Peter is better off assisting Dr. Banner for now", Matt said and Oliver nodded before walking away to suit up.

Loki walked down the stairs and saw his target- Dr. Henreich Schaeffer. With a smirk, he marched towards him as the violin played.

One of the guards rushed him but he smacked him out with one hit of his staff.

The others looked at the scene in confusion when Loki suddenly grabbed Dr. Schaeffer and slammed him onto a bench. The others watched as Loki took out a device and to everyone's horror, used it to saw into Schaeffer's eyeball, allowing Clint to access the Iridium he needed.

The people ran out, screaming in terror at what they had witnessed while Loki smirked sadistically, something that would have horrified anyone who had known him before his fall.

He got up and walked out, his suit transforming into his battle armor with the golden horned helmet adorning the top of it. His stick transformed into the scepter he carried which had become infamous for mind-controlling people.

As a police van arrived with blaring sirens, Loki fired a blast from his scepter, flipping it to the ground.

The running people stopped when a second Loki appeared in their way.

"Kneel before me."

As they tried to run around, they found themselves surrounded by four Lokis.

"I said", he slammed the bottom of his scepter on the ground firmly, "KNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!"

The people were almost frozen in unadulterated fear but slowly, they complied and got down on their knees, pure terror in their eyes.

His illusions vanished as he smirked and started walking amongst them, "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?"

Pointing the scepter at the people, he declared, "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation."

Some of the people actually looked down in shame.

"The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, and identity", Loki told them, "You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."

That was when an old man rose up and stood firmly on his two feet, glaring at Loki defiantly.

With his gaze fixed on the abandoned child of Laufey, he declared with a firm conviction in his voice, "Not to men like you."

"There are no men like me", Loki said with a smirk.

"There are always men like you", the man retorted.

Even though he didn't show it, the remark obviously had managed to get under Loki's skin.

Pointing his scepter at the man, he declared to the people, "Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example."

And then he fired a blast. The old man's life flashed before his eyes for a split second when suddenly a figure jumped between them. The blast was deflected and hit Loki who was sent flying back by a few feet.

Everyone looked up to see what had happened.

It was a man in a blue suit with America's star on the center along with the color of the American flag. He wore a mask and also had a shield of the same design. Captain America!

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else", he said to Loki who got up, "We ended up disagreeing."

"The soldier", Loki laughed mockingly as he realized who was facing him, "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time", Steve declared as a Quinjet appeared above him and pointed a gun at Loki.

"Loki", Natasha announced from inside it, "Drop the weapon and stand down."

Loki momentarily lowered his scepter before firing. Natasha steered the Quinjet away, barely avoiding it.

Using the opportunity he had been handed, Steve threw his shield. It hit Loki on the face, stunning him as Steve caught his shield on return and rushed Loki, giving him a punch.

The people were now terrified of the fight happening in front of their eyes and ran off.

Loki struck Steve who blocked with his shield before being swatted away. As Steve recovered, Loki turned around to deflect an arrow fired at him. It was Oliver.

He leapt and fired again as Loki deflected and grabbed him by the throat before throwing him off.

Steve used the opportunity to once again stun Loki with a shield throw and then gave him a flip kick too.

Oliver fired another arrow as he recovered and it exploded on Loki's face, staggering him slightly. But before Oliver could do anything else, Loki smacked him with the scepter, knocking him down.

"Kneel", Loki commanded as he pointed the scepter at Oliver.

"I won't", Oliver growled, "Not to you."

Steve flip kicked Loki away and said, "Not today."

"The guy's all over the place", Natasha commented as she watched the fight below.

"He's too strong for both of them", Matt said matter of fact.

"Want to help?" Natasha asked.

Before Matt could answer, someone's voice was heard on the system, "Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"

And then "Shoot to Thrill" by "AC/DC" started playing on the Quinjet's system all of a sudden as Matt heard a soaring sound and instantly recognized it, "Oh! Him!"

As Loki looked up from his fight with Steve and Oliver, Iron Man flew down and shot him with a repulsor, sending him flying back by a few feet.

"Make your move, Reindeer Games", Tony Stark aka Iron Man dared Loki as he pointed his entire arsenal at him while Steve and Oliver walked up next to him.

Loki raised his hands in surrender as his armor and helmet faded away.

Tony lowered his hands, "Good move."

"Mr. Stark", Steve and Oliver acknowledged him simultaneously.

"Captain", Tony said as he looked over at them, "Mr. Queen."

S.H.I.E.L.D. Base

"You really think your hired super powered thugs are up to the task?" an African-American woman asked Nick Fury via video chat.

"You have some nerve, talking about super powered thugs", Fury said dryly, "I'm sure these people can handle the threat, Amanda. So stay out of my territory. Don't make this any worse than it already is."

"You haven't heard the end of this, Fury", Amanda Waller said with clenched teeth as the call was cut.

Chapter Text

Natasha flew the Quinjet towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. base with Matt, Oliver, Steve, Tony, another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and a bound Loki.

"Didn't he say anything?" Fury asked via communication system.

"Not a word", Natasha informed him.

"Just get in here", Fury ordered, sounding desperate, which was a rare thing, "We're low on time."

"I don't like it", Steve whispered to Tony.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony asked sarcastically.

"I don't remember it being that easy", Steve said.

"Yeah", Oliver said in agreement, "This guy packs a wallop."

"Still", Tony said dryly to Steve, "You were pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"

"What?" a confused Steve asked.

"It's like calisthenics", Tony explained, "You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."

Steve clearly looked offended.

"Come on, Mr. Stark", Matt said to him as calmly as he could, "He awoke 2 weeks ago into a completely new world. Try to be a little sensitive."

"Sensitive ain't my thing, Devil guy", Tony told him with a smirk.

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in", Steve told Tony.

"Yeah, there's a lot of things Fury doesn't tell you", Tony said.

That moment, lightning cracked in the sky.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha muttered.

"It was pretty sudden", Matt shared her sentiments.

Looking at Loki's unnerved expression, Steve asked, "What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly fond of what follows", Loki told him.

As Steve, Oliver and Tony exchanged confused looks, Matt suddenly said, "Someone's coming."

That moment, the Quinjet shook as someone landed on it above. Steve and Tony quickly put on their mask and helmet respectively.

Tony opened the backdoor as Steve asked, "What're you doing?"

As soon as it was opened, a tall, blonde figure with long hair landed there. He wore ancient battle armor with a red cloak flowing behind him. In his hand, he carried a hammer that looked like a cube on a stick.

Matt heard Loki's heart beating at unnatural rate on seeing the blonde man. Clearly, he was afraid of him.

As Tony tried to fire, the man hit him with his hammer, sending him flying back by a few feet.

He grabbed Loki by the throat and twirling his hammer, flew off with him.

"Now there's that guy", Tony groaned as he got up.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asked.

"Think the guy's a friendly?" Steve asked.

"Doesn't matter", Tony explained, "If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"He's got a point", Oliver agreed with him.

"Stark, we need a plan of attack", Steve pointed out.

Standing on the edge, Tony said, "I have a plan. Attack."

He then flew off after them.

"I'd sit this one out", Natasha told the three of them.

"I don't see how I can", Steve said as he started putting on a parachute along with Matt.

"These guys come from legends", Natasha explained, "They're basically Gods."

Matt then said, "I'm pretty sure there's only one God, and he doesn't dress like that."

"I guess you're a man of faith too", Steve said to Matt.

"Why're you going?" Oliver asked Matt.

"Uh, to play peacemaker", Matt quickly clarified before him and Steve jumped off with the parachutes on their backs.

"I'm going too", Oliver said as he jumped off and fired an arrow which turned into a parachute.

Thor slammed Loki onto the ground and he slid back by a few feet. Loki groaned and smirked at the same time. He groaned because of the pain he felt on being slammed onto the ground and smirked because of who had slammed him.

"Where's the Tesseract?" Thor growled.

"I missed you too", Loki said while taking deep breaths.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" the God of Thunder asked as his legendary temper flared.

"Oh, you should thank me", Loki said dryly as he lifted his head up and managed to sit on his knees, "With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the All-Father have to muster to conjure you here? To your precious earth."

As Loki tried to get up, Thor grabbed him roughly by the throat and said, "I thought you dead."

"Did you mourn?" Loki asked emotionlessly.

"We all did", Thor told him as some emotion entered his voice, "Our father..."

"Your father", Loki corrected him as he raised his finger. Thor let him go, the hurt and pain in his eyes visible even in the dark of the night. Loki clearly knew how to get under his adoptive brother's skin.

"He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?" Loki asked as he walked past him.

Turning to look at Loki, Thor followed after him and tried to reach out to him by reminding him of everything they had gone through together as brothers, "We were raised together. We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

Turning to look at Thor with a haunted look, Loki said, "I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness."

Thor looked at Loki in disbelief as he continued, "I remember you tossing me into an abyss."

Thor couldn't believe what he was hearing. Clearly, something was wrong with his brother as he was twisting what had actually happened.

"I who was and should be king!"

"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights?" Thor asked rhetorically, subtly pointing out to Loki how he was twisting the facts for his own purposes as he marched towards him with a raised finger, "No, the earth is under my protection, Loki."

Loki let out a humorless laugh, "And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally fret. I mean to rule them. That's why should I not..."

"You think yourself above them?" Thor asked as he shook his head, though he already knew the answer.

"Well, yes", Loki said in a tone that sounded both clarifying and mocking.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother", Thor said, saddened by the fact that Loki had forgotten his father's teachings, "A throne would suit you ill."

Loki snarled and shoved Thor away before walking towards the cliff, "I've seen worlds you've never known about. I have grown, Odinson, in my exile."

Loki's emphasis on Odinson was all Thor needed to know about what Loki thought of their brotherhood.

Loki continued ranting, "I have seen the true power of the Tesseract. And when I wield it..."

"Who showed you this power?" Thor asked as he caught that little detail which most would have missed while marching towards Loki, "Who controls the would be king?"

"I am a king!" Loki snapped.

"Not here!" Thor snapped back as he grabbed Loki by the shoulders and shook him, "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!"

He then grabbed the back of Loki's neck and adopting a slightly softer tone, he begged, the pain evident in his voice, "You come home."

Loki stared at Thor for a second. Some emotion could be seen in his eyes. Was it shame? Or regret? Thor thought to himself that maybe his brother was still inside somewhere. Unfortunately, all his hope and optimism disappeared the next moment when Loki laughed mockingly.

"I do not have it", he simply said as he shook his head.

Thor roughly let him go, his facial expression turning into a scowl.

"You need the cube to bring me home", Loki pointed out as Thor summoned Mjolnir into his hand, "But I've sent it off. I know not where."

Pointing Mjolnir at Loki, Thor warned, "You listen well, brother-"

He was cut off when a flying figure rammed into him and both of them were sent flying off.

"I'm listening."

Thor was thrown on the ground and sent rolling to a distance as Iron Man landed in front of him.

Thor got up as Tony raised his visor.

In an indignant voice, Thor commanded, "Do not touch me again."

"Then don't take my stuff", Tony said casually.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with", Thor tried to reason.

"Uh...Shakespeare in the park?" Tony asked jokingly with a smirk.

As Thor looked at him with slight amusement, Tony mocked him, "Doth mother know, you weareth her drapes?"

Getting serious again, Thor said, "This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice."

"He gives up the cube and he's all yours", Tony told him, "Until then", he lowered his visor again, "Stay out of the way."

As Thor looked away, Tony turned to walk and muttered, "Tourist."

That was it!

As Tony walked away, he heard a humming sound behind him. Just as he turned, he was hit hard by Mjolnir and sent crashing into some trees.

"Okay", he groaned.

As he slowly got back up, Thor called Mjolnir back.

As he twirled his legendary hammer, Tony fired a repulsor at him, slamming him into a tree. Before Thor could recover, Tony flew into him at full speed and kicked him hard, shattering the tree behind him as he was sent crashing into the ground. Mjolnir fell a few feet away from him.

Thor got back up and summoned Mjolnir into his hand. He then pointed it towards the sky. A powerful lightning bolt descended from the sky and hit the tip of Mjolnir, empowering it.

Pointing it at Tony, he fired a lightning bolt. It hit him, making him stagger back as his suit let off sparks. When Thor stopped, Tony groaned.

That moment, Tony saw his power capacity increasing and JARVIS said, "Power at 400% capacity."

"How about that."

Raising his hands, he fired powerful repulsors at Thor, sending him flying back again. Thor managed to steady himself and the two flew at each other.

Tony grabbed Thor and flew him into a hill, smashing his face into it as he flew up. Thor elbowed him hard, making him let go.

The two struggled again as they flew towards the ground, crashing through some trees while Mjolnir dropped from Thor's hands.

The two got back up and Thor punched Tony, whipping his face to the other side. Tony recovered and tried to punch back but Thor grabbed both of his hands, holding them in a deadlock.

As the two struggled, Thor pressed the Titanium hard, slowly crushing it into flat metal. Tony noticed and fired a repulsor point blank at Thor's face, making him let go as he staggered back slightly.

Tony head-butted him but he was barely affected. Thor then head-butted him in retaliation, making him fly back by a few feet.

Tony steadied himself and flew at Thor, grabbing him and throwing him at a tree, making him fall down. Thor got back up and charged. He easily dodged a punch before punching Tony on the side. Lifting him into the air, he slammed him hard on the ground.

Summoning Mjolnir into his hand, he brought it down on Tony but he flew off at the last moment while Thor fell down due to his own momentum.

Tony flew back at him and punched him on the face. The two then stood facing each other, ready to deck it out even more.

That moment, an arrow flew between them and exploded. The two turned to look at the source. Steve, Oliver and Matt stood there on a higher level.

"That is enough!" Oliver growled, "We need to stop fighting and start talking!"

The three then jumped down.

"Now, we don't know what you plan on doing here", Steve said to Thor.

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!" Thor said matter of fact.

"Then prove it", Steve said, "Put that hammer down."

"Uh...yep!" Tony said before contradicting himself, "No! Bad call! He loves his hammer!"

Thor sent him flying off with a hit of Mjolnir.

"You want me to put the hammer down?" Thor asked Steve angrily.

"No one needs to get hurt", Matt tried to reason, "Please stop. We are on the same side."

But Thor didn't listen and leapt at Steve with Mjolnir raised.

Steve put his shield in the way to defend. The legendary hammer and the indestructible shield clashed. The impact was almost disastrous.

A huge shockwave emitted from the clash and sent Thor, Matt and Oliver flying off while the trees too were uprooted and fell down.

A few minutes later, Tony recovered from the literal hammering he had received and looked walked to where Steve and Thor were standing.

Steve walked over to Oliver and Matt. Oliver's bow was lying a few feet away and some arrows from his quiver had also been scattered and there. Matt's glasses had been thrown away somewhere and it was impossible to find them now.

Oliver staggered a little and managed to get up before staggering over to pick up his bow and collect his arrows. Steve gave a hand to Matt and he accepted with a grateful nod, getting back up.

Turning to Thor, Steve asked, "Are we done here?"

Thor looked around at the destruction he had caused during the fight and finally nodded.

"I told you", Matt said to him, "Same side."

Chapter Text

Loki was lead into his containment cell by armed SHIELD agents. He passed by the lab in which Banner and Parker were working. He exchanged a look with Banner for a second and it was clear that Banner was a little unnerved.

"Everything all right, Doc?" Peter asked in concern as he saw Banner's expression.

"Yeah, yeah", Banner said as he came back to his senses, "I'm fine."

"In case it's unclear", Fury said as he walked up in front of the cell where Loki had been contained, "You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass", he opened a cockpit below for a moment which could suck the cell down.

Loki looked down at the height from which he would fall.

"Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap", Fury told him, "You get how that works?"

He then got back at Loki for a comment he had made when he had first arrived.

Pointing at Loki, he said, "Ant", he pointed at the machine, "Boot."

Letting out a laugh, Loki raised his hands and said, "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

"Built for something a lot stronger than you", Fury said.

"Oh, I've heard", Loki said in a mocking, condescending tone as he turned to the camera watching him, "The mindless beast, makes play he is still a man. How desperate are you? You call on these lost creatures to defend you."

"How desperate am I?" Fury asked rhetorically as he walked closer to the cell, "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh", Loki scoffed, "It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?"

With a smirk, Loki turned to the camera. "A warm light for all mankind to share", he turned back to Fury, "And then to be reminded what real power is."

The Director of SHIELD glared at the former Asgardian before smirking and walking away, "Well let me know if real power will want some magazine or something."

The heroes watched the entire conversation via camera before shutting it down.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner asked sarcastically.

"Loki's gonna drag this out", Steve said matter of fact before turning to the Crown Prince of Asgard, "So, Thor, what's his play?"

Thor looked up and told everyone what he knew, "He has an army called the Chitauri, they're not of Asgard nor any world known."

As Maria Hill arrived there, Thor said, "He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army", Steve said, "From outer space."

"Aliens, huh?" Oliver muttered to himself.

"Never thought I'd meet those", Matt said.

"So he's building another portal", Bruce said as he took off his glases, "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor asked.

"He's an astrophysicist", Peter told him.

"He's a friend", Thor told them.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell", Natasha explained before remembering her good friend who was also in the same situation, "Along with one of ours."

Matt kept his hand on her shoulder as a show of support and she nodded grategfully.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him", Steve told everyone, "He's not leading an army from here."

"Yeah", Oliver agreed, "He definitely has a plan. An end game in mind. And that's why he let us take him."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki", Bruce said to everyone, "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak", Thor warned Bruce, "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days", Natasha informed him.

"He's adopted", Thor added.

"Burn", Peter whispered to Banner who chuckled lightly.

"I think its about the mechanics", Bruce then said, "Iridium."

"Yeah", Peter agreed, "What did they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent", Tony Stark said as he walked in with Coulson. He then said something to Coulson is a hushed tone and the man agreed before walking off.

He then explained, "Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD."

As he walked past Thor, he said, "No hard feelings Point Break, you've got a mean swing", he lightly tapped his muscles.

"Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants", Tony said as he stood in front of some monitors.

"Wow!" an impressed Peter said as he started fanboying for the fifth time in the day, having met The Hood, Captain America, Daredevil, Hulk and Iron Man on the same day, "You sure are a very impressive genius."

"Good to see someone appreciates my intellect", Tony said smugly annoying Steve, Matt, Oliver, Natasha and Hill, who wanted to be focused on more important matters.

Pointing at one of the computer workers in the corner, Tony then said, "That man is playing Galaga."

As Steve looked around with a puzzled face, Tony said, "Thought we wouldn't notice, but we did."

Turning to Matt, Tony asked, "I'm puzzled, how did you not hear that?"

"I did", Matt said, "I just didn't care as it's not important."

"How does Fury even see these?" Tony asked Hill about the monitors.

"He turns", she said.

"Sounds exhausting", Tony commented before saying the important stuff, "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked him.

"Last night", Tony said and Hill looked at him in confusion, "The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Yeah, I think you're the only one", an annoyed Oliver said to him, "Now, instead of showing it off, why don't you actually work on it?"

"Oh, the modern day Robin Hood!" Tony said with a smirk before raising his hands in mock surrender, "Please! Don't steal from me! I do good work with my money!"

Natasha rolled her eyes at the billionaire genius' antics.

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked Tony, getting back on topic.

"He got to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier", Peter said and Tony nodded.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunnelling effect", Tony then said.

"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet", Banner explained.

Tony nodded, impressed, and pointed at Banner and Peter, "Finally, some people who speak English."

"And it has happened", Matt muttered.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner", Tony said as he shook hands with him and then Peter, "Mr. Parker."

"It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Stark", an excited Peter said.

"I'm a huge fan of Spider-Man too", Tony said before turning to Banner, "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

"Thanks", Banner said lamely.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube", Fury said as he arrived, "I was hoping you might join him and Mr. Parker."

"Let's start with that stick of his", Steve suggested, "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube", Fury said, "And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" a confused Thor asked, having heard the term for the first time as monkeys did not exist on any of the other realms he had visited, "I do not understand."

Peter started explaining, "They are these mammals-"

"I do."

Everyone looked at Steve in confusion.

Looking at Fury, Steve said, "I understood that reference."

"Shall we play it, Doctor?" Tony asked Banner.

"This way, Sir", Banner said as he and Peter started leading Tony to the lab.

"Follow us", Peter said.

That moment, the man in the corner started playing Galaga again.

Matt heard him and was about to tell him to stop when Oliver said, "Stop playing Galaga and get to work!"

Chapter Text

Most of the people at the Helicarrier were working one way or the other. Tony, Bruce and Peter were working on tracking the Tesseract in the lab.

Steve was searching for something in the storage room.

Thor was having a conversation with Coulson.

Natasha was trying to get some info out of Loki.

Matt was sitting quietly in a corner, listening to all the conversations happening around him. That was when Oliver approached him.

"Well", Oliver said as he sat next to Matt, "What're you planning to do now?"

"I am in a dilemma currently", Matt said, "I almost want to suit up again and help when the inevitable happens. But there is something that holds me back. I just don't know what it is."

"That something is this", Oliver said as he put a finger on Matt's heart, "It shows that you're still human."

Matt scoffed but Oliver said, "The fact that even after all this time, you are haunted by your first kill shows that there is humanity inside you."

"And if I keep killing?" Matt asked, "What will happen to me then?"

"That, my friend is up to you", Oliver said, "It depends on what kind of man you are. You can either kill only when necessary or indiscriminately. Both will affect you in one way or the other."

"But you have to choose one way and learn to live with it."

Matt and Oliver lifted their heads up. It was Nick Fury.

"What are you trying to tell me?" Matt asked.

"I'm just reminding you of something that you seem to have forgotten", Fury said as he walked closer, "There is no black and white, Murdock. I take the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be. And that is in shades of grey."

"So?" Matt asked.

"You can't just classify something as completely right or completely wrong", Fury said, "Everything you do is a bit of both. And now I'm asking you, what are you prepared to do?"

When Matt didn't reply, Fury walked off saying, "Better make up your mind real quick."

Oliver tapped Matt's shoulder and walked off as Fury had said everything he himself wanted to without mincing words.

Now sitting alone, Matt thought very carefully about what both of them and Natasha had been trying to tell him this whole time.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asked as he arrived in the lab.

"Kind of been wondering the same thing about you", Stark said with a smirk while sitting in front of his computer.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract", Fury pointed out.

"We are", Peter said as he pointed at the monitor in front of them, "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now."

"When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile", Banner said.

The bar was already at 46%.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss", Stark said before catching Fury off guard with his next question, "What is Phase 2?"

Before Fury could reply, Steve arrived and put a prototype weapon on the table, "Phase 2 is SHIELD using the cube to make weapons."

Turning to Stark, he said dryly, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers", Fury tried to explain as he walked towards the super soldier, "We gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-"

"I'm sorry, Nick", Tony cut him off and turned his screen towards him, showing the blue prints of a weapon, "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, Director", Steve said in a disappointed tone, "The world hasn't changed a bit."

That moment- Matt, Oliver, Thor and Natasha walked in.

"Did you know about this?" Banner asked Natasha.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha asked.

"I was in Calcutta", Banner said with a humorless laugh, "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you", Natasha tried to explain.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Banner asked in an accusing tone, "To all of us."

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you", Natasha said.

"Uhhh, I did", Peter said lamely.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy", Banner said and turned the monitor towards them.

"I think what Dr. Banner is trying to ask is why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction", Peter interjected in a polite tone.

After a few seconds of silence, Fury pointed at Thor, "Because of him."

"Me?"

"Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge mass that levelled a small town", Fury explained as he paced around, "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously out gunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet", Thor said truthfully.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asked rhetorically before resuming his pacing, "And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

As he said that, he glared pointedly at Matt and Oliver.

"So you're going to blame us for your own stupidity?" Oliver asked in a growl.

"No one is blaming anyo-"

"Sounds like you are", Matt growled at him, "Just because you can't control everything doesn't give you the right to experiment with unknown powers."

Turning to Natasha, he then accused, "And you must be trying to control me on his behalf."

"No Matt", Natasha said calmly, "You must calm down-"

"The two of you put beatings on people and take their lives whenever you feel like it", Fury said, "So trust me when I tell you that you're out of control."

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve asked Fury rhetorically.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies", Thor pointed out Fury's own stupidity to him, "It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve wondered aloud.

"You forced our hand", Fury said.

"The blaming again", Oliver scoffed.

Fury tried to say, "We had to come up with something-"

"A nuclear deterrent", Tony piped up sarcastically, "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury aske pointedly.

Steve tried to say, "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep..."

"Wait, Wait, Hold on." Tony cut him off, "How is this now about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?" Steve asked rhetorically.

"Yeah", Oliver agreed, "No matter how bad the situation is, you always have to make it about yourself and look down on everyone else."

"Like you do to everyone, right?" Tony asked him, "Admit it, Oliver. You don't tell anyone your secret because you don't think them worth it."

With a growl, Oliver snarled, "Don't you dare compare yourself to me."

"I thought humans were more evolved than this", an annoyed Thor said.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?" Fury asked.

"You treat your champions with such mistrust", Thor accused.

As the arguing continued, Natasha asked, "Are you boys really that naïve? SHIELD monitors potential threats."

"Like me and Oliver?" Matt asked in a growl.

"Captain America is on threat watch too?" Banner muttered.

"You speak of control, yet you court chaos", Thor accused again.

"It's his M.O., isn't it?" Banner asked, "I mean, what are we? A team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're...we're a time-bomb."

"You need to step away", Fury said to him as calmly as he could.

"Why shouldn't they guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked casually as he put a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You know damn well why! Back off!" Steve said angrily as he pushed Tony's hand off.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me", Tony dared him.

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor", Steve mocked, "Take that off, what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist", Tony smirked smugly.

"You think that makes you better than everyone around you?" Oliver snarled.

"Well clearly", Tony mocked him, "You feel five years in hell makes you entitled to be a jerk to everyone."

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you", Steve said to Tony, "I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I think I would just cut the wire", Tony said casually.

"Always a way out", Steve said with a smirk, "You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero, like you?" Tony asked rhetorically, "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"And you", he turned to Oliver, "You're just a victim of circumstances."

"Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds", Steve dared Tony.

Thor laughed humorlessly, "You people are so petty, and tiny."

"Agent Romanoff", Fury asked, "Would you escort Dr. Banner back to his-"

"Where?" Banner asked, "You're renting my room."

"The cell was just..."

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't!" Banner said and everyone stared at him, "I know, I tried. I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

"Uh, Dr. Banner", Peter said as he pointed at him, "You're holding the scepter."

Noticing the scepter in his hand, Banner put it down as the tracking machine beeped.

"All right", Banner said as he moved towards the machine, "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my party trick after all."

"Located the Tesseract?" Thor asked.

"I can get there faster", Tony pointed out.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard", Thor stressed, "No human is a match for it."

"You're not going alone!" Steve said as he grabbed Tony's hand.

"You gonna stop me?" Tony asked.

"Put on the suit, let's find out."

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

"Put on the suit."

Banner widened his eyes as he looked at the monitor, "Oh, my God."

Suddenly, there was an explosion.

Chapter Text

Steve, Tony and Matt were thrown at one side. Matt's glasses were blown away.

The three managed to get up, their skins slightly blackened by the explosions.

"Put on the suit!" Steve said again.

"Yep!" Tony agreed.

"Come on!" Matt said as the three of them ran out of the area.

Oliver helped Fury up and he pressed his earpiece, "Hill!"

"Its a detonation", Hill informed him as she analyzed the damage, "Number three engines is down. We've been hit."

Walking to a technical worker who was sitting in front of a computer, she commanded, "Talk to me."

"Turbine looks mostly intact", he informed her, "But it is impossible to get out there and repair when we are in the air."

"If we lose one more engine we won't be", she realized before pressing her earpiece, "Someone gonna get outside and patch the engine."

"Stark, did you copy that?" Fury asked.

"I'm on it", Stark said from the other end.

"Coulson!" Fury then commanded, "Initiate lockdown and then head to the armory."

"Romanoff?" he then questioned.

Romanoff awakened as she saw Bruce getting up in front of her. She realized her leg was trapped under a large piece of debris.

"We're okay", she said before seeing that Bruce was struggling with himself. She was horrified on seeing that as that could mean only one thing.

"We're okay, right?" she muttered to herself.

Steve, Matt and Tony continued running before the latter said, "Engine three. I'll meet you there."

Steve and Matt continued on their way while Tony pressed a button, opening a door. The Iron Man suit was inside. He pressed another button and the suit was activated.

"Bruce", Natasha urged him as he continued struggling, "You gotta fight. This is just what Loki wants."

She saw two agents running to help her but she shook gestured them to go away and they complied.

"We're gonna be okay", she said to Bruce, "Listen to me. We're gonna be okay. All right? I swear on my life I will get you out of this, you will walk away, and never..."

"Your life?" She was interrupted by a loud guttural voice. Bruce looked at her for a moment. He was taller than normal and his skin was green.

He then looked away and continued growing larger and turning greener as he painfully tore through his clothes.

"Natasha!"

Natasha turned to see Peter running towards her. Before she could gesture him away, he lifted the debris off her foot.

Bruce roared loudly and Natasha called out, "Bruce!"

He turned to both of them with blood-lusted eyes. There was no more Bruce. He was the Hulk now.

With a roar, he charged them but they leapt on some stairs before Hulk smashed them to bits. They started running to avoid him.

Loki heard the Hulk's enraged roar and lifting his head up, gave a deeply disturbing smirk.

"We have been carrying 180 to the south", Fury yelled as he ran over to a computer technician, "Take us to the water."

"We're flying blind", the technician informed him, "Navigation recalibration after the engine failure."

"Is the sun coming up?" Fury asked.

"Yes sir", the technician said.

"Then put it on the left", Fury commanded, "Take us on the water. One more turbine goes down, we're trapped."

Steve ripped open a door and three agents staggered out.

"Get out of here", Matt said as they passed him.

As they stood on the edge, Steve called out, "Stark! Stark, we're here!"

"Good", Stark said as he flew towards them and scanned the area with Jarvis, "See what we got."

As he continued to scan, he spoke out, "I gotta get this super conducting cooling system back online before I can access the rotors and work on dislodging the debris."

He started fixing the cooling system and said to Steve and Matt, "I need you two to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position."

Steve leapt and flipping on a kind of lever, reached the other side. Matt followed him, albeit in a less graceful manner as he hadn't been enhanced to human perfection.

Steve took the control panel out as Stark asked, "What's it look like in there?"

"It seems to run on some form of electricity", the man out of time said in puzzlement.

"Well", Tony muttered, "You're not wrong."

"I don't even know what to say", Matt muttered.

Natasha and Peter discreetly moved around. The former was on her guard, gun raised. Suddenly, Peter's spider sense tingled and he restrained Natasha from moving further.

He was proven right when Hulk emerged and roared. Natasha shot the pipe above him, staggering him. He recovered and rushed them.

Peter leapt up and grabbing a pipe, hung on it before kicking Hulk back. Hulk staggered back again before recovering and giving Peter a glare which made the phrase 'If looks could kill' come to mind.

Peter jumped down and lamely said with a nervous laugh, "Nothing personal, Doc."

The two ran off in a narrow space to save their lives and Hulk ran after the two, smashing everything in his way. With a smack of his hand, he sent Peter flying into Natasha and the two crashed into a crate, though Peter grabbed her and took the full force of the impact, having the durability to bear it.

Natasha managed to sit up and had her back to the crate. The only thing now standing between the spy and the Incredible Hulk was the infamous wall-crawler.

Peter stood firmly, ready to face his foe. Up till now, the only people he had faced were thugs and some big names like Two-Face, Killer Croc, Electro, Rhino, Vulture and Scorpion. But none of them made him as afraid as Hulk. He was so scared that he couldn't even quip. But he was going to fight Hulk and defend Natasha nonetheless because with great power came great responsibility.

The two started charging each other when a blur smashed Hulk through a wall.

Hulk and Thor crashed through the wall, splintering it into bits as the workers nearby watched.

The two slowly rose up, staring each other down while the workers ran off for their lives.

The two titans stood facing each other, ready to fight. Hulk roared and attacked with a punch which Thor backed to avoid before ducking to avoid a smack. He then punched the indestructible monster hard, staggering him back.

Hulk raised his fist and brought it down on the Prince of Asgard. Thor blocked with one hand but found his opponent's strength humongous even for his standards so he used his other hand too, trying to push the Hulk's hand back. Unfortunately for him, with all his strength, he only barely managed to hold Hulk's hand back.

"We're not your enemies, Banner", Thor tried to reason with gritted teeth, "Try to think."

What Hulk did next almost shocked Thor more than Loki's betrayal. He used the hand to lift Thor up and punched him hard, crashing him through some crates.

As Thor got up, Hulk rushed him again. Thor raised his fist and tried to smack him but Hulk grabbed his hand and lifted him by the throat, throwing him off again.

Iron Man kicked some debris away before looking at the conditions of everything around him.

"The relays are intact", Steve informed as he shut the control panel.

"So what's our next move?" Matt asked.

Tony informed them, "Even if I clear the rotors, this thing won't re-engage without a jump. I'm gonna have to get in there and push."

"Well if that thing gets up to speed, you'll get shredded", Steve pointed out.

Tony started explaining, "Then stay in the control unit and reverse polarity long enough to disengage mac lev-"

"Speak English", an annoyed Steve said, having no knowledge of modern scientific terms.

"See that red lever?" Tony asked as Steve and Matt noticed it, "It'll slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it, wait for my word."

Thor crashed through some more crates. As he got up, he felt some blood oozing out of his nose. Putting his finger there, he looked at his blood and smiled. It had been a long time since a foe had made him bleed on the battlefield. He was going to enjoy this.

He raised his hand as Hulk rushed him. Just when Hulk was near, Mjolnir crashed through some crates, finding its way to its owner's hand. Thor smashed Hulk hard on the jaw, throwing him on a plane on the process which broke on impact.

Hulk then roared angrily and broke a wing of the plane before throwing it on the charging Thor. Thor slid on his knees to avoid it. The wing shattered a car behind him.

Thor got up and threw Mjolnir on Hulk. Hulk tried to catch it but it flew with him. The two fell on the ground. Hulk tried to lift it but couldn't as the hammer deemed him unworthy. His feet sank into the ground as he tried to lift the hammer.

That distraction was all Thor needed to kick him on the face with a leap, staggering him back again. Before Hulk could react, Thor hit his chest with Mjolnir, staggering him back. Charging Mjolnir with some electricity, he threw it at Hulk and he spasmed violently due to the electricity coursing through him.

Thor picked up Mjolnir and leapt on Hulk's back, holding him in a chokehold with Mjolnir as Hulk staggered violently.

"I need full evac on lower deck", Fury told Hill as she passed him. As she walked further, a grenade landed in front of her.

"GRENADE!" she screamed in warning before leaping away as it exploded, though it still managed to damage the right side of her face.

Two agents snuck in, guns raised.

Fury grabbed one from behind and threw him down before shooting the other down. He then shot the one he had thrown down while Hill shot down another agent who was aiming at Fury from behind.

As two more arrived, they were hit by arrows on the sides, taking them down. Fury and Hill turned to see Oliver lower his bow, dressed in his suit.

As another agent arrived, Oliver leapt at him and smacked him with his bow, staggering him back before kicking his legs, making him fall down. With another smack of the bow, the agent was out.

Hulk smashed Thor and himself onto an upper level. Before Thor could get up, Hulk lifted him and threw him off.

"Hulk and Thor are in the research level 4", an agent informed Fury on comms.

"Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" an alarmed Hill said.

"Get his attention", Fury commanded.

"Escorts, Six o proceed", Hill said to an agent via comms, "Don't get too close."

"Got it", the agent said as he flew to where Thor and Hulk were fighting.

"Target acquired", he said as he got a lock on Hulk who marching towards Thor, "Target engaged."

He fired but all it did was anger Hulk who turned to him with gritted teeth and leapt at him.

In panic, the agent blurted out, "Target angry! Target angry!"

Hulk leapt on the jet and started smashing it. The agent tried to fly off with his jetpack but Hulk grabbed him and threw him off. He managed to produce a parachute and used it to safely make his way to the ground.

As Hulk continued smashing the jet, it exploded, sending him flying off.

Iron Man used his beam to weaken a piece of debris lodged between the rotors before jumping on it, sending it down.

Steve and Matt noticed some agents arriving below them. One of them suddenly threw a grenade and Steve leapt to the other side to avoid while Matt jumped right in front of the agents.

He knew now what he had to do. In his mind, he prayed to God, 'God, forgive me for what I am about to do.'

And then, before the agent could open fire, Matt grabbed his gun and punched him hard, staggering him back before flip kicking him. He hit the wall and was knocked out.

That moment, the other one smacked him across, the face, whipping it to the other side. Before he could react, Steve leapt down and kicked the man out.

The two men of faith nodded at each other in acknowledgement before another man fired at them. Steve threw a piece of debris at him and he jumped away to avoid.

Steve then leapt up and picking up a gun, exchanged gunfire with the agent before Matt took advantage of his distraction and leaping up, kicked him hard, knocking him out.

Fury and the others engaged in a gunfight with the controlled agents before Clint fired an arrow which exploded, sending some agents and Oliver down. As Oliver got up, Clint fired another arrow which made the computers malfunction.

As he walked off, Oliver followed him.

The Helicarrier started toppling.

"Engine now all shut down", Sitwell told Fury, "Sir we lost all engine one. It's Barton. He took out our system."

"He's headed for the detention lab", Fury said via comms, "Does anybody copy?"

"This is Agent Romanoff", Natasha responded, finally recovering from what she had just experienced, "I copy."

She nodded at Peter and the two made their way to their destination.

"Stark, we're losing altitude", Fury told him via comms.

"I have noticed", Stark said as he pushed the rotors.

Steve engaged in a gunfight with another agent when he suddenly slipped an started falling but he managed to brandish a rope and managed to hang on.

Matt grabbed the agent and slammed his head on the wall a few times, knocking him out.

Thor walked towards Loki's cell, only to see him walking out of it.

"No!"

He leapt at Loki, Mjolnir raised-

Only to fall into the cell. He got up and looked back to see Loki fading away while the real Loki shut the door.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?"

Clint was walking through the dark passage when he sensed someone behind him. Turning around, he fired-

Only for Oliver to deflect it with his own arrow. The two fired again, and the arrows deflected before Clint tried to smack Oliver who backed to avoid and smacked Clint with the bow, whipping his face to the other side.

Clint recovered and kicked Oliver away. The two master archers stared each other down.

Thor hit the cell with Mjolnir but only the glass cracked while the stability decreased.

"The humans think us immortal", Loki said as he walked to the controls, "Should we test that?"

That moment, the agent with Loki fell down and the two turned to see Coulson arrive, holding a strange weapon.

"Move away please", he told Loki who complied before pointing to the weapon, "Do you like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer."

As it slowly activated and glowed, Coulson said, "Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?"

It was slowly activating-

"AAARGH!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The fake Loki disappeared in front of Coulson while the real Loki pulled the scepter out of Coulson's back.

Coulson fell down, panting heavily due to his wound while Loki walked towards the controls. As Thor glared at him, Loki pressed the button and the cell fell down, with Thor in it.

Oliver narrowly avoided an arrow from Clint before firing his own which Clint dodged. As the two charged, Oliver kicked Clint in a rotatory motion before Clint smacked him in the stomach, staggering him back.

Before the fight could continue, Natasha leapt next to Oliver and kicked Clint on the knee, sending him down. Before he could recover, Oliver smacked his head hard with the bow and it hit the railing.

With a sigh, Clint looked up. Oliver and Natasha noticed his eyes weren't blue any longer but their natural color.

As his eyes flashed with recognition, Clint said in confusion, "Natasha ... Oliver…"

That moment, Peter punched him out.

Oliver and Natasha glared at him.

"What?" Peter said, "He was freaking me out."

"So you are ready to face Hulk but an archer freaks you out?" Natasha asked with a glare, "Wow!"

The cell was falling on the ground at full speed, straight into the steel trap. Thor was trown aroun inside it, trying to gain momentum. Finally, he put his feet on one side and leapt out, breaking the cell as it crashed into the trap while Thor fell face first on the ground and continued sliding.

Loki was walking away when Phil spoke up, "You're gonna lose."

Turning around, Loki asked, "Am I?"

"It's in your nature", Coulson said.

"Your heroes are scattered", Loki pointed out with a smirk, "Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?"

"Your lack conviction", Coulson said firmly.

With a scowl, Loki tried to say, "I don't think I..."

BAM!

The blast sent Loki flying off and crashing through a wall

As the Destroyer gun deactivated, Coulson muttered, "So that's what it does."

Tony roared and using all his strength, pushed the rotors hard, finally making them work and sustain the Helicarrier in the air.

"Cap, need a lever", he then said.

"I need a minute here!" Steve said as Matt helped him climb back up.

"Lever, now!" Tony said when he got trapped between the rotors. Matt managed to pull Steve up who pulled the lever slowing the rotors down long enough for Tony to get out.

As another agent arrived to fire at Steve and Matt, Tony flew at him at full speed and knocked him out before lying next to him as his suit was low on power.

Fury saw Coulson lying on the ground. He took the Destroyer gun away and knelt next to him as he said, "I'm sorry, boss. They got rabbited."

"Just stay awake", Fury said, "Eyes on me."

"No, I'm clockin' out here", Coulson accepted his fate.

"Not an option", Fury said.

"It's okay, boss", Coulson assured him, "This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to..."

Coulson stared at Fury with a glassy look without seeing. He was gone.

Fury winced at the sight, a rare case of him showing emotion. One of his best agents and oldest friends…. gone!

He got up as the medics arrived to take the body away.

Pressing his comms, he broke the news, "Agent Coulson is down."

Chapter Text

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket", Fury said as he held Phil's 'Captain America' trading cards in his hands, "Guess he never did get you to sign them."

He threw them on the table in front of Steve, Tony, Matt, Oliver and Peter as Hill watched from the corner. They were covered in blood. Matt's nose twitched as he realized something but decided to keep quiet.

Steve picked up one card which showed him giving a salute and looked at it with guilt-filled eyes.

"We're dead in the air up here", Fury continued, "Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you."

Tony was looking down to hide his grief while Matt's and Oliver's faces were emotionless masks. Peter was breathing heavily.

"Lost my one good eye", Fury said as he looked up with a sad smile, "Maybe I had that coming."

"Yes", he then said as he paced around, "We were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier."

Looking up to face everyone, Fury said, "There was an idea."

Pointing at Stark, he said, "Stark knows this. It's called The Avengers Initiative."

Turning to Steve, Matt, Oliver and Peter, Fury explained, "The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

He then looked at Tony, whose back was turned to him, "Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes."

Tony immediately got off his seat and walked away. Matt could sense his heart was beating fast due to grief and anxiety.

"Well", Fury said with a sigh, "It's an old fashioned notion."

Thor slowly walked towards where Mjolnir was lying in the grassy field. He raised his hand, trying to call it to him but it didn't come.

Thor realized his grief and anger over Coulson's death had temporarily severed his link with Mjolnir.

Pressing his fist, he started calming himself down.

"You fell out of the sky."

Bruce groaned as he managed to sit up. He looked at himself and realized he was naked and blackened.

He looked around and saw the building was smashed really badly. He looked up to see a guard.

"Did I hurt anybody?" Bruce asked.

"There's nobody around here to get hurt", the guard chuckled, "You did scare the hell out of some pigeons though."

"Lucky", Bruce muttered.

"Or just good aim", the guard said as Bruce stared at him, "You were awake when you fell."

"You saw?" Bruce asked.

"The whole thing, right through the ceiling", the guard revealed, "Big and green and buck ass nude."

"Here..." he said as he tossed Bruce some clothes.

"I didn't think those would fit you until you shrunk down to a regular size fella", the guard said.

"Thank you", Bruce said gratefully as he started wearing the pants.

"Are you an alien?"

"What?"

"From outer space, an alien?" the guard asked just to be sure.

"No", Bruce simply said.

"Well then, son", the guard said, "You've got a condition."

"The blood was fake."

Oliver turned to Matt with a shocked expression.

"What?"

"It was fake", Matt said simply, "Fury was trying to give us a push."

"Well", Oliver said, "The two of us work well together. You and Peter work well together. Steve and Tony really needed that though."

"All of us need to trust each other to survive what's about to happen", Matt said and Oliver nodded as they walked to where Steve, Tony and Peter were standing.

"Was he married?" Steve asked Tony.

"No", Tony said after a sad sigh, "He was a...cellist, I think."

"I'm sorry", Steve said in a sympathetic voice, "He seemed like a good man."

"He was", Oliver agreed.

"He was an idiot", Tony said bluntly as he walked to Steve.

"Why?" Steve asked as he walked too, "For believing?"

"For taking on Loki alone", Tony pointed out.

"He was doing his job", Steve pointed out too.

Tony then said, "He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony", Steve sighed, having learnt this the hard way.

"Right", Tony said, "How did that work for him?"

"Is this the first time you've lost a soldier?" Steve asked.

"We are not soldiers!" Tony snapped, "I'm not marching to Fury's fife."

"But Coulson was a soldier", Oliver said as he stepped up, "And he knew what he signed up for."

"He knew confronting Loki could get him killed", Steve said.

"But he still did it", Matt said, "To protect the others."

"So I think he deserves better than you calling him an idiot", Peter said.

Seeing Tony's guilt-filled expression, Steve moved the conversation along, "I won't fight for Fury either. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does, but right now we gotta put that behind us and get this done."

"Now Loki needs a power source", Steve said, "If we can put together a list..."

"He made it personal", Tony cut him off.

"That's not the point."

"That is the point", Tony said, "That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"You're right", Oliver agreed, "He did it to tear us apart."

"He had to divide and conquer", Tony started, "But he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

As he walked past them, Matt said, "So he wants to have the attention of the entire world."

"Loki, the God of attention", Peter quipped.

"Right", Steve agreed, "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"Yeah", Tony said as he stood in front of them, "That's just previews, this is... this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tail diva."

Doing gestures with his hands, Tony said, "He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered."

He stopped as Steve, Oliver and Peter gave him knowing looks.

"Son of a bitch", he muttered as he walked off.

Erik Selvig was working on the machine that would open the portal- right on top of Stark Industries.

"Time to go", Steve said as he arrived in the room where Natasha and Clint were.

"Go where?" Natasha asked.

"I'll tell you on the way", Steve said, "Can you fly one of those jets?"

"I can."

Steve turned to see Clint walk up to them, wiping his face with a towel. He looked normal now.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked.

"Yeah", Clint nodded.

"Then suit up."

Thor finally picked up Mjolnir and looked at it.

Steve armed himself with his shield.

Clint strapped his quiver to his back.

Natasha activated her gauntlets.

Tony worked on the Iron Man helmet and finally, the eyes glowed again.

Oliver pulled the hood over his head as he finished suiting up.

Peter put his Spider-Man mask over his face, finishing the suit-up.

Matt was standing quietly when Natasha approached him, holding an all too familiar case.

As she placed it on the table, Matt asked, "How did you get this?"

"Had an agent pick it up after I picked you", she said, "Made a few modifications."

With slightly shaking hands, Matt opened the case and breathed heavily as he faced his suit for the first time in months.

And he could sense it was modified.

"Time to go", Natasha said as Matt took out the helmet and held it.

Thor raised Mjolnir and lightning stuck it as his clothes started transforming into his battle armor while wind blew around him.

Tony was in his armor, all decked out and started flying.

Steve, Matt, Oliver, Natasha, Clint and Peter walked towards a Quinjet, all suited up. Matt's suit was now modified and was slightly less armored but had better movement and had DD embedded in the center. His Billy club had been upgraded too.

They reached the Quinjet.

"You guys aren't authorized to be in here", the agent said, trying to stop them.

Steve said casually, "Son, just don't."

Chapter Text

Iron Man flew towards his tower at full speed.

"I have turned off the arc reactor", Jarvis told him, "This device is already self-sustaining."

As he reached the top, he said, "Shut it down, Dr. Selvig."

"It's too late. It can't stop now." Eric rambled like a delusional person, "It wants to show us something! A new universe."

"Okay." Tony fired a beam. A barrier protected the device and he was sent flying back while Selvig was knocked out.

"The barrier is pure energy." Jarvis informed him, "It's unbreachable."

"Yeah I get that." Tony agreed before looking down to see Loki staring at him, "Plan B."

"Sir, Mark VII is not ready for deployment." Jarvis informed him.

"Then skip the spinning rims. We've run out of clock." Tony said as he descended and got the armor removed from him.

As he and Loki marched towards each other into the tower, the latter said sarcastically, "Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity."

"Uh...actually, I'm planning to threaten." Stark said casually.

With a humorless chuckle, Loki said, "You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage." Tony joked as he walked down towards his little bar while pointing at Loki, "You've got the blue stick of destiny."

"You want a drink?" Stark then offered friendlily.

Loki laughed and said, "Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no! Threatening." Stark quickly corrected him before getting himself a drink, "No drink? You sure? 'Cause I am having one."

Walking towards the window, Loki said, "The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that." He turned back around, "What have I to fear?"

"The Avengers."

Loki looked at the billionaire in puzzlement as he unstoppered the bottle.

"It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team." Tony explained as he poured himself the drink, "Earth's Mightiest Heroes type of thing."

"Yes." Loki chuckled, "I've met them."

"Yeah." Tony chuckled, "Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here." He pointed at Loki, "Your brother, the God of Thunder."

Loki cringed and looked away. During that time, Tony put one of his two bracelets on his wrist.

As Loki turned back, Tony sipped his drink and walking towards the former Asgardian, continued, "A super soldier, a living legend, who kind of lives up to the legend, a man with breath-taking anger management issues, a blind man who is not blind, a modern day Robin Hood, a young man with arachnid-like powers, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki smirked arrogantly.

"Not a great plan." Tony warned as he continued walking, "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk."

"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki said in confusion.

"You're missing the point." Tony told him, "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you."

And then the Iron Man declared, "Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it."

He then took a sip of his drink as Loki marched towards him.

"How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" He said as he raised his scepter and touched Stark's chest. Both of them were shocked when they heard a clang.

Loki tried again to get the same result.

"It should work!" he wondered aloud in shock.

"Well, performance issues." Tony mocked, "You know-"

He was cut off when Loki lifted him by the throat and threw him to the floor.

"Jarvis." Tony said as he got back up, "Anytime now."

Loki grabbed him by the throat again, "You will all fall before me."

"Deploy." Loki lifted him higher, "Deploy."

Loki threw him off. He crashed through his window and to the street below. As Loki watched his descent, he heard something and turning around, narrowly avoided the flying suit.

As Tony fell down, the suit flew after him and detecting his bracelet, put itself on him and just when he was near the ground, he was fully armored.

Activating his thrusters, he flew up and was face to face with Loki.

"And there's one other person you pissed off!"

As Loki raised the scepter to strike, Tony fired a repulsor, throwing him back, "His name is Phil."

That moment, a blue light shot up into the sky from the device. As Tony looked up, a portal opened in the sky. On the other side of it was space.

Out from it came dozens of flying vehicles. Flying them were reptilian-like creatures which looked like they were a mix between organic human tissue and machine.

The Chitauri!

"Right." Tony muttered in horror, "Army."

As he flew up, one of them fired at him but he dodged and destroyed the offender with a repulsor. He tried to fire again but one of the transports smacked him on the head, staggering him.

Spinning around to dodge, he fired mini-missiles from his shoulders, destroying more of them. But even Iron Man couldn't hold back an entire army of aliens all by himself.

Many of them flew past him and towards the streets. The people were standing still in horror and shock, jaws agape.

The Chitauri then started rapidly firing from their transports and the people ran off to protect themselves as their vehicles were destroyed.

Loki stood on top of the tower and looked down with a smirk while his armor and horned helmet appeared. It had begun!

"Loki."

Loki turned to see Thor who had just descended, fully dressed in his battle armor.

"Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!" He commanded.

"You can't. There is no stopping it." Loki declared as he pointed the scepter at Thor, "There is only the war!"

With a snarl, Thor declared, "So be it."

With a roar, Loki leapt on Thor who side-stepped to avoid. Thor struck with Mjolnir but Loki blocked with the scepter and swung at Thor who ducked to avoid.

Loki fired a blast which Thor deflected before both of them clashed their weapons. The resulting energy wave destroyed the "K" at the end of "STARK" on the building and sent it down.

On the ground below, police vans pulled up but even the cops were horrified at what they were witnessing.

The Quinjet flew towards New York.

"Stark, we're heading north east." Natasha informed him.

"What, did you stop for drive-through?" Tony asked sarcastically, "Swing that park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."

As the Chitauri flew after him, he flew past where Thor and Loki were battling, dodging some shots and making them hit each other.

The Quinjet arrived and Natasha brandished its gun, firing at some Chitauri and killing them.

"Sir, we have more incoming." Jarvis told Tony.

"Fine, let's keep them occupied." Tony simply said.

Thor swung at Loki who ducked to avoid before grabbing Thor and slamming him into some glass.

"Thor and Loki are down there." Matt informed Natasha and Clint.

"Nat." Clint said.

"I see him." She said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Oliver smirked.

"Let's go all Arnold on his ass." Peter quipped.

Loki slammed Thor down again before the Quinjet fired on him but he fired a blast of his scepter and it hit a wing, damaging the vehicle.

Thor roared angrily on seeing that and started pummeling Loki.

The Quinjet was all haywire before it started going down. Steve, Matt, Oliver and Peter hung on the top to avoid losing balance as Natasha and Clint tried to safely crash it.

Suddenly, Matt said in alarm, "Three of them are about to fire at us."

Natasha tried to steer it away but nothing happened due to the damage.

The three Chitauri were about to fire. Suddenly, a flying blur destroyed them.

As the Quinjet was going down, it suddenly stopped in midair. Natasha and Clint looked at each other in confusion.

"Someone else is here." Matt said simply, "Not human."

The Quinjet then gently descended to the ground and was gently lowered by whoever had caught it.

Natasha and Clint then threw off their headsets and the backdoor opened from which they, Steve, Matt, Oliver and Peter walked out.

Who they saw made their jaws drop.

It was a tall man in a dark blue suit with a red cape flowing behind him and boots of the same color. An "S" was embedded on his chest. There was a smile on his face. One that radiated hope, warmth and kindness.

"Who are you?" Oliver asked as he recovered himself.

"I'm Superman." He declared.

"I thought you were just a myth." Peter said in disbelief and excitement, "This is so awesome."

"We were going to look into you after this was done." Natasha told him.

"I'm here to help." Superman said.

"Well then, son, come on." Steve said as they walked out into the open.

As they walked to the center of the city, what they saw horrified them.

A giant reptilian creature floated out of the portal and all the people were paralyzed in fear on seeing it. From it jumped Chitauri foot soldiers, crashing into buildings and killing people with their firearms.

"We need back up here." Steve said on comms, "Stark, are you seeing this?"

Stark said dryly, "I'm seeing, still working on believing."

He then asked, "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted." Stark said.

"He hasn't." Matt said, "But someone else has."

"Who? Chuck Norris?" Stark asked sarcastically.

"No." Clint said, "Superman."

"The man. The myth. The legend." Stark declared with a smirk, "Sorry. Not a legend. But still a man and myth."

Flying after the reptilian creature which was called a Leviathan, he said, "Jarvis, find me a soft spot."

"Look at this. Look around you." Thor asked Loki angrily, trying to reason, "You think this madness will end with your rule?"

With a guilt-ridden face, Loki said, "It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No." Thor said, "We can, together."

Loki looked like he was going to break down but he suddenly smirked and stabbed Thor in the abdomen. Thor grunted and staggered back, dropping Mjolnir.

"Sentiment!"

Thor angrily kicked him through some glass and lifting him up, threw him down. Loki rolled away onto a Chitauri transport. Thor ripped out the knife.

"You got civilians trapped in the roof." Clint noted as some transports flew past them.

"Loki." Steve muttered as he noticed him on one of them, "They're fish in a barrel down there."

Turning to Superman, he asked, "Can you get them?"

"I will." Superman said before flying after the transports at a speed even Thor and Iron Man would be hard pressed to match.

Superman fired his heat vision, destroying some transports and just rammed into some of them.

Loki was shocked on seeing that, "Okay, what?"

Some Chitauri arrived in front of Steve, Matt, Oliver, Natasha, Clint and Peter and started firing.

Natasha returned fire while Oliver got one with his arrow. Peter fired a web and grabbing one, slammed him against a car.

"Take that, Stormtrooper."

Matt flipped and knocked one's gun out of his hands before flip kicking him into a car, knocking him out. As another arrived, he pointed his club at it and fired a projectile at its neck, knocking it out.

"We got this." Natasha said to Steve, "Go, go."

"You think you can hold them off?" Steve asked them.

"Captain", Clint said as he notched an arrow, "It would be my genuine pleasure."

He fired, getting one of them.

Steve then ran off, avoiding their shots.

Peter used his web to open up a sealed bus, helping the people get out.

Clint fired another arrow, getting another one.

"Oliver!" He called out, attracting his fellow archer's attention, "Two already."

"I'm on seventeen." Oliver said casually.

"Huh!" Clint said in shock, "I'll have no modern day Robin Hood outscoring me!"

Clint smacked an alien down with his bow before shooting him out.

Oliver fired at two of them in quick succession, getting them both.

"Nineteen!"

"Archers." Natasha rolled her eyes.

Spider-Man swung on his web and kicked two away before pulling one down from its transport and slamming it down.

"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha commented as she got another.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint said.

Matt barely dodged a smack from one of them before hitting its legs with his club, knocking it down and then hitting it another time, knocking it out.

Steve leapt in front of some cops on a car and started ordering, "I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" their leader asked.

That moment, some Chitauri destroyed a vehicles and caused a small blast, making the cops back off.

Steve blocked one and smacked it away with his shield before turning around and blocking another. He punched it away and turning around smacked one out before using his shield to cut off one's weapon and smacked it away.

The captain now knew why to take his orders and said on comms, "I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets I wanna shut off the perimeter all the way down of 39 Street."

Iron Man fired mini missiles on the Leviathan and it turned to him.

"Well, we got its attention." He said as he flew off, "What the hell is step two?"

Clint threw a Chitauri down and jammed an arrow into it while Natasha snatched one's staff and in a rotatory motion, fired at two of them, sending them flying off.

Spider-Man rotated one in his webs and smashed him into others.

Matt flip kicked one out into a car and hit another on the neck with his projectile.

Oliver kicked one down in a rotatory motion before smacking it out and fired an arrow, getting another.

Steve arrived and smacked more of them away.

Lightning bolts descended from the sky and killed more Chitauri before Thor landed on the ground. Some more were hit by heat vision as Superman landed.

Thor's eyes widened in shock, "You're a Kryptonian."

"How do you know?" A shocked Superman asked.

"Talk about it later." Steve said to the two gods, "Thor, what's the story up top."

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor informed.

"Thor is right, we gotta deal with these guys." Iron Man said.

"Let's do it." Matt said.

"Come on." Oliver said.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team." Steve said.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said.

"Yeah, get in line." Clint said.

"Brave man to threaten a god." Peter muttered.

"Save it." Steve said as he started ordering, "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us..."

He stopped on hearing a bike stopping behind them. They turned to see Banner getting off, a smirk on his face.

"So, this all seems horrible." He said.

"I've seen worse." Natasha said.

"Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse." Natasha clarified.

"Yeah, that's what she meant." Peter said.

"Stark, we got him." Steve said on comms.

"Banner."

"Just like you said."

"Tell him to suit up." Stark said, "I'm bringing the party to you."

He then flew towards them, the Leviathan on his tail.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha said as Banner marched forwards.

"Dr. Banner." Steve said as he turned around, "Now might be a good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain." Banner smirked, "I'm always angry."

As the Leviathan came closer, Bruce turned into Hulk and punched it hard, toppling it.

"Hold on." Tony said as he fired a missile while Superman fired heat vision in his aid.

The Leviathan exploded and the debris fell on them, though Steve protected Natasha and Clint with his shield while Thor and Superman protected Matt and Oliver respectively and Peter leapt back.

The Chitauri roared angrily.

Hulk roared back louder as Clint and Oliver notched arrows next to him and Superman stood still while his cape flowed behind him and Thor raised Mjolnir while Peter flipped and stood next to him as Matt divided his club into sticks and Natasha loaded her guns. Steve stood with his shield as Tony descended next to him. The Avengers had assembled in a circle.

Loki saw the spectacle below and commanded, "Send the rest."

Chapter Text

Two more Leviathans slowly came out of the portal along with more Chitauri on transports.

"Guys." Natasha said, attracting their attention.

"Call it, Captain." Tony said.

"Yeah." Oliver said, "We trust you to lead us."

"So what's the order, Captain?" Matt asked.

"Alright, listen up." Steve started commanding everyone, "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment."

Turning to the two master archers, he said, "Queen, Barton, I want you both on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays."

Turning to the Kryptonian and billionaire, he said, "Stark, Superman, you both got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked.

"Right." Tony said as he grabbed him, "Better clench up, Legolas."

He then flew up with him.

"I won't mind one either." Oliver said.

"Come on, Robin Hood." Superman said as he grabbed Oliver and flew up with him.

"Spider-Man." Steve called out as the young scientist turned to him, "Swing around, help Superman and Stark as best as you can."

"Aye aye, Captain." Peter said with a salute as he swung away.

"Thor." Steve said to the Prince of Asgasrd, "You've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up."

Thor twirled Mjolnir and flew up.

"The two of you and me we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here." He said to Matt and Natasha who nodded.

"And Hulk." The indestructible green monster turned to the Captain. Steve raised a finger.

"Smash!"

Hulk grinned and leapt into the air onto a building, smashing the Chitauri hanging on it. Grabbing it, he leapt onto the opposite building, smashing another one and throwing them both down before grabbing a third one and leaping again.

He threw that one into another building and it crashed through several floors while Hulk leapt into the air and smashed a flying Chitauri transport.

Thor flew up and stood on the top of the Chrysler Building. Raising Mjolnir skywards, he summoned a powerful lightning bolt.

The lightning was conducted through the entire building, increasing Thor's power. He directed his hammer at the portal and with a mighty roar, discharged multiple lightning bolts.

The bolts instantly destroyed multiple Chitauri vehicles that were coming through along with two giant Leviathans.

Fury was watching everything via monitors on the Helicarrier.

"Sir."

Fury looked up to see Hill.

"The council is on." She said and Fury solemnly nodded.

"Stark, you have a lot of strays sniffing your tail." Clint said as he fired at some Chitauri transports.

"I guess you want me to fire at them all." Oliver said dryly as he fired around.

"No. I don't." Clint said simply.

"Just trying to keep them off the streets." Tony said as he flew around, the Chitauri following.

"But they can't bank worth a damn." Clint said as he fired at a Chitauri transport and destroyed it without even looking at it, "Find a tight corner."

"Show off." Oliver commented and Clint chuckled.

"I will roger that." Tony said as he flew past the two archers. Clint fired a thermal tipped arrow on one transport, melting the metal as the Chitauri was down. Oliver got another one with his arrow.

Tony flew through a tunnel, leading the Chitauri on a goose chase. That moment, Superman flew up behind them at full speed and using heat vision, destroyed two of them before ramming into a third one. Iron Man turned around and fired his missile, getting two more.

"Oh, boy." He said as the two flew out, "Nice call, what else do you got?"

"Well, Thor's taking out the squadron on 6." Clint informed him.

"And he didn't invite me." Tony muttered.

"I'm going." Superman said before flying off.

Two Chitauri arrived behind Stark when they were pulled away by Spider-Man and thrown down while he continued swinging.

"Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man on the job."

One Leviathan moved towards a building when suddenly Hulk leapt at it from inside and grabbing it by the lower jaw, pulled it away, though its side still destroyed some windows.

Another Leviathan moved towards another building when Superman lifted it up from below and flying upwards, threw it off before punching it hard, sending it flying into space.

Matt swept a Chitauri's feet from under it before flip kicking it out and in a rotatory motion, kicked another Chitauri away before firing a projectile at another one, knocking it out. Rotating his club, he turned around and smacked another Chitauri hard, knocking it out.

Natasha was pinned to a car by a Chitauri but she hit it on the side of the neck with a knife, destroying it. Taking its staff, she fired at another one, sending it flying off.

She sensed movement behind her but turning around, saw it was Steve.

After some panting, she said, "Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve pointed out.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns." Natasha said.

As they looked up, Steve said, "You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"I have a ride." Natasha said as she threw away the staff and looked at Steve, "I could use a boost though."

"You sure about this?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun." She said.

"Be careful." Matt said to her.

"I will." Natasha said before she ran and leapt on a car and then on Steve's shield who pushed her up to a transport which she hung on to.

She threw off the one on the back and stabbed the other one, trying to control it, "Turn, turn. Left."

As other transports fired at her, Iron Man flew past them, firing his repulsors at some transports. He then flew down where Steve slammed a Chitauri to the ground while Matt flip kicked another one away. Tony fired a repulsor at Steve's shield and it deflected off, killing more Chitauri.

Tony then flew up a building and destroyed more of them with his repulsors while Clint shot down a Chitauri who was trying to climb that building. Oliver turned around and smacked a Chitauri who was trying to sneak up on them out.

Clint and Oliver then fired on two separate Chitauris, toppling their transports while Peter flew past, kicking a Chitauri off its transport, making it go haywire and crash land on a Leviathan where Hulk roared and threw a Chitauri away before smashing more of them. Thor landed and with Mjolnir, sent two of them flying off while Superman got one of them with heat vision before head-butting another away.

Hulk ripped out a piece of the Leviathan and embedded it into its back. Thor charged Mjolnir and hit the piece hard, killing the Leviathan which crashed into an empty building. The three then stood there, side to side.

Suddenly, Hulk sucker punched Thor sending him flying into Superman and they both crashed to a side while Hulk gave a sniff of satisfaction.

"Director Fury, the council has made a decision." A Councilwoman told Fury on the video chat.

"I recognize the council has made a decision." Fury said, "But given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it."

"Why do you think it's a stupid ass decision?" Waller asked, "Because you didn't make it?"

"I think it's better if you stay out of this." Fury warned her.

"Director, you're closer than any of our subs." Gideon Malick said, "You scramble that jet-"

"That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman." Fury said, "Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population."

"Your team is not the only one there." Amanda revealed with a smirk, "One of my assets is there."

"What?" Fury asked in shock, "I told you to stay out of this."

"I don't take orders from you." Amanda smirked as Fury glared.

Matt was fighting some Chitauri in a building. He smacked one out and flip kicked another to a side. It tried to get up but was suddenly dragged away behind a pillar. A moment later its torso was thrown away.

Matt's jaw dropped as he realized who was here. A giant man who looked like a crocodile emerged from there and roared loudly. Killer Croc! He then rushed Matt. Matt prepared to fight but then Croc ran past him and leapt out of the building, fighting the Chitauri instead, ripping them apart.

"And now he is on our side." Matt muttered dryly.

Natasha was riding the transport when Loki fired at her from behind. Turning around, she muttered, "Oh! You!"

As she flew forwards, she called out on comms, "Hawkeye."

"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint asked.

"Need a little help." She said.

"I got him." Clint said as both flew in front of him. He fired at Loki but he caught the arrow just before it reached his eye.

He looked at Clint with a smirk when suddenly, the arrow beeped and exploded, sending him crashing to the tower, destroying the "S" and "T" of the Stark Industries building.

Natasha leapt off the transport landed on the building's top.

"Well, I just got their leader." Clint smirked at Oliver.

"That still only counts as one." Oliver grumbled.

Loki got up, only for a roaring Hulk to punch him into the building, crashing him through the glass.

As Hulk rushed him, Loki got up and yelled, "ENOUGH!"

Hulk stopped as Loki continued ranting, "You are all of you beneath me! I am a God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by a-"

He was cut off when Hulk lifted him by the foot and started smashing him to the ground repeatedly. He stopped for a second and then smashed him again twice before throwing him down and leaving him lying on the ground.

Walking away, he managed to speak in a guttural voice, "Puny God."

Loki whimpered behind him.

As Natasha looked at the device, Selvig said, "The scepter."

She turned to see the doctor on the edge of the building, now back to his senses, "Doctor."

"Loki's scepter, the energy...the Tesseract can't fight." He muttered incoherently, "You can't protect against yourself."

"It's not your fault." Natasha assured him, "You didn't know what you were doing."

"Well, actually I think I did." Selvig said as his eyes widened in realization, "I built in a safety to cut the power source."

"Loki's scepter." Natasha realized.

"It may be able to close the portal." Selvig said as he looked down, "And I'm looking right at it."

Stark was on the ground, weakened after having destroyed a Leviathan from the inside.

"Stark, do you hear me?" Fury said on comms, "We have a missile headed straight for the city."

"How long?" He asked as more Chitauri attacked him.

"Three minutes, at best." Fury said.

"Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters." Stark said

"I just did." Jarvis said as Tony started flying up.

The missile was fired at the city.

Steve smacked a Chitauri away on the ground as Thor threw another off and Matt flip kicked one out. A shot was about to hit Steve when Superman flew into the way, taking it and sending the offender flying off with a punch. Thor hit a car with Mjolnir, sending it flying into some Chitauri who were crushed.

Natasha moved the scepter to the device to close it, "I can close it! Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" Steve said.

"No, wait!" Stark said.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve pointed out.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute." Stark said as he flew after said nuke, "And I know just where to put it."

Stark grabbed the nuke and putting all power into all the thrusters, Stark flew up into the portal as the others watched.

Jarvis tried to call Miss Potts on the way but it failed as Tony flew into the portal towards the Chitauri base.

He let the nuke go as his suit's power wore off due to him being in space. As he started falling down, the nuke flew up to the base and exploded, destroying the base utterly as Stark fell through the portal right before Natasha closed it. The other Chitauri died when cut off from their power source.

"Son of a gun." Steve muttered.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said as him and Superman prepared to catch him. But Hulk leapt into th air and caught him, sliding down via a building.

He put Iron Man down as Thor ripped off his visor.

"He is alive." Matt said.

"Yes, he is." Superman confirmed.

"Then why isn't he-"

Hulk roared loudly, startling them all as Stark's eyes snapped open.

"What the hell?" He said frantically, "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?"

"We won." Steve simply said.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job guys." Stark said cheerfully, "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet." Thor pointed out.

"And then shawarma after."

Croc stood in a corner of the city as Amanda said, "Get to the extraction point."

"Croc doesn't want to." He grumbled.

"You know what's in your head?" She threatened and he roared angrily before leaping off to the extraction point.

Oliver walked up to where Clint was sitting next to a dead Chitauri, his arrow embedded in the creature's head.

"Final count." Oliver said with a smirk, "42."

"42." Clint said with a mocking chuckle, "Not bad for a green loving, modern day Robin Hood. I'm myself sitting pretty on 43."

Suddenly, Oliver notched an arrow and fired it on the Chitauri next to Clint, "43."

"It was already dead." Clint said.

"It was twitching." Oliver countered.

"It was twitching because it's got my arrow embedded into its nervous system." Clint grumbled as he moved the arrow in the alien's head, causing it to actually twitch.

"Uhhh, archers." Peter said as he walked up to them, "Come on."

Loki woke up, groaning as he was still feeling the pain from Hulk's beating. Turning around, his eyes widened as he saw Matt, Natasha, Peter, Thor, Superman, Oliver, Clint, Steve, Hulk and Tony in front of him. The archers had arrows pointed at him.

"If it's all the same to you." He groaned with a smirk as he tried to get up, "I'll have that drink now."

A snarl from Hulk told him that wasn't going to happen.

Chapter Text

After Loki's defeat, Thor took him back to Asgard to face justice for his crimes.

Most of the public was thankful to the Avengers for saving them, including Daredevil, The Hood and Spider-Man, who were praised by most people.

Though J. Jonah Jameson still hadn't changed his opinion on the wall crawler.

"That masked menace is bringing aliens to our doorstep now." He had said.

Though Peter wasn't that bothered as some time later, Matt and Harvey Specter had resolved the issue outside the court and it was decided Jameson wouldn't bad mouth Spider-Man anymore.

Superman's existence had now been proved to the public and many even wondered who he was. But he had disappeared after the fight, though Natasha and Clint decided to look for him.

Matt had finally decided to be Daredevil again. And he also decided it was time to be himself again outside of being a lawyer.

Starling City

Matt and Oliver stepped out of the latter's car near Verdant. As the driver pulled over, the two walked inside.

"So, your base is still below the club?" Matt asked as he heard the loud music.

"Yes." Oliver said, "Last place anyone will suspect."

The two walked inside, between all the dancing people, trying to get through.

"How's Tommy?" Matt asked Oliver.

"Running his father's business." Oliver told him, "He is trying to win back the people's good will after what his father did."

"Not an easy job I suspect." Matt said and Oliver nodded.

"What about your mother?" Matt asked in the most sensitive tone he could muster.

Oliver turned to Matt with a slightly pained expression, "Her trial is still a few months away."

"If you want", Matt offered, "I can represent her."

"No," Oliver said firmly as they reached the door, "Jean Loring can handle that."

The two went inside as John Diggle turned to them, a smile coming on his lips as he saw Matt with Oliver.

"John!" Matt said with a smile as the two shared a brotherly hug, "It's good to see you."

"Good to see you too man." John said happily as the broke apart, "And good to see you're back at it."

"I am." Matt said with a smile as Felicity hugged him too, "I'm so happy to see you again."

"I can say the same about you." Matt said with a smile, happy to see the socially awkward hacker.

"So, how does it feel to be loved by the entire world?" Felicity asked both of them.

"Honestly", Oliver said, "I feel nothing."

"Yeah." Matt agreed, "We do not burden ourselves with the opinions of others."

"Okay." Felicity said before asking Oliver, "Can I take this night off?"

"Of course." Oliver said with a shrug, "Though if you don't mind, may I ask why?"

"I have a date." Felicity said with a smile.

"That's great." Oliver said with a smile, "With who?"

"His name is Edgar." Felicity said before asking, "Can I go now?"

"Yup." Oliver said and she walked out with a "Thank you."

"Well", Matt said, "She seems happy."

"Crime hasn't really been happening in the city much for a while." John said, "Though the Glades are a mess. But it could have been worse."

"Uhhh….. I need to go." Matt told them.

Oliver's eyes lit up as he realized the reason, "Laurel?"

"Yeah." Matt confirmed.

"I think you should talk to her." Oliver agreed and Matt walked out.

Matt knocked on the door and after a moment, the door was opened by Laurel.

"Hi, Laurel." Matt said awkwardly.

"Hi, Matt." She said with equal awkwardness.

"Uh, can I come in?" He asked and she stepped aside, allowing him to enter the place.

As Laurel closed the door behind him, she said, "Saw you on the news."

"Yeah." Matt said as he turned around to face her, "I decided it was time to be who I am again."

"I know." Laurel said, "I think it's a good thing you're back as Daredevil."

The two were then silent for a few seconds, the awkwardness between them clear.

"So", Matt finally broke the ice, "About the last time we spoke-"

"I remember." Laurel cut him off, "And I have been doing some thinking of my own."

"Okay." Matt said, deciding to listen to what she had to say.

"I have no idea where this thing between us will go now." She said honestly, "And I haven't decided yet."

"All right." Matt said with a sigh.

"I can't make up my mind about whether I want to be with you or not." She said, "Like you said once, we've been doing a dance. And I'm growing tired of it."

"I can understand." Matt said honestly, knowing his decision had hurt her.

"I haven't decided what I want yet." She said honestly.

"I have," Matt said as he walked up to her and soon, their faces were inches apart.

And before they realized, they were engrossed in a deep kiss, forgetting about their conversation for a moment.

After a few seconds, they broke apart.

"Whatever you decide, I will agree." Matt said before walking out, a grim expression on his face.

Laurel's expression was conflicted as she thought about what to do about the relationship now.

Matt walked out of the apartment, thinking of how to make up to Laurel when his phone rang.

He picked up, "Hello."

"Hello, Matt!" Oliver said from the other end and Matt sensed the panic in his voice.

"What?" He asked, immediately concerned, "What is it?"

"It's Felicity. She's at the precinct" Oliver said and Matt was shocked, "Lance says she was attacked."

Chapter Text

Oliver rushed into the precinct, Matt and Diggle in tow. Matt used his ears and located where Felicity was. He could sense her heart was beating at an unnatural rate due to fear.

"Over there." Matt told Oliver who went with into the direction Matt had told him.

And there she was! Oliver's eyes widened in horror on seeing that Felicity was covered in blood. She didn't have her spectacles either. A towel was wrapped around her. Matt's nose twitched and he quickly informed Oliver, "It's not her blood."

Oliver and John both gave sighs of relief on hearing that as the three made their way to her.

She was still in a traumatized state and wasn't fully aware of her surroundings so Matt put a hand on her shoulder and shook her slightly, "Felicity?"

She turned her head towards him and blinked a few times before realizing who the three were.

"O-Oliver." She said hoarsely.

"We are here." Oliver said as John put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"Are you hurt?" John asked.

Realizing she was too numb to answer properly, Matt used his senses to detect any wounds, "She has some bruises on her body, but no cuts."

That moment, Quentin Lance arrived.

"Mr. Lance." Oliver greeted formally.

"Mr. Queen." He greeted him before turning to Matt, "Mr. Murdock."

"Mr. Lance." Matt greeted too.

Quentin put a glass of water near Felicity as Matt asked him, "What happened?"

"I don't know much." Lance said as he shook his head, "When we reached the nightclub, she was on the ground, covered in blood and shaking while a man was pinned to the wall and burning."

"What?" a horrified Oliver asked.

"I don't know what happened." Lance said honestly, "She does but she isn't talking."

"Don't worry, when she gets better, we'll ask her and tell you." Oliver said and Lance nodded before walking off.

Oliver picked up the glass and gently put it in Felicity's hand. With shaking hands, she lifted it up to her lips and managed to drink a few drops.

She put it back down and took many deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

Oliver gently put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "What happened?"

She looked at the three of them, a haunted look in her eyes. Their presence and the water had slightly improved her condition. In a shaky voice, she started, "Ed-Edgar…. He took me to a nightclub…."

Earlier that night

Felicity was in a car with a tall, handsome, black-haired man. He was driving her somewhere.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"It's a surprise, Felicity." The man, whose name was Edgar, said.

"I like surprises." She said with a smile, not noticing the man's ominous gaze.

Soon, he led her to a place and grabbing her hand, started leading her inside. She looked around. It looked like some kind of slaughterhouse.

"What are we doing here?" She asked him, sounding very nervous.

The few men and women there gave her strange looks.

"What the hell is all that?" She asked with a nervous laugh. They heard music from a room.

A man stood in front of the door.

"Party is in here", he said to Edgar.

He said something to him in a different language.

"What did you just say?" Felicity asked him in confusion.

In response, he gave her a passionate kiss while the man opened the door and the two went inside.

It was a nightclub. "Confusion" by "New Order" was playing at full volume. Everyone was dancing madly to the classical hit tune.

Some of the women were barely wearing any clothes and dancing seductively. Felicity wondered what kind of strange nightclub this was.

Edgar took off his shirt, revealing his abs. He threw it off and started dancing with a red haired woman and a blonde woman. The former was in a black bra while the latter was wearing a white coat which she had unbuttoned, revealing her white bra inside.

Felicity tried to start dancing but she realized it wasn't her thing and she was too nervous. She noticed a man sitting in the corner, being pleasured by two women and ended up having a disgusted expression on her face.

She noticed some of the people giving her strange looks.

She walked to where Edgar, the red-haired woman and the blonde woman were dancing and tried to dance with them but the blonde pushed her off roughly before continuing to dance with the other.

She was shoved to a side by a young, handsome, black haired man who gave her a strange look for a few seconds before walking off.

She groaned in frustration and anger, deciding to yell at Edgar.

Suddenly, she felt a drop of hot liquid splash on her hand. She looked at it and saw it was a red liquid. Some more of that liquid dropped on her hand.

She put it in her mouth to taste it and was shocked to realize that it was- blood!

She then looked up to see from where it was falling. The D.J. and everyone else roared wildly and suddenly, blood poured down from the sprinkler system like a fountain.

As Felicity was covered by the falling blood, she started screaming in terror, her glasses getting covered too. What horrified her even more was that the others in the nightclub were dancing even more wildly and vigorously as the blood fell on them.

That moment, the others slowly started closing in on her.

"NO! NO! NO!"

A blood covered woman walked up to her and asked, "What's wrong lady?"

She then bared her teeth, revealing her canines were as large as a carnivore animal.

Felicity yelled in pure terror as everyone started closing in on her. All of them bared their unnaturally sharp canines at the blonde hacker and one even gave a horrifying laugh.

Felicity screamed as he tried to escape. What kind of creatures were these?

One of them punched her hard on the face, stunning her as she fell down and her spectacles fell off.

She recovered and started crawling away slowly. The people kicked her and she grunted in pain but continued crawling. As she crawled, she stopped dead in her tracks on seeing a pair of feet in front of her.

That moment, the blood stopped falling and the music died down. The people stopped dancing.

Felicity looked up to see an unbuttoned trenchcoat and an armor inside it. Her eyes were covered with blood so she couldn't make out the man's face. She crawled away to a side.

The people in the nightclub started murmuring amongst themselves and parted to reveal a tall, dark-skinned man wearing shades and black trenchcoat with armor underneath it. He had a small moustache.

The man who was being pleasured by the two women also got up along with them.

One of them said, "It's the Daywalker."

The people bared their teeth angrily at the dark-skinned man and started surrounding him.

But they were all unnerved by the predatory smirk on the man's face. It was clear. He was the wolf. They were the sheep.

With that smirk still on him, he slowly strode towards them all and they all backed slightly.

One of them yelled, "COME ON! DAYWALKER!"

As he charged, the dark-skinned man suddenly brandished a kind of gun and shot him. The attacker fell down and his body disintegrated in a green light, revealing a skeleton which also disintegrated. There was chaos and everyone started running around in fear.

A woman picked up two swords and swinging them, charged at the dark-skinned man. He shot her and she too disintegrated in a green light along with her skeleton.

One of the creatures sneaked up behind the man but without even turning around, he smacked his nose with the butt of his gun, sending him down.

He then shot another creature, sending him flying back and disintegrating him.

The man reloaded and turning around, shot down another creature.

"Hey!" a woman in a black bra with the unnaturally sharp teeth yelled at him, "I'm gonna rip your fucking head off!"

As she neared him, he kicked her face in a rotatory motion, sending her down before shooting another man away who disintegrated.

Turning back to the woman who had got up, he pulled the trigger but it was empty. He then hit her between her legs with the butt of the gun, making her scream in pain before shooting her point blank on the chin, disintegrating her.

Turning around, he twirled his gun and threw it at a charging man's feet, sending him down. As a man sneaked up on him, he grabbed his hand and smacked his face before flipping him to the ground. Taking out a kind of knife, he stabbed the man who screamed in pain before disintegrating.

Another man charged him but he ducked and punched him hard in the abdomen, making him fall down.

Another arrived but he uppercutted him with a knife, hanging him on the ceiling as he disintegrated. He then smacked another one on the face before stabbing him and then pushing him away twice. He kicked his head into some glass, shattering it as he disintegrated.

Two men and a woman fired at him from behind. Turning around, he brandished another gun and fired back. The men were both disintegrated while the woman ran off and jumped to take cover.

The man then reloaded. The D.J. fired at him with a roar but he dodged in a rotatory motion before shooting him dead.

The man then felt movement behind him and turned around to see Edgar, now wearing his shirt again, walking towards him along with a few more men.

"That's him!" Edgar said as he pointed at the dark skinned man, "That's him! Get him! Fuck him up!"

The other men started walking towards the dark skinned man.

Edgar bared his sharp teeth and said, "We're gonna jack you up! Make you hurt bad!"

The man responded by brandishing his sword and dragging it around his feet in a small circle. As he looked up, one of the people charged.

He gave him an upwards slice with his sword and sent him flying off before slicing another man down. They both disintegrated.

He then leapt away and was attacked again. He sliced a man down before turning around and slicing another and then stabbing him. He then sliced two more and kicking another, sliced down three simultaneously, disintegrating them all. He then stabbed another and he also disintegrated.

He then leapt onto higher ground. Edgar pointed his knife at him but he took out some kind of shuriken and held it up with a grin.

Edgar ducked as three men with guns arrived but the dark skinned man threw the shuriken. In a second, it returned to him and the three men disintegrated.

The dark skinned man and Edgar leapt at each other but the former jumped higher and smacked the latter's back, sending him down.

As Edgar got up and looked back, he saw the dark skinned man walking away after swaying his coat.

Edgar roared and ran after him, only to find himself staring down the barrel of his gun.

The man pulled the trigger and he was sent flying back as a pointed projectile pinned him to the wall by his right shoulder. He screamed in pain as the dark skinned man aimed at him and fired another projectile which hit him in the left armpit, making him scream more as the dark skinned man did a "Tiger Woods" fist bump before walking towards him.

Edgar then chanted in another language as the dark skinned man called out, "Edgar!"

Edgar looked up at him and he said, "Look, I'm getting a little tired of chopping you up."

He pressed a device and it beeped red as he said to Edgar, "Thought I might try fire for a change. Give my regards to Frost and Diane."

He then threw the device at Edgar who screamed as his body went up in flames. Felicity was still hidden in a corner and tried to run off but the dark skinned man grabbed her.

"No! Please don't!" She begged.

The dark skinned man turned her head both ways to look at her neck and then let her go.

A few seconds later, the police arrived but they only found the burning Edgar and the blood covered Felicity who was now traumatized but safe.

"Put him out!" The leader of the cops said to another one and he started putting the burning Edgar out while another cop put a towel around Felicity and started gently escorting her out.

Now

Oliver exchanged a shocked look with Diggle as Felicity finished her tale. Matt was expressionless.

"So the people at the nightclub, they weren't human?" John asked.

"No! No!" Felicity said, "Their teeth…. They were….. they were like animals."

"And this dark-skinned gunslinger killed them all?" Oliver asked and she nodded.

"Looks like there is a new visitor in town." Matt said grimly.

Starling General Hospital

Dr. Schwartz and her colleague, Dr. Webb, were checking over the burnt body of Edgar.

"The guy is burnt pretty badly." Webb said as he looked at him with a torch.

"Who would do this to him I wonder?" Schwartz said as she checked him.

Suddenly, the burnt Edgar got up and before either of the doctors could process what was going on, he grabbed Webb and bit him hard on the side of his neck, making him gasp in pain. Edgar continued biting as blood poured out of Webb's neck and mouth.

Edgar threw him on the ground and he spasmed violently. The burnt man then turned to Schwartz and roared madly.

As he leapt at her, she pushed open the door behind her and bolted out. Before she could run further, Edgar grabbed her and tried to bite her. The doctors and nurses screamed in terror at the sight before them.

As the doctor and the burnt man struggled, she yelled, "CALL SECURITY!"

Some nurses ran off to do what Schwartz said as Edgar brought his teeth closer to her neck. But then he noticed her gaze fixed on someone or something in front of her.

He looked up and was shocked to see the dark-skinned man from the nightclub striding towards them. Before he could do anything, the man punched Edgar hard on the face, stunning him as Schwartz fell down.

"Came back to finish you off." The dark skinned man said.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU FREAK!" Edgar yelled and tried to run past him but the man grabbed him and punched him hard, sending him staggering towards a wall.

Edgar picked up a fire cylinder and tried to throw it on him but the man brandished his word and cut off his hand, making him scream in pain. Edgar's hand fell down in front of the fallen Schwartz and disintegrated in a green light.

"Freeze!"

The man and Edgar turned to see two guards pointing their guns at them.

To the surprise of both of them, the guards fired at the dark skinned man, allowing Edgar a chance to run off.

The man was unaffected though and said to them angrily, "Motherfuckers are you outta yo damn minds?!"

The two guards ran off in fear as the man turned to see the burnt Edgar pushing past two nurses and running through a door. He jumped towards the window, crashing through it and falling down into an ambulance.

The patient inside screamed in terror on seeing him as the ambulance came to a stop. Edgar pushed open the door and ran out, disappearing into a dark alley.

The dark skinned man walked into the room where Dr. Webb was lying down. He was breathing heavily, blood still pouring out of his neck.

The man pointed his gun at him and pulled the trigger, killing him. While he showed no expression, there was some guilt inside him for what he had just done. But the alternative would have been infinitely worse.

As he walked out, some guards fired at him from behind but he was unaffected. He ran to a window. Looking back, he smirked at the guards and jumped out, his trenchcoat swaying in the air.

He landed on the opposite roof and turning around, fired under the window from which the guards were shooting, making them retreat.

He then jumped from the building and disappeared into the dark of the night.

Chapter Text

The lair

Matt, Oliver and John sat in the lair at Verdant. They had heard about the incident in the hospital later. Oliver had hacked the hospital's security system and was watching the footage.

He could tell that the dark-skinned man was very skilled and experienced in what he was doing. And both him and this Edgar were probably not even human.

No normal human could survive being burnt like that. Oliver doubted even someone injected with Mirakuru would be able to take this.

"Motherfuckers are you outta yo damn minds?!"

"Well, he has a pretty colorful vocabulary." Matt commented as Oliver continued to watch the footage along with Diggle.

"Whatever these creatures that attacked Felicity were, I think this man hunts them down." Oliver concluded after the footage ended.

"What doesn't add up is why he killed Dr. Webb." John pointed out.

"He might have a reason for that." Oliver said.

"The reason being he is a cold blooded killer." John said.

"Well, he didn't kill Felicity at all." Matt pointed out, "Even though he had a chance. So I think we can rule that out."

"Felicity did say he inspected her neck." Oliver reminded.

"And according to Dr. Schwartz's statement, Edgar bit Dr. Webb on the neck." Matt said.

A visibly shaken John said, "So you're both trying to tell me that these creatures are….. are… vampires?"

"Vampires." Oliver muttered, "I would say I don't want to believe but I have seen a lot of strange stuff that I thought doesn't exist before the island. So there is a possibility that they are real."

"Finding this man or Edgar is the only way to find out if they're real or not." Matt said and Oliver nodded.

"Let's go out." Oliver said as he got up and picked his bow, "We might find out something."

"Yes." Matt said as he opened his case.

Felicity's apartment

Felicity was pouring herself a glass of water. She was still shaken badly from her experience in the nightclub so Oliver had asked her to stay at home.

As she put the bottle back and prepared to lift the glass to her lips, someone said, "Hey there."

She looked up and was shocked to see a cop standing there. She backed involuntarily in fear and he said, "Whoa! Calm down! I'm a police officer. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. The front door was open."

"What're you doing here?" Felicity asked as she regained her bearings.

"I'm here on a routine check." He said, "We cops are supposed to do that for any survivors of traumatic experiences for a while."

"Oh!" Felicity simply said.

"Look, I'm Officer Krieger." He said as he walked towards her, "42nd precinct. You're Felicity Smoak, right?"

"Yeah." She said.

"I just wanted to tell you, that Edgar guy is still alive." He said and she was shocked, "He escaped the hospital and killed a doctor."

Felicity looked upset on hearing that.

"Don't worry about that, okay?" Krieger said, trying to comfort her.

"Why?" Felicity asked, puzzled.

With a smirk, Krieger said, "Because you're dead too, bitch!"

Before she could process what was going on, he decked her on the face, sending her to the ground. As she held her face in pain, he pointed his gun at her.

But then suddenly, the dark-skinned man grabbed him from behind and threw him to a corner. He then kicked Krieger hard and he groaned in pain.

The man then lifted Krieger up as Felicity recovered herself, "Y-You? You….. you've been following me?"

"I keep tabs on survivors of vampire attacks." The man said simply and Felicity's jaw dropped as she fell on the ground at what she had just heard.

"Vam-vampires?" She started blabbering, "I thought they existed only in fairy tales and all that. I mean not fairy tales obviously but you get the point."

Recovering herself again, she then asked the man, "So is this officer a vampire?"

"Vampire? Who said I was a vampire?" Krieger asked with a chuckle.

"Nobody." The man said and punched him hard on the face, making him scream in pain, "He's a familiar."

He punched him on the face again, "A vampire wannabe."

He punched Krieger hard in the stomach and he doubled down in pain, "If he's loyal enough and proves himself, maybe his master will turn him." He smashed Krieger into the refrigerator and grabbing him, punched him in the stomach before smashing him on the table, shattering it into pieces as the Krieger gasped in pain.

"Uhhhh, is all that necessary?" Felicity asked nervously.

The man grabbed Krieger and pinned him down before pulling down his collar, revealing a mark on the back of his neck.

"That's a glyph." He commented as Felicity looked over at the mark, "A vampire cattle brand. It means that Officer Krieger here is somebody's property. Another vampire tries to bleed this little hooker, they have to answer to his owner."

The man looked at the symbol carefully and said, "Deacon Frost. I've been tracking him for a long time. That man who brought you to the nightclub worked for his two lieutenants- Quinn and Diane."

"So that was all an elaborate strategy by the vampires to turn me into one of them?" She asked and he nodded, "They do this to a lot of people. That's what the nightclubs are for."

"Well, I didn't get the chance to say this before but thank you." She said sincerely.

The man made to walk away with the familiar but she asked him, "Who are you?"

Looking at her, he said simply, "Blade."

"And you're what, a male version of Buffy?" She asked and he almost cringed at her joke.

"I need to track Quinn and Diane." He said simply.

"I have some friends who could help you with that." She said and he looked over at her.

"Really? What kind of friends you have, lady?" He asked.

"The kind that are really interested in you." Felicity said as she called Oliver.

Chapter Text

About half an hour later, Felicity's window opened and The Hood climbed in, followed by Daredevil. As the latter closed the window, Felicity said, "You know you can use the door too, right?"

"And why are 2 vigilantes entering the home of a QC employee?" The Hood pointed out and she realized it was a bad idea.

"So you two are annoying blondie's friends, eh?" Blade said as the two noticed him.

"Hey!" An offended Felicity said.

"The Buffy joke is the worst thing I have ever heard." Blade said.

"So you are the man who saved her at the nightclub." Daredevil said and Blade nodded.

"What is your name?" The Hood asked.

"Blade." He said simply.

"And what are those creatures you hunt down?" Daredevil asked him.

"They're vampires." He simply said and they were both as shocked as Felicity, though they didn't show it.

"Vampires?" The Hood questioned in slight disbelief.

"Believe it or not, they're real." Blade said.

"Good thing John's not here." Felicity muttered.

To Daredevil, Blade seemed human so far. His heart was beating very steadily. His breath pattern was normal too. Though he still felt that Blade was no ordinary human.

"Why do you hunt them?" The Hood asked out of curiosity.

"I think you should keep your green ass from my business." Blade said unpleasantly.

Daredevil couldn't stop himself from saying, "Language!"

"You say "language" one more time and I'm gonna shove your horns up your red ass!" Blade said with the same amount of unpleasantness and Daredevil sighed.

"Why did you kill Dr. Webb?" Daredevil then asked.

"He was gonna turn into a vampire." Blade said simply, "But not on my watch."

"So, what can you tell us about vampires?" The Hood asked.

"A lot of stuff as I'm the only living expert on this matter right now." Blade said, feeling some sadness deep down as the statement made him remember Abraham Whistler for a moment, "As you already know, when a vampire bites another human, the human becomes a vampire unless killed as there is no cure right now. The vampires are immortal and can't die a natural death. Most vampires possess superhuman physical strength anywhere from 10 to 20 times greater than they possessed in their mortal lives."

"That's pretty strong." The Hood muttered.

"But you're strong too." Felicity remembered as she remembered his fight at the nightclub, "You seemed stronger than them."

"I'll talk about myself later." Blade said before continuing, "Some of them can also shape-shift into bats. And some really powerful ones can become wolves. And if you look at them long enough, they can mind control you too."

"Not a problem for me." Daredevil said.

"But they have weaknesses too." Blade said and their interest was piqued, "First of all, if they fail to consume human blood for more than a day, they would weaken and eventually perish. And they can't travel more than 100 miles from their place of birth unless they bring a pound of their native soil wherever they choose to sleep during the day."

"Dracula used to do that." Daredevil muttered as he remembered listening to the audiobook years ago.

"He sure did." Blade said and they were shocked.

"You're saying he was real too?" The Hood asked in astonishment.

"He was." Blade said, "But don't worry. Van Helsing killed him. His stolen diary fell into Bram Stoker's hands, who published it as the novel- Dracula."

"Well, just tell us more." The Hood said after recovering himself.

"A vampire's greatest weakness is sunlight. Direct exposure to sunlight causes vampires to explode." Blade told them, "And they have an aversion to religious symbols too, but that works only if they believed in that religion before being turned."

"Anything else?" Daredevil asked.

"Garlic." Blade said, "It weakens them enough to make them vulnerable to any attack. And impaling them through the heart. Wooden stakes are the best for that but turns out anything pointed, if driven into their hearts with sufficient force, can do the deed. Also, stuff made from silver."

"That's quite a lot." The Hood muttered.

"It sure is. Now about me", Blade said, "I'm a half-vampire."

"What?" Daredevil asked in shock.

"So that's why you can fight them." The Hood realized.

"I have all of their strengths, none of their weaknesses, except one." He said and took out a serum, "I feel the need to drink blood. But drinking this serum made from EDTA cures my bloodlust for a long while."

"How did you become this?" Daredevil asked out of curiosity.

"I told you both to keep your asses out of my business." Blade said, "Also, I age like a normal human."

The Hood then finally got down to business, "Now, you said we're going to find Edgar."

"We are." Blade said before lifting up Krieger, "This cop is a familiar. A vampire's property. If he proves himself loyal enough, he thinks his master will turn him. If another vampire tries to bleed this little hooker, they have to answer to his owner."

"So he will lead us to them, then." Daredevil said and Blade nodded before roughly lifting up Krieger, "Officer Krieger, you going to be a good little bloodhound, huh? Tell us where your master's other little dogs are, huh?"

"Y-y-yes!" He said hoarsely, "Just-just don't hit me again."

Daredevil grabbed him roughly and decked him hard sending him to the floor, "You try anything funny, and next time I will hit you so hard you will lose a few teeth."

Blade lifted him again and said to him, "A worthless piece of shit like you deserves that."

He then took out some stakes and handed them to Daredevil and The Hood, "Take these. You're gonna need 'em."

They took them and nodded in thanks.

"Now let's hunt the handsome dead man." Blade said, referring to Edgar as he shoved Krieger out.

Turning to Felicity, The Hood promised, "We'll get them."

"I know." She said.

"Come on." Daredevil said and they walked out, leaving Felicity behind.

Chapter Text

Daredevil, The Hood, Blade and John Diggle stood in an alley with Krieger as their captive, waiting for someone.

"So, we're off hunting vampires now?" John asked in an awkward tone.

"Yeah." Daredevil said simply.

"And you're a half-vampire?" He asked Blade.

"You got that right." Blade said.

"I swear my life was normal before I met you both." He said to Daredevil and The Hood.

"You get used to it." The Hood told him.

"So who're we waiting for?" Blade asked.

"A friend." Daredevil said and on cue, a swinging figure in a red and blue suit swung above them and landed on the ground.

"Hello, Spider-Man." The Hood said with a smirk as Spider-Man straightened himself.

"Hey everyone." Spider-Man said with a wave, "Good to be working with you both again."

"Same here." Daredevil said.

"So we're off hunting vampires now?" He asked in an excited tone.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yeah!" John grumbled.

"And you're a half-vampire?" He asked

"Yeah, kid." Blade said.

Spider-Man happily raised his fist in the air in excitement, "Yay! We're like Buffy and the Scooby Gang!"

As he lowered his fist, he realized everyone was giving him incredulous looks.

"You're embarrassing us." Daredevil sighed.

"Oops! Sorry about that." He apologized, "Now let's get on with it."

"So, Krieger, where can we find Edgar?" Blade asked as he grabbed the familiar's collar.

"The-the subway." He said shakily.

"The one that is abandoned at night?" The Hood asked and he nodded.

"He's telling the truth." Daredevil confirmed quickly.

"I've heard about incidents." John told them, "Many people who have gone into the tunnel have never returned."

"A tunnel in a subway. That's… not frightening at all." Spider-Man said, sounding a little frightened as he was still young.

"Well, you're gonna lead us there, right?" Blade asked Krieger who nodded so he shoved him to the front, "You try anything funny, your head will find itself under a train. Only a head. Nothing attached."

Krieger almost wet his pants at the threats but started leading them to the subway.

The walk was almost an hour long. Normally, it would take them only half an hour but these were vigilantes with a cop as their captive so they needed to take detours via alleys.

But finally, after an hour, they reached the subway. There was an eerie silence in the area that seemed like it would eat them all alive.

The station itself was very tightly spaced. As they all walked, they could almost feel as if they were being watched or followed.

Daredevil could hear no heartbeat in the vicinity except his comrades and Krieger. That moment, his nose twitched. He could smell an odour. A really horrible one at that.

"I can smell something." He quickly whispered to the others.

"You're not the only one, Devil guy!" Blade said and they all stared at him incredulously.

"Vampires have enhanced senses too." Blade revealed.

"And you didn't feel the need to tell us before?" The Hood asked in an exasperated tone.

"I forgot." Blade said casually.

"I guess we're dead." John sighed.

"No, they're expecting humans, not vigilantes armed with stakes." Blade pointed out.

"The stench is horrible." Daredevil said, "They're all dead so their bodies are giving off bad smells."

By now, they were in front of the tunnel. It loomed over them, like a giant with its mouth wide open, the darkness within seeming like nothingness. Spider-Man was very nervous, all the scary subway stories by YouTuber "Mr. Nightmare" coming back to him.

"Do we have to go in there?" He questioned as he pointed his finger at it.

"Yes." Daredevil said as he slowly took out his club.

John took out his pistol as Blade slowly unsheathed his sword. The Hood took out an arrow and notched it carefully while Spider-Man kept his web shooters on the ready.

"Keep calm and follow my footsteps." Blade instructed and they all nodded. He shoved Krieger to the front and they walked behind him with nimble footsteps, right on the tracks.

As they went further in, the darkness around them increased, making almost everything invisible to them. Only Blade and Daredevil knew what was going on around them.

But soon, The Hood's trained eyesight started adjusting to the darkness as his pupils dilated. Spider-Man's superhuman sight too allowed him to see things better eventually.

John, however, was almost panicking. With shaking hands, he pulled out a flashlight. Before he could push the button, Blade gripped his hand and snatched the flashlight, "No lights."

But that moment, a frightened Krieger turned on his own flashlight, illuminating the dark tunnel with light.

Blade was almost about to chastise him with a threat when his peripheral vision noticed something. Krieger moved his flashlight to a corner-

To reveal a man with fangs from which blood was dripping. Screaming like a little child he dropped the flashlight, crawling back as the vampire roared and charged.

Blade quickly brandished his gun and shot him down, disintegrating him, the blazing gun momentarily lighting the tunnel.

He then stomped on the flashlight, shattering it into pieces. For a few seconds, there was nothing but the sound of silence, growing bigger each second like a cancer.

And then, they heard angry snarling. The Hood lighted a few glow-sticks in that split second.

Spider-Man's spider sense tingled. Without turning around, he ducked, avoiding a lunging vampire's hands. Not giving his opponent the chance to react, he grabbed his hands and flipped him over his shoulders, sending him flying the other way.

Before he could hit the ground, Spider-Man shot his webs, trapping the vampire before swinging him into another one, knocking them both out.

He would have cracked a joke about how he had turned into a vampire slayer but the situation was too tense.

Some of them charged at the group as Krieger crawled back in fear.

And then, the skirmish began.

Before the vampires could close the distance, Blade leapt at them, swinging his sword. As he landed in their midst, he swung it in a rotatory motion, decapitating three of them at once.

Spider-Man fired webbing at one of them, wrapping him in it like a cocoon. He flipped to avoid another strike before kicking the vampire away.

Daredevil flipped to avoid a strike, only for the vampire to lift him by the throat. Daredevil suddenly took out his stake and before the vampire could react, he impaled him in the heart, killing him.

The Hood quickly notched an arrow which had a stake connected at the end, and fired. Travelling through the air, it impaled a female vampire in her heart, killing her.

John had been pinned to the floor by a vampire which was about to bite him. Blade saw John's plight and called out to him, "Here!"

As John turned to him, Blade tossed him his other gun. John caught it and shot the vampire point blank multiple times, killing him.

As another vampire charged at Blade, Daredevil grabbed her from behind and impaled her with a stake, killing her.

John fired at some more vampires from a distance, killing them all.

Blade cut off the hand of a vampire that lunged at him before cutting of his head. Turning around, he stabbed a female vampire, killing her.

Spider-Man punched a vampire hard, sending it flying off. Leaping into the air, he wrapped his webs on another vampire's sides and pulling him towards himself, kicked him off into some more vampires, knocking them all out.

The Hood fired another stake-arrow, impaling a vampire, killing him. Raising his bow high, he fired another one, getting another vampire at a distance.

As he notched another arrow, a vampire lunged at him from a side, throwing him to the floor as the arrow flew off into a random direction.

He smacked the struggling vampire with his bow twice, though it was barely affected. Grabbing a stake arrow from his quiver, he quickly impaled the vampire, killing him.

As he staggered up, another charged him. But Daredevil stepped in the way, stake raised. The vampire ran into it, impaling and killing himself.

The two nodded at each other. That moment, before Daredevil could react, another vampire grabbed him, trying to bite his neck.

The two struggled violently. Suddenly, Spider-Man grabbed the vampire and pulled him off. As he made to shove him away, the vampire suddenly lunged and bit his neck.

Spider-Man roared in pain and pushed the vampire away, falling down himself as he held his bleeding neck.

But what happened next shocked everyone in the tunnel. The vampire that had bitten Spider-Man started spasming violently and fell on the ground as his face inflated and exploded into pieces.

Looking at the scene in disbelief, Blade silently mouthed to himself, 'What-the-fuck?!'

Spider-Man's breathing became lighter as the wound slowly started healing itself, though he sat down, out of the fight for now.

Krieger was also on the ground, slowly crawling back when someone grabbed. As he screamed, Edgar roared at him, "Bringing the Daywalker and his freaks to our tunnel now, aren't you Krieger?"

As everyone turned to them, he bit Krieger's neck and ripped out a huge piece of flesh, making the cop spasm violently.

Blade shot him and Edgar glared at him angrily. His burns had almost disappeared now and he looked like a handsome, ladies' man again. But his hand had regenerated.

"You took my hand." He snarled as he brandished his knife and bared his teeth, "Now I'll take both of yours."

With a roar, he charged at the Daywalker. Blade dodged a swing before cutting off the other hand, making Edgar scream in pain as the hand disintegrated.

Grabbing him, Blade pushed him into the wall, "Where are Quinn and Diane?"

"Go fuck yourself!" Edgar snarled.

Blade kicked him in the abdomen and he doubled down in pain, "Where are Quinn and Diane?"

"Fuck yourself!" He snarled.

Blade punched him on the face, breaking his fangs. As he cried out in agony, Blade asked again, ""Where are Quinn and Diane?"

"In a penthouse!" He managed to say, "Three blocks from Verdant!"

With a smirk, Blade decapitated Edgar, finally killing him.

They looked over at Spider-Man, whose wound had almost healed by now.

"What the hell are you kid?" An astonished Blade asked.

"My-my blood." He said as Daredevil and The Hood lifted him up and supported him, "It is radioactive!"

"Looks like we just found a new weakness!" The Hood realized.

"Not just a weakness." Blade said, "A cure too for the early stages."

"Why am I even here?" John muttered, freaked out by all the weird stuff.

"Kid, want to donate some blood?" Daredevil asked cheekily.

"Happy to help." Spider-Man said, "Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man on the job."

"Let's get back to the lair." The Hood said and they all started to walk to the lair.

Chapter Text

Spider-Man sat on a chair in the lair, letting himself relax. The radiation within him had burnt all the cells the vampire bite had introduced into his body because of which he was going to remain normal. As normal as he was that is.

But he still felt a little weak so he was sitting quietly. The others had let him as they were planning the attack on the penthouse. Though they were still going to take his blood before attacking.

"Well, Krieger is dead." John muttered to them.

"He seemed like a pathetic loser to me." Blade said, "Probably became a familiar because he thought he would be turned into a vampire eventually and be all powerful or something like that."

"People with that kind of mindset can be very dangerous if they become all powerful." The Hood stated.

"The department is going to notice it though soon." Daredevil pointed out.

"Not going to be a problem I think." The Hood said, "He went to Felicity's apartment unofficially. They won't be able to track him."

"So, Spider-Man, feeling better?" Daredevil asked him.

"Yeah, I am." He said truthfully, "If you want to take my blood, do it right now."

"You're one tough kid, don't believe anyone who says otherwise." Blade praised him, which was a rare thing.

The Hood readied a syringe and asked, "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Spider-Man said as he exposed a nerve.

The Hood carefully injected the needle as Spider-Man winced slightly. He took the sample and then handed the syringe to Blade as Spider-Man covered his arm again.

"I hope you make a cure gun with this." Spider-Man stated.

"I will, kiddo." Blade said with a grin.

And after an hour of toil, Blade, with some help from Spider-Man, weaponized that sample of blood. It was only one-shot though at the moment.

"This will be enough for now." Blade said, "We'll mass produce it later."

"So it's time now." Daredevil said matter of fact.

"It is." Blade smirked.

"Finally!" Spider-Man stated in excitement, "Just like the final fight in Dracula."

The others once again stared at him incredulously and he shut up.

"Time to end this freak show." John said matter of fact.

"Let's go then." The Hood said with a smirk, having made a weapon for himself too during the time Blade and Spider-Man were making the cure.

An hour later, the Vampires' lair

Some vampire guards were stationed at the outer perimeter, guns in hand. Suddenly, they then heard the sound of two engines roaring.

As they look around, two bikes charged into the area, startling them. On one of them sat Blade, on the other one sat The Hood, with John behind him.

Before they could react, the three got off the bikes. Blade and John brandished their guns and fired, killing some of the vampires.

Spider-Man swung up behind one of them and kicked him hard, sending him flying into some others, knocking him out.

Daredevil flipped next to him and threw a stake, just like he threw his club. It impaled a vampire on the chest, killing him.

The Hood notched an arrow and fired. It hit a vampire and he died. This was no normal arrow. It was a silver arrow that the green-clad vigilante had made in that spare one hour.

Notching another, he fired, killing another vampire. Daredevil leapt at one and impaled him with a stake, killing him too.

As more arrived, Blade and John shot them all down in rapid succession while The Hood killed some more of them with stake arrows this time. Daredevil continued to engage them in hand to hand with his stake while Spider-Man webbed up some of them.

One of them was on the ground, groaning in pain. Blade walked towards him and shot him down.

The five walked further, only for their way to be blocked by 7 guards. With roars, the 7 charged at the heroes.

Daredevil avoided a swipe from a female vampire by flipping and as she attacked again, he flip kicked her, though she was barely affected. In a rotatory motion, he tried to hit her with his club but she grabbed it and threw him down. As she leaned closer to bite his neck, he suddenly brandished his stake and impaled her.

The Hood smacked a vampire who blocked with his hand. As The Hood tried to kick in a rotatory motion, the vampire backed to avoid, only to suddenly charge into The Hood at super-speed and send him to the ground. As he slowly marched towards him, The Hood suddenly notched a silver arrow and shot him, killing him.

John was disarmed of his gun by a kick from a vampire who then kicked him hard, sending him into a wall. As he tried to punch again, John ducked. The punch shattered the wall as John punched the vampire on the chest but he was barely affected. Lifting John up, the vampire smashed him into the wall and threw him to the side. It was his fatal mistake as John had fallen near his gun. Picking it up, he shot the vampire dead.

Spider-Man fired his web at one vampire, catching her, though she could still move. As she tried to strike, he avoided, still holding onto his web before firing another at the other charging vampire. As he charged further, Spider-Man flipped out of the way. Then, he flipped around them, tying them both up together with his webs, having tricked them into this position.

"And now, you can both stay cozy in a trap that is oozy." Spider-Man quipped as they both were trapped.

One vampire leapt at Blade who dodged and punched him down before dodging a rotatory kick from the other one. As he tried to kick her in a rotatory motion, she avoided and he kicked the previous one instead. He blocked and dodged attacks from both of them before blocking the female one's stick and stabbing her with his EDTA syringe. Turning around, he disarmed the other one and stabbed him with the syringe too.

Both of their faces inflated and exploded into pieces, splattering an obscene amount of blood.

Walking further, they reached a pair of doors and kicked them open-

To reveal Quinn and Diane inside, with some more vampires.

"Oooh! The Daywalker!" Quinn mocked with a smirk before smacking his lips, "The Devil and The Hood too! And Spider-Man and another dude!"

"Other vampires hunt for their meals. Ours has come to us." Diane smirked.

Blade simply dragged his sword around his feet in a small circle and as he looked up, the opponents charged.

Spider-Man trapped two of them with his webs and pulling them towards him, kicked them away. John roared and fired, killing some more.

Blade sliced down two vampires before swinging his sword at Quinn who just narrowly avoided.

"Oooh! I'm so scared!" He mocked as Blade sliced down another vampire.

Daredevil tried to flip kick Diane who grabbed his leg and threw him to the wall, making him fall down. The Hood fired a stake arrow but she dodged before kicking him away.

As the two got up, she charged them and pushed them both off.

Blade avoided a knife swing from Quinn before kicking him off. He avoided another vampire's attack and stabbed him, killing him.

Diane grabbed Daredevil's throat and slowly started choking him as she lifted him into the air. The Hood struck her across the face with his bow. It didn't affect her much but she let Daredevil go and kicked The Hood away with a roar.

Blade dodged another strike from Quinn before cutting off his hand. As he screamed in pain, Blade asked angrily, "Where is Frost?"

"You're too late, sword boy!" Quinn mocked, "Frost skipped town already!"

Snarling with rage, Blade pulled out the syringe with Spider-Man's blood in it and jammed it into his chest. Quinn spasmed violently and turned red as the weaponized form of blood affected him in ways more painful than it would have in its pure form.

As Diane marched towards The Hood, he suddenly noticed a curtain behind them and saw that it was getting brighter on the other side. The sun was rising. Notching a normal arrow, he fired. It hit the curtain holders, throwing the curtain down as sunlight filled the room.

Diane screamed in pain as she was exposed to the sunlight. She fell down, trying to crawl towards the curtain to cover herself. Daredevil brandished his club and dividing it into sticks, jumped in front of her.

Using the sticks, he formed the symbol of the Holy Cross. Now the combined effect of the sunlight and the religious symbol affected her even worse as she screamed, finally disintegrating into dust.

Watching what had happened, Blade commented, ""Some motherfucker's always trying to ice skate uphill."

That moment, Quinn exploded into bits, splattering his blood.

Everyone sighed in relief. The vampires in Starling City had been dealt with.

Next night

Blade stood at the edge of town, facing Daredevil, The Hood, Spider-Man and John.

"Well." He said, "Working with you lot was fun. Best team I had in a long time."

"Thank you for everything you did." The Hood said gratefully, "I can't imagine what the vampires would have done to this city if you had not helped us."

"No probs, Robin Hood." He said casually.

"Pleasure working with you." Daredevil said as he raised his hand and Blade shook it firmly.

"Same here."

"Goodbye. Please take away all the weird with you." John said in the most non-offensive way.

"If you think this is weird, you ain't seen nothing." Blade said.

"I hope he also kills the sparkly ones." Spider-Man muttered to himself

"What did you say kid?" Blade asked with a snarl.

"Uhhh….nothing!" Spider-Man denied.

"You reference that shitstorm that ruined the name of vampires one more time, I'm gonna turn you into one of 'em." He threatened and Spider-Man nodded frantically.

"What will you do with my blood?" He asked.

"I know someone who can mass produce it." Blade said before sitting on his bike, "Goodbye. We'll probably meet again sometime. I'll look for Frost now."

And then he sped away as the others waved at him.

"Well." Spider-Man said, "With the vampires of this city gone, I think it's time for us to go."

The Hood nodded as Daredevil said, "I think it's time for me to look after my city again, Oliver."

"Yeah." The Hood agreed, "It's time for us to go back to our normal jobs again."

The two friends hugged and Daredevil exchanged a nod with John.

With that, Spider-Man swung away on his webs while Daredevil jumped onto a rooftop and started running off. The Hood used a grapple arrow to swing away as John simply walked off.

Chapter Text

A month later, Hell's Kitchen

It had been a month since Daredevil, The Hood, Blade, Spider-Man and John had cleansed Starling City of the vampires that had infested it.

And then after that, they had all returned to their normal lives. Blade was off, hunting vampires wherever he found them.

Oliver was trying to handle QC by day while targeting some more people on the list by night with John and Felicity's help.

Peter worked as a scientist under Dr. Octavius while also protecting the city as Spider-Man.

Matt worked as a lawyer by day and protected the city as Daredevil by night. His personal life though had still not gotten much better unfortunately. His relationship with Laurel was still at a loose point.

The best way for him to spend time was to protect the city as Daredevil. And right now, he was running after a car from a rooftop. The car was chasing a girl with a baby.

Catching up, Daredevil leapt down, right on the front of the car. Before the two thugs inside realized what was going on, Daredevil punched the windshield, shattering it before grabbing the driver's collar.

As the car steered and hit a pole, Daredevil flipped away. But then he realized the girl and her baby were gone and sirens were blaring in the distance. So he jumped over on a building and ran off, wondering what the thugs wanted from the girl and her baby.

Next night, a meat packing district

The girl whom Daredevil had saved the previous night was asleep in an obscure corner, holding her baby close to her. After the ordeal from the previous night, this sleep was relaxing for her.

The girl was standing in the middle of beautiful green pastures. Wherever she turned, there was lush green grass, illuminated by the bright sunlight.

She then felt an unnatural glow directed towards her and looked up, only to shield her eyes from the sight. The glow was too bright for her to look comfortably. But it still had a warm, comforting quality to it.

Her eyes still closed, the girl muttered, "Thank you… Lord."

Next morning, Nelson and Murdock

Matt was sitting in his office, talking to none other than Foggy Nelson. While the two were no longer partners, they had eventually reconciled as friends.

Foggy referred a few of his cases to Matt at times and a few weeks ago, had introduced him to McKenzie, a wealthy divorcee with whom he was in a relationship.

Right now, Foggy was asking Matt to take on a case. And the case concerned McKenzie.

"No, Foggy." Matt protested, "You know how I feel about divorce cases."

"I know. But this one's different." Foggy argued, "Her ex-husband… he did something to her."

"Let me guess." Matt said, "He left her for a girl young enough to be their daughter?"

With a sad sigh, Foggy said, "He had her sterilized, Matt."

"WHAT?!" The usually calm "blind" lawyer could not stop himself from raising his voice at what he had just heard.

"She didn't even know until her last gynecological exam." Foggy revealed, "He had it done without her knowledge."

Before Matt could respond, he heard two very familiar heartbeats. Getting off his seat, he ran to the door and opened it before the person on the other end could knock.

It was the girl, with her baby.

"Hello, Mr. Murdock." She said with a happy smile.

"Who is this?" Foggy asked.

"This is a friend of mine." Matt lied as he led Foggy out, "I'm going to have to get back to you on the McKenzie case, Foggy."

"I hope there's nothing you're not telling me here, Matt." Foggy said as he looked awkwardly between Matt and the girl, "She's a little too young for you, isn't she?"

With a laugh, Matt said, "Out you."

And so, Foggy walked out while the girl walked in with her baby.

20 minutes later

"So you might imagine my reaction, Mr. Murdock- let alone everyone else's." The girl, who was 15 years old said, "I mean, coming from a 15 year old, it was kind of hard for everyone to swallow."

"About the father?" Matt questioned.

"About my virginity." She said.

Needless to say, Matt was flabbergasted. His condition was then exacerbated as she proceeded to tell him how she had never "been with" anyone and how- until that morning- she had no explanation of how she came to be with, and then have a child.

She followed with a tale of how her parents had been murdered by the men who had been chasing her over this seemingly "immaculate conception."

He would have written it off as the overactive imagination of a teenager who had seen too many episodes of "The X-Files", but her heartrate had been constant the entire time, so she was either telling the truth or believed she was.

"So what would you like me to do?" He asked after she was finished.

"I thought you knew!" The girl said.

"Knew what?"

"The dream…the Angel." She blabbered, confusing Matt, "She said you'd protect my baby."

"Well…." A dumbfounded Matt managed to say, "I can offer you both legal protection if that's what the "Angel" meant. With your testimony, we can prosecute those thugs who were chasing you. I can put you both in a witness protection program right now."

Pointing at Matt, the girl shocked him with her next words, "Mr. Murdock….the Angel told me you're Daredevil."

At this point, Matt was at a loss of words.

"Do you study your Bible, Mr. Murdock?" She then asked but he was too shocked to reply, "The Redeemer swore that he would return in the Final Days, to save the just and punish the wicked."

Gesturing to herself and the baby, she said, "I don't know why they chose me, but this child is that Redeemer. In 30 years' time, its work will begin. You have to shield the child from the evil men that are chasing us."

Kissing the baby, she said, "Please keep my baby safe…until at least help arrives."

Handing the baby over to him, she said, "You're a good man, Mr. Murdock. The Angel told me. I trust you. You're our hope, Mr. Murdock."

Giving Matt a kiss on the cheek that felt almost ethereal, she said, "You're this world's only hope."

Walking off, she said, "Keep the Faith."

Matt was simply holding the baby up for a few seconds, too dumbfounded to say anything.

Coming back to his senses, he suddenly called out, "Hey wait a second!"

He walked out of his apartment, still holding the baby, wondering where she went. But she was gone now. She was not in the building.

"Oh! You got a baby?"

Matt turned to see a white-haired man with a bushy moustache and a bright smile standing next to him.

"I didn't know you were a father. Congrats young man!" He said with a raised hand and Matt awkwardly shook it.

The man walked off, leaving behind a confused and dumbfounded Matt.

Chapter Text

Two months after the Undertaking

Matt and Natasha were sitting on the opposite ends of the table in a restaurant. Natasha had called up Matt to ask questions about him for some reason.

Most of them were about his methods as a vigilante and about his overall personality too. During the process though, both of them had a little too much to drink.

"Well, Matt, I think that will be all." Natasha finally said with a very pleased smile, "Thank you."

"May I ask why you called me here for questioning?" Matt asked her cheekily, "Did I commit a crime or something?"

"Well..." Natasha humored him, "I consider your good looks a crime."

"I should be arrested if that's the case." Matt said with a smirk.

"I think I know just the punishment." Natasha said as they leaned closer to each other.

"Really? Because I am open to suggestions." Matt smirked as Natasha gave him a "glare", "I mean- within reason."

Later that night, Matt's apartment

Matt closed the door as Natasha walked through. And then for a few moments, they both just stood there, the sexual tension between them clear. They both had some level of attraction to each other ever since they had met and now, it was finally visible.

The two grabbed each other in a deep, passionate and lustful kiss. It lasted for almost 5 seconds before they pulled away a little to catch their breaths. After 2 seconds, they resumed kissing.

Matt lifted Natasha with his arms as she wrapped her legs around him, tugging at his coat. Getting the hint, he threw it off, carrying her over to the bed while she threw down her jacket.

As they continued kissing, she started unbuttoning his shirt. He himself unbuttoned the remainder of it, throwing it off, revealing his scarred body.

As she touched the scars made by Nobu, he started unbuttoning her shirt and she lifted her hands, allowing him to pull it over her head.

Wrapping each other in their arms, they started kissing passionately as Matt then kissed her neck and slowly started making his way down while she removed her bra…

Next morning

Matt groaned as he woke up. As his mind started working again, he realized Natasha was getting dressed next to him.

He sat up as Natasha finished tying up her shoes.

"Going already?" He asked her.

"Thanks." She said as she turned to him with a happy smile.

"For what?" He asked.

"For last night." She said and he sighed.

"So it was a one-off I guess." Matt said as he threw off the bedsheets and got out of bed.

"I'm too damaged right now." Natasha sighed, "And I know you're too."

Matt sighed, knowing she was right.

"But if you want something, you can call." Natasha assured him with a smile.

Walking closer, the two kissed passionately again before parting. She gave him a look and nodded, assuring him that this hadn't affected their friendship in any way. a

She then walked out, leaving Matt to his own thoughts.

Present Day

"Don't even try to tell me its mine." Natasha said in a tone that was serious and funny at the same time as she looked at the baby.

"Well, there goes Plan A." Matt said sarcastically as he fed the baby some milk with a bottle, "How are you, Natasha?"

"Okay." She said.

"How is the search for Superman going?" He asked.

"Most of the things we're getting our rumors." She said, "But we will find the truth. I'm curious though, how did you come by this little angel."

"Two nights ago, I was patrolling the area as Daredevil." He started telling her, "And then I picked up a girl and a baby being chased by two thugs. I beat them, but the girl and the baby disappeared. The previous morning, the girl showed up in my office and dumped the baby in my lap."

"And suddenly you're a daddy." She teased.

"I'm not this baby's father." Matt said as Natasha took the baby from him and then looked at the baby with longing eyes before composing herself.

"Almost fooled me." She said, "She's got your grip."

"The girl told me the child was a savior of some sort." Matt said, "The redeemer. She said an Angel asked her to seek me out to protect the baby."

"I knew you were kind of an idealistic person." Natasha said with a smile, "But now you're gullible too?"

"She said the Angel told her I was Daredevil." Matt said and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Okay, make that extremely gullible." She said.

Getting up, she asked, "So you want my help in tracking down the mother?"

"Yes." Matt said before adding, "I was also calling about something else."

"I see." Natasha said, "And where is your dear Laurel?"

"Oh…Right!" Matt stammered a little, "That's what I was calling you about."

"So your girlfriend finally got tired of the relationship and you got nostalgic about our night together?" Natasha asked him.

Turning around, she said, "This entire time, you never contacted me or took me up on my offer. But now your girlfriend sends you packing and you remember my number after all this time?"

Matt tried to say, "I didn't mean…."

"You'll never change, Matt." Natasha said as she stood on the window, "You're unable to face the fact that aside from heroics, you're just like the rest of us. My self-respect demands that I pummel you for your presumptuous boorishness. But unlike yourself, I can embrace my baggage."

"Can you?" He asked and she couldn't answer.

As she turned around, he handed her the baby, "I trust you know what to do with a baby."

As she held the baby, he turned around and said, "Please keep an eye on her. I'm going to go to my office and check the hospital records for the last few months."

Natasha tried to protest, "But…"

"I won't be long." Matt promised as he walked out, "Would you mind changing her diapers though? I couldn't muster up the guts to change it just yet."

"But…." Natasha realized Matt was gone and she was stuck with the baby girl, "For God's sake, I am an Avenger."

Later, Nelson and Murdock

Matt was in his office, checking the hospital records for any births.

"Mr. Murdock?"

Matt turned his head up as a young man walked in. He was blonde and the same height as him. He was wearing a suit. He had a very impressive physique too.

"Yes." Matt acknowledged as the man walked further and stood a few feet from him. The room seemed to have gotten colder with this man's presence.

With a smirk, the man said, "My name is Richard Dragon."

"You'll have to excuse me, Mr. Dragon." Matt said in an apologetic tone, "I don't have anything about your case on my desk."

"You wouldn't, Mr. Murdock." Richard said as he took his seat, "This is a sensitive matter that has been developed in the last 24 hours."

He gave Matt an intense gaze, as if his eyes were boring into the man's soul, "I believe you have in your care, a child."

"Are you from social services?" Matt asked him.

"In a fashion." Dragon said, "Its society I serve, and the good of the world at large."

"I'm afraid you've lost me." Matt said.

"As you already know, Mr. Murdock, there are forces at work in this world that defy explanation." Richard said and Matt listened, "I am asking you to extend that faith in 'what is' to a more spiritual matter."

"That being?"

"The end of time." Richard stated and Matt was shocked, "The apocalypse."

"I'll play along, Mr. Dragon." Matt said, already wary of him, "This has what to do with me?"

"Into your safekeeping has been placed the tool that will bring about the end of the world." Dragon stated to him, "And I must say, my organization find the notion of placing the Antichrist in the care of a man who adorns himself in a demon's mantle tastelessly vulgar….not to mention, on-the-nose…"

Whatever he was going to say, he was cut off when Matt grabbed him by the collar, "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?! WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE?! HOW DO YOU KNOW….?"

"Release me, counsellor!" Dragon said calmly and Matt did as asked, "This is my only good suit."

"You're being used as a pawn." He told Matt, "So my organization as singled you out as an unwitting accomplice in these nefarious designs. The Antichrist is the harbinger of the end of time, kept under your protection in the guise of "the Savior."

Matt was confused and horrified at this point. This Dragon's heartbeat was constant. But so had been the girl's.

"The child is a maggot and only its death will allow the world to age." Richard declared and Matt was horrified.

"You're telling me to kill the baby?" Matt asked.

"No!" He clarified, "That is something my organization will do. Evil taints all it touches, Matthew. The ones you hold dearest, you risk them by harboring this abomination."

As Matt breathed heavily, Richard said, "I'm saying this not as a threat but a warning. Deliver the child to us if you do not want to jeopardize your loved ones. 48 hours I can give you to think about this."

He then got up and walked out, "I hope you make the wisest choice or even a legion of angels cannot save you."

As Matt's head swam with a maelstrom of information, he realized Richard Dragon had left a crucifix on the table.

He lifted it up, not knowing what to think.

An hour later

Matt was standing on a rooftop, dressed up as Daredevil, deep in thought.

"I'm not one of those '4 bucks in an hour' babysitter." Natasha grumbled as she walked up next to him, holding the baby girl, "My price range is a little out of your league."

"How was it?" Matt asked as he turned to her.

"Reminds me of taking care of Tony back when he was drinking and dying." Natasha joked before saying seriously, "I have to confess though, it has stirred up all sorts of maternal instincts."

"Ignore them." Matt growled, "It's a dark world. No place for a child."

"Ah! But that's where I come in, isn't it?" Natasha said, "None of us don these suits to just make a fashion statement, do we?"

"Natasha, give me the baby." Matt said.

As she handed him the baby, Matt asked her, "I know this is a very common question, but if you knew what Hitler would become eventually, would you have killed him as a child?"

"Definitely not." Natasha said firmly, "I'd have taken him from his environment maybe. Tried to raise him differently."

"Of course you'd have." Matt said while the baby played and made funny sounds in his arms, "But you have that kind of luxury."

As Matt walked towards the edge of the roof, Natasha said, "To be honest though, this kind of question from a man holding an infant in his arms worries me."

Matt stood at the edge of the roof and to Natasha's utter horror, he lifted the baby up, ready to throw her off.

"MATTHEW!"

As Matt threw the baby off, Natasha jumped after her, "NO!"

She caught the infant and raised her gauntlet from which a grapple hook protruded.

As Matt pulled her up, she roared angrily, "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

She reached the top and gently placed the baby down. And then, before Matt could do anything, she swept his feet from under him, making him fall down.

She then climbed on top of him and pummeled his face hard, making his face bleed. She trapped his neck under her gauntlet and said, "10 seconds. Explain or I snap your neck!"

Matt said hoarsely, "The kid….. is the….. Antichrist!"

"The Anti….." Natasha trailed off as she released his neck and got up.

"A man came to me today." Matt told her, "He knew things about the child. He said she's the harbinger of the end of time."

"And you believed him?" Natasha asked incredulously.

"He knew I was Daredevil." Matt revealed.

"So did the girl." Natasha pointed out.

"I'm being used, Natasha." Matt said as he sat up, "Yes, she's a baby. But she is going to end the world."

"I don't care what the man or the girl said." Natasha said in a disappointed tone, "It doesn't excuse what you just did."

Looking down in shame, Matt came back to his senses, "My God…. What am I doing?"

"Honestly, Matt, I don't have a clue." Natasha said as she attached her grapple hook to a nearby building and gently picked up the baby, "But I'm beyond shocked. I don't think you're safe to be around right now. Certainly not around the baby at least. I suggest you lie around or something. Hell's Kitchen can do without its Guardian Devil for a few hours. But I don't think you're qualified to hold that position after tonight."

With that, she swung away, holding the baby tightly.

Matt muttered to himself, "God…. Help me."

Later

Matt was sitting near the window in his house, deep in thought. He was sure about the fact that he was losing his mind. He needed to get help.

But then he caught a familiar scent and heartbeat.

'Oh no.' He thought to himself. "Not this. Not now."

He picked up her scent as she got off the elevator.

He walked to the door as she knocked it. He opened the door-

And came face to face with Karen Page, who stood on the other side.

"Oh Matt….." She trailed off, tears in her eyes.

"Karen?"

"I was…." She stammered, "I was hoping you were here. "

"What happened?" Matt asked as Karen walked inside and he closed the door.

"I'm so scared." She said as she wiped her tears, "As soon as I found out, I had to tell you."

"What?" Matt asked, concerned for her.

"Sometime after you told me….." She started and Matt knew what she was referring to, "I was depressed… drinking in a bar…. met some good looking guy….. and next thing you know…"

"Good God, Karen, slow down!" Matt said gently.

"GOD?" She said angrily, "Forget you and your God after what he's done to me!"

Putting his hands on her shoulders, Matt said in a soothing tone, "What's the matter, Karen? Tell me!"

Sobbing uncontrollably, she said, "I'm sorry… so sorry… I….."

She hugged Matt tightly and then dropped a bombshell, "Matt….. I have AIDS!"

Chapter Text

The previous night, Karen had cried herself to sleep in Matt's bed. But after getting a phone-call from Foggy, Matt had realized this day was going to be just as bad as the previous.

And considering that the previous day, a strange man had called the baby the harbinger of "Evil" because of which he had actually tried to do the despicable deed of trying to kill her, followed by getting the news that Karen was H.I.V. positive, that was saying a lot.

Matt reached the police precinct and was lead to the interrogation room where Foggy was sitting in handcuffs. The redness in his eyes made it clear that he had been crying.

"Foggy!" Matt called out in a soothing tone and Foggy looked at him, "What happened?"

"I…." Foggy trailed off, "I'm not sure, Matt."

"Start from the beginning." Matt advised him.

"Well", Foggy started, "I took Lydia McKenzie out to discuss her case over dinner and….. well, one thing led to another….."

The previous night

Foggy and Lydia were in the latter's bed, kissing at each other hungrily, lost in their passion. For a moment, Lydia pulled away and turned the other way.

"Lydia?" Foggy called out breathlessly.

And then she turned to him and Foggy was numb with horror. It wasn't Lydia anymore. It wasn't a human. It was a disgusting, inhuman monster with large teeth and an abnormally long tongue.

Its skin was green and it had claws in place of fingernails. The thing started licking Foggy's face and he screamed in pure terror as his mind caught up with him. It clawed at his face too, making a few minor scratches.

And then, it got out of the bed and ran to the window. Before Foggy could even move a muscle, the thing jumped through the window, shattering it into pieces.

Recovering himself, Foggy slowly walked towards the window and looked down-

To see Lydia McKenzie- dead on the ground!

People had gathered around her, murmuring amongst themselves.

Now

"I had then called the cops." Foggy told Matt, "But in spite of all the strange stuff that has been happening in the world recently, they didn't believe me and I was hauled off for murder."

Matt had listened to Foggy's heartbeat the entire time. It was racing, but that was because of the fear and shock. He wasn't lying.

"And Hogarth fired me." Foggy revealed and Matt's jaw dropped.

"What? Why?" Matt asked, "You have only been charged right now. Not proven guilty."

"She doesn't want my arrest to give her firm a bad name." Foggy said with some disgust in his voice and Matt snorted, knowing that she cared about her reputation more than anything else.

Matt's apartment

Karen was standing quietly in the apartment, looking at an old picture of Matt, thinking about what to do with her life. That was when she heard a knock on the door which scattered her thoughts.

Walking up to the door, she opened it slightly to see a blonde man with an impressive physique and the same size as Matt on the other side. There was a smirk on his face.

With a sigh, she said, "Matt's not here right now, Mr...?"

"I am not here to see Matthew, Miss Page." The man said and she was shocked, "I am here to talk about your…..unfortunate situation."

As Karen involuntarily stepped back, the man walked in and took a seat, gesturing her to sit face to face with him. He then picked up the cup of tea Karen had made and started drinking it himself. As she sat down, he introduced himself as Richard Dragon and told her the exact same things he had told Matt the previous day, with some things added.

After he was finished, a shocked Karen asked him, "And I'm H.I.V. positive because….because of this baby?"

"I wish it were that simple, Miss Page." Richard said in a sympathetic tone, "You did a very…..shall we say, reckless thing at one point in your life."

As Karen listened, he said, "But you walked away from it without almost a scratch. Unfortunately, the child I speak of….it has a way of affecting people. Its evil has a way of corrupting those whose lives it touches. It finds a person's weakness from past or present, and draws from it consequences that never previously manifested themselves."

"No! No!" Karen said as she got up, "That's ridiculous! I did something reckless and stupid! I was with the wrong person at the wrong time."

"So you think." Dragon told her, "But think for yourself, why has the infection only now surfaced?"

"It can take a long time for H.I.V. to show up in your bloodstream." Karen pointed out.

"A long time- yes." Richard agreed as he sipped the tea, "But it takes less than a year. You've tested yourself how often?"

"I do it at the end of every month." Karen said.

"And yet it was never revealed then." Richard said as he finished the tea and put the cup down before getting up, "But the same day the child comes into Mr. Murdock's care, your biological system suddenly decides to compromise your immune system?"

"But what you're saying makes no sense." Karen said in disbelief.

"There are many things in this world that do not make sense." Richard said, "Something has happened, Miss Page. And you are an unfortunate victim of the machinations of evil. End the child, and you will repair yourself and this world at large."

With tears in her eyes, Karen said, "I can't kill a child! I don't care what you say it is! I can't end a child's life to save my own!"

"Perhaps not. Perhaps you are that ignorantly valiant." Richard said as he started walking out, "But evil will contaminate everything it touches. Everyone you know and love will suffer. So I ask you to do it. But I am not the dictator of your choice so it is up to you."

With that he walked out and shut the door behind him. Once Karen was sure he had gone off, she fell to the ground on her knees and started sobbing loudly and uncontrollably.

Matt dropped into an alley, dressed up as Daredevil. He heard someone behind him. As soon as he turned around, he was sprayed by a gas and staggered back, holding his face and coughing.

"Hello, Devil!" Scarecrow said as he marched towards Matt who was horrified, "You put me in prison! But now that I have escaped, it is time to put you in one!"

Matt closed his ears and screamed in agony. That was when he realized he couldn't hear or feel anything. He was in some kind of room. A white room. There was nothing else. That moment, he heard an unearthly shriek and grabbed his ears in agony.

But then he heard giant footsteps and realized he was not alone.

"Do you what you're hearing, Mr. Murdock?" A voice that sounded like the Devil himself asked him as he continued to scream, "It's an angelic shriek. The cry of the Fallen. The sound an ethereal being utters when cast out of God's presence. Sickening, isn't it?"

"P…please…..stop!" Matt begged as the pain became worse.

"I am afraid it is necessary to keep you at bay." The voice said.

"Who….who are you?" Matt asked.

"Who I am is of little importance." The voice said, "But since you have asked, I am Baal. It's an unfortunate name, I know."

"What….what do you want with me?" Matt asked as he was now on the ground in pain.

"That is simple, Mr. Murdock." Baal said, "Me and others have been blessed with the honor of raising the future of this world and many others. We protect it from harm, in the most vulnerable of times. And as you might imagine, those who seek to compromise our very endeavor- particularly when it comes to our primary objective."

That moment, Matt stopped listening to him as he realized something. The sound was coming from somewhere. He strained his senses to their fullest to get an idea.

There! A speaker and a voice modulator! But he needed to get their exact angle.

"We know they've tried to recruit you to their cause." 'Baal' said, "But you've been misinformed, Mr. Murdock. You can't see what is going on. But after all, you're blind."

There! There was a gap in the sound! It was a loop! It had a beginning, and an end! There was a nanosecond pause before the loop started anew. Matt concentrated as hard as he could.

"I would like to send you on your way, Mr. Murdock." 'Baal' said, "But before that, the child! The very important child!"

That was it! Matt threw both of his sticks in the direction his senses had locked onto. One stick broke the voice modulator. The other one broke the speaker.

Matt then caught his sticks on return.

"Uh-oh!" 'Baal' muttered to himself.

Matt leapt at 'Baal' and started pummeling him angrily. That moment, someone smacked him across the face with a gun.

"Get off him!" The man snarled as he kicked Matt away, "This was for interrupting my assassination."

Matt was still affected by Scarecrow's toxin and he had strained his senses too much so he failed to recognize the voices.

"Subdue him!" 'Baal' commanded.

Matt kicked the person with the gun away and ran off. The man pointed his gun at Matt from behind but 'Baal' said, "Don't shoot. We need him alive."

Matt jumped out of the alley-

Right into the middle of the street!

He was weakened currently. He fell in the middle of the street. That was when he heard a truck moving towards him but he fainted.

Matt woke up and rubbed his head as he came to. He groaned and stood up. He realized he was on a rooftop.

"Didn't your mother tell you not to play in traffic?" Natasha asked him as she saw him get up.

As Matt groaned a little more, Natasha said apologetically, "Your mother…..I forgot….I'm sorry, Matthew."

"What happened?" Matt asked.

Natasha had the baby girl strapped to her back.

"You were nearly mowed down by a very large truck is what happened." She said, "But luckily, I was swinging by at the time."

"I was attacked by Scarecrow who has escaped." Matt told her, "And then I hallucinated of being held prisoner in a white room."

"A 'white room' seems appropriate considering your behavior lately." Natasha said before telling him, "I went to your apartment. Your…..ex-girlfriend, Karen, she was crying in your bed."

"Did she see you?" Matt asked.

"No, I saw her through your window." Natasha clarified, "Plus, I'm your one-night stand with a baby strapped on my back. So not a good idea. She looked very sad. Something you'd like to tell me, Matt?"

"Where should I start?" Matt asked, "Between her and Foggy…."

"Franklin. Yes, he is all over the news." Natasha told him, "What has happened to your life?"

"My life is getting horrible." Matt told her.

"Do you have enemies beyond the costumed variety?" Natasha asked, "Those who would seek to destroy the man behind the mask?"

Hearing the baby making sounds, Matt growled, "The only enemy behind this is riding on your back."

"Matthew, please!" Natasha tried to reason, "I know you've been through a great deal but focusing your confusion and rage on the child as you have is beyond forgiveness!"

She was right. Or was she?

"Matthew?" Natasha called out, "Matthew, are you listening to me?"

"How have you been, Natasha?" Matt growled at her, "Nothing unfortunate going on in your life?"

"What do you mean? There is nothing wrong with my life." Natasha told him, "You're hurt, Matt. Let me get you to-"

"To where, Natasha?" Matt growled, "Somewhere I can get help, perhaps?"

"Yes." Natasha said, "You need it. You're not well."

At this point, Matt was slowly striding towards Natasha who backed to the edge of the roof.

"Stay back, Matthew." Natasha warned, "Stay away from us both."

"How much did they get you for, Natasha?" Matt asked her, "What price did they pay to buy your soul?"

"Don't make me do this, Matt." Natasha begged, "Please!"

"You almost had me fooled." Matt said, "I didn't even question the timeliness with which you showed up to my apartment."

"You called me!" Natasha reminded him before saying something which shocked the both of them, "Matthew, I love you!"

Matt was at a loss of words. She loved him? Really? But it didn't matter.

"Give me the kid, Natasha." Matt demanded.

"No!" She refused.

Without warning, Matt lunged at her and grabbed her by the throat.

Natasha pushed him off and tried to kick him but he grabbed her foot and tripped her, making her fall flat on her face.

As she groaned, he picked up the baby girl from her back and held her up in his arms. She smiled at him.

"No one to save you now." He said to her.

But her smile and funny noises reached out to something inside Matt. Something that was good and kind.

Holding the baby tightly, Matt jumped off the roof into the traffic.

"No one to save us!" He said.

But that moment, everything became a blur. Nothing made sense.

"Father!" Matt called out, "I need help!"

Before the two could hit the ground, Matt brandished his club and shot the grapple hook. It wrapped itself around the cross on the Clinton Church and he used it to swing right in front of the Church.

He knocked on the door and out walked Father Lantom.

Matt broke down and the kindly priest held the man in his arms.

"Father!" Matt cried, "Help us!"

Later

Some nuns were lovingly taking care of the baby girl as Lantom watched the scene with Matt on his side.

"They seem to love her." Lantom said with a smile.

"Don't blame them." Matt told him before asking something that had been bugging him ever since he had entered the place, "Father, where is Sister Maggie?"

Lantom gave a sad sigh on hearing that and Matt realized his heart was beating at an unnatural rate.

"What happened?" Matt asked.

"I am so sorry, Matthew." Lantom said, "She died in an accident a month ago."

Matt felt like his heart had been hit by a hammer. The loving, kind Sister Maggie who had been like a mother to him when he had been in the orphanage was gone! And he hadn't even know up until now.

He realized there were tears in his eyes.

Lantom put a comforting hand on Matt's shoulder and said, "I can understand how you feel, son. She was like a mother to you when you were all alone. But do not feel guilty for her death. It was not of your making."

"When this is all over, I am going to visit her grave." Matt said and Lantom nodded before telling him, "There is someone who has been waiting for you here. She said she "had a feeling" you would come here. She seems very distressed."

That was when Matt realized that Karen was crying in front of Christ's statue for a while. Walking in the direction, he called out, "Karen?"

Turning to him, Karen hugged him tightly and he awkwardly hugged back, "Oh Matt! Are you okay?"

"Yes." Matt said, "I am fine. Mostly."

"Matt!" She asked as they let each other go, "Where is the baby?"

"Upstairs, why?" Matt asked her.

"I need you to give her to me." Karen said and Matt was puzzled, "I think I want to take care of her."

"I would have asked you but don't you have too much on your mind to be looking after a baby?" Matt asked her.

"You're right. I do." She said, "But looking after her would take my mind off my problems."

"Okay." Matt said before realizing something, "Karen, I never told you about the baby."

"What?" She asked, "You did! Don't you remember? Last night!"

"No!" He said, "You cried yourself to sleep in my bed last night and we didn't talk at all."

"Matt…" Karen trailed off.

"Karen." Matt said firmly, "Who got to you?"

With some hesitation, she finally spilled the beans, "Your friend. The blonde man. He came to the apartment and told me about the curse. He said the baby is to blame for everything. My infection, Foggy. But all I have to do is give him the baby and all the evil goes away."

"NO!" Matt rejected loudly and she stepped back involuntarily at his tone.

"You're being played, Karen!" Matt told her matter of fact, "He's playing you, just like he tried to play me. Just like he did play me! But my head is clear now. The baby is staying here under the care of nuns until I find out exactly what the story is!"

"But it's ruining our lives!" Karen argued, "Look what it did to me and Foggy. I got A.I.D.S. because of the baby."

"You have A.I.D.S. because you made a bad choice, Karen!" Matt said as he pointed at her, "Your carelessness destroyed your life, Karen! Not some demon-child! So if you want to blame someone, then blame YOURSELF!"

Karen stumbled back involuntarily as she realized what she had been about to do.

"God….." She trailed off, "Help me!"

She ran out of the Church in tears as Matt held his head and sat on a bench.

"What do you want?" He muttered, thinking of Richard Dragon.

He realized that the crucifix Richard Dragon had left was still within his pocket. Taking it out, he held it a few feet away from his face.

Maybe this was the reason for his recent actions.

He needed to get to the bottom of this.

Getting up, he walked up to Father Lantom, "Father. I am going. There is something I need to find out. Take care of the baby."

"I will." Lantom assured as Matt walked out.

He then took out his phone and dialed a number.

As the person on the other end picked up, Matt called out, "Oliver!"

"Matt." Oliver said from the other end, "What's the matter?"

"Something terrible is happening, Oliver." Matt said and Oliver tensed on the other side, "I need your help."

After hearing what Matt had told him on the phone, Oliver realized that there was only one person who could help him in this situation.

With that thought in mind, Oliver dialed a number he had almost never thought he would.

Somewhere else in the world, a man wearing a long, yellow trenchcoat with blonde hair crushed a cigarette under his foot when his cell phone rang.

Picking it up, he acknowledged his caller in a British accent, "Oliver."

"John." Oliver said from the other end.

"It's been a dog's age, mate." John Constantine quipped.

"More than." Oliver said, "Do you remember that favor you owe me?"

"I hardly expect you to let me forget about that." Constantine joked

"How quickly can you get to Starling City?" Oliver finally asked, "I need your help."

Chapter Text

Starling City

"Well, Matt." Oliver said as he led Matt into the lair, "I have called up the one person who can solve your problem."

"Thank you, Oliver." Matt said gratefully as they went into the lair.

Diggle and Felicity were there. But along with them was a British man with blonde hair who wore a long, yellow trenchcoat.

"So, mate." The man said as he held out his hand to Matt, "You're Devil boy, eh?"

"Nice to meet you." Matt said sarcastically as he shook his hand, "Mr.…?"

"Constantine." He said, "John Constantine. No need to call me Mr. though."

"Matt, Constantine here is an old acquaintance of mine." Oliver said, "He has experience with mystical things. So I believe he can help you."

"Show me the artifact you believe makes you go all bonkers." Constantine said and Matt took out the crucifix Richard Dragon had left him.

John Constantine took it from him and held it up, looking at it carefully.

"So what, you're going to perform some kind of exorcism on that crucifix?" Felicity asked him.

"No, luv. An exorcism is a removal of demonic possession." Constantine said, "And this thing is not possessed."

"Please do not call me 'luv'." Felicity requested.

"All right, pet." Constantine snorted and she looked offended.

"Where did Oliver find this guy?" Diggle muttered to her, "The Luxor?"

Constantine held the crucifix up in his hands and closing his yes, started chanting, "Fold es a levego, hogy igaz legyen reveal, A titok."

Nothing happened when he did that.

"Did you find something?" Matt asked him.

"Oh, Bollocks!" Constantine muttered to himself before chanting, "Transformo ignis, Perniciosa ut cupiditatem. patitur chartam ut adolebitque omnino et sepelite cinere."

He then sighed as everyone looked at him.

"What did you do?" Oliver asked him as he put the crucifix away.

"This artefact wasn't mystical." Constantine said.

"Are you sure?" Matt asked

"I'm bloody sure, Devil." Constantine said, "It was made of a porous metal and because of that, it transferred the drug."

"Drug?" Matt questioned, "What drug?"

"Some synthetic toxin." Constantine told him, "A bloody trace of it was absorbed by my bloodstream when I touched the crucifix. It's a hallucinogen of some sort. But even the small amount I was exposed to can make anyone bloody susceptible to suggestion."

"What?" Oliver asked, "But if it was a drug, Matt would have known."

"And why weren't you affected by it?" Matt asked him.

"The toxin is void of color and taste." Constantine said, "And it doesn't have a scent either. I was about to go all bonkers but I used a spell to burn it out of my body."

"So I've been drugged?" Matt asked him.

"Yes, mate." Constantine told him as he started pacing around, "And I have conducted some investigations recently. There is no savior child of any sort around. And the Antichrist is not around either."

"Are you sure of it?" Matt asked him.

"Maybe you can bring the baby here and I will tell you that she is innocent." Constantine suggested.

Suddenly, Matt roared and charged at him but Oliver restrained him. As Matt struggled violently, Constantine used the same incantation on him that he had used on himself, "Transformo ignis, Perniciosa ut cupiditatem. patitur chartam ut adolebitque omnino et sepelite cinere."

When Constantine was finished, Matt stopped struggling and breathed heavily. Sensing he wasn't a danger anymore, Oliver let him go.

"How do you feel, Matt?" Oliver asked him.

"I feel…..clear." Matt said as he sighed, "Thanks, Constantine."

"And I thought vampires were weird." Diggle muttered to himself.

"No worries, mate." Constantine said before explaining, "The toxin had latched onto your brain like a parasite. It activated only when someone suggested the child was innocent. It affected your ability to think logically and made you go all bonkers."

"So it was an associative-responsive drug." Felicity realized.

"Quite a drug." Diggle said, "Some criminals could mass produce it for consumption in social circles that seek to lower inhibitions."

"Your rave clubs, college frats." Oliver listed.

"Constantine, we need to know who's behind this." Matt requested him, "Is there any way?"

"There is one." Constantine told him, "If you want."

"I am willing to do anything." Matt said.

"Well, it will take a few hours." Constantine said before taking out a paper and listing down some items. He handed it to Felicity and said, "Here's everything I need."

As Felicity went off to bring the things, Oliver asked him, "What're you going to do?"

"Summon a demon."

Hell's Kitchen

Karen was sitting on a bench in a park, watching some kids playing. She was contemplating her decisions in life. She had accidentally got her brother killed and then left town.

After that, she had become the secretary for "Nelson and Murdock." She had fallen for Matt. But because of some things he had kept from her, she had treated him badly.

And now, after he had called her out in the Church only had she realized how selfish she had been. She had been so focused on how bad her life was that not once had she asked Matt what had been going on in his life.

He had been her pivot point. Him and Foggy had given her adult life some balance. She had taken him for granted. But no more. He needed her. And she needed him. They both needed to get through this together.

The flame of decision formed in her eyes as she got off the bench and ran back towards the Church.

Starling City

Constantine finished drawing the magic circle which he had said would "trap him."

Some candles had also been lit around the circle by him.

"I hate to say this, but what if something goes wrong?" Diggle asked, concerned.

"Oh, don't worry." Constantine assured before saying, "If something goes wrong, we'd all be too dead to care."

Oliver and Diggle exchanged odd looks as Constantine said, "Now then, we just need-"

"I think I got everything you needed." Felicity said as she walked up to them, holding a dead peacock feather and nose plugs, "Although I am not entirely sure what you need a dead peacock feather for."

Constantine took it from her and to everyone's disgust, used it to scratch his back.

"Oh, nice one." He said after he was finished and handed it to Felicity who was disgusted, "That's been bugging me for hours."

He then took the nose plugs and gave them to Matt, "When I summon a demon, the stench from the gateway to Hell can be very overwhelming. So you're gonna need this."

Matt put them in his nose without question.

As Constantine walked up to the circle, he instructed everyone, "Whatever happens, do not talk to it. Or you'll go bonkers.

With that, he raised his hands and started chanting, "Alle warten auf das Licht. Fürchtet euch, fürchtet euch nicht. Die Sonne scheint mir aus den Augen. Sie wird heute Nacht nicht untergehen. Und die Welt zählt laut bis zehn."

The circle lighted up as the place started shaking. The sky thundered. Diggle almost fainted as Felicity became numb with fear. Matt's and Oliver's faces were emotionless masks.

And then, a giant figure appeared in the center of the circle. It was dressed in a large, red cloak. Its skin was as red as blood. It had claws in place of fingernails. Its face was covered with red fur. But its most distinguishing feature was its unusually large tongue that seemed as big as a snake.

"Who calls me to this dismal place?" It asked out loud, "Who dares to summon Mephisto?"

As it tried to move forward, the circle glowed and a barrier appeared, preventing it from getting out.

"Primitive." Mephisto growled angrily, "What manner of fool is responsible for this clownish prison?"

"That fool would be me, mate." Constantine quipped.

"John Constantine." Mephisto snarled, "I recognize your braying. We have danced this way before. But not with blinders. Tell me, what prompts this kind of secrecy?"

"With my ingenuity, I have trapped you in this magic circle." Constantine boasted, "So now, you can only answer questions, not ask 'em."

"Ah, you're playing the role with all the stops pulled out, aren't you?" Mephisto asked.

Constantine then saw that Diggle was almost about to say something and said, "You bloody idiot! Don't talk to it! All of you!"

Diggle shut his mouth and everyone else nodded as Mephisto said, "So you've brought friends with you, I gather. What is it that disturbs you, Constantine?"

Mephisto then laughed quietly, rattling everyone's nerves, even Constantine, though he did not show it.

"Well, beasty." Constantine said, "Some people think that the Christian Redeemer has returned to this world as an infant. Tell me, is there any credibility to this statement? And if I were you, I would think twice before lying."

"You say that as if it's a threat." Mephisto mocked him, "But I will still play your game. If only because it amuses me. So your companion wants to know if John's foretold apocalypse is nigh, eh? If I had a soul every time I was asked that question-"

"Answer the question, filth." Constantine commanded.

"Why is one so mighty as myself brought here to consult as a Sunday school teacher?" Mephisto asked,
"Has your Christian friend read his Bible? More specifically, the Apostle. John's Book of Revelations. When the so-called Son of God returns, presumably to end his Father's floundering exercise, the blunder known as mankind, it won't be as he came originally. In a rare fit of good sense, he is prophesized to return, not born of a lowly woman, but as Judge, Jury and Executioner. As a lion, not a lamb. As that which will end your world and deliver the pure to his father, and the rest to us."

"My God, he is right." Matt said to Oliver, "Biblically, the savior is to come back as he left. A man."

"Prove to me that this is the truth, beasty." Constantine demanded.

"Why, Constantine?" Mephisto asked, "Has someone tricked your friend into believing that the infant Savior has been left into his care? Can your friend really be so….blind?"

Matt, Oliver, Diggle and Felicity were all horrified on hearing that.

"He knows about you." Oliver said to Matt.

"I'm closing the portal." Constantine said as he started chanting.

"Hello, Blasphemer." Mephisto addressed Matt directly, "He who would call himself a Devil and do the work of the just! Would that I could cross the threshold of this binding circle, I would take more than your vision! But that is a pleasure one of your fellow meatlings has beaten me to."

As everyone listened to him with heavy breaths, Mephisto taunted, "Oh, yes! He has taken far more from you than you already know."

"WHO?" Matt roared.

"Don't talk to it, you bloody idiot!" An exasperated Constantine said as he continued closing the portal, "Die Sonne scheint mir aus den Händen. Kann verbrennen, kann euch blenden. Wenn sie aus den Fäusten bricht. Legt sich heiß auf das Gesicht. Sie wird heute Nacht nicht untergehen. Und die Welt zählt laut bis zehn."

"WHO IS DOING THIS TO ME? WHAT MORE HAVE THEY TAKEN?!" Matt exploded.

"Good things come to those who wait, vigilante." Mephisto said, "Though I will tell you this- I'm reserving a choice seat in the pit for the one who's making your life a Hell on Earth. He has more than earned it. Who would have thought this of him? Not me, not his peers, not his lover….probably not even his own mother. How delicious that must be- the broken heart of the woman that sired your nemesis! How must she have harbored such high hopes for this child who festered into a criminal, a murderer of men, a killer of fathers. The disgrace would probably have had her spinning in her grave."

As Constantine continued closing the portal, Mephisto said, "But everyone lets his loved ones down, right Blasphemer? Even safe havens do not keep people safe forever."

That last sentence chilled Matt to the bone. As Mephisto laughed hysterically, Constantine finally closed the portal.

"Bloody beasty!" He cursed, "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have some work to do."

"What did he mean by "Even safe havens do not keep people safe forever?"" Oliver asked.

In a horrified tone, Matt said, "The Church…Father Lantom…The baby…"

Chapter Text

Clinton Church, Hell's Kitchen

Matt and Oliver entered the Church, dressed as Daredevil and The Hood respectively. They both had to choke back the bile that was rising in their throats. The room reeked with the stench of silenced terror and death.

There were moments when Matt was glad he couldn't see. This was one of them.

Oliver himself looked horrified at the sight before him. And that was saying a lot considering everything he had seen since he had been shipwrecked at Lian Yu.

Who would be so cruel to brutally murder kindly nuns to kill a baby of all things? Some of the nuns had been gunned down. The bullets were scorched into their foreheads. Whoever had shot them was one very exceptional marksman.

There were others who had broken bones and snapped necks.

Matt then heard a familiar groan.

"Father Lantom!" He called out as he rushed the fallen priest, Oliver in tow.

The two knelt close to him.

"Don't move." Oliver said gently.

"They killed Sister Theresa first…" Lantom said hoarsely, "He shot her in the head. They said…they'd kill us all one by one…if we didn't give them the baby…but I hid her…He snapped Sister Anne's neck…"

"I have to know when they left, Father!" Matt said frantically, "When did they leave?"

Lantom breathed heavily and said, "They didn't!"

That moment, Matt heard the clicking of a gun and quickly flipped away as Oliver did the same.

A few feet from them, Floyd Lawton lowered his gun. That moment, Matt realized that Lawton had been the man with the gun that night in the alley along with 'Baal.'

"You both have foiled my assassinations." He snarled, "So now, I will have my revenge!"

As he raised his gun again, Oliver fired an arrow, disarming him. Before he could recover, Oliver leapt at him and smacked him with his bow, staggering him back. He then smacked Lawton's face in a rotatory motion, staggering him back again before kicking him in a rotatory motion, smashing him into a pillar.

"You're slaughtering nuns to kill a baby?" Oliver asked angrily, "How much can you fall?"

"As long as I get my cut." Lawton smirked before brandishing a knife and swinging it at Oliver who dodged twice before grabbing both of his hands, trying to push him off.

"Mr. Murdock."

Matt turned as Richard Dragon walked into plain sight, a smirk on his face. He was wearing a black shirt, brown trousers and a grey jacket.

"Who do you work with?" Matt demanded.

"You'll have to find that out." Dragon smirked as the two walked closer.

Matt tried give him a flip kick but he dodged before blocking another kick. Matt dodged a punch from him before trying to kick him in a rotatory motion but he dodged too. As Richard tried to kick Matt in a rotatory motion, he flipped to avoid.

Dragon tried to sweep Matt's feet from under him but he flipped again. As Dragon tried to give him a backward kick, Matt elbowed his back, pushing him off. Matt then tried to flip kick him but he ducked to avoid before punching his face. Matt then kicked Dragon away before flipping back.

Matt tried to flip and kick Dragon on the head but he side stepped to avoid. Matt tried to flip kick him again but he avoided. As Matt tried to punch him, he blocked, only to receive another punch on the face.

Matt blocked a punch from him and tried to flip kick him but Dragon flipped to avoid. Matt kneed him, making him stagger back before he tried to kick him in a rotatory motion but Matt flipped and avoided. That moment, Dragon flipped in the air and gave Matt a kick on the face, staggering him away.

Matt rushed him and tried to punch but he blocked and punched him instead. He tried to kick again in a rotatory motion but Matt avoided and elbowed his stomach before punching his face. Matt tried to punch again but he blocked, only for Matt to punch him in the abdomen, making him stagger back. He then leapt into the air and kicked Dragon hard, sending him flying back by a few feet.

Matt then tried to kick Dragon in a rotatory motion but he backed to avoid. As Matt tried to kick again, Dragon grabbed his foot and flipped him to the ground. Matt tried to free his foot but Dragon didn't let go. Richard then kicked Matt on the face from the side, throwing him off.

With a flip, he tried to attack Matt again but he ducked, barely avoiding it. Dragon tried to punch but Matt blocked and punched his face before pushing him towards a pillar. Dragon used the momentum to his advantage, climbing the pillar a little with his feet and then flipping down just before Matt could kick him, making him hit the pillar instead.

Richard tried to kick again but Matt avoided and flip kicked him away onto the ground. Richard got up and snarled, getting serious now. As Matt tried to kick him, he dodged. Matt tried to punch but he blocked and turning around, elbowed him. He turned around again and flipped Matt over his shoulder, right onto the ground.

Matt flipped and kicked Dragon's head, staggering him back. He tried to kick again but Dragon blocked and tried to flip kick him but Matt ducked to avoid and tried to sweep his feet from under him but Dragon flipped back and avoided.

Dragon blocked a punch from Matt and tried to punch but he dodged and elbowed Dragon on the face. Before he could follow up, Dragon kicked him on the side and punched his face before dodging a rotatory kick meant for his face.

Matt blocked another kick from him and tried to kick him but Dragon blocked and punched him on the face before flip kicking his face so hard that not only did he fall on the ground but also spit out a wad of blood.

Oliver avoided another knife swing from Lawton before smacking his abdomen in a rotatory motion, staggering him back and then kicked him in a rotatory motion. He then pinned him to the pillar and punched him hard thrice, making him fall down.

As he moved his hand towards his quiver to notch an arrow, Dragon grabbed him from behind and pushed him off. Oliver tried to hit him in a rotatory motion with his bow but he ducked and kicked him away.

Oliver dodged and blocked a few strikes from him before trying to smack him with his bow but he ducked to avoid and flip kicked Oliver on the face, staggering him away. As Oliver recovered, Dragon leapt into the air and kicked him on the chest, making him fall down.

Oliver got back up and tried to hit Dragon with his bow but he kicked his hand, disarming him of his bow. He then kicked Oliver on the face and chest, sending him down again. Dragon then tried to flip on top of him but Oliver rolled away just in time.

As he got up, Dragon tried to smack his face twice but he avoided both the times. As Dragon tried to kick him, Oliver grabbed him by the waist and lifting him up, threw him onto the ground. He then tried to flip on him but Dragon flipped away and got back up.

He blocked two punches from Oliver and tried to strike him twice but he dodged the first time and blocked the second time. As Dragon tried to strike again, Oliver grabbed his hand and turning around, flipped him to the ground.

Before Oliver could follow up, Dragon grabbed his head between his legs and flipped him to the ground too. The two then got up at the same time but Dragon kicked Oliver hard on the chest and then flip kicked him hard, sending him flying off.

Oliver, persistent like always, got back up, just in time to avoid a kick from Dragon, who then kneed him. As Dragon tried to punch him, he grabbed his hand and twisted it slightly before Dragon kneed him and punched him with his other hand, making him let go.

He kicked Oliver and he stumbled back slightly before kicking Dragon away. Dragon then blocked another kick from him with his own foot before jumping into the air and kicking him away with both feet, sending him flying back.

Oliver fell near his bow. Picking it up, he notched an arrow and fired it at Dragon. To his shock, Dragon leapt into the air and with a flip, kicked the arrow away, sending it flying into a random direction.

Before Oliver could notch another arrow, Dragon flip kicked him on the face, sending him flying off.

Matt threw his club at Lawton, disarming of his gun. Before Lawton could do anything else, Matt flipped and kicked him on the face, staggering him back. He then punched him twice on the face before grabbing him by the face and flipping him on the ground.

That moment, Dragon kicked him on the back of the head, making him fall down. As Matt groaned, Oliver quickly ran up to him and helped him up.

Dragon looked at both of them with a smirk, "So I get to prove myself against The Devil and The Hood at the same time? Opportunity of a lifetime."

"Richard Dragon." Matt snarled.

"You have failed this city." Oliver finished.

Before either of them could react, Dragon punched Oliver off and punched Matt away too. He then tried to flip kick Oliver who blocked and punched him. As he tried to punch again, Dragon grabbed his hand and flipped him to the ground.

Matt kicked him away and punched him off. Matt then tried to flip kick him while Oliver tried to smack him with his bow but Dragon flipped in the air to avoid both the strikes before kicking Oliver away. As Matt tried to punch him, he blocked and punched him in the abdomen.

Oliver tried to kick him but he blocked before pushing him off and then dodged a kick from Matt before giving him a brutal uppercut, staggering him back. Oliver tried to smack him with his bow in a rotatory motion but he avoided again.

Oliver tried to hit him but he grabbed his arm, only for Matt to kick him on the face. Grabbing him, Oliver leapt into the air and flipped him to the ground. As Dragon got up, Oliver leapt at him to attack again but he avoided.

In a rotatory motion, Oliver smacked Dragon with his bow, staggering him back again. As he tried to hit again, Dragon grabbed his hand. Matt tried to attack but Dragon kicked him away before flipping Oliver over his shoulder.

As Oliver tried to get up, Dragon flip kicked him on the face, sending him down. As he turned around, Matt flip kicked him on the face, staggering him back and then kicked him in the abdomen too. He avoided a flip kick from Dragon and grabbing him, kneed his abdomen hard.

Dragon grabbed him and lifting him up, threw both himself and Matt down. Matt was on the top and he was on the bottom. As they struggled, Dragon wrapped his feet around Matt's head. Matt managed to get up, Dragon's feet still latched onto him.

He then punched Matt hard, sending him down and flipped away. Turning around he avoided an arrow from Oliver and caught a fletchette that Oliver threw at him. Oliver leapt into the air and kicked him away.

As the three continued fighting, Father Lantom got up with a groan.

"Father!"

Lantom turned to see Karen.

"Karen?"

"We've got to get you out of here." She said.

"No child." Lantom said, "You've to go get help. He'll kill Matthew and The Hood if he doesn't get the child."

As Lawton started getting up with a groan, Karen asked Lantom, "Father, where is the baby?"

Dragon grabbed Matt in a chokehold and as Oliver moved to attack him, he grabbed his head with his feet. And then, he flipped both of them onto the ground. As they were about to fight again, Lawton fired at Matt and Oliver, making them flip away to avoid.

Oliver fired an arrow at Lawton and it exploded near him, sending him flying back. As Matt recovered, Dragon kicked him off. Oliver grabbed Dragon from behind in a chokehold with his bow. As Matt got back up, Dragon elbowed Oliver hard but he didn't let go.

Matt tried to punch Dragon but he avoided and he hit Oliver instead. Dragon leapt up and kicked Matt off. He then elbowed Oliver and flipped him over his shoulder.

"GIVE US THE KID!" Lawton roared angrily.

"Let them both go!"

Dragon and Lawton turned to see Karen standing there, with the baby in her arms.

"Miss Page." Dragon smirked.

"Let them both go." She said, "And I will give you the baby."

"Well, well, well." Lawton smirked, "Big hand for the lady."

"So it appears you have come to your senses, Miss Page." Dragon said.

"Karen, NO!" Matt yelled but Dragon kicked him on the face and he was down again.

"If you let them both live, I will give you the baby." Karen said, "Now, step away from Daredevil and The Hood."

The two then stepped away from the downed Matt and Oliver.

"Karen, please don't!" Oliver groaned.

Lawton walked towards Karen and with a smirk, took the baby from her arms, "This is easier than taking candy from a-"

He stopped when he looked down and realized the 'baby' was actually a plastic model of a baby.

"You've got to be kidding me, lady." He said angrily as he threw the plastic baby away, "How could you double cross me like that?"

He smacked Karen on the face, sending her on the ground, "In a Church no less."

"Where is the baby?" Dragon asked calmly.

That moment, they heard the baby crying from behind them. Turning around, they saw Lantom crouched in a corner, holding the baby tightly.

"Well, what do you know?" Lawton smirked as he marched towards him along with Dragon, "Out of the mouth of Babes, they say!"

Lawton saw that Matt's club was still on the ground and picked it up himself. He took the baby from Lantom's hands and said, "A page from the Gospel according to Deadshot, Father-"

He raised the club and roared, "No one rises from the dead!"

"STOP!"

The two turned to see Karen, pointing a gun at them.

"Give the baby back to Father Lantom." Karen snarled.

"You're so persistent." Lawton commented.

That moment, Matt started getting up too. Dragon noticed that. He still had Oliver's fletchette in his hand. He threw it up into the air.

As it fell back down, he kicked it in a rotatory motion, sending it flying at Matt. It hit Matt on the shoulder, sending him on the ground again.

By now, Karen had the gun right to Lawton's head.

With a smirk, he said, "First rule in the "cleaning business"-"

Karen pulled the trigger-

Only to hear the click of the empty gun.

"Never discard a loaded weapon." Lawton finished.

He then pushed Karen away.

"We have got the baby." Dragon told him, "Let's go."

The two started walking away.

"Wait a second." Lawton said as he stopped, "Where are my manners?"

Turning around, he said, "I almost left without giving Red back his-"

He threw the club right at Matt, "CLUB!"

"MATT!"

"KAREN!"

Before Matt could even fathom what was going on, Karen had leapt in the way and the club had embedded itself into her abdomen.

She fell into Matt's arms.

"NOOOO!"

"I can't believe it." Lawton muttered, "I missed."

"Let's go." Dragon commanded and the two walked off with the baby.

"Oh, my God, Karen!" Matt cried as Karen lay on the floor, the club protruding from her, "Please God, no!"

Oliver got up and commanded Lantom, "Go and call 911!"

Lantom nodded and walked off to do what Oliver had said.

"Matt…" Karen trailed off.

"No, Karen." Matt begged, "Please don't try to talk. I'll get…"

"I love…"

"Karen, I…" Matt trailed off.

Hoarsely, Karen said, "Matt…I'll…I'll miss you…"

And with that, she was gone.

Matt held her body in his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. Oliver slowly walked up to him and put his hand on his shoulder to offer comfort.

Chapter Text

Next day

Matt was sitting on the floor of his apartment, too numb to move. The newspaper detailing Karen's demise was on the floor, near his feet.

His Daredevil suit was on the floor as he had thrown it off violently when he had returned home the previous night, along with his club.

The tables, chairs and couches had been toppled by him in a rage.

He had a gun in his hand. And he had it with him for one purpose. With deep breaths and shaking hands, he started moving the gun up.

His job was to protect people. And he had failed miserably. The very place he had grown up in was ruined. So many nuns were dead. The baby girl had been taken. Foggy was in prison for a crime he hadn't even committed. He had hurt Natasha, who had been there for him in the worst of times.

And Karen! Oh God! She was gone because she had taken the hit meant for him. And that too from his own club.

He had the gun under his chin, ready to pull the trigger.

"Put it down."

It was Oliver! Due to his grief, he wasn't paying attention to his surroundings and so Oliver had entered without him knowing.

"Put it down." Oliver said again in the gentlest tone he could muster.

"Why should I?" Matt asked him angrily, "I was supposed to protect people. And now…I have failed. Look at what has happened to everyone who has been part of my life."

"Matt-"

"My father, Elektra, the nuns at the Church, the baby, Foggy, Karen…" Matt trailed off.

"I know how you feel." Oliver said and Matt turned his head up, "But killing yourself is not the way. Foggy and the baby still need you, Matt."

"No." Matt denied, "They're better off without me."

"I used to think this way too. I still do actually." Oliver said and Matt turned to him with an interesting expression on hearing that.

Oliver then narrated one of the worst memories of his life to Matt, "Matt, after the Gambit went down, it was me, my father and a crew-member on a life-raft. Lost at sea. Enough food and water for one person, maybe. My father took a gun, shot the crew-member, told me to survive, and then turned the gun on himself. He shot himself. He sacrificed himself so that I could live. Nothing I could do. No choice."

"And what does that have to do with me?" Matt asked as his voice broke.

"Karen chose to sacrifice herself for you, just like Elektra, just like my father did for me." Oliver said before he thought of Yao Fei, Shado, Sara, Slade, The Yamashiros, Taiana and his own family, "People who have come into contact with me have suffered too because of me. And I have lost some of them too, almost more than I can take. But while we failed to completely stop the Undertaking, it taught me one thing. Everyone I love is in danger because of me. But I am not going to distance myself from them. Because I am the only one who can protect them all. And even if I fail sometimes, I will never give up."

By now, Matt's hands were shaking, which was a good sign as that meant he was hesitating to do it.

"So promise me, Matt", Oliver said as he gently grabbed the hand with which Matt was holding the gun and slowly started lowering it, "For Karen, for Foggy, for Elektra, for your father, for the baby, and for this city, you'll never give up. No matter what."

Panting heavily, Matt let the gun go finally. It clattered on the ground as Matt sighed.

"No matter what." Matt repeated with tears in his eyes.

Oliver pulled his friend into a hug and Matt sobbed into his shoulder.

Years ago

A 13 year old Richard Dragon was punching a huge block of wood with his fist, trying to break through it. But he wasn't having any luck. His knuckles started bleeding and he panted, almost giving up.

"It's the block of wood that should fear you. Not the other way round."

Dragon looked up to see a Japanese man wearing black robes looking down on him sternly. A blue dragon was drawn on his back. The man was none other than Dragon's trainer.

"I am trying, Sensei Yamura." Dragon said honestly, "But the wood is too strong."

"You, my boy, are stronger." Yamura said as he pointed at him, "You just don't know it."

With that, Itto Yamura aka the Blue Talon punched the wood, breaking through it.

"You must always try and never give up." Yamura told him, "And then one day, you will be stronger than wood. Than even me! And you will strike fear into everyone who hears your name."

The little speech was all the motivation young Richard Dragon needed and his eyes lit up. Yamura then put another block of wood in front of him and he started punching it.

Yamura walked away with a smile, knowing that Richard Dragon would make him proud one day.

Now, Unknown location

Richard Dragon was looking down the window from a very high building with an undiscernible expression. He knew the time for the final showdown was near.

"They'll be coming soon."

Dragon turned to the man seated on the chair, covered in shadow.

With a smirk, Dragon walked off, "I'll prepare the Gauntlet."

Somewhere else in the city

A man opened the newspaper and was shocked by the first headline that came before his eyes.

"BULLETIN REPORTER KAREN PAGE AND ELEVEN OTHERS SLAIN IN CHURCH MASSACRE"

The man's hands shook with rage as the headline registered itself in his head. Grunting in anger, he continued reading.

"Six nuns and five indigents were found dead in Clinton Church in what has been described as one of the worst hate crimes in the history of the nation. While the NYPD has yet to issue a statement, the Bugle has learnt that the victims were stabbed, bludgeoned and beaten up. Twelve survivors were rushed to Saint Vincent's Hospital, where they are being treated for serious injury and trauma. Even more baffling, however was the discovery of Bulletin reporter Karen Page amidst the dead. Page, who is very well known as one of the Bulletin's top reporters, had no apparent ties to the Church. It is not yet known if Page was visiting someone in the Church, or if indeed Page herself was the focus of the attack. What connection, if any, this attack has to last week's infanticide at Saint Anthony's Hospital in midtown has yet to be determined."

With an angry snarl, the man tore the newspaper into pieces and walked up to his closet. Opening it up, he took out a vest and looked over at it with deep breaths. It had the symbol of a skull on it.

After a few moments, he put the vest on himself before taking out a black trenchcoat and putting it around himself.

He then put two knives on his belt along with a hammer and a pistol. He then loaded up an AK-47 and slowly walked out of the place.

"Those who do evil to others- the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists- you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me...The Punisher.''

Chapter Text

Ennis' Tavern, Downtown

A bunch of criminals were sitting and gossiping together while having drinks. This little club was exclusive to criminals.

On one of the tables, Turk Barrett was entertaining two of his friends.

"Tell this guy that story you told me last night. That one about how you beat Daredevil that one time!" One of his friends requested him.

"Yeah! Let's hear it!" The other one agreed.

"C'mon Turk!"

"All right, it's story time." Turk said and started narrating the lie he had made up, "So one night, I follow him home- back to his…Devil cave, right? It's like his secret base where he's got a million TVs that watch over the city. But I got the drop on him, 'cause he took his utility belt off. That's how he's always been beating guys, with his stupid utility belt."

"Where does he get those wonderful toys?" one asked.

"I dunno man, but he didn't have any of 'em that night." Turk said, "That's when I got the drop on him and then tied him to this…this dinosaur thingy he has. It was some kind of trophy or something, I dunno."

As the two listened, he did gestures with his hands and continued, "So then I proceed to gut him. I stick the knife in and cut him all the way open like a-"

"Stuck pig?"

"Yeah!" Turk said, not noticing who had said it. His two friends noticed though and started getting up in fear. Turk didn't notice that and continued, "He's squealing like "Babe" or something, and I'm like "This is for all the times you put me away!" And then he-"

"Beat on you until you gave him some information?"

"What?! You crazy man! I…" Turk trailed off when he realized his two friends were gone, "Hey man! Where is everybody? I wasn't…"

That moment, someone put a red gauntlet covered hand over his shoulder from behind while another person put a hand covered with a green glove on his other shoulder.

"…finished."

As Turk's two friends ran out, one of them was hit by a bullet on the head. The other one looked at the body for a second before turning to the front. His eyes widened in horror.

"No…please…don't…"

BANG!

Matt hung Turk upside down on the rooftop as Oliver stood next to him.

"DON'T! LEMME GO MAN!"

"It's your turn to "squeal like a pig", Turk!" Matt snarled.

"Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot is in town", Oliver said, "What do you know about it?"

"I DON'T KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NO LAWTON!"

"Then I think Red doesn't know how to stop you from hitting the pavement."

Matt and Oliver turned as Frank Castle walked into plain sight.

"Frank?" Matt questioned, "What're you doing here?"

"Same thing you both are." Frank said with a snarl, "Tell me Red, who was there? Who killed Karen?"

"His name is Floyd Lawton." Oliver said, "He'll be there where we are going."

"I am going to do what you are too cowardly too." Frank said as he walked up to them, "Karen will be avenged."

"I won't hesitate this time." Matt snarled before turning his attention back to Turk, "Tell us!"

"I KNOW NOTHIN'!"

Frank roared and pointed his gun right on Turk's…..thing.

"ALL RIGHT! HE WAS HERE! HE WAS HERE! BUT THEN HE SPLIT!"

"He left the city?" Frank asked angrily.

"HE JETTED MAN, I SWEAR!" Turk said in fear, "I THINK HE DID THOSE NUNS THE OTHER NIGHT! AND THE REPORTER!"

"Who hired him?" Matt asked.

"Some guy's been taking on all the help for the last month with some blonde guy's help!" Turk said and Matt and Oliver realized he was talking about Dragon's mysterious ally, "He hired him! He's got a lot of people on his payroll!"

"A name, Turk!" Oliver asked.

"I don't know his name!" Turk said, "Nobody's seen him! I ain't seen him 'cause the blonde guy wouldn't hire me! But I hear he's got a lot of money and a mean-on for you and some baby!"

"You said he didn't hire you." Matt pointed out, "Where did you get turned down?"

"At his building, man! 387 Park Avenue South!" Turk told them, "It's where all the heavy-hitters are meetin' tonight."

"What heavy hitters?" Frank asked.

"He hired many well-known assassins and big criminals who are available for tonight!" Turk said, "He's got something big going on!"

As Matt didn't let go, Turk asked, "You wanna team up, man?! Just like old times?! You and me, huh?!"

Matt let him go. He screamed in terror as he was falling but Oliver fired a grapple arrow and grabbed his foot.

The three went off, leaving Turk hanging.

387 Park Avenue South

Matt, Oliver and Frank marched towards the huge building, dead set on their targets- Richard Dragon and his mysterious ally.

"I got them, Mr. Dragon." The man sitting in front of the monitors said via comms.

"People." Dragon said to everyone on comms, "Once they enter the building, I will be giving you the required instructions. Make the adjustments accordingly. We need Daredevil alive. Kill The Hood and Punisher."

As Matt, Oliver and Frank entered the building, a thug loaded his gun on seeing them but Frank shot him on the head, killing him.

The three walked up the stairs and reached the hallway of the upper floor. As they stood there, three individuals walked out of the shadows to confront them. One of them was Bane. Another wore a grey mask. And the third one was a blue skinned woman.

"So you are Daredevil." The one in the center, who wore the simple grey mask that exposed only his eyes, said, "More like "Broken Devil" now."

And with that, he threw a discus, which Matt barely avoided with a flip. The man brandished a javelin and attacked but Matt blocked with his club.

Bane attacked Oliver with a punch which he barely dodged before trying to smack him with his bow which he managed to avoid.

Frank fired at the blue woman who had what looked like scales for skin. She flipped to avoid his shots and kicked the gun out of his hands before kicking him away.

Matt flipped to avoid the javelin before flip kicking the man, making him stagger. He recovered and gave Matt an uppercut which sent him flying off.

As Matt tried to get up, the man threw the javelin. Matt rolled away to avoid as the javelin embedded itself where Matt had been and exploded.

Oliver blocked Bane's punch before hitting him with the bow. As he tried to hit again, Bane caught his fist and slammed him into the wall. He did not have his Venom right now so he wasn't that strong, but he was still skilled.

Bane tried to smash Oliver with his foot but he rolled away to avoid and fired an arrow. Bane caught it before it hit him but it beeped and exploded, making him fall on his back.

Frank got kicked on his face again but ducked to avoid the other one before brandishing a knife. He swung it at her but she avoided.

He tried to hit her in a rotatory motion but she avoided again before grabbing his hand and disarming him of it. She tried to swing it at him but he avoided barely.

Matt grabbed the man's hand as he swung his knife and disarmed him before punching his stomach. The man pushed him off and brandished his hammer- a heavy metal ball attached to a cord and handle.

He swung it at Matt but he ducked. As he tried to bring it down on Matt, he sidestepped and it hit the ground, forming a crater. Matt then kicked him away, making him lose it.

Oliver blocked a punch from Bane but he elbowed him and flipped him to the ground. As he tried to smash him with his foot, Oliver rolled away and getting up, smacked his face with his bow.

Bane kicked him away in and gloated, "Darkness isn't your ally anymore. I was born in it. Molded by it."

Oliver kicked his knee in a rotatory motion, sending him to the ground before smacking his face, staggering him back.

The woman barely missed Frank again but managed to kick him in a rotatory motion, sending him to the ground.

She stood over him, ready to plunge the knife into him. But he suddenly brandished his pistol and shot her in the abdomen. She gasped and fell on her knees as Frank shot her in the head, killing her.

Bane smacked Oliver across the face again before lifting him up and slamming him to the ground. As he made to attack again, Oliver stabbed his kneecap with an arrow, making him stagger back in pain.

Getting up, Oliver notched an arrow, "Bane. You have failed this city!"

And he shot him in the throat. Bane gasped as he coughed some blood and died on the spot.

Matt dodged another blow from the man before smacking his throat with his club, making him stagger back in pain before grabbing his neck between his feet and flipping him to the floor.

Before he could get up, a gunshot rang out and blood splattered from the back of the man's head. Frank lowered his gun and nodded at Matt and Oliver who nodded back.

The three then walked up the stairs to the next floor, reaching the hallway.

Three more figures walked out to engage them. One of them was an Asian woman with a black coat and red outfit. Another one was a bald man in casual clothes with a disturbing smirk on his face. The third one wore a trenchcoat and carried boomerangs.

The Asian woman with the black coat and red outfit charged at Matt as she threw a knife which he barely deflected with his club before she grabbed his head between her legs and flipped him to the ground.

As she tried to flip on him, he rolled away to avoid and getting up, tried to hit her with his club which she blocked with her elbows before trying to kick him in a rotatory motion but he backed to avoid.

Oliver fired two arrows which the man deflected with his boomerangs before throwing two of them on Oliver who barely avoided.

As he threw a third one, Oliver flipped to avoid while it exploded. As he turned around, the man swung his boomerangs on him which Oliver barely avoided before grabbing his hand and smacking him with the bow.

Oliver ducked to avoid another strike from his boomerang before kicking him into the wall. Before he could recover, Oliver fired an arrow. It hit him on the throat and he gasped in pain before falling down, dead.

Frank avoided a knife strike from the bald man. He had heard of this man- Victor Zsasz, the serial killer who slit his victims' throats. Well, time for some karma.

He blocked Zsasz's knife with his own and kicked him away. As Zsasz struck again, Frank grabbed his hand and twisted it, disarming him. He then roared and picking up Zsasz, slammed him to the ground.

Before he could get up, Frank slowly slit his throat with his knife, spraying blood on the ground and his own face.

Matt flip kicked the woman on the face, staggering her back. He tried to do it again but she blocked with her elbow and then put him in a headlock.

Matt struggled and elbowed her thrice. Taking out his club, he pressed a button. It elongated for a minute and hit her foot, making her loosen her grip. Matt then grabbed her arm and flipped her over his shoulder.

Oliver then tried to fire at her but she grabbed the arrow with her feet and snapped it into two. She then got up with a flip. As he tried to hit her with his bow, she grabbed his hand and flipped him over her shoulder.

That moment, a gunshot rang out and she fell down dead. Frank walked up to Oliver and helped him up.

The three reached the hallway of the next floor, confronted by three opponents again. One of them was a huge man with a head that was flat on top. Another one had bandages wrapped on his head and held two guns. And the third was Scarecrow.

The man with the flat head charged at Matt like headfirst a bull, intending to hit him with his head. Matt flipped to avoid and his head hit the wall, shattering it. Matt made a note to avoid being tagged by him, especially his head.

He threw his club at him but the man deflected it with his head and it returned to Matt. The man tried to fire at him with his gun but Matt flipped to avoid and threw the club on his foot, staggering him. Now Matt knew what his weakness was.

Oliver avoided gunfire from the man with bandages. He had heard of him. Thomas Eliot, a billionaire who had later become a criminal called Hush.

Oliver fired an arrow, disarming him of his guns. He fired again but Hush caught the arrow and snapped it into two before trying to smack him on the face which Oliver avoided.

As he tried to give Oliver a flying kick, he backed to avoid and smacked him across the face with his bow, staggering him away.

Scarecrow fired his toxin at Frank but he avoided as the man swung an axe on him. Frank grabbed both of his hands and the two wrestled before Frank head-butted him, staggering him back.

As he swung his axe, Frank ducked to avoid before avoiding another spray of his toxin. Before he could fire again, Frank shot the sprayer on his hand, shattering it.

"NO!" Scarecrow said angrily before Frank shot his other hand, disarming him of his axe. He then shot him on the foot, making him fall down.

Frank then took out a hammer.

"N-no, please!" Scarecrow begged. The master of fear was now feeling fear himself.

The headline of Karen's death flashed through Frank's head and with an angry roar, he smashed Scarecrow's face and throat with the hammer, finally killing him as blood splattered on his face, clothes and the ground.

Hush kicked Oliver away in a rotatory motion and tried to kick his neck but Oliver avoided. As he tried to smack Hush with his bow, he ducked to avoid and kicked him away.

Pinning Oliver to the wall, Hush took out a knife and whispered, "Hush. Go to sleep."

With a snarl, Oliver took out a fletchette and stabbed Hush in the chest, making him stagger back in shock and pain as he coughed blood and fell down dead.

Matt avoided another charge from the huge man before hitting his foot hard with his club, making him roar in pain.

As he tried to attack again, Matt flipped away to avoid and fired two projectiles which hit his kneecaps. They were both laced with a toxin which weakened the man and knocked him out.

As his entire upper body was too durable for some reason, they couldn't kill him and walked away to the next floor.

This time, they were not confronted by three opponents but rather a single one. He was a hulking man, standing over all three of them by at least a few feet. He was heavily built and had a blond mane that reached his mid back. He smiled, revealing his sharp teeth.

With a roar, he charged at them but they all rolled away to avoid. As they got up, he tried to slash Matt with his claws but he flipped away to avoid.

Oliver smacked him on the face with his bow but he was barely affected. With a roar, he lifted Oliver up and slammed him to the ground.

Matt leapt on top of him and held him in a chokehold with his club. The two struggled violently for a few seconds before the man rammed his back into a wall along with Matt who grunted in pain.

He then threw Matt off him and roared again. Oliver fired an arrow and it hit him in the chest. But to their shock, he ripped it out and broke it into two while his wound faded and disappeared.

Frank took out a grenade and threw it at him. It exploded near his feet, sending him flying off by a few feet. As he tried to get up, Oliver fired an arrow. It hit him in the chest and exploded, sending him down again. Matt then fired a projectile and it hit him, spreading the toxin in his body. He was out for now.

"Let's go before he wakes up." Oliver said and the two nodded before walking up to the next floor.

And this time, they were confronted by none other than Richard Dragon himself.

"So the three of you made it this far." He said mockingly with a smirk as he started pacing around and doing gestures with his hands, "You know, I never thought you would reach up till here while being totally intact. Those people you beat are some of the most dangerous killers in the world. It's a pleasant surprise for me. So I have decided, I like you lot. And that is why, I am going to enjoy this fight. And I will make sure you all have the time of your lives before you lose it."

And with that, he got into fighting pose, "Now I avenge my master."

"Master?" Matt questioned, "What master are you talking about?"

"The one you killed." Dragon snarled and Matt realized who he was talking about, "His name was Itto Yamura. He was called the Blue Talon. And you killed him."

"So that's why you did all this?" Oliver asked in disgust, "To avenge a man who was content in letting thousands of innocents die to serve an agenda? And you used a baby of all things to have your revenge?"

"The idea wasn't mine." Dragon said, "But I have carried it out beautifully."

Having heard enough, Frank fired at him but he flipped to avoid. Doing some flips, he kicked the gun out of Frank's hands before kicking him away.

As Matt tried to attack, he got flip kicked away too. He tried to get up but Dragon kicked him down before pinning Oliver to the wall and punching and kneeing him a few times.

Lifting him up, Dragon slammed him to the floor, only to receive a kick from Matt as Oliver got back up. Matt then punched him twice while Oliver followed by upper cutting him with his bow, staggering him back.

As he punched both of them away, Frank suddenly leapt at him and kicked him away. He then walked towards him, only to have his feet swept from under him.

Before Dragon could attack him again, Oliver fired an arrow at him. He caught it before it hit him but exploded on his face, sending him down.

As he got up, Matt flip kicked him twice before being caught in a chokehold. As the two struggled, Matt elbowed him thrice before Dragon slammed both of them onto the floor.

Pushing Matt off him, he got up, only to barely avoid a smack from Oliver's bow. As he dodged again, Oliver kicked his knee in a rotatory motion, sending him down. He then hit him with his bow, making him fall down.

As he moved further towards him, Dragon kicked him away and got up with a flip before flip kicking him away.

Matt caught him from behind in a chokehold and the two struggled violently as Oliver threw a fletchette at him. Dragon avoided it and Matt managed to barely avoid it too.

As Oliver tried to notch an arrow, Dragon leapt up and kicked the bow out of his hands before elbowing Matt and flipping him over his shoulder. He then kicked Matt on the face before kicking Oliver away with a leap.

That moment, Frank swung a knife at him and he avoided it. He avoided a few more strikes before grabbing Frank's hand and disarming him of the knife, taking it for himself.

In a rotatory motion, he kicked Frank away and raised the knife, only to be disarmed by an arrow from Oliver. As he turned to him, Matt hit him on the head with his club.

He turned around and tried to strike Matt who dodged and divided his club into sticks, hitting Dragon on the face in a rotatory motion before Oliver hit him on the back with his bow.

Roaring with rage, Dragon leapt into the air and kicked both of them away into different directions. Frank tried to kick him but he dodged and kicked Frank towards the wall.

Grabbing Frank by the throat, he tried to choke him, only for Frank to punch him hard on the face, making him stagger back as he spit out a wad of blood. Before he could recover, Frank punched him again and his face was bloodied a little.

That was when Dragon realized that Frank was wearing knuckles. Before he could attack again, Matt flip kicked him from behind, sending him to the ground.

He kicked Matt away and got up with a flip, only to take an arrow to the shoulder. Oliver had chosen that precise moment to fire his arrow, knowing Dragon won't be able to dodge it.

That moment, Matt swept his feet from under him. He roared and punched Matt, only for Frank to pull him away and give him two punches on the face with his knuckles on, bloodying his face. Dragon got out of Frank's grip in a rotatory motion and elbowed him twice before flipping him over his shoulder.

As he moved towards him, Frank punched him on the foot and he roared in pain as he fell down. Getting up, Frank punched him on the face again, sending him down.

"Can't beat a classic." He smirked.

As he tried to get up, Oliver kicked him away from behind while Matt punched him on the chest, sending him back.

Before, he could recover, a gunshot rang out and Dragon swayed for a second as the bullet got scorched on his forehead before falling down, finally dead.

Frank lowered his pistol and the three panted heavily, the exhaustion from all the fights finally catching up with them.

"This is not over." Matt finally said as the three straightened, "Let's go."

The three then walked up the stairs to the final floor and stood in front of the door. With a roar, Matt kicked it open.

There was one small table in the center of the room with a chair near it, turned the other way. A man's outline was visible, sitting on it.

"Show yourself." Oliver commanded.

The man in the chair turned, "So finally, you have made it here, to the end of all this."

That voice! No! It couldn't be! It was impossible!

The man got up, revealing himself to be a huge, bald person, wearing a white suit.

"I did not think you would be able to reach this point before driving yourself mad, Mr. Murdock." The man said as he came into view, shocking both Oliver and Frank, "But the three of you are the most impressive people I have ever seen."

The three were too shocked to speak. After a few seconds, Matt broke the silence.

"Fisk?"

Chapter Text

Wilson Fisk marched forwards, a triumphant look on his face as Matt, Oliver and Frank had shocked looks on their faces.

"Hello, Mr. Murdock." Fisk smirked, "So this path has finally led you to me."

"How did you get out?" Matt asked frantically, "And how do you know who I am?"

"That, Mr. Murdock, is a long story." Fisk said.

"You look like you have a lot of time." Oliver said.

"All right then." Fisk said as he started pacing around, "Almost a year ago-"

Almost a year ago

Fisk was working out in the prison gym. He was lifting up some weights when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his head and fell to his knees. The guards rushed to his aid as he passed out.

Later, Fisk listened with a pale face as the doctor told him his prognosis, "Mr. Fisk, I'm afraid the prognosis isn't what we were hoping for."

Now

"I had brain tumor." Fisk revealed, "And it was inoperable. I was given a maximum of little more than a year to live."

"So they let you out?" Matt asked.

"No." Fisk said, "I was given some time to think about what I wanted."

Almost a year ago

Wilson Fisk sat alone in his cell, brooding. He thought that he would get out and have his revenge on everyone before ruling the city with Vanessa. But now, with the tumor, he wouldn't last long even if he did everything. He won't have peace.

Suddenly, the lights flickered and in front of him stood an archer in a black suit. He had a mask to cover his face.

"Who are you?" asked Fisk.

"Mr. Fisk." said the archer, "I have a proposal for you."

"What kind of proposal?" Fisk asked him.

"First of all, I was sorry to hear about your tumor." He said and Fisk was shocked.

"How do you know that?" Fisk asked.

"A magician never reveals his tricks, Mr. Fisk." The archer said before saying, "I am here to give you a little help with your revenge."

"There is no point." Fisk said to him, "I am going to die. What will I gain from my vengeance?"

"Satisfaction, Mr. Fisk." The archer said, "You have been thinking big for a long time. But now, think small. If you know exactly who your enemies are, you can have your revenge, get out of this place, and be with the one you love."

"Even if I get out of here, it would take too long to take my revenge." Fisk said, "Daredevil is a man behind a mask. I don't know who he is. He is a nuisance."

"I know something about him no one else knows." The archer said, "And I am going to tell you."

"What?" Fisk asked in anticipation for what was coming. The archer took a deep breath, to make the moment more intense before he decided to speak.

"Matt Murdock and Daredevil are the same." He said.

Fisk's eyes widened in shock but he regained composure as he realized it made some sense, even though Matt was blind.

And in that moment, he made a decision.

With a deep breath, he said, "Thank you."

The archer told him, "If you're going out, take him with you."

"Why're you telling me this?" Fisk asked.

"Because he was a nuisance to me too." The archer said.

The lights flickered again and the archer was gone.

Now

"Who was this magician?" Oliver asked.

"I don't know." Fisk said, "But I am thankful to him."

"So how did you get out then?" Frank asked him.

"In spite of being in prison, I have a lot of resources at my disposal." Fisk told him, "And as you know, Mr. Castle, I controlled the prison. The inmates, the guards, everything. With my resources, I managed to threaten the higher-ups in the government and they let me out secretly. On paper, I am still in prison but actually, I am free."

"So you have been planning this for a long time." Matt snarled.

"Yes, Mr. Murdock." Fisk agreed, "After getting out, I researched everything about you. Everything!"

As the three listened, Fisk said, "And so, I started planning your undoing. Based on what I found out about you, I decided using your religion against you was the best approach."

A week ago

Matt picked up the crucifix Dragon had left and held it out in his hand.

Now

"The crucifix, huh?" Matt said.

"Yes, Mr. Murdock." Fisk said, "The crucifix."

"For someone who is dying, you have a lot of time for petty grudges." Oliver said.

"THEY ARE NOT PETTY GRUDGES!" Fisk roared before pointing at Matt, "HE TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!"

Calming himself down, Fisk started narrating, "And after the stage had been set, all I needed were some players. Like your poor Gwyneth. So young and misguided."

"The girl with the baby?" Matt asked and Fisk nodded.

"She too was raised in a faith." Fisk said before continuing, "A faith I was able to use to my advantage in deceiving the youngster with Dr. Jonathan Crane's help when I had her abducted, drugged and artificially inseminated."

The three were shocked on hearing that.

"Can you imagine that in this day and age of wonder and science, she actually believed her pregnancy was divine?" Fisk asked incredulously before continuing, "Before her parents could order a blood test or investigate the matter further after the child's birth, I hired some of the more ruthless local thugs to carry out my own personal slaughter of the innocents."

A week ago

Two thugs stabbed Gwyneth's parents to death while she hid in the backyard with her baby, tears in her eyes.

Now

"And then, with Dr. Crane's help, I fed their daughter hallucinogenic imagery that pointed her in your direction and sealed your fate, Mr. Murdock." Fisk revealed to their shock.

A week ago

Gwyneth was standing in the middle of beautiful green pastures. Wherever she turned, there was lush green grass, illuminated by the bright sunlight.

She then felt an unnatural glow directed towards her and looked up, only to shield her eyes from the sight. The glow was too bright for her to look comfortably. But it still had a warm, comforting quality to it.

She believed she was having a divine vision when in reality it was just hallucinogenic imagery. Her eyes still closed, Gwyneth muttered, "Thank you… Lord."

Now

"While her fate was sealed when I had no further use for her character." Fisk revealed to their horror.

Few days ago

Gwyneth lay dead with some bullet wounds in her body. Fisk's men dug up a hole in the forest and buried her in it.

Now

Matt shook with rage on hearing that and snarled at Fisk with clutched fists.

"Then there was Lydia McKenzie, the would-be actress with an insatiable drug problem." Fisk revealed with a smirk and the three were shocked.

Lydia was an actress?

"A fix or two a day, and she'd tell your associate, Franklin Nelson, anything I needed that sold her as a would-be, high society divorcee." Fisk revealed to their shock before continuing, "It was no great task, slipping a portion of Dr. Crane's hallucinogen in Nelson's drink, that'd insure he saw a side of Lydia that didn't quite exist."

Few days ago

Foggy and Lydia were in the latter's bed, kissing at each other hungrily, lost in their passion. For a moment, Lydia pulled away and turned the other way.

"Lydia?" Foggy called out breathlessly.

And then she turned to him and Foggy was numb with horror. It wasn't Lydia anymore. It wasn't a human. It was a disgusting, inhuman monster with large teeth and an abnormally long tongue.

Its skin was green and it had claws in place of fingernails. The thing started licking Foggy's face and he screamed in pure terror as his mind caught up with him. It clawed at his face too, making a few minor scratches.

And then, it got out of the bed and ran to the window. Before Foggy could even move a muscle, the thing jumped through the window, shattering it into pieces.

Recovering himself, Foggy slowly walked towards the window and looked down-

To see Lydia McKenzie- dead on the ground!

People had gathered around her, murmuring amongst themselves.

Now

"And with my resources, I saw to it that Lydia ceased to exist for the world." Fisk said and they realized he had faked her death.

"During this time, I investigated your role in stopping the Undertaking, Mr. Murdock." Fisk said, "And I found out about Itto Yamura. The Blue Talon."

The night of the Undertaking

Matt snapped Yamura's neck and his lifeless body fell on the ground.

Now

"And then, I tracked his most formidable disciple, Richard Dragon." Fisk told them, "Dragon jumped at the chance to avenge his master. So he carried out the plan. He became the face of the plan."

Few days ago

"My name is Richard Dragon." Dragon said as he introduced himself to Matt.

Now

"And then, I decided to target you through your old lady love." Fisk revealed to Matt's shock.

Few days ago

Karen hugged Matt tightly and then dropped a bombshell, "Matt….. I have AIDS!"

Now

"I threatened her doctor and so he faked her HIV diagnosis." Fisk revealed and everyone in the room was shocked, "It's amazing, isn't it? Her own one reckless choice did more to convince her she was riddled with disease than the doctor. Maybe she was HIV positive, maybe she wasn't. You'd at least think she'd get a second opinion. Didn't really matter in the end, did it? The maniac, Floyd Lawton, whom I sent to toy with you further saw to it that the next doctor she'd see-"

Two days ago

Lawton threw Matt's own club at him but Karen jumped in the way and took the blow, dying in Matt's arms.

Now

"-was the coroner." Fisk finished.

Matt and Frank snarled at him angrily while Oliver glared at him.

"WHERE IS LAWTON?!" Frank roared at Fisk.

"I do not know, Mr. Castle. He did his job, got his cut and I sent him off." Fisk said calmly as Frank fumed in anger.

"And I thought to make you believe too that this was something divine. So with Dr. Crane's help, I posed as Baal to try to convince you of it. Of course it didn't work out." Fisk said.

Few days ago

Fisk posed as Baal with the help of a speaker and a voice modulator, talking to a drugged Matt until he threw his sticks. One stick broke the voice modulator. The other one broke the speaker.

Now

"But in the end, you have finally reached me here." Fisk said, "With a combination of trickery, lies, deception, religious beliefs and hallucinogens, the grotesque morality play that has been your life for the past week was formed."

Matt, Oliver and Frank stood still and silent, processing the information Fisk had dropped on them.

And then, Matt and Fisk started circling each other, ready to fight.

Frank raised his gun to fire at Fisk but Oliver lowered his hand. As Frank glared at him, Oliver said, "Its Matt's fight now."

Matt and Fisk then gave enraged, primal roars as they charged at each other. Matt pushed Fisk back and kicked him away.

Fisk angrily picked him up and slammed him to the ground. Grabbing him by the neck, Fisk slammed Matt to the ground twice again before punching him thrice. Matt then punched him, making him stagger away.

He then got up and gave him an uppercut before giving him another punch. He then punched a hanging light in between them. The hanging light hit Fisk with such force that he fell down.

As Fisk got up, Matt gave him a flying kick on the face, sending him back. Fisk tried to hit him but Matt ducked and punched him on the face. Fisk grabbed him by the throat and slammed him onto the table, shattering it. He then slammed Matt on the ground repeatedly.

Matt kicked Fisk away and himself rolled away. The two got up and faced each other again, circling each other.

Fisk tried to punch but Matt dodged and punched him, making him stagger back. He then punched him twice again.

Fisk then punched him, making him stagger back too. Matt recovered and gave him another punch, stunning him. With a roar, Matt punched him two more times. He then punched Fisk on the face again, stunning him.

Fisk recovered and head-butted him, making him fall down.

Matt got back up and gave Fisk a left hook before punching him down and then punched him again. Matt punched him repeatedly, making him spit out wads of blood on the wall. He then held Fisk steady with one hand and punched him more, making him spit out more blood.

After a few moments, Matt stood still before he grabbed Fisk's head with both of his hands, trying to snap it.

But at the last moment, he let go and roared loudly, taking out all his anger and frustration. Oliver smiled, knowing Matt had not let his demons control him.

Fisk raised his hands and gloated, "I have hurt you badly. I have taken from you a lot you hold dear. I have spilled innocent blood in your name. Do it! Kill me!"

"You." Matt said as he pointed at Fisk, "You want me to kill you."

"No prison can keep me." Fisk gloated, "You know that. Come on, kill me!"

"No!" Matt yelled back as he stood within inches of Fisk's face, "God knows I want to, but you don't get to destroy who I am. You will go back to prison, and you will live the rest of your miserable life in a cage, knowing you'll never have Vanessa, that this city rejected you. It beat you. I BEAT YOU!"

Turning around, Matt started walking away, "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction. You think you can break me? You're a joke now. You have lost your edge, Wilson. Now give me the baby and let's end this."

"A joke?" Fisk questioned in disbelief, "But I nearly drove you insane."

"You drugged me and killed people. There's no talent in that." Matt said, "Just savagery."

"But I made your life a living hell!" Fisk snapped.

"You think you did. But two of my enemies made my life worse than you ever dead." Matt said as he thought of Nobu and Yamura.

"What?" Fisk asked.

"Like I said, you're just a joke now. You were much more threatening in your first year." Matt said as Fisk glared at him, "You think you've spun some sort of grand swan song epic? Think again! You've just told yet another tale of a man endeavoring to drive his arch-nemesis insane. You're too worthless to kill."

Matt could have killed him right there. But with only a few carefully chosen words, he had taken Fisk's life.

"Where's the baby?" Matt then asked.

With a sigh, Fisk said, "She is in the room behind us. In a small soundproof vacuum chamber. And she is running out of oxygen. She has about 30 seconds left now."

With an angry roar, Matt punched Fisk down before the three ran to the door.

Frank shot the knob, opening it and they walked inside. The baby was there, inside the chamber. The three rushed towards it and Oliver pushed a button.

The glass came up and Matt sighed in relief as he heard the baby's internal organs and her heart rate which was still normal. Her lungs were filled with air.

Matt gently lifted her up and the three walked out-

Only to see Fisk pointing a gun at them, his heart racing.

But Matt didn't flinch.

"You're not going to want to miss this." Fisk said and they were all confused.

To their shock, Fisk moved the gun under his chin and before any of them could do anything, he pulled the trigger.

His body swayed for a second before toppling with a thud.

Wilson Fisk was dead! It was over!

"No more than the worthless piece of shit deserved." Frank said before they walked out.

They walked out of the building with the baby.

"So, you're Matt Murdock, huh?" Frank said as Matt and Oliver turned to him.

"Don't worry, I don't really care who you are. I told you that." Frank said, "Though I think I have known it deep down ever since your speech to defend me."

"You mean when you sabotaged your own defense?" Matt asked knowingly and Frank chuckled.

"So where're you going to go, Frank?" Oliver asked him.

"I'm going to go look for Floyd Lawton." Frank said, "Give him what he deserves."

He then raised his hand and Matt and Oliver shook it, "See you around, Red. Green."

"See you around, Frank." Matt said as Frank nodded at them.

He then walked off, disappearing into the shadows as Matt and Oliver stood silently with the baby, knowing it was all over now.

Chapter Text

Two days later

Wilson Fisk's suicide was all over every single news channel. The reporters were also asking questions to the government about why Fisk was out of prison without anyone knowing to the point of harassment but the government chose to remain numb on the matter.

The dead bodies of all the assassins and criminals he had employed were also all over the news, with some of them like Bane, Sportsmaster, Victor Zsasz, Hush and Scarecrow being identified. The government offices of course had yet to make any statement.

Clinton Church

"Let us pray. Lord, we gather to lay rest to your daughter, Karen. We ask that you welcome her into your heavenly kingdom, and give repose to her soul. Through Christ, our Lord, Amen."

Everyone listened to Father Lantom's speech quietly. Many had attended Karen's funeral. Ellison was among the attendees and even her estranged father was there, sobbing uncontrollably over the fact that he had never tried to make things right with her.

Oliver, John and Felicity were there too. Not for Karen but for Matt who was very broken by her death.

Matt had been up the previous night, trying to write a eulogy. But how could he possibly do Karen justice with a few pages of scribbling conceived through a veil of tears?

"I've asked Matthew Murdock, Karen's longtime friend, to say a few words about the woman we all held such a special place in our hearts for." Lantom said before calling Matt, "Mr. Murdock?"

Matt got up from his seat and slowly walked towards the podium. It felt vulgar- playing the role of a helpless blind man at the funeral of one of the few people who knew the whole truth about him. He felt like a liar.

Standing at the podium, Matt held the pages of his eulogy and said, "Hello. This may take a while. Ahem."

Putting his fingers on the paper, he started, "Um… Karen was… Karen was…"

He could speak no more than that. There were no words. He got down from the podium and walked up to her coffin. Touching it, he said softly, "I'll miss you."

Matt then walked back to his seat. There were no words.

An hour later

After the ceremony was over, Matt was walking away quietly when two familiar people called him at the same time.

"Matt?"

"Mr. Murdock?"

"Oliver." Matt said as he turned around to face him and the other person, "Hello, Peter."

"Matt…" Peter trailed off, "I don't even know where to begin."

"Oliver, Peter." Matt said, "I'm not going to be very good company right now."

"We understand." Oliver said, "But I think there are a few things we should talk about."

"Yes, there are." Matt agreed.

"Does tomorrow night sound okay?" Peter asked, "How about the usual place? Nine o' clock?"

"I'll try." Matt said simply.

As he walked off, he heard another familiar heartbeat.

"Matt!"

Matt turned around as Laurel walked up to him.

"Laurel." He said simply.

She hugged him tightly and said, "I'm sorry about Karen."

Matt hugged her back and as they broke apart, he said, "You were right. I don't think we can do this anymore. You deserve better."

With some tears in her eyes, Laurel nodded and hugged him again, "But you're still important to me."

"You're too." Matt said as he hugged her back. They broke apart and Matt walked off.

Matt returned home. There was an envelope there for him. Picking it up, he walked over to his table and took out the letter.

It smelt like…Karen.

Holding it up, he started reading it- "Matthew. By the time you read this, I hope you're about 75. Will you still be able to feel the raised ink through your aged fingertips, I wonder? One of the benefits of my WFSK package was an obscene life assurance policy. As you must know now, I have listed you as the beneficiary. Whenever you get it, if you've ever loved me, I want you to promise me that you will spend the money on yourself. Don't give it to any charities, don't pay any bills with it- spend it on something that'll make you happy but no girls, Murdock! I've got my eye on you now. Consider it a bonus for everything I've put you through- good and bad. Consider it a memorial for someone whose adult life was made stable by yours and Foggy's kindness. But mostly, consider it yours. Please, Matt- you've always done so much for me; let me do this one thing for you. Of my death, however it came, I can say only this: it was a small price to pay for having known you.

Love forever, Karen."

Almost three years ago

"Here we go." Karen said as she put a bowl of food for Matt and then took her seat with him and Foggy, "So I know it's not much in the way of repayment. But it is, um, my grandmother's recipe, and she made me promise only to serve it to my future husband."

Matt and Foggy both chuckled at that.

"You know, it's, like, filled with virtue or something." Karen joked.

"I thought I detected a whiff of virtue in there." Matt joked.

"Not that I'm complaining, but you really should be thanking the nut in the mask." Foggy pointed out.

"He's not a nut." Karen said, "I mean, he's a little weird, maybe-"

"We're just glad you're okay." Matt said and she looked at him.

"Hear, hear!" Foggy said.

"Well, if it weren't for you two, I'd still be in that cell." Karen said as she started serving both Matt and Foggy.

"Hmm." Matt said, "Job's easy when your client's innocent. All you did was tell the truth."

"Yeah, but you listened." Karen pointed out.

As Matt and Karen started eating, Foggy said, "Oh, and don't get us wrong, we're still gonna bill you. Just as soon as we figure out how to make bills."

The three laughed before Karen said, "I did notice that you could use some help around here. And I owe you. Maybe I could clean the place up a bit."

"Is this place messy?" Matt asked Foggy.

"Our firm is very prestigious and discerning, Miss Page." Foggy said in mock seriousness as he pointed at her, "Do you have any prior experience hiding electrical cords", Foggy paused to chuckle along with Matt and Karen, "Up in ceiling tiles?"

"Uh, no, but I'll work for free." Karen said.

"Yeah, you're hired." Matt said.

As Karen chuckled, Foggy said, "You just got hired!"

The three laughed happily together.

Now

Matt broke down as his head was filled with Karen's memories and put his head on the table.

"You don't owe me anything, Karen." He sobbed, "You don't owe me anything."

Ryker's Island, Next day

Foggy was led out of the prison by a cop. Oliver had tracked down Lydia McKenzie and made her confess, leading to Foggy's freedom.

"Hey, free man." Matt said.

"Hey, Matt." Foggy said in a broken voice.

"C'mon." Matt said, "I've got a car waiting."

The two walked into the car and sat inside.

"The funeral is done?" Foggy asked Matt.

"Yes." Matt said softly.

"I should have been there." Foggy said with tears in his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault, Foggy." Matt assured him.

"It doesn't matter that they cleared the charges, Matt." Foggy said as he slowly started crying, still feeling he had let Karen down by not showing up to her funeral even though it wasn't his fault, "Because they can't erase the real crime."

Foggy started sobbing as Matt pulled him into a hug to comfort him.

The Brooklyn Bridge, Later that night

Matt sat on the tower of the Brooklyn Bridge, dressed up as Daredevil, deep in thought.

"Care for a little company?"

Matt turned around as Oliver and Peter walked up to him, dressed as The Hood and Spiderman respectively.

"No offense, Oliver, but the company I care for won't really be showing up tonight. Or ever." Matt said with a sigh.

Matt and Oliver then told Peter everything that had happened in the past few days.

"I'm sorry, Matt. I know what you're going through." Peter said sincerely after they were finished as he remembered Norman Osborn throwing Gwen Stacy off the Clock Tower to her death, "It happened to me once. It was a long time ago. But not so long that I still don't think about it every time I'm trading punches with one of these egotistical maniacs. There's nothing worse than losing someone you love to the job."

"Peter is right, Matt." Oliver told him as he remembered everyone who had suffered during his five years away, "I have lost people in the last five years while trying to finish the job. And it never gets easy. It can never get easy. And every time I put on this Hood, I feel like I'm honoring them as much as I'm honoring my father."

"I've been there before too." Matt said as he remembered Elektra being impaled on her own sai by Nobu, "But when someone dies after a reckless mistake inevitably catches up with them…you learn to sleep at night I guess. Sooner or later."

"Yes, but Karen was an innocent." Oliver pointed out.

"The conclusion I have come to after the years spent doing this is that there are no innocents." Matt said, "Everyone's guilty. Even us. Especially us. Because for all the 'good' that we try to do, we can't damn the torrent of death and injustice that threatens to drown us every day. We're guilty of being bandages on leprosy. But still our hubris would have us believe that we can make a difference. Well, we didn't make any difference to Wilson Fisk."

As Oliver and Peter sat next to him on both sides, Matt said, "All the death and madness he caused- all in the name of revenge. The man ended lives- promising or otherwise- and for what? To destroy the life of just one man? What a joke. No Oliver, there are no innocents. Even in the strictest of definitions, people like the loved ones you and Peter mentioned and Karen are still guilty. They're guilty of dying and leaving us alone in this mire of solitude and misery."

As the three got up, Matt continued, "And can you blame them? Why should they hold onto life? Just to be with liars like us? That's what we are really- liars. All we offer is false hope. We tell people that by putting on these clothes and beating up chain snatchers and muggers that "It'll all be okay. We're here to stop the madness." But we're lying. Because we know we can't stop it all. There's just too much. And in the case of someone like Karen, we've damned them simply by third party association. Lunatic 'A' hates me, so in an effort to destroy me, he'd kill hero friend 'B.' It's insanity! And we're the crucial cog in the damnation machine, people like us! Because nothing good comes out of anything we do!"

Turning to Oliver and Peter, Matt asked, "Because with Fisk and all of his victims of the last week dead and buried, can you both tell me one thing- just one thing- that makes any sense in this mess whatsoever?"

"You saved that baby girl's life, Matt." Peter pointed out as he looked between Matt and Oliver, "You both did."

"Peter is right." Oliver agreed, "If there was one positive outcome in this entire mess, it was this."

Shooting a web, Peter said, "Think about it. Gotta go."

With that, Peter swung away, "See you both around."

"Well." Oliver said as he shot a grapple arrow, "Like Peter said, think about it."

He swung away too. Matt stood still for a few moments.

'Oliver. Peter.' He said in his head, 'Thank you. I owe you both one.'

Later, 1313 Avenue B, Apartment B

Matt knocked on the door and stood still for a few moments.

A few seconds later, a half dressed Natasha opened the door, "Tony…?"

She trailed off when she saw Matt and her expression turned to one of rage, "YOU!"

She punched him on the face, sending him to the ground as his glasses and stick fell off.

"Wait! Natasha!"

Natasha pressed his throat with her arm, "Psychopath! Perhaps I should extend you the same courtesy you showed me on the roof, yes! Talk fast before I sever your vocal chords!"

"F-Fisk…" Matt said hoarsely.

"That was you?" Natasha asked as she removed her arm and Matt gasped for breath.

"Yes." Matt said as Natasha got up, "I'm sorry. I have some explaining to do."

"I'd say you do indeed." Natasha said as she walked inside, "Come into my parlor."

Later

"You expect me to believe you were drugged?" Natasha asked after Matt was finished.

"Can you think of any other reason I'd attack you like that?" Matt pointed out.

"One or two." She said half seriously before saying, "I'll allow, Matthew, that perhaps whatever toxin Fisk and Dragon poisoned your logic with exacerbated your rage against me. But I think there was something there to begin with."

"Like what?" Matt asked.

"I think beneath your noble, quiet exterior, lies a heart of a man who feels betrayed by women." Natasha told him what she thought as he listened with interest, "Think about it: You were abandoned by your mother at such a young age. And when you get involved with women, they scar you terribly. With me, it was never serious enough to begin with. But Karen…" Natasha trailed off with an apologetic look at Matt, "I'm really sorry about what happened to her. She also did break your heart once. Then there was Elektra, who first tried to goad you into killing a man and then died in your arms. Not to mention Laurel, who finally got tired of the relationship due to your lifestyle."

Turning to Matt, Natasha continued, "Your romantic history leaves much to be desired, Matthew. The women you've fallen in love with haven't necessarily been angels. It has- amongst many other things- made you fragile."

"Are insinuating I'm a misogynist?" Matt asked her.

"No, Matthew." She clarified, "But I do believe that you should spend a little time doing some soul searching. Take a look at your relationships with all things distaff before you head into any future relationships. Even with me because I'm keeping my door open for you, Matthew, because I do love you. But I know that is the last thing on your mind right now."

Walking closer to him, she said, "You are one of the only men to ever touch me, Matthew. I tell you these things not to hurt you but to help you. Because someone as good as you shouldn't be alone."

Holding his face in her hands, she said, "You deserve to be loved and content and fulfilled in your personal life, because your life as Daredevil will never offer you purchase from the storm. You need a place to hang your heart at the end of the day. You need peace. But if I've ever imparted you anything, let it be this- look within yourself for peace before you look for it in me or anyone else. Because you'll only be setting us up to disappoint you."

With a smile, she asked, "Got it, Red?"

The two crashed their lips into each other in a deep passionate kiss that lasted for a few seconds before pulling apart.

"Got it, Red." Matt said with a smile as the two hugged.

"But if you ever try to cripple me again, I will put the bridge of your nose in your brain." Natasha half-threatened and half-joked.

"Yes, dear." Matt said with a laugh.

Next day

Matt stood in the graveyard and with a sigh, dropped his flowers at Karen's grave, followed by Foggy. Matt then walked up to Maggie's grave and dropped flowers there too.

"I love both of you." He whispered as he remembered both of them.

Later, Nelson and Murdock

Matt and Foggy stood in front of the building.

"So what're we doing here?" Foggy asked Matt.

"You see, Foggy", Matt started, "I'm at the end of the day, an idealistic lawyer. Which is why I became bankrupt. But recently, I got some money which I had to promise someone I'd put to selfish use. So what do you say, we get this place renovated? Nelson and Murdock?"

After a few seconds of deep thought, Foggy raised his fist into the air with a smile, "Nelson and Murdock!"

That night, Saint Vincent's Hospital

Matt and Oliver stood in front of the glass as the baby girl slept in the other side of the room. Father Lantom was with them too as he had come to get his injuries from Dragon's and Lawton's attack treated.

"Look at her." Lantom said as the three watched the baby, "After everything that's happened, she's still able to sleep."

"That's one centered infant." Matt said.

"One centering infant too." Oliver pointed out.

"Do you resent her, Matt?" Lantom asked him.

"The baby?" Matt asked.

"Yes." Lantom said, "For being at the center of everything that's happened."

"I thought about it for a while when I dropped her here after Fisk killed himself." Matt admitted, "I couldn't help thinking that Fisk put me through all that pain, and all those people had to die…and at the end of it all, the baby was nothing more than a baby. And I'm ashamed to say that for a day or two, I did resent her."

"But then I talked to some friends." Matt said as he and Oliver exchanged a knowing smile and thought of Peter too for a second, "They helped put things into perspective. And I realized that the little girl, well, she is a savior. She's my savior."

As Oliver and Lantom looked at him, Matt said, "Because of her, I can salvage some sanity from the maelstrom. Without her, I'd have lost more than I did over the past week. I'd have lost my mind, my soul…my faith. No. That little girl is definitely my savior. After everything that happened, she represented the only thing that stood between me and the abyss."

Putting his hand on the glass, Matt smiled as he heard her heartbeat, "And I'll always love her for that."

Lantom patted Matt's shoulder and said, "You're a good man, Matt. I'm proud of you. Your father and Maggie would be too."

"Has she found some parents, yet?" Oliver asked Lantom as he looked at the sleeping baby.

"Once the state found out there were no living relatives, we were able to find suitable adoptive parents in less than a day. It's a young couple in New Jersey who've been wanting a baby for quite some time." Lantom said and Matt and Oliver smiled.

"That's really great." Matt said happily, "Maybe they'll allow a few visits from her Uncle Matt."

"They do want to know what the baby's name is though." Lantom said, "Does she have one?"

"I was never told." Matt said.

"I don't think the mother had the chance to name her." Oliver said.

"Then I guess we can tell her adoptive parents that they can name her whatever they'd like." Lantom said.

"Well…Maybe I should…I mean…" Matt trailed off.

"Do you have a name you'd like to give her yourself?" Oliver asked Matt.

After some deep breaths, Matt finally said, "Karen. Her name is Karen."

Oliver and Lantom smiled as Matt stood still with a smile of his own. At that moment, Lantom wanted to tell Matt something. Something he should have told him a long time ago.

But when he turned, Matt and Oliver were gone.

"Where'd they go?"

Matt and Oliver jumped on rooftops outside, dressed as Daredevil and The Hood respectively.

"To do my work, Father." Matt said with a smile, "To do my work."

"You know what?" Oliver said to Matt, "I have been thinking for quite some time. I should fight crime outside the List more. I won't abandon the List, but I have to fight all kinds of crime equally."

"So?" Matt asked.

"I don't want to be called The Hood anymore." Oliver said.

"What do you want to be called?" Matt asked.

With a serious look, Oliver said, "I am…the Arrow."

Weeks later, unknown location

A man with one eye watched a news channel showing how the Arrow had foiled a bank robbery.

He switched off the TV and walked away, "Bask all you want in this glory, kid. But I'm coming for you. And I will take away from you everything that you hold dear."