"Damn it!"
Wade shouted and charged forward without thinking, with Blade right behind him. The others reacted a second later and rushed after them toward the center of the square. Dust still rolled across the ruined ground in thin gray sheets, but when they reached the blast zone, there was nothing there.
No bodies. No blood. No broken armor.
Nothing.
Wade spun in circles, searching wildly, and the look in his eyes slowly turned blank. "Did they both get wiped out together?" he muttered. "There's not even a damn bone left."
He crouched, scooped up a handful of ash, and stared at it for a moment as if trying to force an answer out of it. After a few seconds, he stuffed the ash into his pocket with surprising solemnity and muttered under his breath, "My friend… you were a real hero."
Blade's expression was ugly too, but unlike Wade, he couldn't quite believe it. Something about the whole thing felt off. That guy had caused too many miracles, pulled too many insane reversals, and survived too many impossible situations for it to end this cleanly.
Far away, Nick Fury saw the scene through the monitor and practically sprang out of his chair.
Damn it.
Black Wolf Spider, you son of a bitch…
Nice work.
The excitement flashing through him lasted only a second before he forced his face back into something grave and professional. His tone turned solemn as he spoke into the comms. "Everyone, although we've lost Iron Man, the mission must continue for the safety of New York. Don't worry. In the name of S.H.I.E.L.D., I guarantee he'll receive a proper burial."
He paused, then drove the order home. "Now move in. Enter the building, capture the members of the Hand, and end this disaster once and for all."
The people in the square looked at each other, their emotions all over the place. In the end, Natasha was the first to speak. Her face was tight, but her voice was steady. "He's right. The enemy hasn't been wiped out yet."
Wade gave a cold snort, his grief twisting instantly into rage. "Let me make one thing clear. I'm not doing this for some noble cause or for a bunch of random civilians. Iron Man might've been a bastard, but he was my bastard. I'm going in there to avenge him."
With that, he stormed toward the building in a fury, and Blade followed without saying a word. In the distance, Wesley's eyes were a little red as he glanced toward Fox. "Fox, are we going in too?"
Fox never took his eyes off the scope. "No. We're staying here."
"But—"
"That's an order."
He lay flat on the rooftop, watching the square and the building through his sniper scope with a face that looked almost indifferent. It was the kind of expression that gave nothing away, but it was too still, too controlled.
Down below, Wade had only just stepped into the lobby when a dark blur flashed in front of him. In the next instant, a size-fifty-eight boot was stamped across his face like a seal pressed into paper.
"Faaack—!"
He screamed as he was launched backward and tumbled across the ground. Everyone behind him froze on the spot. The figure now standing in the entrance was dressed in red, but there was nothing human left in the way he looked.
Black energy coiled around his body. His eyes had gone completely dark, and black veins crawled across his face like living cracks. He looked less like a man and more like a devil wearing one.
Barton had chased the Devil of Hell's Kitchen before. He knew this man. And precisely because he knew him, the sight made his scalp prickle. He sucked in a breath and said, almost disbelievingly, "Daredevil?"
Blade's eyes widened too. He couldn't understand how Daredevil had turned into something like this.
Wade, sprawled on the ground, scrambled up in a fury and charged again. "I don't care if you're Daredevil or the actual Devil," he barked. "You ugly bastard, you're scaring the kids. Move!"
He slashed forward with both swords, pouncing with all the speed he had. The two blades drove straight into Daredevil's chest with a wet, ugly sound.
Everyone was stunned.
When the hell had Wade gotten strong enough to land something like that so cleanly?
But Wade himself was the first to realize something was terribly wrong. When he tried to yank the blades back out, they didn't move at all. No matter how hard he pulled, they were stuck like they'd been welded inside the body.
Daredevil looked down at the swords buried in his chest and didn't even grunt. Then he slowly tilted his head, those pitch-black eyes locking onto Wade in eerie silence.
Wade's anger faltered into confusion. "Huh? This is new."
The next moment, he got kicked again.
His body flew backward a second time, and the two swords remained lodged in Daredevil's chest. Within seconds, the portions buried in his body began to hiss and darken as though they'd been plunged into some horrific acid. The metal corroded rapidly, and then, with a sharp clang, both blades snapped and dropped to the floor in ruined pieces.
Everyone sucked in a cold breath.
Even Fury felt lightheaded watching from afar. For the first time in a while, a single desperate thought rose clearly in his mind.
Iron Man, where the hell are you? Get back here.
But Rex Viper had never turned to ash.
A few minutes earlier, when the thunderstorm had detonated and everyone on the surface lost their vision, he had taken advantage of the blinding flash to haul the unconscious Black Wolf Spider straight into the sewer beneath the square. There was a manhole in the center of the plaza, and with everyone stunned and half-blind, no one noticed him vanish below.
Once he dropped into the tunnel, the main passage was too narrow to move easily, so he dragged the Black Wolf Spider several steps deeper until he reached a slightly wider section. Waiting for him there were Nine Spiders and David, along with everything they had prepared in advance.
A large insulated metal drum stood nearby, tall enough to swallow a person whole. Beside it sat several tanks of liquid nitrogen.
This was the special execution method he had set aside for the most valuable target in tonight's hunt. One hundred and ninety-six degrees below zero. Clean. Brutal. Crisp.
For a gold-tier prey, it felt appropriate.
He had changed into David's shirt and pants by now, though the look in his eyes was still full of resentment. First, he bound the Black Wolf Spider tightly, then shocked him awake with a burst of electricity. Once the man regained consciousness, Nine Spiders stepped forward without hesitation and began injecting him with a cocktail of toxins.
Some caused agony. Some caused unbearable itching. Some drove excitement. Some induced hallucinations.
The exact mix didn't matter. The goal was simple: stir his emotions, agitate his mind, and drive up the emotional value as far as possible.
Under the combined effects of all those poisons, the Black Wolf Spider's willpower finally cracked. His eyes went wild, his expression twisted, and little by little he began sliding into madness. When Rex judged that the timing was right, he shoved him straight into the metal drum filled with liquid nitrogen and sealed the lid shut.
Then he turned to Nine Spiders and said calmly, "Let's go meet the chief planner of this little summoning party. Ms. Alexandra."
David stopped him before he could move off. "Uh… boss, things aren't looking great up there."
Rex frowned. "What happened?"
David held up the small monitor in his hand. On the screen, the team led by Natasha, Blade, and Barton was being beaten badly. "After turning demonic, Daredevil got ridiculously strong. The people above can't hold out much longer."
Rex waved a hand dismissively. "Relax. There are real heroes up there. They can survive a little longer."
Then he added, as if remembering something unimportant, "Also, tell Fox and the others to keep an eye on Wade and Blade."
David only shrugged. He didn't argue.
Rex and Nine Spiders continued deeper into the sewer, moving another few dozen meters before she finally stopped and pointed ahead. "I measured it over the past few days. There's only one wall between this point and the second basement level of the financial building."
Rex nodded and stepped forward. A few heavy punches later, the wall caved in.
On the other side lay the second underground floor of the Midtown Financial Building, where the summoning ceremony had just taken place. The altar was still there, though it was empty now, stripped of the dramatic menace it had carried minutes before. Neither of them spared it more than a glance.
They walked straight past.
Nine Spiders held several instruments in her hands, adjusting and checking them as she measured direction. Soon she confirmed what she wanted, and Rex stepped up again. Another series of punches broke through the structure ahead, and an elevator shaft appeared in front of him.
Below it stretched a pitch-black corridor.
Rex knew exactly what lay beneath that darkness.
This was where the bones of Manhattan were buried.
Ever since he'd learned that the remaining Fingers of the Hand intended to summon a devil, something about the whole thing had bothered him. He had already killed two Fingers himself. Were the remaining three really so loyal that they would go to this much trouble just to avenge them?
No chance.
Those old monsters didn't have that kind of loyalty in their hearts.
Which meant the entire "summon a demon for revenge" story was suspicious from the start. It wasn't until he learned that the ritual was being held beneath the Midtown Financial Building that everything snapped into place.
The real target of the Five Fingers had never been revenge.
It had always been the dragon bones.
The so-called demonic summoning was just a smokescreen, a way to paralyze their enemies, divert attention, and keep everyone focused on the wrong threat. The Five Fingers had been scheming from the beginning, but Rex had been scheming too.
This time, he was the one striking from behind.
....
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