Chapter 12
Beneath the hoodie, a simple dark t-shirt clung to his muscular frame, also marked by small tears. His expression was calm, his dark eyes scanning the surroundings with quiet confidence. He moved with a deliberate steadiness, each step measured and unhurried.
He knew this man as Luke Cage, protector of Harlem, someone with bulletproof skin. There was also a man in a dark suit, his head slightly bowed. His face bore signs of recent struggle, with a fresh cut on his cheek. He also had one of his hands missing. His posture was tense, and his eyes, though partially hidden, reflected alertness. He adjusted his stance subtly, he was old and blind.
A woman stood apart from the group, her arms crossed over a leather jacket. Her dark hair framed a face that held a mix of skepticism and resolve. She wore jeans and boots, her stance casual yet ready. Her gaze was sharp. He recognized her as Jessica Jones, someone with superhuman abilities.
He knew her and Luke because he was looking for superhuman people, aside from the Avengers, of course. And there was a man standing near her. He wore a well-tailored gray suit that fit snugly over his lean frame, the fabric smooth and unwrinkled. Beneath the suit jacket, a light gray dress shirt was buttoned neatly up to the collar, complemented by a slim, dark tie.
His shoes were polished, their dark leather gleaming subtly under the ambient light. His face was calm, with a strong jawline and neatly trimmed hair. Dark red-tinted glasses rested on his nose, partially obscuring his eyes. He held a white cane loosely in one hand, its tip resting lightly on the ground. Despite the formal attire, there was a sense of readiness in his stance, as if he were prepared for sudden movement.
It was Colleen who reacted to his appearance first as she said, "Ash?" to which Ash smiled as he said, "Ah, hey Colleen, it's been, what happened, you sort of disappeared?" he asked as Luke Cage asked, "Who?" making Colleen reply, "His name is Ash, one of my students" which made the blind old man ask, "You are telling me someone you trained was able to beat a resurrected Elektra, the Black Sky of the Hand?" But even Colleen didn't have an answer to that question as they all looked at him for an explanation.
"Ah, is that what she was called? Elektra is a fitting name. She was fun. I guess the Hand got tired of sending foot soldiers so they finally sent someone with near superhuman abilities." The sentence he said was so ridiculous, but it was only made ridiculous by ash turning around just to see that Elektra was not only awake but gone. "bummer, I was really hoping we could finally have a chat.
She has been quiet throughout our whole fight," he said, making Jessica say, "Finally?" as Colleen asked, "Ho-how did you do that?" She hesitated as Ash replied, "Well, you see, it's complicated," to which Luke said, "Is it more complicated than training in a mystical place called K'un-Lun and fighting a dragon to earn the right to use a life force energy called chi?" making Danny look at him as he said, "Dude, come on."
But Ash actually chuckled as he said, "Well, I was depressed after my family died at the alien invasion, so I resorted to drugs and alcohol, borrowed money from my girlfriend and drug dealers, lost my girlfriend, then after owing too much and four years later, I overdosed, and one of the dealers threw me over the harbour. I drowned and died, then came back to life." He paused as they all looked at him like he was speaking nonsense, but he continued.
"Then I found out that I had this mystical energy that continuously improved my body, so I worked out for a moving dock in the dock all day, then went to the gym for one to work out and shower, then ate at a noodle shop and slept on the harbour. I repeated for a month before I figured out that being strong, fast, and perceptive and bulletproof was not enough, so I learned martial arts," he paused before he added, "This all happened in the span of two months, so."
There was a brief silence for a second before Jessica said, "Why is this more believable than mystical places and dragons?" she said as Luke sighed, "At this point, why am I not surprised?" and Danny asked, "So you really can harness an energy force?" To which Ash activated his mana making his eyes glow white and punched the hard asphalt floor, which he cracked, shocking them as Danny realized something. "Wait, so he can harness energy to enhance himself, like me. He's got bulletproof skin like Luke. He's got enhanced perception like Matt, and he is superhuman like Jessica?"
which made them all ponder as Ash picked up his groceries as he said, "Anyways, I am going to the digging site of the Hand tomorrow. Is that where you guys are headed?" he asked as Colleen nodded. "Alright, see you there. Now if you excuse me, I need to eat a large dinner. Summoning my mana consumes takes alot out of me," he said as Luke said, "He is really like you," as Ash entered his campervan, while the group, chased after elektra to the midland circle
-scene change-
Inside his campervan, Ash, who just had the biggest dinner, could be seen meditating with a smile on his face, simply because the mana density of Hell's Kitchen was better than any other part of New York that he had ever been to, only second to the phenomenon, and this says a lot. It allowed him to quickly recover the mana he spent on fighting Elektra and more, so he was using the extra to further dense his shell since his body could only handle limited dormant mana.
But that issue was not his concern yet; after all, it would be solved on the fourth stage when he has to create a core from his mana that would allow him to store more mana, allowing him to stay in an active state longer. And of course, it means that he would receive more potent boost from the large quantities of mana inside his core. But for now, he needs to make his shell unbreakable just in case he runs out of dormant, so at least he won't be killed.
While his shell grew denser, he also didn't forget to try and channel an item with mana, but like usual, his mana was unruly, ruthless, disturbing the molecular structure of objects and causing it to nearly explode. Of course, he didn't let them explode, so he decided to stop. After eating a full dinner, he was ready.
"Full dormant mana, stable and restored shell, rested mind and body, and full stomach, now I am ready," he thought as he got up and stretched. "I would have loved to have reached the second circle," but he paused as he looked ahead, where a building called the Midland Circle was standing. It looked like a regular large office building, but in the past hour, the mana it has been gushing out has increased considerably.
"Is the remains really that powerful?" he asked himself, still unsure, but he sighed as he decided to head. The building was dead silent as he entered the lobby, which again held no one, but his enhanced perception was picking up a fight going on. "Hm, why does it sound like there are fewer people than went in?"
he thought to himself as he quickly caught up with the people fighting, just in time to arrive at the scene where Daredevil, of all people, was knocking out the last of the ninja in this area. Ash looked around and he saw Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Colleen Wing, and Claire Temple, of all people. "Hey Claire," he greeted with a smile as she looked at him surprised.
"Ash? What are you doing here?" she asked, as Luke said, "Great, you know this crazy fool too," prompting Claire to ask, "What do you mean?" Just then, one of the Hand ninja arrived behind Ash, who clearly sensed him, but since he didn't want to explain to Claire, he just let the Hand ninja weilding katana hit him with the sword, causing the Hand ninja's katana to bounce off, shocking Claire.
Ash backhanded the ninja, sending him flying back and hitting the wall. "We need to go now," Daredevil said as they all moved forward. "So, I can't help but notice, there are people missing?" Ash asked as Luke said, "Stick, the old blind guy, is dead and Luke got captured, we're heading in now." He explained as Ash shrugged, "Sure," just as a couple of Hand ninja wielding all kinds of weapons appeared.
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A/N it looks like i am rushing through the entire defenders season one, i am, but it would slow down in the next volume where ash starts to really explore the whole of the mcu.