The Marvel Knights Group presents: Iron Fist #7

WHAT HAS COME BEFORE: Danny Rand and Jessica Drew, in their search for the missing Morris Hamilton, went to see his brother, who led them to an abandoned warehouse…which proved to be a trap...

Iron Fist and the lovely Spider-Woman stand together in an abandoned factory, completely surrounded by Blacklash, Titania, Puff Adder, Rock Python, and Plant Man! Blacklash holds onto his electric whip, his hand moving slightly, as the electrical whip seems to take on a life of its own, slithering to and fro.

“Now would be a good time for you to call in those friends,” Spider-Woman comments, looking over to Iron Fist.

"Patience,” Iron Fist responds with a smile. “Patience.” He looks over at Blacklash, challengingly. “It’s not like we can’t take these clowns.”

“You’ve got way too much confidence in your abilities, Iron Fist!” Blacklash responds, cracking his whip towards Iron Fist, who leaps up in the air, narrowly avoiding the surging whip, which wraps around a metal cylinder where Iron Fist had been a split-second earlier, shattering it with the electrical energy!

“Not really,” Iron Fist responds, as he leaps through the air, landing on his hands, and flipping back up towards Blacklash, kicking him in the face and driving him back, as he ultimately lands on his feet.

Spider-Woman flies over to Titania, striking her across the face with her fist. “I don’t know what your involvement is with all of this,” Spider-Woman comments, glaring at her foe, “but you’ll go the Vault for it!”

The blow makes Titania step back a step, but otherwise has little effect on her. Spider-Woman is stunned to see Titania still standing. “Nice try, honey,” Titania returns, grabbing Spider-Woman from mid-air with a speed that surprises Spider-Woman. “But it’ll take a lot more than you to send me back to that place!” With one fluid motion, Titania throws Spider-Woman through the air, where she crashes against the far wall, causing the plaster wall to crack, as she falls to the ground!

Distracted by seeing his girlfriend possibly injured, Iron Fist is caught off-guard by Blacklash, who pulls himself up and cracks his whip across the martial arts expert’s mid-section, electrifying his body, as he throws his head back in pain.

“Where’s all your cute jabs now, blondie?” Blacklash exclaims, mockingly, as he continues to pull against his whip, keeping Iron Fist in pain, even as the other villains move in towards the stunned Iron Fist, who has fallen to his knees.

“Iron Fist!” a familiar voice calls out, as the outer wall explodes inward, causing rubble and flying debris to erupt towards the surprised villains, as Luke Cage rushes into the room. “How many times have I got to remind you to keep your eyes on things in front of you, m’man?!” As the debris flies their way, the villains duck and try to cover their heads with their arms to prevent being struck by the mortar and steel flung from Luke’s entrance.

Behind Luke, Nomad leaps into the room, kicking Puff Adder in the face, driving him back. “It looks like you were right,” Nomad calls out. “There’s much more to this operation than there seemed.” Nomad is wearing the costume that Captain America once wore, with the yellow cape flowing behind him. His hair is well-groomed, and parted to the side,

Danny, taking advantage of the distraction caused by Luke’s entrance, frees himself from the electrified whip, and staggers away from Blacklash. “Luke,” Iron Fist remarks, “you couldn’t have come soon enough!”

Blacklash, however, quickly recovers, and starts to crack his whip again at Iron Fist quickly. He lashes out, but Iron Fist ducks under the crackling whip just before it strikes his head.

“It won’t matter,” Blacklash retorts. “As soon as I get this whip around your neck, it’ll all be over…no matter who’s here to cheer you on!”

“All the more reason,” Iron Fist responds, leaping into the air, barely avoiding the cracking whip once again, even as he uses the momentum from his leap to cross the distance between himself and Blacklash, landing right in front of him, “for me to avoid that whip.”

“Shame for you though,” Blacklash returns, leaning forward and kicking Iron Fist in the stomach, surprising the martial arts expert with his speed, “that the whip isn’t my only weapon!” He sweeps his leg forward, attempting to kick Iron Fist in the head. “You’re not the only one here who knows how to fight! I started my career fighting Iron Man…and kicked his butt on more than one occasion!” However, Iron Fist arches his back, leaning his head back, narrowly avoiding the swiftly moving foot, which nearly grazes his chin regardless of his efforts.

“Not exactly what I’ve read of your battles with Iron Man!” Iron Fist responds, moving his hands forward until his two middle fingers touch, creating a steeple with his hands just under Blacklash’s calf. “One thing I’ve always read about your battles with Iron Man is who always won the fight!” With that, he jerks his hands upward, slamming into the back of Blacklash’s leg, just at the bottom of the hamstring, where it meets the knee.

The effect of Iron Fist’s strike is immediate, as a surging pain radiates up and down Blacklash’s leg, causing him to move back defensively, even as Iron Fist moves forward, crouching in a fighter’s stance, his hands raised upward.

Rock Python moves forward, as he slams his fist into the side of Luke Cage’s unsuspecting face, catching him with a blind-sided blow to his chin! The villain sneers with satisfaction, as he feels the impact of the blow, and sees Luke’s head jerk to the side under the power of his punch!

“I always knew you were a loud-mouthed punk, Cage!” Rock Python mocks, as Luke staggers back slightly before resuming his footing. “And I’ve been wanting to clean your clock for years!”

With that, Rock Python knees Luke in the stomach, doubling him over, even as he continues to sneer over at Luke, continuing to press his ill-gotten advantage on the hero for hire. “I guess you think you’re better than we are, don’t you!?” Rock Python continues to taunt Luke, as he slams his fist into the back of Luke’s head, as the hero is doubled over. “But you’re no different than we are. You get paid for what you do, same as us.”

“If it makes you feel better to think that,” Luke counters, grabbing Rock Python’s foot out of the air, even as it was headed towards his face, “then go right ahead and think it. I don’t remember being part of any of your hair-brained schemes though, Rocky. You and your Serpent pals work for a different type of client than I do. That’s why you’re here, helping a kidnapper, and I’m on the other side.”

Luke moves forward, using his upper body strength to push Rock Python back, staggering backwards. “But,” Luke counters, “don’t let your Doberman mouth get your poodle ass in trouble!”

“I’ll show you poodle…!” Rock Python rushes forward, his fist cocked and ready to strike Luke. However, Luke moves out of the way and delivers a punishing blow to Rock Python’s mid-section. The block catches the villain totally unprepared, and he doubles over, gasping for air from his solar plexus, even as he feels the cold pain of drawing breath after being struck with such force. Rock Python coughs, as he tries in vain to catch his breath.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Luke remarks, grabbing Rock Python by the back of the head, rising him forward before the villain can re-group. He slams his fist into the villain’s chin, jerking his head back, even as Luke continues to hold it in place. Luke then slams a devastating upper-cut into Rock Python’s chin, letting the villain go, as he flies through the air, slamming face-first into the outer wall. He is unconscious before he hits the wall, and his limp body slides to the floor without effort.

“I got your loud-mouth right here, punk,” Luke comments, cocking his head back challengingly, as he looks down at the unconscious Rock Python.

Nomad rushes towards Puff Adder, who turns around to face him. As he makes his way towards Puff Adder, he passes through hairline cracks in the concrete floor, where small weeds grow upwards. Nomad steps over the cracks, and the weeds go unnoticed in his determination to stop Puff Adder.

As Nomad leaps across the floor, his arms outstretched, he suddenly feels a tug on his arms and legs. The weeds, now fully grown and much larger and thicker than they were a mere moment earlier, envelope Nomad’s arms and legs, the vines splitting out and continuing to wrap around Nomad faster than he can move to free himself.

“Not so tough now, are you?” Puff Adder mocks, walking over to Nomad, who is held in mid-air by the ever-increasing vines. Behind him, in the distance, Plant Man smiles, nodding his head in satisfaction, as he gestures towards the vines.

“As soon as I get free of these weeds, you’ll see how tough I am!” Nomad returns, looking over at Puff Adder, a cocky smile on his face. “That is, if you’re man enough to stick around for that.”

“WHAT?!” Puff Adder’s anger echoes through the room, his race showing all across his face. As he seethes with rage, he moves forward, triggering a mechanism in his costume, even as “puffs” of acid shoot out from a certain spot in his costume near his face, shooting towards Nomad.

Nomad, for his part, quickly bends forward, snapping many of the vines running along his arms with a sudden thrust of his super-human strength. The “puffs” of acid shoot over his head, barely missing the back of his neck and his upper back, as they scatter across the vines holding him captive. The effect of the acidic substance is instantaneous, quickly disintegrating the vines, turning them brown and withering them so fast that Puff Adder does not even realize what has happened before the acid makes it way to the very bottom of the vines, causing the once-formidable vines to become brown, flimsy, and dead.

While all of this is taking place, Nomad makes his move. He moves both of his arms forward, quickly breaking free of the rapidly-deteriorating vines that once held him captive, a smile of satisfaction crossing his face. “I don’t know how strong those vines were,” Nomad thinks to himself, “but it would have taken some effort to completely break free of them—and I would have been a sitting duck while I was working on it.”

“I’m just glad the files on him are right,” Nomad thinks to himself, as he continues his counter-attack. “He might be strong, and deadly, but he’s not very bright!” Before Puff Adder can react, Nomad is upon him. He delivers a powerful blow across Puff Adder’s jaw, sending him staggering back. He then hits him again with a blow to the mid-section, and another blow in the same place. Nomad’s hands move so quickly that Puff Adder is unable to mount a defense to the combination of his fast punches and his super-human strength. He continues to stagger back.

Puff Adder is rocked back, barely able to maintain his footing, as Nomad continues to shower him with punches, making sure that he is unable to focus to use his growth powers. The villain’s face is jerked right, then left, by the repeated punishment administered by Nomad. Nomad finishes his foe with a powerful upper-cut that lifts him off the floor and sends him flying out of the warehouse, through the loading dock door, and onto the dusty gravel outside.

Immediately, Nomad ducks down, sensing a renewed attack from Plant Man. Large thorns shoot through the air, suddenly made venomous by Plant Man’s floral powers. The thorns narrowly miss Nomad’s head and shoulders, as he deftly ducks under them. Before they can imbed themselves on the outer wall, Nomad pulls a disc from his shirt, flinging it with a back-handed movement. The disc flies through the air, striking Plant Man in the throat. The villain’s eyes grow larger under his mask, as he gasps in vain for air, before he slinks to the ground, unconscious!

“Damn man!” Luke comments, walking over to Nomad. “Remind me not to make you mad!”

Nomad smiles in response. “You didn’t do too bad with putting down Rock Python either, fella!” he replies. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Yep,” Luke returns, looking over at the still form of Puff Adder, shaking his head. “Damn, you ugly!”

Meanwhile, Spider-Woman is getting to her feet, even as Titania walks over to her, smiling with cocky satisfaction, as she reaches out for Jessica’s hair. “You picked the wrong case to stick your nose in, girl,” Titania admonishes her. “This is one of those days that you should’ve just stayed home and popped Bon Bons into your mouth.”

Spider-Woman quickly turns on her side, as her hair quickly flows out of the way of Titania’s hand. “I hate to disappoint you,” Spider-Woman retorts, shooting bio-electric energy from her fingertips, striking Titania in the face and surprising her with the blast, “but I’m not the sofa and Bon Bon type!”

Titania staggers back, holding her hands across her eyes, as they adjust to the sudden flash from the bio-electric blast, and her face aches with the surge of energy that she just experienced.

Spider-Woman gets to her feet, taking advantage of Titania’s condition, slamming her fist into Titania’s mid-section, doubling her over, as Titania lets out a loud “UGGH!” “It looks like maybe you should follow your own advice!” Spider-Woman counters, as she hits the still-stunned Titania again, this time across the right side of her cheek.

Titania starts to regain her sight, and leans back, barely avoiding another powerful blow from Spider-Woman. She reaches out with her left arm, grabbing Spider-Woman’s right fist, as she continues her swing downward. She then jerks forward, slamming her fist into Spider-Woman’s mid-section, doubling her over and making her take two involuntary steps back, as she coughs from the sudden loss of air.

“You softies amaze me,” Titania scoffs, as she slams her fist across the back of Spider-Woman’s head, knocking her down to her knees. “You put on some spandex, get some powers, and you think you know how to fight.” She then slams her knee into Spider-Woman’s chin, driving her back. Spider-Woman barely manages to catch herself on her palms, as she bends backwards, trying to stay off the ground. “I was scrapping when you were going to your debutante balls.”

Spider-Woman quickly leans forward, putting up her forward, blocking Titania’s next blow, as she tries to shake off the punishment that her foe has been administering. “I didn’t get invited to many debutante balls,” Spider-Woman responds. “I was too busy learning how to be a master spy.”

Blacklash moves forward, avoiding Iron Fist’s next blow, even as he turns quickly and delivers an elbow to Iron fist’s side, causing him to flinch from the surprise of the attack. However, he takes a step forward, twisting his body around to block Blacklash’s next blow with his forearm.

Iron Fist then leaps over his foe, coming down behind him. As he does so, he slams the sides of his hands down on Blacklash’s shoulders, just at where they meet with the neck. Blacklash rears his head back in pain and frustration, but Iron Fist’s hands are already moving again. They strike again on either side of Blacklash, just below his rib cage, in a series of fast strikes!

“It looks like the others are doing well,” he thinks to himself, as he quickly scans the area. “I need to put Blacklash down so that I can help Jessica and get back to where we were…”

Before he can complete his train of thought, however, he is distracted by the feel of an object around his right calf. As he looks down, he sees that Blacklash’s whip has coiled around his right calf.

Blacklash smiles, facing away from Iron Fist, even as he jerks his wrist, causing the whip to coil tighter around Iron Fist’s leg. Tapping the whip handle, it surges with electricity, causing Iron Fist to throw his head back with pain, as the energy forces its way through his body!

As Iron Fist is distracted by the pain, Blacklash quickly turns around, moving his body with speed. As he does she, he bends his arm, and pulls back quickly, ducking as Iron Fist is flung over his shoulders and flung across the room.

“I’ve got to admit,” Blacklash offers, as he looks across the room at Iron Fist, who is even now getting to his feet, using his right hand to push himself off the wall, “you know how to fight. If you had any powers, you might be dangerous.”

Iron Fist can’t resist a smile at the comment about his lack of powers, but now is not the time to use them. He leaps across the distance between them, his foot heading straight for Blacklash’s face. However, Blacklash quickly takes a step back, ducking slightly, as he puts up his forearm, blocking Iron Fist’s kick with a strike to the back of his leg, pushing it away enough to avoid being kicked.

“Those electrical charges must have slowed me down more than I thought,” Iron Fist muses to himself, even as he lands beside Blacklash. “He shouldn’t have been able to stop that move.”

Iron Fist turns around quickly, kicking Blacklash in the side, causing his body to react with a slight movement from the pain. He then extends his leg behind Blacklash, throwing him off-balance. Using this, he quickly delivers a powerful punch to Blacklash’s face, jerking his head violently to the other side, as Blacklash staggers from the intensity of the punch.

Pressing his advantage, Iron Fist delivers an elbow to his foe’s chest, then continues with a left-handed punch to his opponent’s mid-section, keeping him off-balance. “His defenses are slowing,” Iron Fist silently considers. “I need to finish him while I have the chance!”

However, before Iron Fist can press his advantage any further, he is overwhelmed by a blinding, intense light. He instinctively puts his hands over his eyes, as he staggers back, trying his best to cover up from the effect of the intense light that suddenly fills the room. He loses sight of everyone else in the room, and staggers under the blinding light, unaware of his surroundings for a moment that seems like an eternity.

As Iron Fist tries to open his eyes, he initially sees a series of shapes, amid the blur of the blinding light still filling the room. His eyes gradually become adjusted to the light, and what he sees in front of him surprises him. As he looks around, he sees Yu-Ti standing in front of him, draped in his flowing green robes and hood, with a golden dragon emblazoned across the chest of his costume.

Behind Yu-Ti is Titania, who holds a nearly unconscious Spider-Woman aloft by the front of her costume, just above her breasts, her arms dangling to her sides. Luke Cage and Nomad are encased in bubbles, floating over them, as Blacklash looks over at Iron Fist with contempt, his whip moving slightly with the movement of his arms. On Yu-Ti’s other side is Charlie Hamilton, dressed in a suit.

“We meet again, Iron Fist,” Yu-Ti remarks. “I knew that you would discover my involvement in this soon enough. And now, it is time to remove you from my affairs…permanently!”

TO BE CONTINUED!

MARTIAL MISSIVES

With this issue, I bring back a well-known foe from Iron Fist’s past, a ruler of K’unn L’unn named Yu-Ti. Yu-Ti is said to be immortal, due to eating from the tree of life. He is also skilled in the martial arts, but is well-known mainly for his schemes—often involving Iron Fist.

Although the initial story arc is nearing its end, there will be plenty more in store for Iron Fist. I hope everyone enjoys the appearances of Nomad (Danny’s business partner) and Luke Cage. Look for more from them in the future, of course, as well as other guest stars throughout this series.

As always, I look forward to any comments, suggestions, or questions. They can be addressed to me at earth2jsa@yahoo.com.

-Jeff Melton