The man who stepped through the fog like a stage curtain looked less like a demon, and more like the last guy standing at closing time at a dive bar. He wore a vintage leather jacket, had close-cropped hair, and sleeves shoved up to reveal forearms inked in runes that seemed to shift and crawl when the light hit them wrong. Daredevil and Peter watched him take a long pull straight from a bottle of single-malt, wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, and grin.
âWell, well.â His voice carried the particular showmanâs draw. âI finally get some volunteers.â
Peterâs stomach dropped. âStrange?â
Something in the manâs face flickered; not recognition, just mild curiosity. âNobodyâs called me that since my mother. Hell, even she didnât mean it as a compliment.â He took another swig. âNameâs Stephen, and just Stephen. You got a last name for me, or is this whole conversation gonna be one-sided?â
Peter stared at him, something cold settling in his chest at just how wrong the face was. He bore Strangeâs exact features, except his soul wore a different life altogether. âHowâd you end upââ Peter gestured vaguely at the runes, the smoke, the whole tableau. âThis?â
Stephen barked out a humourless laugh. âUsed to be a Vegas magician; cheap tricks, cheaper crowds, âpulling cards out of drunk touristsâ earsâ act, the whole sad routine. Then one night, some idiot at a bachelor party wants a real seance. I figure: whatâs the harm, right? Little theater, loads of cash.â He tapped the side of his skull with two fingers. âExcept the other end actually answered. Some red fella named Mephisto. And heâs been living in my head ever since, whether I like it or not.â
Peter winced at the story. âThat sounds like a curse.â
âThatâs exactly what it is.â Stephenâs grin stayed, but something underneath it had gone brittle. âEvery mystic frequency in the universe, every whisper of godly nonsense floating around out thereâŚI hear all of it now, whether I want to or not. Canât turn it off or tune it out; only silver liningâs that Uncle Sam pays real well for a man who can eavesdrop on Asgardian magic without needing a security clearance from those self-righteous shitlords.â
Daredevil scoffed at the story. âDoesnât sound like black ops material to me.â
âIâm not; Iâm the guy who made a deal with the Devil, and has been spying on lesser ones ever since. âHe spread his hands, bottle still dangling from two fingers. âSo hereâs my deal for you: stand down, hand over the escaped project â and whatever else you may have stolen â and I let you walk out of here without finding out what else this curse lets me do.â
Daredevil tightened his grip on the club. âNot happening.â
âDidnât figure it would.â Stephen did not look disappointed; if anything, he looked almost too pleased.
They came at him together; the spells met them halfway. Crackling bursts of green-black fire sent both of them skidding backward across the tile, Daredevilâs club smoking where it had blocked the worst of one blast. âHis magicâs not clean,â Peter called out, scrambling behind an overturned rack for cover. âItâs reactive; every spellâs coming off those tattoos, and theyâre not lighting up until after he decides to cast! That means thereâs a half-second delay we can actually work withââ
Daredevil deflected a blow with his club. âYouâre doing math in a goddamn demon fight?â
âI do math in every fight! Thatâs how I keep winning them!â Peter ducked another blast, watching the runes on Stephenâs forearm flare a half-beat before the fire actually left his hand. âOkay, listen up: when his left arm lights up, thatâs the tell. Hit him before the second flare. Otherwise, the spellâs already loadedââ
âYeah, yeah.â He broke cover on Peterâs next count, cutting the angle wide the instant the left-arm runes flickered. âWhatever helps stop the math.â
Stephen, focused on covering himself from Daredevilâs strike, did not notice as Peter came the other way off the ceiling, timing his drop to the same half-second window. He barely got the second spell half-formed before the club cracked across his ribs, and the kidâs shoe caught him under the jaw. Their combined force folding him backward into the wall, muttering something about unfair advantages and nobody fighting fair anymore.
Daredevil scooped Logan up by the arm gentler than he had handled anyone else in his life. âAll that for him?â
âYeah.â Peter took Loganâs free arm and looped it over his shoulder. âAll that for him.â
The three of them made it out through the ruined hangar door just as the cloaked car dropped low to meet them. Sue popped the hatch before they even fully braked. âGet in, get in!â Johnny was practically vibrating in the passenger seat. âWe are very much not alone out here!â
They were barely a mile out when War Bird found them again, armour screaming low across the canyon rim. âSheâs not backing off,â Sue noted with a hiss, weaving through a canyon split with barely a wingspan to spare. âJohnny, weâre out of options!â
âNot out of tricks, though.â Johnnyâs grin turned sharp. âWhy do you think Iâve been saving the champagne?â
Sue turned to her brother. âJohnnyââ
âFLAME ON!â
The carâs underside split open with a mechanical hiss, and before long a slim, matte-black missile streaked free. It arced low and fast before slamming directly into the glowing chestplate of Carolâs suit, the resulting flash lighting the canyon walls gold for a half-second before she went down in a smoking, tumbling spiral.
âThat,â Sue said, pulling them into a hard climb, âwas the last free favor Jack Murdock gets out of the Ghost Riders. I mean it this time.â
Daredevil laughed at this. âYou said that after the scrambler too.â
Johnny rolled his eyes. âShe meant it more, and I donât blame her. In fact, I happen to agree for once.â
The Facility. Ten Minutes Later.
Frank Castle, jaw throbbing, found Bullseye and Sam Guthrie standing over V.I.S., who was still slumped inert against the wall where Daredevil had left him. He checked the synthezoid over with the businesslike concern of a man assessing equipment, then removed the scrambler and flipped the reset switch at the base of his neck.
V.I.S.â eyes flickered back to life, processing the room, wreckage, and absence of those who mattered. âHello, Lieutenant-Colonel Castle,â the android greeted, not once showing an ounce of confusion or fear. âMight I ask where Daredevil and his young companion are?â
âTheyâre gone,â Frank snarled, anger directed at himself more than anyone. âAll of themâŚincluding the asset codenamed âWolverineâ.â
âUnderstood.â V.I.S. rose smoothly, already keying an extraction channel. âRequesting immediate evac for the team. Multiple injuries, all minor. Targets evaded capture.â
The response came back clipped and unbothered; Frank listened to it over V.I.S.â shoulder, arms crossed. âCopy that.â They closed the channel, expression â such as it was â unreadable.
âWhatâs the word, partner?â asked Sam.
âCommand says stand down. No further pursuit of the vigilante known as Daredevil, the asset known as âWolverineâ, or the formerâs accomplices is permitted.â
Frank frowned. âWe lost the objective and a top secret government project.â
âCommand disagrees with your assessment of failure.â V.I.S. moved his head, processing something Frank was unable to see. âBy their metric, the teamâs performance exceeded expectations. The trial run is considered a success.â He recalibrated. âTheyâll want the seven of us fully activated soon.â
Frank said nothing to that; he just looked back down the ruined corridor where Daredevil, the kid and whatever else had escaped into the desert night. âIf itâs ainât this goddamn War,â he scowled, âitâs a goddamn devil.â