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“Lay down and die, whelp!” Chiantang commanded. His teeth were bared, the saliva oozing down off of his tongue and spilling onto the floor like acid. In his full dragon form, the monstrous villain towered over Luke Cage, making him seem like a mouse in comparison. “I’ll crush your bones into paste.”

“Ain’t been a sucka yet that could make good on that threat, ugly,” Cage countered.

The resilient hero stood his ground even though he knew it was pointless. As far as he knew all his teammates were dead and he was the only one left standing. The fact that Chiantang had so easily manipulated them all into walking right smack into the center of his domain was enough to rattle him…but he wasn’t about to give up. Additionally he had been able to overpower the Master, even going so far as to use his own methods as a way to draw them in. Chiantang was definitely no lightweight.

Grabbing a handful of gravel from the smashed pillar he had been tossed through, Cage launched the rocks at his foe. The jagged gravel tore into the Black Dragon like buckshot, imbedding itself in the monster’s skin thanks to Cage’s impressive strength.

Chiantang, instead of roaring in defiance like Cage expected, simply shook the gravel out and wiped away the blood. “You forget, human,” he said, “I am no mere commoner. I am a practitioner of the Art, as all my kind are to some degree or another.”

Rims of energy rippled over the fresh wounds, sealing them instantly. The spell took a good deal of his concentration, but given that Cage wasn’t able to do much to harm him, Chiantang could spare the effort.

“I’m virtually immortal, you fool.”

Cage puffed out his chest and tried to steady his breathing. “We’ll see about that.”

The hero charged his opponent, running with all of his might in a last ditch effort to end the fight. In his mind he saw how he wanted things to unfold: charge the beast, get by his tail, clutch his throat, tear his damn head off. It was simply but at the same time his plan seemed like the hardest goal he ever had to accomplish.

He ran twenty feet before being blown back by a gust of wind generated by Chiantang’s massive wingspan. With two flaps of the thin extremities Cage was sent spiraling through the air and out of control. The Black Dragon chuckled deeply as he watched Luke Cage flail about across the expansive room.

The wind blew hard enough to bring tears to Cage’s eyes. A quick, cold blast from the air disrupted his vision and made him lose track of which way was up. He had no hope of landing safely.

“Relax,” a familiar voice said. “I’ve got you, Luke.”

Soft arms wrapped around his torso, righting him in the air. Energy visibly washed over him from his savior’s embrace, energy he recognized instantly. “Monica, baby,” he muttered, “I owe you one.”

“You owe me three,” Photon replied casually. “But who’s keeping track? Let’s kick this guy’s ass and go home, partner.”

Cage locked eyes with Photon for a split second before nodding. She dropped him on the ground and rocketed at her new target, allowing her body to completely shift into her energy form. Streaks of yellow light were all that was left of her as she flew into the large amphitheater.

“Holy shit,” Strider swore as he came up behind Cage. “Who is that?”

“That’s trouble,” Cage responded after catching his breath. “Where are the others?”

“Right here,” Diamond Dust answered. She caught up with her husband and placed a hand on his shoulder. She stared at the dragon batting his massive clawed fists at the energy avenger flying around him and suddenly couldn’t move. “Damn. David…we need to get you out of here.”

“What?” he replied, shocked. “Why? What are you talking about? We need to get in there and—”

“Questions later,” a metallic voice added from behind them. Cage turned to see Deathlok stalking closer to them with the support of Misty Knight. He leaned on her heavily as it appeared that his leg had been severely damaged. Colleen Wing, the modern day samurai warrior, was a half step behind them. “While I was hooked up to the Master’s systems I had a chance to download all the information on both of you.”

“Maybe this isn’t the best time,” Misty interrupted. “As much as I would like to see Monica get tossed around we need to get her some support.”

Colleen unsheathed her sword with a soft twang, letting its presence speak for her. Strider tossed an irritated look at Deathlok, a confused one at Diamond Dust, then a worried one at the fight occurring a few dozen yards ahead of him. Luke braced himself for the battle once more. Lynn adjusted her density to diamond hardness, letting her skin crystallize. Deathlok let go of Misty, who had just reloading her weapon, and held himself steady by leaning against the wall.

Like a well-oiled machine, the remnants of the Heroes For Hire jumped into action as though connected to one another. Strider reached the fray first, his speed catapulting him at the dragon. He looked up to see Photon dodging gobs of fire being spewed out from Chiantang’s mouth and could feel the heat splashing against his aura, even from the ground.

Strider zipped around the dragon’s tail, narrowly avoiding a set of claws as he cocked back his fist to throw a punch into Chiantang’s exposed stomach. His gauntlets, a vibranium composite, added to his incredible momentum and actually allowed him to puncture the dragon’s skin. Blood instantly shot onto the floor from the newly inflicted wound, coating the speedster’s arm in dark liquid.

Chiantang retaliated with his other set of claws, catching Strider off guard and knocking him away. Before he could smash his heavy tail down onto the speedster, Cage was there to catch the appendage. He clenched his teeth as he fought to keep the giant tail from crushing them both, using every once of strength at his disposal.

“Peek-a-boo,” Photon said as she flew up inches from Chiantang’s scaly face. “Time for a face full of sunlight.”

Photon’s arms glowed brilliantly as she controlled her powers, charging them with light waves similar to that of the sun. She bent the light around her body so that all of it was directed straight into the Black Dragon’s eyes and away from her teammates. The scorching energy immediately burnt Chiantang’s retinas, regardless of how tightly he held his eyelids shut.

Almost on instinct, Chiantang belted out a ball of fire. The flames caught Photon off guard, causing her to stop the bombardment for fear of getting burned. Reverting to flesh, Monica was knocked away from one of Chiantang’s flailing arms.

Roaring, the Black Dragon clasped at his face, desperate to heal the singed tissue of his eyes and surrounding scales. His magic washed over his face, slowly regenerating the cells back into health. Within moments he was healed at the cost of a large portion of his energy. The concentration needed to retain his dragon form gone, Chiantang began to shrink and transform, his green scales losing their color and texture as he slowly began to resemble a human man once more.

“That will cost you, witch,” he said to Photon. “You’ll pay for that with your life. It matters not what form I am forced to take; I shall bathe in your blood.”

Suddenly the long blade of Colleen Wing was in Chiantang’s path. Her samurai skill allowed her to slip around the side of the dragon without much difficult, but she knew that staying alive after that would be the real challenge. She glared at her opponent, matching his menacing gaze with her own as a silent challenge for him to take one more step forward.

“You truly have been brought her by mistake,” Chiantang said. “Leave with your life, if you desire it.”

“Not a chance, asshole.”

Chiantang turned his head to see that Misty Knight had flanked him. She had her gun drawn and aimed at his head, just as Colleen had with her sword. “From what I’ve seen if we let you walk out of here there’ll be hell to pay. Can’t let that happen.”

“Miss Knight,” Chiantang spoke with an added bit of venom to the words. “I’ve known of you for some time. I see why Rand is so taken with you. Because of your presence I will enjoy slaughtering him all the—”

Colleen’s sword sliced into his flesh, rapidly tearing a chunk of skin off of his arm. Spinning around with the downward thrust, Colleen pulled the tip of her blade back up and stabbed Chiantang in his gut, pushing the blade all the way in to the hilt. Anger flashed through the dragon’s eyes, but Misty pulled her trigger three times, planting a shot in each of his eyes and one in the exact center of his head.

His neck snapped back as his hands closed around Colleen’s hands where they grasped the blade’s handle. He ignored the pain running through his nervous system and squeezed, snapping three of Colleen’s fingers with ease. The bullets he had taken to the face popped out with a sickening sound, dropping to the floor. He smiled at Misty as he twisted Colleen’s hands, breaking her wrists.

“You bastard!” Misty swore. “You’re gonna burn for that!”

“You first,” Chiantang countered.

He planted his foot on Colleen’s chest and kicked her away, the momentum from the shove enough to rip the sword out of his body. As the samurai flew through the air the dragon turned to Misty and breathed out a blast of flame, singing her hair and knocking her over. The oxygen in the air around her threatened to consume her as the breath in her own lungs was vacuumed out from the sudden combustion.

Diamond Dust arose from the floor behind Chiantang, her phasing powers allowing her to glide through the stone ground with ease. “Not after I lobotomize you, you disgusting, overgrown lizard,” she threatened.

Chiantang lashed out suddenly, clenching his human fingers around Diamond Dust’s throat. A look of extreme confusion and fear flashed across her face: he shouldn’t have been able to touch her, not while she was still intangible. The Black Dragon smiled at her, an evil and toothy grin smeared across his own face.

“Do not forget where you powers came from,” he told her. “You are my puppet.”

“Strider, don’t!” Deathlok cried.

The cyborg’s warning wasn’t quick enough. Strider, still woozy from being tossed like a rag doll, rocketed across the room and straight into Chiantang’s steel grip. The Black Dragon’s speed wasn’t on par with Strider’s, but he was prepared for the speedster to foolishly attack once he saw his lover in danger.

“It’s time I took back what should have been mine all along,” Chiantang stated coldly.

With the pair of heroes in each hand, the Black Dragon summoned the scattered portions of his power and began to withdraw the energies that lay within both Diamond Dust and Strider. Lynn, her body fluctuating rapidly between the states of matter, began to convulse uncontrollably. David, his muscles all seizing at once, began to vibrate from the penned up demonic energy that was finally able to funnel out of him.

“What’s going on?” Photon asked.

“He’s summoning the mystical power that keeps Strider and Diamond Dust going,” Deathlok answered. “When the Master had me hooked up to his systems in order to download my databanks, it was a two-way street. I was able to look at his files and discovered something disturbing about those two. They’ve been lying to us from the start.”

“Screw it,” Cage hollered as he charged forward. “They’re still on our side the last time I checked.”

Cage got within ten feet before bouncing off of an energy field that had erected around the trio. As Chiantang sucked in their very life essence he redirected the energy to protect himself. No longer weakened, the evil villain was now more powerful than before.

“Thank you,” he said as he let the pair drop to the ground. “When you both interrupted the ceremony that Casavan and I were performing in order to gain otherworldly power, I thought these mighty energies had eluded me forever. Now that you were stupid enough to fall into my hands I have which is rightfully mine.”

David rolled over onto his back, his eyes no longer glowing a brilliant blue hue as they once did, a side effect of being bonded with the demon that powered him. He opened his mouth to try and speak but lacked the ability to speak. He was exhausted and powerless, completely at the Black Dragon’s mercy.

“I see why Casavan chose this particular demon,” Chiantang commented. “It’s power is…unique. You obviously didn’t comprehend the power you held. And as for you, my dear ‘Diamond Dust,’ you stole what should have been mine directly. Whereas Casavan summoned a demon to bond with, I merely sought to steal the righteous energies of the Nevernever, a lower portion of the magic realm that would fuel my quest to find Iron Fist for all eternity. I see you also squandered it.”

Lynn lay unmoving at the villain’s feet. Her eyes were fluttering but there were no other signs of life. It appeared as though she had been cast into a deep sleep, as her chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm that suggested slumber.

“I still have no idea how you managed to interrupt our ceremony and divert the summoned powers to yourselves, but that is a question I shall let go unanswered. Now, I will take your heads and burn your bones!”

“Stand down!” a weather voice boomed out from across the great hall.

The worn H4H collectively turned to see their leader, Iron Fist, standing within the whole he had been tossed through. His body looked tired and ready to fall over exhausted, but a fire burned deep in his eyes that juxtaposed his mannerisms. It was as if Iron Fist had found a wealth of power somewhere within his very soul that allowed him to continue standing.

Chiantang studied the man he had been so desperate to defeat, slightly ashamed that he had allowed the other miscreant Heroes to distract him from accomplishing his most important goal. The feeling soon passed, immediately replaced by assurance of victory as images of his defeat over Iron Fist flooded his mind. He smiled, bringing the recently stolen power to a bright point at the end of his hands.

“You still live,” Chiantang said just loud enough for Iron Fist to hear. “Good. I was worried that the satisfaction of crushing your skull between my hands had evaded me.”

“Stand down,” Iron Fist repeated. “I give you this chance to walk away with your life. Leave me and my friends alone, or by K’un Lun I will cut out your heart to make sure it never beats again.”

“And what makes you think you’ll be able to do such a thing?”

Iron Fist’s hand began to glow a bright orange hue. Waves of power emanated profusely as the energy culminated into a shell around his closed fist. “The power of the iron fist will make you fall, dragon.”

“Don’t make me laugh,” Chiantang replied with a scoff. “Your precious technique has already failed to subdue me this day.”

“On it’s own, yes. But you made a grave mistake by knocking me through that wall.”

The rippling shell of energy around his hand began to stretch and solidify. Within moments, the legendary power under Daniel Rand’s control birthed an entirely new weapon, thought lost for ages.

“No…”

“Yes,” Iron Fist replied. “The Blade of the Dragon. I only assume you stole it when you last invaded K’un Lun. Removing it from the sacred halls of the great temple is an act worthy of death, as you well know. This ancient blade is older than even you, Chiantang, and now I know why you sought so desperately to usurp my power.”

Chiantang smiled. “You cannot wield it, Rand. Its power will destroy you. It was meant to add to the technique you so carelessly waste on trivial matters. Even the masters of your retched city were afraid to use its power. What makes you think you can hold it against me, especially now that I’ve reabsorbed my stolen power?”

Iron Fist returned the devilish smile with one of his own as the sword finished forming into a silver blade, its handle in the shape of a dragon’s head. “You’ll see in a moment, dragon.”

With that challenge, Chiantang leapt over the unmoving forms of Strider and Diamond Dust, his own glowing hands lashing out at Iron Fist in a series complex martial arts movements. Appendages flew back and forth with lightning speed as Chiantang pressed his advance, forcing Iron Fist to take a few steps back as he narrowly avoided each attack.

“Danny!” Luke Cage called out.

“We’re in no shape to help him,” Deathlok said. “Chiantang’s wiped the floor with us already. Daniel is the only one that has a chance to take the bastard down. Save your strength in case we need to give one last push.”

Photon and Misty both looked on in dismay as the man they had shared intimate moments with fought not only for his own life, but theirs as well. He looked charged, as if the sword now glistening in his hand had provided him with a second and third wind. He kept up with the Black Dragon, not allowing any of his attacks to connect with him.

The magical energy at Chiantang’s command bounced off of the sword as Iron Fist deflected his attacks. “You speak of blasphemy,” the dragon said. “What will your masters in the sacred city think of you absorbing the sword into your body?”

“Better than letting you take it,” Iron Fist shot back. “The sword magnifies the iron fist, and it is now a part of me just as you intended to make it part of you. You’ll never have it now unless you kill me.”

“That will soon come to pass, human!”

“This ends now!”

Chiantang kicked for Danny’s head, but he ducked under the move just in time, quickly countering with a strike of his own. With an upward thrust, Iron Fist sliced into his foe with the mystical Blade of the Dragon, cutting into Chiantang’s body with ease. The energy burst forth as the blade touched the dragon’s flesh and Danny felt more powerful than he had ever felt before. Power flowed freely from the center of his chest, down his arm, through the blade, and into the Black Dragon. The intense energy assault cauterized the gaping wound as the tip of the blade passed through, finally coming free from Chiantang’s head.

Iron Fist had cut the Black Dragon completely in half vertically. The two pieces of the villain’s body slid apart from one another, the internal organs and fluids trapped behind walls of burnt flesh. Smoke billowed off of the once proud villain’s body as its parts fell to the floor, dead.

Cage stumbled over to his longtime friend and partner, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Christmas…” was all he could manage to say. He had seen his friend in action many times over the years but never with such ferocity.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked after taking in a deep breath.

“Yeah…yeah, I’m cool. Are you?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ll be just fine now.”

The Blade of the Dragon began to glow once more, although this time the energy was much softer and easier on the eyes. Reverting to an energy form, its blade slowly shrank down until it was completely gone, swallowed up by Iron Fist’s open hand. The blade as a part of him now, in tune with his very soul.

“Let’s go home, bro,” Cage muttered.

Iron Fist nodded, feeling the rush of adrenaline finally start to leave him. He had undergone severe trials to attain the power he had come to take for granted, but now that the Blade of the Dragon had entered the equation, he felt like he had just started an entirely new journey. He looked at Luke, then to Misty, Colleen, and all the others, realizing that things would never be the same again.