Stick In The Ash

I spend the next few hours teleporting around New York making sure my businesses are running well. Turns out business is booming and the new places are getting a lot of repeat customers already. It was all running well except that Fisk has been pressuring the girls to start selling.

I was going to wait until Tony returned to kill the poor bastard but it looks like I'm pushing the date forward.

I teleport to Fisk's tower where he usually stays at the edge of Hell's Kitchen but I'm not greeted by Fisk. I'm greeted by an older Chinese woman, a young Japanese man in battle armor and a bloodied caucasian man wearing a red rubber Devil suit on the floor.

I look around the completely empty warehouse as my eyes rest back at the trio who are angerly talking to each other.

Ignoring their conversation I speak "Where is Fisk?" I ask not letting the tinge of annoyance show in my words.

The old Asian woman is startled but keeps her composure as our eyes meet I can feel she has some power in her. It is nothing significant though, it is still well within the realm of mortals. The Japanese man however immediately pulls out a naginata and swings at me.

I grab the weapon and hold it while I look him in his eye.

With Pride, I speak "Kneel"

The young man drops his weapon and falls to all fours hard. His head slammed into the concrete floor drawing blood, I can hear him gritting his teeth trying to resist.

I look back up to the woman who is now backing away "Where is Fisk? If you answer honestly I will not lay a hand on you."

She speaks with a very slight accent "He is in the safe room of the penthouse, top floor."

I smile as I notice she is about to flee "Your fear doesn't suit you," my eyes glow red as if lit by hellfire "For one who has slaughtered as many innocents as you, you should not fear death. You should fear what comes after… ME."

She begins to run while using Chi to give herself temporary strength. I activate Wrath and catch up with her immediately and stand in her way. She stops noticing she won't be able to get away. I look down at her and smile as my horns come out of my head.

She now has fear in her eyes, "What are you?"

"I am the Devil of course… don't worry, I won't kill you. You will." I smile at the confused look on her face.

I speak with Pride again "For the crimes of Murdering innocent, Human Trafficking, Assisted Rape, and many others I order you to take your own life."

Her eyes go wide as she forces Chi into her brain which scrambles it. Her body falls to the floor lifeless as I watch her with cold eyes. I walk back over to the man on the ground kneeling.

"Life must be hard killing so much, you are so young yet you have taken so many lives," I speak with fake sadness as I release Pride's grip on him.

He jumps up and wants to run to the woman but I stop him, "For the Murder of your family and thousands of innocents, you will atone with your friend over there." He is about to jump back but I swipe using his naginata taking his head clean off.

I walk over to the man on the ground "Who are you?"

He coughs up blood as he stares up at me but doesn't look at me. "I am Daredevil."

My brows raise as I look down on him, "What kind of name is that? What's the point of a nickname if it doesn't strike fear into those who oppose you?"

He seems confused wiping blood from his lip, "To hide your real name?"

"You are one of those vigilantes that have been popped up lately right?" I ask while looking down on his bloodied figure.

Again he seems confused "Aren't you one as well." He leans up while holding his ribs.

"Of course not, I'm the Morningstar, I came to punish Fisk. But I will admit, I assumed vigilantes had a high kill count, but you've only killed one evil man before, odd." As I speak my dark blue eyes flare deep red and appear to be burning inside.

He flinches, "You mean like the biblical Morningstar, like Lucifer? I'm sorry but I don't believe you there."

"I don't care… I have already gotten to punish two sinners who are arguably worse than Fisk so I'm already doing well enough." I begin to walk back while thinking.

"Wait, before you leave… why can't I see you properly?" He says that without looking in my direction while leaning against a pillar.

I pause for a moment and stare at him oddly "I hate to break it to you… but you're blind."

He chuckles a bit not taking offense to my words, "No, I can 'See' even without eyes. It appears as a world of fire hence the 'Devil' in my name."

"And here I thought you were just a fanatic fan, I have those you know, weirdos. If I had to guess you probably have a form of true sight... I probably appear as a blazing inferno standing in front of you, no?"

He just nods as I continue, "That's my raw power that emanates from my body. No human that I know of has power beyond a mediocre level so I'm sure you've never seen it before. I'm sure you could see a tiny aura come off a talented sorcerer though."

He doesn't respond only stares into space so I speak up again, "I was thinking of how to heal you but it appears someone else showed up to save you as well."

I look to a pillar around 30 yards away from me and watch as an old man with a walking stick shows himself, "You knew I was there huh?"

I shrug, "You are a very talented human, if not for the stench of Sin on you I would not have known."

The man on the ground seems confused, "Stick why are you here?"

He scoffs, "Did you really think I'd let you, a boy, fight an evil organization who rules the underground of the world by yourself?"

I smile, "Noble of you but… you will be dying here as well."

He looks confused, "Why would I be 'Punished' by you as well? I've spent lifetimes fighting evil."

My wings jut out my back as I appear in front of him, "I know what you've done, the number of children you have slain. The number of innocents you've killed so that they couldn't be used against you."

He takes a step back at my sudden appearance, "Everything I have done has been in the name of the greater good." He looks resolute.

Daredevil speaks up "Wait, Stick, you can't be saying what he said is true? Was that 'Black Sky' Not the only one so far?" He says almost yelling with hurt in his voice.

Ignoring his yell I speak, "It's good you have your own beliefs and I'm sure my father would agree with you." My crown flares to life on my head "But I am not my father." I grab the old man by the neck and lift him into the air.

The old man's Chi flares up as he tries to pry my hand off his neck but it's not nearly enough. "For the murder of Innocent men, women, and children, I grant you death." Hellfire engulfs the old man as he struggles.

As I release his neck only ash falls to the ground I feel some emotion return to me. I hear the injured man's teeth grit and fist clench.

"Was he a friend?" I ask without much care.

"A mentor," He says through grit teeth.

"Do you hate me for it?" After a long silence, I accept he isn't going to answer so I walk over to the dead bodies of the young man and Chinese woman.

I realized something when I killed the old man. Despite the numerous atrocities, I didn't get any emotions for punishing them. Standing over the young man's corpse I try to feel any power left in him, he is certainly dead but something seems to be keeping his soul inside his body waiting to heal him.

My eyebrows scrunch as I look down at him. Hellfire quickly devours the corpses, as they fully burn to nothing, not even ash remains and I feel it. Emotions rush into me, I don't know what emotion it is but I feel a spark of something like I need to be doing stuff, but nothing in particular.

I look back at the injured man who is sulking while coving his wounds, "Who are these people?"

"Members of an evil organization called 'The Hand', the lady was a leader of the Hand called a Finger. As you can guess there are five of them." He speaks shortly as he doesn't wanna speak to me much.

"If you kill one in the future burn the body, they have a curse on them to make them undying. Burning with regular fire until they are ash should be enough to kill them." I say while walking towards him.

He looks shocked but still nods, "I'll take you to where you want to go just tell me where."

"What about Fisk?" He looks up at me with his beaten face.

"I can teleport, there is nowhere he can run where I wouldn't get him," I say nonchalantly.

He nods "Take me to 816 56th Street. Apartment number 23."

I grab his shoulder and we vanish from that place and appear in the hallway of a pretty nice apartment building. It wasn't really nice at all but considering it was in Hell's Kitchen I would say, upper class.

I look down at him who is now leaning against a door with the number '23' written on it.

He coughs a bit of blood into his hand "Why not inside?"

I shrug, "That's both trespassing and rude."

He smirks as I knock on the door. As I hear someone is approaching I turn my back about to leave.

"Matthew Murdock." He says with a strained voice.

I turn around and look at him funny. "It's my real name," He says.

I smirk tossing him a business card, we exchange a nod as I vanish again.