Chapter 4
Elektra regained her stamina, grabbing her swords and rushing forwards. Myk threw a hand out, causing the swords to get so hot, they started to melt. Elektra held on for a moment, until the hot liquid began to drip onto her hand, causing her to let them fall to the ground, eyes settling on Myk and rushing forward, pulling out a smaller sword, from the sheath on her back.
Myk’s eyes widened, as Danny jumped in front and threw a punch- that Elektra blocked with ease. Jessica then came from the side, punching Elektra, sending her flying into a wall.
Just then, someone came crashing through the roof, baton in hand, tackling Luke to the ground, attempting to stab him, as Luke threw him off, the man changed his target, leaping towards Matt. Matt blocked his attack, before throwing a kick.
But it all changed when suddenly, a group of masked individuals entered, raising guns.
“Get down!” Myk yelled, as everyone dove to the sides of the room, as the group opened fire. Myk hid behind the table, their frame being coated in a pale, icy layer. Myk opened their eyes, looking down at their hand. They quickly looked to Jessica and Danny, who were trying to make their way out of the line of sight via the ground.
From the back of a room, a fish tank broke sending water pouring over the floor. Myk used it, pulling it closer, until suddenly, a sheet of ice protruded from the floor, the top half being hit with bullets. “Who are these people?” Jessica called over the noise of bullets.
“They want Danny,” Stick replied. Myk tried to close their eyes, focus on the clicking noise, but before they could do anything else, there was a different, harsher click, before the rest stopped. Myk peered their eyes over the table, seeing an older woman, with a cane, walk into the room.
“We want him alive,” the woman said, as more people rushed in from the back. The six got up quickly, moving back to back as they began to be surrounded. Myk quickly waved a hand, removing the layer of ice from their body.
“We work together,” Stick said, “we walk out of here alive.”
“Yeah, easy dub. Yep,” Myk said, laughing nervously. Suddenly, Matt struck, hitting the person in front of him and throwing him out of the way, causing a yell of protest from Stick. Matt ran forward, tackling Elektra and taking her out towards the back hallway.
And suddenly, it was chaos. Everyone began throwing punches at each other, throwing them across the room. Myk focused more on ducking, locking a few people to the ground in ice-cuffs. Stick and his sword moved across the room, before getting tackled to the ground and stabbing someone in the shoulder.
“Where’s Matt?” Danny called, kicking someone away.
“Doesn’t matter. Stay with me!” Stick ordered. Myk let out a grunt, throwing an attempted punch at the man in front of her- the one who fell through the roof. He caught it, twisting their arm back, and kicking them in the knee. Myk let out a noise of pain, as Jessica came from behind and kicked him in the back. He staggered for a moment, before Jessica came forward and punched him, sending him towards the back exit. She held out a hand for Myk to take, who nodded and took their hand, getting up and shaking out their arm. The two stood took on the rest head to head, one distracting and the other knocking the opponent to the ground, out of the way, until Jessica quickly ran towards the exit, having seen Luke get kicked into the street out of the corner of her eye.
Myk kicked the last person that was after the duo to the ground, trusting Stick to handle his own fight, running towards where they heard Danny get pushed. They bashed into the door once, hitting someone with said door on the way into the hall. Jessica and Stick appeared, not far behind going after the older woman as Myk threw someone off of Danny.
“Let’s go kid,” Stick said, slicing someone's throat, earning a noise of distress from Myk. “I said, lets go,” he said, pushing Myk and Danny through the back door, to where Matt was, Jessica taking up the back.
“Where’s Luke?” Danny asked as they entered the back lot, left with Matt standing in the center alone, and someone off to the side, picking themselves off the floor and rushing off.
“They took him,” Jessica said, as Stick made a comment about more being on the way. “Not for long,” she said, pushing a dumpster on its side and ramming it against the door.
“Hold on,” Myk said running a hand, almost along the side of the dumpster, creating a thick, icy pole that wrapped into the asphalt and the walls, locking the dumpster in like a ribbon. “Don’t know how long it’ll hold for, but hopefully it will help.
By the time they were done, the others were left in front of a sewer hole. Myk ran over to join them, hearing Stick say, “Smells like shit, but its the only way out.”
“Fuck it,” Myk said, ushering Stick to jump down. “Imagine its gta bois, slide down the fucking ladder already, lets do this.”
One by one, they all went down a few rungs of the ladder, before grabbing the sides and sliding down. Myk went down last, putting the manhole cover back on, and sealing it with a layer of ice, before sliding down into the darkness.
As they landed on the floor with a thud, looking around the non-lit room. “So, phone flashlights?” Myk said, pulling out their phone. “I mean, I know me, Matt, and Stick are fine, but you two,” Myk said, pointing at Jess and Danny, who were both still adjusting to the dark area, but were looking in Myk’s direction nonetheless.
“Yeah,” Jess said, “flashlights.” She pulled out her own phone, turning the flashlight on, brightening the room.
“Ewhh,” Myk said, looking at the slimy room, while waiting for their phone to boot up, everyone else just trying to avoid the smell. “Yeah, checks out that this is a sewer. Now, is it appropriate to use the maps app in this scenario, or is that a bad idea?”
“It should be fine,” Matt said, “as we’re literally in a sewer and have no idea where to go.” Myk, having their phone finally be on, turned the flashlight on and opened up the app.
“Put in the Chikara Dojo,” Danny said, “its nearby, and we can regroup there.”
“Sounds good,” Myk said, turning the volume up all the way. “Heres to hoping the sewer follows the streets.”
The group set off in the rough direction of the dojo, following the directions as best as they could while in a sewer. Danny took Myk’s phone and was up at the front, asking Stick different questions about the Chaste, and the Hand. They all went over who was who, back at the fight, for Jess and Myk’s sake. But after that, Myk, Jess, and Matt took up walking a few feet behind the two in the front, Jessica breaking the awkward silence.
“So, Malcolm? How is he doing” Jessica asked, keeping the phone pointed ahead.
Myk chuckled, “Uh, about as well as can be. Drowning himself in cases, barley sleeping, the whole nine yards.”
Jessica let out a snort. “I can’t judge. I’m doing the same thing. Last I heard, he was working for the FBI. What’s he doing back in New York?”
“Ah,” Myk said, “bit complicated. He and the FBI didn’t really get along, so he moved back home and started working for Gil at the NYPD. What about you two? I know you’re a lawyer,” they pointed to Matt, and then looked at Jessica, “What about you?”
“Private Investigator,” Jessica said, to which Myk nodded. “That’s how I got involved in this mess in the first place. Was investigating for a client, fell into this mess. Ever need to get ahold of me, just look up Alias Investigations.”
Matt pulled out his phone, handing it to Myk. “Go ahead and put your number in. I’m,” he trailed off for a moment, “Not as easy to find online, but that way we can have each others number.”
“Cool,” Myk said, typing into the phone for a moment. “Put it under Mykola.” They handed the phone back. “So, what do you guys do for fun, aside from going on long-winded adventures, trying to fight bad guys that you either have no clue about, or know the dead ones? I know I like to crochet. Or- used to.”
Jessica looked at Myk. “You crochet? I uh, used to as well. Haven’t in a while.”
Myk nodded. “Yeah, got into it about a year and a half ago. I rarely do it, aside from making gifts and stuff like that. What about you, Matt? What do you do aside from parkour and lawyering?”
“I like to read,” he said. “Both theory and being a lawyer, but also just reading stories. Just getting lost in them.”
“Didn’t take you for a reader, Murdock. Thought you were more of a throwing punches kind of guy,” Jessica said.
Myk hummed. “Books are good.” they said as they all turned a corner. “I myself don’t read theory, but I watch videos of people who’ve read said theory and explain it in a way I can understand.”
“Those are also good,” Matt said. “Sometimes, the theory can get a bit, wordy. But still good knowledge, nonetheless. Who do you watch?” he asked, as they all turned another corner, ending up at a ladder, which Stick was starting to climb, Danny handing the phone back to Myk.
“Well, there’s this guy named Hasan-” Myk said, starting to go off on a tangent as they all were climbing. “He’s a political commentator, really based too. He normally watches people’s videos and comments on them from a leftist perspective. Helped me learn a lot of shit that I didn’t understand before, and actually makes it fun to watch, too, that goddamn himbo. God, how would he react to this goddamn shitshow?”
They continued on about the guy, as they finally hit the surface, everyone taking in a deep breath of air. Walking up to the building that housed the dojo, everyone was looking around, trying to take note of their surroundings, to see if anyone was following. Once inside, they all rushed up the stairs, trying to avoid any other people. The five entered the dojo, startling a woman who had gloves on, punching a bag.
“Colleen,” Danny said, rushing up to her and giving her a hug. “Man am I glad to see you.”
“Danny,” Colleen replied, “Where have you been?”
“I’ll explain everything, but first, we have company,” he rushed toward the window, looking out as the rest filed in.
“Company?” she said, taking of her gloves and seeing the others come in, “Hey! Whoa! What happened?”
“I said I’d bring him back,” Stick said, sheathing his sword. Myk shut the door behind him, listening out for any footsteps.
“The Hand attacked us,” he said, looking out the window, hands on the sill. “They took Luke.”
“And how do you know they didn’t follow you here?” She asked, rushing to join Danny at the window.
“We’re clear,” Matt said.
“I don’t hear anyone either,” Myk added.
“What are you on about?” Colleen asked.
“We can’t stay long. They’ll find us eventually.”
“We can’t just keep running forever,” Danny said, rushing toward the back room.
“I’m not running, period” Jessica affirmed, glancing back at Myk.
“My company owns a building not far from here. We should go there.” Danny offered.
“Like I was saying,” Jessica continued, “we don’t need another hideout, we need for this to be over, that’s all.”
Matt scoffed, moving around the room. “You’re oversimplifying it.”
“Oh am I? Or am I the only one of us who isn’t in this for a cheap thrill?” she said accusingly.
“I mean, I’d definitely rather not be doing this, that’s for sure” Myk said, moving back from foot to foot. “We’ve already crossed like a hundred different lines already. I’m only here cause I have to be.”
“I mean, that is true,” Jessica said, looking over at Myk, before turning her gaze to Matt. “But, the last time we did have a plan, this one, left us to fight that chick in the spandex, his ex-girlfriend or whoever she was.”
“Her name is Elektra,” Matt said, voice taking a low tone. “They did something to her. She could’ve killed me- twice, but she didn’t. She’s still in there.”
“Matty,” Stick said, “Elektra’s gone. You need to get ready, because when it comes down to it, I’m sure as hell gonna take her down, and they will too,” he pointed at the rest of the group.
There was a loud noise from out in the hall, and the door swung open a moment later. “Wait, guys” Myk said as Colleen picked up a sword, “It’s Luke.”
The door swung open, revealing a battered Luke, holding a bloody rag. “Luke? Are you okay?”
He smiled at them. “Better than fine,” he said, leading the group out the hallway and down the stairs, to a van parked outside. He opened up the back, revealing Sowande. “I got one of theirs.”