As Luke Cage spoke, a woman with long black hair, wearing a black jacket, jeans, and a grey shirt, appeared behind Kingpin. It was unclear exactly when she had arrived.
Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones stood in a triangular formation, their eyes locked onto Kingpin. He had been guided toward the center of the rooftop while attempting to close the distance with Daredevil.
"Looking for trouble with me?" Kingpin chuckled in surprise. His voice remained deep and deceptively kind. "Where did you three spring from? I've never heard of you, and I'm quite certain I haven't offended you."
"A week ago," Luke Cage said.
"A week ago?" Kingpin's brow furrowed. "Manhattan was suffering through a dinosaur invasion back then. Don't tell me you're primitives from that prehistoric world."
Daredevil stepped forward, the two sections of his billy club snapping together with a sharp click to form a staff.
As the staff whistled through the air in a defensive flourish, Kingpin quickly tossed his cane aside and raised his hands.
"Before we resort to violence, we can talk about whatever it is you want, can't we? At the very least, let me know where you come from."
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones exchanged a look. "You're half right, Kingpin," Jessica said.
Kingpin gestured toward Jessica with a massive palm—one nearly the size of a normal man's head—in an invitation to continue. "Go on."
"The fact that we've become what we are now is indeed related to the dinosaur invasion, but we aren't primitives," Jessica said. "As for the rest... I'll tell you once you're face-down on the ground!"
BOOM!
Two thunderous cracks echoed across the rooftop as Jessica Jones and Luke Cage lunged simultaneously. They tore toward Kingpin like two trucks at full throttle.
On the other side, Daredevil's movement lacked their explosive momentum. He simply tightened his grip, his staff blurring like a striking viper as he thrust it toward Kingpin's body.
THUD!
Daredevil was the last to move, but with a weapon in hand, his strike landed first. The staff jabbed straight into Kingpin's spine, producing a sound like bronze clashing against iron.
"What was that noise?" Daredevil's ears twitched.
At the same time, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones slammed into Kingpin's flanks, their fists driving toward his abdomen.
Kingpin was still holding his hands up in a mocking gesture of surrender. He looked down at the two fists—one large and black, one smaller and white—buried in his gut. Then, he looked up at the suddenly widening pupils of Jessica Jones and Luke Cage.
"Surprised?"
Two fists and a long staff. The combined assault of all three only caused Kingpin to sway slightly. They hadn't managed to bring the man down!
"Daredevil, what's the story?" Luke Cage asked urgently.
"I don't know," Daredevil replied, his words coming out in a rapid-fire clip. Using the recoil from the staff, he vaulted into the air. He planted the end of the staff into the roof for leverage and kicked out with both feet, slamming them into Kingpin's back.
Thwack!
Two footprints appeared on Kingpin's pristine white suit. The force, which would have sent a common thug flying several meters, only caused Kingpin to stumble a single step.
"Your combat experience is impressive, but unfortunately, you lack power." Kingpin didn't turn around, but the comment was clearly directed at Daredevil. He looked down at Jessica and Luke. "You two have the strength, but you're far too stupid."
With those words, Kingpin reached out with his massive hands. With startling speed, he grabbed their heads—one in each palm—and slammed them violently toward the floor of the rooftop.
"No!" Daredevil roared. This was not the scene he had envisioned "seeing" before they arrived.
Mid-shout, Daredevil gripped the end of his staff with one hand and swung it with everything he had at Kingpin's head. He aimed for that bald, thick skull that was as wide as his torso—the head of a man who seemingly had no neck at all.
Kingpin was right. Compared to Daredevil, who possessed a wealth of combat techniques and tactical skill, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones knew absolutely nothing about fighting.
They were a couple—one a street-level hustler, the other a graduate of Midtown School of Science and Technology. Jessica had even been classmates with Peter Parker, the founder of the Parker Group, whose name had become legendary in New York's high society recently, though few had actually seen him.
A week ago, during the dinosaur invasion, the two of them had been driving behind a military transport filled with radioactive chemicals.
When a massive Tyrannosaurus Rex—over twenty meters long with olive-green skin—and another lizard-like creature about three meters tall and five meters long began brawling, they came rolling down the street.
The military truck in front of them had been flipped instantly by a mere swipe of the T-Rex's tail. The tank ruptured immediately, and the radioactive chemicals flooded the cabin where Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were trapped.
The searing pain, the acrid stench, and the sheer terror of the dinosaurs had caused them to black out. When they finally woke up, they were in a dark basement with a man in a red suit sitting beside them.
"I saw you unconscious in the chemicals. I intended to take you to the hospital, but... your bodies seemed to be undergoing some kind of change," Daredevil had told them then.
Ordinary people who had gained superhuman strength through an accident, Luke Cage and Jessica Jones had been restless for days. As soon as they heard Daredevil wanted to deal with the Kingpin—who had recently returned to New York—they had egged him on to let them join the mission.
And that led directly to this moment.
The previous strike had already told Daredevil that Kingpin's body had undergone some sort of transformation. This time, he held nothing back, swinging the staff with enough force to make the metal flex.
CLANG!
That sound of metal striking metal rang out again, as if Daredevil had struck a massive bronze bell. The staff vibrated violently, sending a jolt of pain through the webbing of Daredevil's thumbs.
He failed to stop Kingpin. He heard the sickening thud as Kingpin slammed Luke Cage and Jessica Jones' heads into the rooftop.
With two dull thumps, the roof tiles shattered. Neither of them uttered a sound before they spiraled into unconsciousness.
Daredevil gritted his teeth. He knew Kingpin had recovered from his injuries and returned to New York, reinventing himself as a "legitimate businessman."
What he didn't know was when Kingpin had turned into a monster with skin of bronze and bones of iron.
"If you had teamed up with Batman, I might have a bigger headache than I do now," Kingpin said, casually tossing the two unconscious heroes aside and brushing the dust off his suit.
Daredevil remained silent. His eyes had long since lost their sight, yet he remained "staring" intensely in Kingpin's direction.
Luke Cage and Jessica Jones were only unconscious. While the radioactive chemicals had mutated their bodies and given them great strength, they had also granted them constitutions far beyond that of a normal human.
Though Kingpin had smashed their heads into the concrete, they were still alive.
Realizing they couldn't win a three-on-one, Daredevil made a split-second decision: Run!
Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and leapt straight off the edge of the roof.
He wasn't abandoning Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. He was going... to call for backup!
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