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PART TWO: THREE HEROES
IRON FIST
As Peter Parker's house fell down all around them and the entire city block was surrounded by emergency personnel and uniformed police, the giant was calmly and methodically taking apart The Thing. Two of the policemen were conferring together. "Jeez, man, look at that big guy move," the first cop commented. "He's like greased lightning."
"Or a snake," the second cop agreed. "What are we waiting for? He's gonna kill the rocky guy from the FF if we don't move in."
"We gotta wait until we get a fire truck with a longer hose. We've had two ladder engines come in and he's managed to blow them up. Sent a few really good guys, friends o' mine, to the hospital already."
"How's that?" the second cop wanted to know.
The first cop shook his head, as if not believing the words that were going to come out of his mouth. "Well, believe it or not, this guy here can breathe fire, on top of everything else."
The second cop looked at him to see if he was pulling his leg. "You kidding me?"
"Wish I was."
"Holy shit."
"Holy hot boiling shit, brother."
The two cops were manning a defensive line, trying to make sure nobody got to close to the scene of devastation. There was a crowd of people milling around near the line, helicopters were flying overhead (not too close, they saw what the giant did to the fire engines).
A slender athletic-looking blonde man approached the officers.
"Can I help you there, buddy?" one of the cops challenged.
"I have to put an end to this," the man, who looked to be in his twenties, said calmly.
"We all wish we could stop it," the cop said sympathetically. "But we gotta wait until we get more firepower, or until one of them other super-types come in to give us a hand."
"Look at him," the man pointed. "Does he look like he can afford to wait for help?"
Both of the cops knew that there was a good chance that The Thing was going to be beaten to death before help could arrive. They took a look at the scene beyond the caution tape. The giant in the blue and white costume was towering over the FF member, ready to deliver the coup de grace. They only took their eyes off the blonde guy for a second, but just that quickly he had slipped beneath the tape and was running towards the two combatants.
"Heaven help him," the second cop said.
The first cop, who had seen his share of the marvels at work, took stock of how fast the young guy moved, noticed the strange outfit he wore (very similar to the big guy's outfit), and wondered if he would need heaven's help. "Heaven help one of 'em," he said, "that's for sure."
Ben Grimm was down on one knee, his rocky exterior cracked, and in a few places he was bleeding. He was battered but unbowed. He glared at the unknown attacker through his one unswollen eye. "I don't know who you are…" he gasped. "I don't know why you attacked Pete and me…but when I get my second wind going, you're going to be in a world o' trouble, let me tell ya." The Thing managed to get up on both feet.
"You want to know who I am, rock-man?" the giant mocked. "I'll tell you I AM THE DRAGON-SLAYER!" He bellowed. He clenched his hands together and raised them overhead for a devastating blow. "And I have come to set the world alight!" The giant brought his doubled fists down in a deadly arc towards Ben Grimm.
Instead of coming down on the Thing, the blow met nothing but air, throwing the giant off-balance for a second. "What!?"
That second was all that was needed. "Consider me your Mute button," said a new voice. Taking advantage of the larger man's unbalanced position, Iron Fist brought a heavy hammerhand punch up into the man's solar plexus, knocking the breath out of him. Then he chopped at the man's neck, spun around and kicked him in the side to keep him off-balance. He took a moment to make sure that Ben Grimm was going to make it and directed him to head towards where the police and ambulances were waiting. "Take Peter with you," he said. "I can do better here if I don't have to worry about either of you two getting hurt."
Looking at the disparity in their sizes was deceptive. Ben Grimm had seen Iron Fist fight - he knew the big man didn't stand a chance. He took the unconscious Peter in his arms.
The brief time Danny Rand had taken to make sure his two friends were okay was all it took for the man calling himself Dragonslayer needed to recover. He smiled at Iron Fist. "So, my plan worked. I flushed you out of hiding."
"I wasn't hiding. All you had to do was call for me." He waved his hand to indicate the scene of destruction. "You didn't have to be so … dramatic."
The two men circled each other, looking for weakness.
"Ah, but drama is the spice of life." His grin broadened. "I knew if I attacked your known companions, that would bring you from wherever you were. I read about this man Peter Parker in the papers. They were even kind enough to print his address."
K'Un Lun was much simpler, Iron Fist thought wryly. Privacy and decorum were a way of life. He sighed. Life in the modern world.
Iron Fist did not let his turbulent thoughts rise to cloud his judgment. He stayed silent, gauging the giant's defenses. He thought he knew who was behind the mask, but he didn't voice his suspicion. Instead, he waited for the inevitable attack.
The larger man pitched forward suddenly. At the same moment, he threw an arcing over-the-body punch with his right hand, while his left came up in a short powerful snap. It was a masterful move, simultaneously using his height and weight advantage in a frontal assault, while simultaneously cutting off many of his smaller opponent's means of retreat. The giant's uppercut didn't have quite the snap he would have liked, however, as his blow was somehow checked in its momentum.
"Hey baldy, anybody ever tell you to pick on guys your own size?"
Both Iron Fist and Dragonslayer looked around at the newest entry into the fray.
SPIDER-MAN
The hero in blue and red saw Iron Fist and took a bow. He straightened up, and addressed the warrior in purple and green. "How's about a two-fer, Too-tall? Today's Tueday, after all. Let's say me and green genes over there as a replacement team for the two you caught unawares back there?" Spider-Man said, referring to the injured Peter Parker and Thing.
"It makes no difference to me," the giant said, tearing Spidey's webs from his left hand. "There could be two of you, or two hundred -- My goal remains the same..." The giant darted foreward, looking to grasp Spider-Man in a crushing bear hug. Spidey punched upward at his chin, checking the big man's momentum. Dragonslayer wung back on his haunches and kicked up powerfully. As Spidey tried to dodge the kick, the giant's huge right fist came down and caught him with a spine-crunching blow to the body.
Spider-man came down in a heap. With imposing speed, Dragonslayer was almost on top of Spidey when, with an impossible burst of energy and matchless agility, Iron Fist came out of nowhere to insert himself between the giant and his intended victim. He used his speed and the unexpectedness of his attack to use the bigger man's speed and bulk against him. Iron Fist grabbed the giant's belt, swung him around and over his feet, tripping him and moving him away from Spider-Man.
"I know you, thunderer, no matter what you may call yourself now in the world of men." Iron Fist said, as he pressed his attack. He aimed two quick blows to the bigger man's head. One connected, one missed wildly as Dragonslayer adapted to his attack.
While still down on the ground, Dragonslayer swept his left leg outward, tumbled right, away from the burning wreckage of the house, where he had more room to maneuver.
It was as he was recovering his feet, that Dragonslayer responded to his younger nemesis. "Well you should recognize me, whelp. Are you not comforted, knowing that you will not die alone here in the noisome city? That one of your true family is here with you at your death?"
Daniel Rand stood up straighter. His attack on the giant became more precise, controlled; more vicious. "No, thunderer," Iron Fist said evenly, biting off each syllable. "I am not comforted."
The two men exchanged blows. Thunderer and hero. Dragonslayer and dragon-chested. Giant versus warrior. The one's blows were powereful, destructive; the other, graceful and deadly.
"You are holding back," Dragonslayer accused, circling his foe.
""I do not need the heart of the dragon to dispatch you," Iron Fist responded contemptuously.
"We shall see about that...whelp!" The thunderer advanced, ayell in his throat, when suddenly he choked. He began to cough and gasp. His advance slowed. A look, first confused, then suddenly panicked, spread across his face. He began to stuble. Iron Fist was confused by the turn of events util he saw a familiar red and blue garbed figure dart out from behind Dragonslayer. It was only then that Iron Fist noticed the plugs of webbing Spider-Man had inserted deftly into the giant's nose. He saw Spidey draw a patch across the giant's mouth. Two more shots and Dragonslayer's eyes were covered as well. He wasn' t letting up, either.
"Excuse me," Iron Fist heard Spider-Man say, "I don't think we finished our dance earlier. What's that? Cat got your tongue? Oh well... nighty night."
With that, Spider-man swung down with his fist's doubled on Dragonslayer's head. The combination of the blow and the lack of oxygen, knocked the bigger man out.
Spider-Man brushed his hands together. "Good riddance to bad rubbish!"
There was a commotion at the barricades. Spidey and the K'Un Lun Kid both turned to look. There were some familiar faces there. One of them, college student aged young man, looked righteously indignant as he yelled at a cop."You can't keep from me going over there -- that's my HOUSE that's burning!"
THE THING
The man with him was unmistakable. The ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing locked eyes with Iron Fist and Spidey. He broke one of the barricades and pushed past the officers, dragging Peter Parker in tow. "Come now, Petey. Thank the nice officers and make our way to the house guests who came by to save our bacon."
Iron Fist looked at Peter Parker and the Thing with some relief. The two of them were among the few contacts he had made. He was glad to see they had survived their encounter with their mysterious oversized enemy.
But while Danny Rand had nothing but eyes for his two acquaintances, Spider-Man had nothing but eyes for Iron Fist. As the other two joined them, Spider-Man spoke up. He spoke to Iron Fist. "Well, are you going to tell us what the connection is between you two, or what?"
"Hey, back off, webhead," Ben Grimm growled. "Who's to say he knows any more than we do?" he said, defending Iron Fist.
"Oh, please, Thing," Spider-Man said sarcastically. "Stop being so willingly blind." He pointed at their unconscious foe, pointed at Iron Fist. "They've got the same uniforms, and in case you didn't notice, those aren't off the rack styles they're wearing."
The man in the green and yellow ceremonial garb looked abashed. "He's right," Iron Fist affirmed. "So is Parker. Both of these giants -- the killer that Meachum had waiting for us, and this man here -- come from the same place I did. They were known as the Pillars of K'Un Lun. At those times when the realm of Shamballa and this one intersect, they do so for a number of days. I left K'Un Lun on the first day. These two might have left on any of the days of the days that followed during the intersection period. I know that they were in K'Un Lun up until the day that I left. When they came out here, why or for whom, I don't know, but that led to the reason I came out here in the first place." He turned to Peter Parker. "I have a proposition for you."
EPILOGUE: THREE GOODBYES
Daniel Rand was going back to K'Un Lun. Normally Iron Fist would not have been able to hope to gain access to the mystical realm of Shamballa until the next time both planes intersected, but he figured that if both Triple Iron and Dragonslayer had somehow managed to travel between the realms, then he was going to see if he could uncover the secret as well.
Both Peter and Ben looked at the departing plane with sadness in their hearts. They had all become an important part of each others' new lives. Now two of them were gone. First Spider-Man, now Iron Fist.
Peter Parker turned away from the window in the airport, where Danny Rand's airplane was even now moving away from the terminal, getting ready to take its place in line to take off into the sky. Peter had a lot to think about. Danny's leaving had put him in a difficult place, albeit one that most people would be envious of. But having been named executor of Rand's estate, he was going to have to get used to the fact that his life of anonymity and near-poverty were going to be behind him. Coupled with the fact that he was just an average joe after having spent so many years as Spider-Man, it was a difficult transition. No longer a superhero, no longer a photographer, no longer Aunt May's nephew or even a resident of Queens, who WAS he?
Ben turned from the window to look at Peter. "I know what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm going to rebuild the Fantastic Four. Wanna join?"
4 Last issue (back)
Coming Next Issue
Join us next month for Part One of "The Return Of The Fantastic Four!" In which Ben Grimm goes a courtin', the issue of who exactly will be Spider-Man get resolved, and an old ally returns. See ya then, pilgrim!
Author's Note
It was refreshing to breathe life back into characters I'd been living with for the past couple of years. This story begins to touch on a plotline I'd been wanting to write since Michael Sacal and I were in the midst of the Omniverse at War storyline a year and a half ago.
As for these guys, and a certain group of neglected World's Greatest Heroes, I have some stories left to tell. I'm glad I've allowed myself the opportunity to do so.
Gregory H, EiC Omni 1 and 2
Writer, Heroes For Hire, Challengers of the Unknown (Omni)
Writer, Silver Surfer (Marvel Dark Design)
Co-Writer, Defenders (Marvel 2000)