New York, an abandoned underground distillery.
The air was a mix of mold and disinfectant.
Luke Cage blocked the only door with his body.
Danny Rand vigilantly surveyed the dilapidated iron stairs and walkways around them.
Jessica Jones placed the unconscious Elektra on an old canvas-covered workbench, not particularly gently.
Matt Murdock leaned against the damp brick wall and slowly slid to the floor.
The sharp pain in his back made almost every breath an agony.
He had at least three broken ribs and internal organ damage.
But all his senses were focused on the direction of the workbench.
He could hear Elektra's heartbeat, faint but steady.
He could smell the lingering scent of laboratory chemicals on her.
He could also "see" the outline of her body, so familiar yet so strange, in the darkness.
They succeeded.
The cost was heavy, but they got her out.
"Danny, where's White?"
Luke Cage was a bit confused; in his impression, White always followed Iron Fist, but now at this critical moment, he was nowhere to be found.
"He left a few days ago, said he was going to find his brother. I heard his brother was imprisoned. By the way, Matt, have there been any prison cases recently?"
"Something's wrong."
Jessica's voice broke their conversation.
Danny and Luke both looked over.
"What do you mean?"
Danny walked to the workbench, "Is she injured?"
"Not that kind of injury."
Jessica didn't explain further. She reached out and pushed aside Elektra's black hair scattered on the back of her neck.
On that pale skin, an ugly, long-healed brand clearly appeared.
That wasn't The Hand's tattoo.
It was a skull, connected below by several twisted, octopus-like tentacles.
HYDRA.
Danny's pupils contracted slightly.
Although he had spent many years in K'un-Lun, he was not unfamiliar with this notorious organization.
Luke Cage frowned. He stepped forward, his tall frame casting a shadow.
"Damn it, what is this?"
"Literally."
Jessica released her hand, letting the black hair cover the mark again, "Our trouble just doubled."
"The Hand… HYDRA…"
Danny muttered, "How could these two organizations…"
"Who cares how they could!"
Luke's voice held a suppressed anger, "The key is, whose person is this we have on our hands right now?"
His words were like a needle, piercing the delicate balance in the room.
They broke into Kingpin's territory, stole The Hand's ultimate weapon, only to find that this weapon also bore HYDRA's factory tag.
This wasn't a favor owed.
This was poking two hornet's nests and then carrying the hornet's nests home.
"Let her go."
Matt's voice came from the corner, hoarse, yet undeniable.
He struggled, supported himself against the wall, and slowly walked towards the workbench, step by step.
With every step, the wound on his back brought a tearing pain.
"Matt, you should rest."
Luke tried to help him.
"I said, let her go."
Matt pushed Luke's hand away. He walked to the workbench, extended his trembling fingertips, and gently pushed aside Elektra's hair.
His fingers traced the outline of the brand.
Skull, tentacles.
The uneven, rough texture, through his fingertips, constructed an incredibly clear, incredibly evil shape in his mind.
A chill deeper than the injury on his back spread from his heart.
He thought he understood Elektra's past, her pain and darkness.
He thought she was swallowed by the mire of The Hand.
Now he realized that before she fell into that mire, she might have already been marked by another, deeper abyss.
"This changes nothing."
Matt spoke, his voice very soft, "She was forced. Whether it was The Hand, or… this."
"Changes nothing?"
Jessica scoffed, "Are you kidding me, Murdock? This changes everything."
She crossed her arms, took a step back, distancing herself from the workbench.
"I promised William to help you steal a person from Kingpin, not steal an asset from HYDRA. Do you understand the difference between the two?"
"That's not an asset, she's a person!"
Matt's emotions finally fluctuated.
"Is she?"
Jessica retorted.
"A person transformed into a living weapon by The Hand, and branded with HYDRA's mark? You tell me, how much of 'human' is left in her?"
Jessica's words were cruel, but realistic.
Danny and Luke fell silent.
They were all people who had seen life and death, crime and evil on the streets.
They could understand Matt's emotions, but they understood even more what Jessica's words meant.
This was not a romantic drama of a hero saving the damsel.
This was a war between two, or even more, evil organizations that had already dragged all of them into it.
And they were standing in the eye of the storm.
Just then, Danny's phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.
It was an unknown encrypted number.
Danny hesitated for a moment, then answered, pressing the speakerphone.
What came through the phone was William Rodriguez's perpetually calm voice.
"It seems your backstage adventure was very successful. Congratulations."
"You knew all along?"
Danny's tone was sharp.
"Knew what? Knew that Mr. Daredevil's plan was brilliant, or knew that you would encounter a small 'surprise'?"
William's voice paused.
"I am just a consultant for an insurance company, Mr. Rand. I am responsible for assessing risks and providing information. As for how clients use the information, and what kind of subsequent claims it will lead to, that is beyond my scope of business."
"Stop with the nonsense!"
Luke roared, "What else do you know?"
There was a few seconds of silence on the other end, as if assessing their current emotional state.
"Alright, in consideration of your exceeding the mission, here's a free after-sales message."
William's voice became a bit more serious.
"The Hand and HYDRA had a brief honeymoon period after World War II. They shared some resources, attempting to create a 'perfect soldier' that could merge mysticism with biotechnology. This project was codenamed 'chimera'."
chimera.
The word made everyone present feel a sense of unease.
"The project failed. Or rather, they claimed it failed," William continued to state.
"Now it seems they merely hid the test subjects. And Elektra Natchios is very likely this generation's 'chimera'."
"Kingpin wanted to activate The Hand's power within her, which is the 'black sky'. But what he didn't know, or couldn't handle, was the equally hidden… HYDRA part within her."
"You interrupted the 'black sky' activation process, which is like forcibly restarting a computer with a dual operating system. One system is forced to shut down, and the other system… is very likely to start automatically."
No sooner had William finished speaking.
On the workbench, Elektra, who had been unconscious, suddenly twitched a finger.
Everyone's gaze instantly focused on her.
Her eyelids were fluttering, as if she was struggling to break free from a deep nightmare.
Matt stepped forward, reaching out, wanting to hold her hand.
"Don't touch her!"
Jessica's voice rang out at the same time.
But it was too late.
Elektra's eyes snapped open.
They were not human eyes.
Hollow, cold, without any focus, like two bottomless cold pools.
Her lips moved, but what she uttered was not English, nor any language familiar to her.
Instead, it was a string of perfectly pronounced, clear German words.
"Longing."
Her body suddenly stiffened, and a killing intent, completely different from "black sky", filled with coldness and a sense of order, erupted from within her.
"Rusted."
She flipped off the table, moving with incredible speed, dodging Matt's hand, and landed steadily a few meters away with a backflip.
She scanned the four people around her, her gaze like she was examining four inanimate objects.
"Seventeen."
Matt's heart sank to the bottom.
This wasn't Elektra.
"Daybreak."
"Furnace."
"Nine."
With each word she uttered, the aura around her intensified.
"Mercy."
"Homecoming."
"One."
When the last word was spoken.
She looked at Matt, tilting her head, as if identifying a target.
"Freight car."
The moment the words fell, she moved.
She didn't rush towards Luke or Danny, who were closest to her.
Her target was terrifyingly clear.
It was the man who had just tried to touch her, wearing a red suit, and whose aura was the weakest.
Elektra had, at some unknown moment, acquired a surgical blade removed from an instrument, and the blade went straight for Matt Murdock's throat.
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