Punisher was the first to burst into the room...
The Browning pistol in his hand roared with deafening gunfire, muzzle flashes lighting up the darkness as bullets shattered the floor-to-ceiling windows, scattering glass fragments everywhere.
The high-end liquor cabinet by the wall was caught in the crossfire, torn apart by the relentless barrage. Bottles of premium imported spirits exploded into shards, their contents (Scotch whisky, tequila, vodka, champagne) mingling into a chaotic pool on the floor.
The air immediately thickened with the intoxicating scent of alcohol...
The bullets sliced through everything in their path like a razor-sharp blade. Punisher knew all too well how dangerous this opponent was.
Unlike the usual gang leaders, thugs, or corrupt businessmen he had dealt with before, this man was an enigma... operating from the shadows, silently eliminating the Hand's leaders and purging any gangs that refused to submit, turning Hell's Kitchen into his personal hunting ground.
This self-proclaimed "King" was far more tyrannical than the late Kingpin had ever been. Anyone who refused to bow to his will was mercilessly erased.
A man like this could plunge Hell's Kitchen into darkness once more.
Punisher discarded the empty Browning pistol. The reason he had unleashed such overwhelming firepower the moment he entered was to seize the initiative. The gap between him and his opponent was too vast, he couldn't afford to give the man even a single opening.
The moment the gunfire ceased, a shadowy figure darted out from the darkness. Punisher didn't seem surprised... he had anticipated this.
In one swift motion, he grabbed the M16 assault rifle slung across his back, switching it to full-auto mode. A torrent of bullets erupted from the barrel like a dragon's fiery breath, roaring toward the charging figure.
But what shocked Punisher was that the man didn't dodge. Instead, he charged straight into the hail of bullets. A faint golden glow enveloped his body like flowing water, and the deadly projectiles that were capable of tearing through flesh suddenly slowed, as if trapped in viscous air.
Even to Punisher's naked eye, the bullets' trajectories became visible, as though time itself had slowed... though this was merely an illusion.
In truth, the bullets were being halted by an invisible barrier, their kinetic energy dissipating before they could reach their target.
*Clink, clink, clink!*
The spent rounds clattered harmlessly to the floor. Before Punisher could react, the golden-veiled figure was already upon him...
A heavy fist slammed into his abdomen with a dull thud, like a sandbag being struck.
Agony exploded through his body. Even a hardened warrior like the Punisher couldn't suppress a pained grunt. He forced his head up, his vision clearing just enough to make out the man before him...
A tall figure with short black hair, his face half-concealed by a tactical mask, revealing only a pair of abyssal eyes.
A cold chuckle, like the biting winds of Siberia, echoed in the air. Then, with terrifying ease, the man lifted Punisher (a man built like a grizzly bear) with one hand and hurled him like a weapon straight into Daredevil, who had just rushed in behind him.
In less than thirty seconds, Hell's Kitchen's vigilantes had already lost one member.
"Who's next? Or do you all want to come at me together?" Sean's voice was calm, almost bored.
To someone who had mastered even basic energy manipulation, these so-called heroes posed no threat at all.
Even bullets couldn't harm him now. With his enhanced muscle density and regenerative abilities, unless he was hit head-on by heavy artillery and blown to pieces, conventional firearms were useless...
"Give Elektra back to me!" Daredevil snarled, his rage palpable.
This was why he had stormed the Hand's headquarters again... he couldn't stand by and watch this monster drag Elektra deeper into the abyss.
Sean shook his head in amusement, "How touching, Murdock. But it seems Elektra isn't very appreciative of your devotion."
These street-level heroes had outlived their usefulness. They couldn't earn him more points, nor were they a force he could control.
This time, he wouldn't hold back.
Before Daredevil could retort, Sean moved. Like a shadow loosed from a bowstring, he closed the distance in an instant, his fist cutting through the air with brutal force!
"Your injuries healed nicely, Murdock." The mocking words reached Daredevil's ears just as he instinctively swung his billy club.
The metal weapon was caught mid-air, trapped in an iron grip that refused to yield.
Seeing Daredevil in danger, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage charged in. The superhumanly strong private investigator ripped a door off its hinges as if it were paper and swung it down with crushing force!
"No coordination at all."
Sean twisted Daredevil's arm with a sickening...
*Crack!*
...ignoring the man's agonized roar, then used him as a human shield against Jessica's devastating strike.
The battered and broken Daredevil collapsed to the ground, his arm hanging uselessly at his side before Sean kicked him away, sending him crashing into the wall.
Seeing two of his allies taken down in seconds, Luke Cage charged like an enraged bull, "You son of a b*tch!"
The man's body was bulletproof, his strength far beyond human limits. Dressed in a yellow jacket straight out of an '80s rock band, his muscles bulged like boulders, exuding the aura of an unstoppable force, kind of like Schwarzenegger stepping out of 'The Terminator'...
"I heard you're unbreakable..." Golden light condensed around Sean's fist as he met Luke's charge head-on. The impact was like punching solid steel.
*BANG!*
The two men recoiled. Sean took a single step back, while Luke staggered, shaking his head as if he'd just run face-first into a titanium wall. His entire body buzzed with numbness, something he had never experienced before.
Luke Cage had always relied on his unbreakable skin and superhuman endurance. He could punch through four-inch-thick steel plates. But his opponent matched him in raw power, and surpassed him in defense and regeneration...
As Jessica and Iron Fist (Danny Rand) joined the fray, Sean's eyes remained cold.
He summoned the surging energy within him, his foot slamming down with such force that the floor beneath him cracked like a spiderweb before collapsing entirely!
Luke barely had time to react before a devastating uppercut sent him reeling. Then, a searing red beam erupted from Sean's palm like a laser blade and sliced into Luke's supposedly impenetrable skin.
For the first time in years, Luke Cage knew pain...
A guttural roar tore from his throat as blood sprayed from his chest, the crimson beam carving a deep, bone-exposing wound.
"Disappointing..." Sean sent Luke flying with a final blow, then glanced at the clock on the wall.
Only five minutes had passed since the street-level heroes had stormed in...