Facing off against Daken, brandishing two sets of claws, Moon Knight tells Daken that’s right. He’s the best there is at what he does. And what he does best is bash his face in. Daken says you’ve got to be $%@#& joking.
Moon Knight asks him if he looks like he’s joking to him, bub. Here, lemme help him slip his sides laughing. With that, Moon Knight takes a slash at Daken. Dodging Moon Knight’s attack, Daken kicks him in the face and asks him if he’s supposed to be Wolverine. He’s insane. Fighting back, Moon Knight asks he’s insane? Daken is the one stalking women and cutting people into little pieces, like a wild animal. Even by his standards, that’s bringing shame on their family name. Grabbing hold of Moon Knight’s wrists, Daken angrily tells him he’s not his father and head-butts him.
Standing over Moon Knight, Daken tells him that he is the animal in his filthy horror of a bloodline. The grubby worker to his cerebral and cultured artist. He transcends him. He is nothing like him. As Daken goes on his rant, he reminds himself to concentrate. Moon Knight is not Logan. Suddenly, he grabs hold of his head and recognizes that it’s the Heat. It’s too difficult to tell what’s really there and what’s…
Moon Knight tells Daken that he’s a crummy, nasty piece o’ work, and a real disappointment. Y’know kid, it’s kinda funny. You wanna be powerful, be feared. But they both know that, really, people are always gonna be more scared of me. And that’s why you do it, right? Why you’re playing at being the master criminal. ‘Cause you know I’m the real deal and you’re not. And that you’ll never, ever be me. You’re just a cheap-ass copy.
With a perplexed look on his face, Daken rushes towards Moon Knight, claws at the ready. Somewhere, several levels down, he is fully aware of the ridiculousness of this action. The comedown from the Heat elevating his feelings, stripping his defenses bare, actually making him feel vulnerable, making him feel. To the point where a mentally ill stranger in a scarily impractical white mask and cape pushes him over the edge with the weight of parental issues. Just then, Daken lunges his body into Moon Knight and they crash through the window. Daken’s already falling towards the street far below when he finally remembers why he’s there. The Claws Killer…and Donna Kiel…
Inside a poorly lit stair-well, Donna holds her hand-gun steady and begins to make her way down the stairs. She yells out that she knows you’re there. She can hear you. C’mon, be the big man, lemme see you. You want to be the big man, don’t you? You enjoy scaring girls before you kill them? Gives you a sense of power. Power you know that you don’t really have. A voice tells her that they enjoy scaring boys and girls, actually. I’m an equal opportunity killer. And the lack of power hypothesis is a little Psychology 101, isn’t it?
Turning around, Donna asks “where are you?” The voice tells her maybe he’s invisible. Maybe he’s somewhere just out of sight, staring at her right now. Maybe he’s the bogeyman. Maybe he’s just in her head… Donna Kiel. She’s an intriguing one to play with – layers, contradictions. A cold, disciplined, bright mind. Smarter than your average bear. Even in a world of superhumans, you feel any problem or mystery can be unraveled by human intellect. Her intellect. Ace FBI agent. Head of her class. Promotions despite youthfulness yadda… yadda… That’s all rather dull, linear and mundanely ambitious. But what’s interesting in her is the fact that she finds killers, as though she were a hero. But she doesn’t really care about the victims at all, does she? She’s all about the hunt. About winning. Proving her superiority. And that nasty novel she wrote when she was just 14. Ooooh, the darkness… I like you, Donna. I think we have a connection. I think I will let you see me after all.
Looking down, Donna sees Daken standing there. Pointing her gun at him, Donna orders him don’t move, you bastard. You’re under arrest and I will shoot you where you… The voice tells her so disappointed. She didn’t think it was him, did she? She felt they had a connection. She sensed some form of kindred spirit. A shared ability to feel… absolutely nothing. Donna asks how… how can she hear him…? The voice replies that he thought that was obvious by now. He’s inside her head.
As Donna fires her gun down at Daken, he rushes off. As he does, the voice remarks oh dear, the brilliant and cerebral Ice Queen of Narnia appears to have melted. When Donna begins to give chase, the voice tells her the thing about being a psychopath is that you don’t feel any empathy for others. You can’t, your brain simply isn’t wired that way. So murder becomes a curiosity and nothing more. A… cold thing. Thankfully, less than 1% of the population are actually psychopaths. Pretty rare. Just imagine how arrogant an individual would have to be to decide that “less than 1%” was too common a definition. That they would prove themselves better than other psychopaths by being the one that catches psychopaths and locks them away. Or perhaps it’s not arrogance… maybe it’s fear. Fear of what an individual know they really are. An agile mind can construct a fresh personality but we cannot ever truly escape ourselves.
Nearby, on the street, amidst onlookers, Daken rushes at Moon Knight and stabs him in the gut. Stepping back, Daken remarks that this is not who he is. Animal, insanity, he turns his back on it. Looking down at his gut, Moon Knight tells Daken nice work with the claws there. If he hadn’t killed more people than cancer and car crashes combined he’d be making his daddy proud right now. He taught him good. Daken exclaims that he’s taught him nothing. Intellect also tells him the obvious truth. This is a deeply troubled man in a mask who somehow believes himself to be his father. His senses, however, tell him otherwise. Because of the Heat, Daken sees Wolverine standing in front of him and they are in Japan. Nearby, Itsu emerges from a building with a baby in her arms. Heat is a strange drug. It strips away the world. Slowly disintegrates the physical, and in reality’s place it reveals the truth.
As Daken continues to attack Moon Knight, Moon Knight tells “Captain America” and “Spider-Man,” both figments of his imagination that Daken is killing him. “Cap” tells him that he can’t cope with this kind of frenzy. That’s a beast right now, not a man. Moon Knight remarks that any advice is gratefully accepted. “Cap” tells him control, technique, skill, and restraint. They’ve all got an animal inside them but discipline and duty will always beat that down in a fight. That’s what this boy needs. He’s insane. Show him that he’s not. At that moment, Moon Knight is able to turn the tables on Daken. He tells him to control himself because if he doesn’t, then he will.
While Daken lies on the ground in a prone position, clarity and cognizance returns, riding alongside embarrassment and self-loathing. And pain… building pain. This drug has turned him into that which he most despise and he will not countenance this. It has broken his body and his mind. He uses others but this drug uses him. It has made him… weak.
Standing over Daken, Moon Knight tells him that he’s taking him in… uh… are you okay? Daken informs him that he’s having a heart attack. When Moon Knight asks that he’s not faking, Daken lurches in pain. Moon Knight tells him to hold on. He’ll call 911. Just hold on. Looking beyond Moon Knight, Daken recognizes that this… this isn’t a Heat vision. He then sees Itsu holding a baby and the baby popping claws out of its hands.
Picking himself up off the ground, Daken exclaims no and rushes off into a dark area. Seeing Donna, Daken reaches out for her and begs her for help. Donna responds by shooting him in the head. As Moon Knight and Donna stand over the bloodied and beaten body of Daken, an individual who looks exactly like Daken above them looks down on them. He remarks that it looks like they got the Claws Killer. Guess they can all sleep safe tonight.
