The Long Island apartment of Mickey Musashi a.k.a. Turbo of the New Warriors. A month ago, the Warriors fought a group of villains called Heavy Mettle, led by a masked man code-named Firestrike. Around that same time, Mickey was swept off her feet by the charming Dalton Beck. However, Mickey doesn’t know that Firestrike and Dalton Beck are one and the same. What Mickey doesn’t know CAN hurt her. Mickey has her back to Dalton, unaware that he has aimed a gun to the back of her head. ‘This is so nice, Dalton. Ever since I let you in on my “secret identity”, I feel like this enormous weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I can’t tell you how nice it is being with you as Mickey Musashi, the college student, instead of Turbo the super hero. It’s like I don’t have a care in the world’ Mickey exclaims.
Dalton frowns, and doesn’t respond, while Mickey stands at the kitchen bench, getting some vegetables ready, she remarks that, as Turbo, she has been hit on plenty of times, but knows that from the moment she and Dalton met, that he was different. ‘You didn’t care that I wore a mask. You were genuinely interested in me as a person’ she points out. Dalton doesn’t respond, he just stands their, gun aimed at Mickey’s head still, he tells himself to just do it and pull the trigger, then it is all over. ‘Pull the trigger, and you can take her armor, give it to Silvermane, and move on to the next job’. Turbo continues, remarking that Dalton never wanted to meet the other Warriors or ask her if she could get him Firestar’s autograph. ‘You were always just interested in me’.
‘Pull the trigger, and…and…you’ll never see her again’ Dalton thinks to himself. Mickey spins around, but Dalton has already placed the gun behind his back. ‘See, I never wanted to be a super hero - I just sorta fell into it’ Mickey explains, revealing that her biggest fear was that being a super hero would cause her to lose anything resembling a normal life. She tells Dalton that he has proven she can have a normal life without ignoring the responsibility that comes with being a Warrior. ‘Musashi…you talk an awful lot’ Dalton smiles. ‘Oh, yeah? Well, how about I show off my non-verbal communication skills?’ Mickey replies as she and Dalton embrace, and kiss passionately.
One week later, at a private club on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Dalton is wearing his Firestrike costume and stands next to the pool table where Jo Mandfredi a.k.a. Silvermane asks him what is taking so long, reminding him that he gave him the Turbo assignment over a month ago. ‘I want to reverse-engineer that armor of hers so I can mass-produce it and add it to my arsenal. We’re on a schedule here, y’know?’ Silvermane exclaims. Dalton claims that Turbo doesn’t trust him yet, that she hasn’t taken the armor off. Silvermane frowns: ‘She doesn’t trust a good looking earnest stud like you? Why do I find that hard to believe…?’ he asks.
Two weeks later, Mickey and Dalton are running through Central Park. ‘Come on, Mickey, pick up the pace! I think you oughtta spend a little more time at the gym instead of letting that fancy suit of yours do all the work!’ Dalton tells her. Sweating, he glances back at her, while Mickey urgently tells him to look out. ‘Huh?’ Dalton remarks, but as he watches where he is going, he realizes he is about to crash into a woman carrying a child. Dalton stumbles, and falls into a nearby shrub. Mickey laughs as she goes over to him, ‘Who needs to spend more time at the gym?’ she asks him. Dalton claims that he is not very coordinated, and explains that it runs in the family. Mickey helps Dalton to his feet, and remarks that that is the first time he has ever mentioned his family.
‘You’re not missing anything. My old man’s a retired fireman, and pushed me into becoming a smoke-eater, too’ Dalton reveals, adding that was all his folks ever wanted, that they never stopped to think that maybe he wanted something else. Dalton tells Mickey that she is the first person who never cared what he did, that she isn’t pushing him to “be” anything, that he thinks she likes him no matter what he did. ‘You would, right? I mean, no matter what I did, you wouldn’t hold it against me?’ he asks. Mickey looks somewhat worried, ‘Um…sure, Dalton. Whatever you say’ she replies, before suggesting they get some ice on his leg.
Later that week, in Manhattan’s Soho District, Turbo flies up towards Dalton’s apartment, although she tells herself she is cutting it close, but thinks she has time to “pop in” on Dalton before she goes to the barbecue that Speedball has been talking about all week. She wonders if she should bring Dalton with her, but as she arrives over the skylight window on Dalton’s apartment, she sees him putting his Firestrike costume on. ‘Wait…Firestrike? Dalton is Firestrike?’ a horrified Turbo asks herself. Immediately, she drops down through the glass, ‘Hi, Dalton - or Firestrike? Which is it?’ Turbo calls out. ‘Mickey! Oh my God! This isn’t what it looks like…just let me explain, okay, honey?’ Dalton begs.
Mickey doesn’t know what to do - ‘What if this isn’t what it looks like? Should I hear him out?’ she asks herself, wondering if she can afford to let her guard down, as Firestrike and the rest of Heavy Mettle tried to kill the Warriors recently. ‘Explain? What’s to explain?’ Mickey demands. Dalton assures Mickey that he was going to tell her about this, but he couldn’t figure out how. ‘Please, Mickey, don’t do anything -’ Dalton begs, but Mickey responds by blasting Firestrike out the window with a powerful wind turbine. ‘Rash? Is that what you were going to say? Don’t do anything rash?’ Turbo asks as she flies through the broken window. ‘Baby, wait…you can talk to me about this’ Firestrike replies. ‘I can also kick your butt. Guess which one I’m leaning towards?’ Turbo snarls as she blasts Firestrike with another powerful wind turbine, knocking him off balance.
‘I’m not fighting back. Did you notice that?’ Dalton asks Mickey, explaining that he is trying to let her work through her anger, and that he will give her all the time she needs. ‘I’m not going away. I’d wanted to say this under much different circumstances, trust me, but - I think I love you’ Dalton announces, and Turbo’s anger switches to confusion.
Meanwhile, just across the East River, at the Warriors’ Firehouse HQ in the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, ‘Come on, it’s a sure-fire hit! We get, like, Gwyneth Paltrow to play Nita...Brad Pitt to play me…’ Rich Rider a.k.a. Nova exclaims to Robbie Baldwin a.k.a. Speedball, who is standing over the barbeque. Namorita is nearby, setting two tables, ‘Excuse me? Speedball, what is he talking about?’ she calls out. Speedball replies that their good friend is talking about the Warriors screen-play he wants the two of them to co-write. ‘He thinks I’ve got lots of Hollywood connections since I inter at a soap operate, and so I ask you - if I had lots of Hollywood connections, why would I still be hanging around you guys?’ Speedball exclaims.
Suddenly, Turbo drops down into the courtyard, holding on to Firestrike. ‘Hi, guys. Sorry I’m late. Ran into a good friend of ours’ Turbo tells them, while Namorita asks Turbo why she brought Firestrike here. ‘Does this answer your question?’ Turbo replies as she removes Firestrikes’s mask, revealing Dalton. ‘Holy secret identities! Dalton!’ Speedball exclaims. ‘You’ve been dating Firestrike all this time? Mickey, how’d that happen?’ Nova asks his friend. Turbo takes to the sky, replying that she doesn’t know, and that she needs to get her head on straight. As she flies away, she tells her friends to watch Dalton for her, and that if he tries to escape, they can break his legs. Nova slaps the fist of his left hand into the palm of his right hand, while Namorita scowls. Speedball puts his arms around his friends and as they close in on Dalton, asks ‘So…Dalton…buddy…how do you like your burger?’
St Joseph’s Cemetery, Long Island, Turbo drops down beside the grave of her dead friend, Michael Jeffries. She kneels down and tells mike that she messed up big time. ‘You should be glad you’re not here to see this one, bud’ she remarks. ‘You know how my folks are always after me to get a boyfriend? Well, I got one, and he turned out to be a super-villain. Yeah, yeah, I can hear you laughing all the way down here’ Mickey exclaims. ‘I’m not laughing’ a voice from above calls out. Mickey looks up and sees Namorita dropping down. ‘Oh, Nita. Um…I was just..’ Mickey begins, ‘Talking to Mike Jeffries, your former Turbo partner, I know’ Namorita replies, revealing that she has even come here herself once or twice. ‘I was worried about you, Mickey. We all are. You wanna talk about it?’ Namorita asks.
Mickey replies that she doesn’t even know where to start, before telling Namorita that she feels so betrayed, and not just by Dalton, either - ‘I feel betrayed by life’. Mickey reveals that she really thought Dalton was a sign that she could have a normal life, despite all the super hero stuff, but instead, he turns out to be a super-villain. ‘I guess it’s a statement of how un-normal my life has become’ Mickey adds, crying. She tells Namorita that the worst part of this, and it is going to sound stupid, is that she can’t even tell her mom because of the whole “secret identity” thing. ‘No you can’t, kiddo. But you can tell me’ Namorita smiles, as she and Turbo hug. Turbo thanks Nita, before asking ‘You won’t tell the guys I was crying, will you?’ to which Namorita replies that she didn’t see a single tear.
Back at the Firehouse, ‘Firestrike is DALTON?’ an angry Aegis a.k.a. Trey Rollins exclaims. ‘I owe you this!’ he tells Dalton as he punches him hard in the face. ‘Hey! You can’t just hit him!’ Chris “Bolt” Bradley declares, and Nova agrees, going over to Aegis, he lifts him away from Dalton, who has fallen to the ground, blood running from his nose. ‘I can’t believe you guys! Firestrike is one of the scum responsible for putting AIM weapons in the hands of the kids in my neighborhood. He’s helping fuel the gang war we got mixed up in!’ Aegis declares. Dalton gets to his feet and replies that he understands the anger, really, he can, but that he is not responsible for the guns, as he is just hired muscle. ‘But I can give you the man who’s behind the operation’ Dalton informs the New Warriors.
‘In exchange for what? I learned all about this kinda stuff from my dad. He’s district attorney’ Speedball remarks, adding that Firestrike probably wants to use this info as leverage of something, to get a more lenient sentence. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Speedball, but I’m just trying to do the right thing, that’s all’ Dalton replies, before announcing that the man they want is called Joe Silvermane, and that he has an operation planned for later tonight.
Later that evening, clouds brew in the sky over the Warriors’ Firehouse. The team has gathered in the kitchen, while Turbo has her back to Firestrike, who, with a bandage over his nose, asks her to hear him out. ‘What part of “crawl away and die” don’t you understand?’ Turbo replies. Namorita announces that she asked Justice to access the Avengers database, and reports that it looks like Dalton might be telling the truth this time - that Joe Silvermane has a long criminal record, and that he used to be called “Blackwing” until the Thunderbolts put him in jail a few months back. She adds that if the rest of what Dalton says is true, Silvermane plans to have Heavy Mettle raid a Baintronics weapons convoy tonight, as apparently he wants to eliminate the AIM middlemen himself, by supplying his own weapons to the street gangs.
Bolt asks what they can do about it, pointing out that the Warriors aren’t cops, so they can’t just go and arrest him. ‘We can beat the paste out of him’ Speedball suggests, and Nova announces that that sounds like a good plan to him. ‘Which is really frightening’ Speedball remarks. ‘But Mickey…’ Dalton begins, only Mickey shouts ‘Enough! I’ve had it! Can’t listen to another word!’, and asks her teammates if they can just go and nail Joe Silvermane. ‘I’ll gladly hit him again for you, Mickey’ Aegis offers. Namorita calms the situation by announcing that they would all like to take a whack at Dalton, but that in the meantime, they should concentrate on foiling Silvermane’s mission. He tells Dalton that to do that, they will need as much information they can get about this operation. Pulling out a mobile phone, Dalton replies that that won’t be a problem. He smiles and exclaims that he will call Joe and then they will be in business. ‘Don’t smile at me like I’m gonna be impressed’ Turbo snaps.
Later that night, at a warehouse in Brooklyn. Firestrike lands on the dock and tells himself to stay calm then they won’t suspect a thing. He enters the warehouse, ‘Hello? Guys? Blackwing? Decibel?’ he calls out into the darkness, before switching a light on. ‘No! Barracuda!’ one of the Heavy Mettle members exclaims as she lunges at Firestrike. ‘And Stronghold - surprise!’ Barracuda declares as she tackles Firestrike, who manages to knock them away, Firestrike takes flight, hovering above them in the warehouse. ‘Why are they attacking me? Do they know?’ he thinks to himself, while Barracuda calls out ‘Nice moves, Firestrike! You been practising?’
‘Come on, you can’t dodge my energy arrows forever, old buddy!’ Warbow exclaims as he fires some arrows at Firestrike, who replies ‘I’m doing pretty good so far’, while thinking to himself that Warbow is right, sooner or later, he is going to get lucky. Suddenly, Firestrike clutches his head, as a pulsating sound resonates around him. ‘That sound! It can only be…Decibel!’ Firestrikes tells himself, before crashing into a stack of wooden boxes. ‘Oh, man, that looked like it hurt’ Stronghold remarks as he and his teammates gather around. ‘Hope you’re not banged up too badly, we’ve still got a mission to go on tonight’ Stronghold points out. ‘We…we do?’ Firestrike asks. The female Blackwing replies ‘Sure. You didn’t think we were really trying to hurt you, did you?’, and adds that they were just having a little fun with him. ‘You’re the one who’s always saying how we need to practice more, right?’, and tells Firestrike to consider that today’s practice session. ‘Now let’s get moving’ she suggests.
Later still, in the Adirondack Mountains, upstate New York, Namorita and Aegis keep watch beside a road. Namorita reports that it is all clear, that there is no sign of the Baintronics convoy yet. Standing nearby, Turbo and Dalton continue their discussions, with Turbo telling Dalton that he doesn’t get it, that after everything she told him about how normal he made her feel, she now feels betrayed. ‘And you expect me to take you back?’ Turbo asks. ‘Mickey, I want you to know that -’ Dalton begins, but Mickey tells him to that if he wanted her to talk about it, she is talking, so he can shut up and listen. ‘You’re helping us catch this Silvermane guy…but to think that you expect me to fall all over you for it makes me wanna laugh in your face’ Turbo exclaims. Sitting nearby on a rock, Speedball and Bolt can overhear the discussion. ‘Will you look at that? He still thinks he’s got a chance. I bet she pushes him off a cliff’ Speedball exclaims.
Bolt replies that he feels sorry for Mickey, as she was so crazy about Dalton, and doesn’t deserve any of this. Speedball replies that Mickey will come through it okay, as she is a trooper. ‘Heck, she survived getting hit on by me for about three months straight when she first joined the team’ Speedball recalls, before asking Bolt what is up with his arm. ‘It’s all, like, scabbed over’ Speedball points out. Bolt covers his arm and claims that it is nothing, before suggesting that it is probably just an after-effect of their fight with Biohazard. However, Chris knows that it is actually another manifestation of the Legacy Virus, but wonders how he tells the Warriors that he has a fatal disease - a disease that, so far, only affects mutants - but that no one knows how it spreads, or how to cure it? Bolt then tells Speedball that he has been meaning to check it out. Suddenly, Namorita gets everyone’s attention: ‘Heads up, people! It’s show time!’ she exclaims.
And, on the road below, ‘That’s it…come to daddy Riot’ Riot exclaims, before releasing his power at the approaching truck, ‘LISTEN UP!’ he booms. The truck driver covers his ears with his hands, and screams, losing control of the truck, it rolls onto its side. The truck screeches along the road, as it continues to move down, despite being on its side. ‘Nice going, Riot. Now I’ve gotta stop this thing before the cargo is damaged!’ Stronghold complains as she stands in front of the truck, bringing it to a halt. Stronghold pulls the driver out of the cab, before she hears a strange sound. ‘What’s that sound?’ she asks, looking around, only for Namorita to descend upon her: ‘That would be the sound of me about to kick chrome!’ Namorita declares as she punches Stronghold away. ‘Thanks for the lift, Nita! This is where get off’ Aegis calls out as he drops to the ground.
Speedball bounds down from up on the ledge, while Turbo flies down with Bolt. Namorita reminds her teammates that Heavy Mettle handed them their heads last time they fought, so they need to try and work as a team. ‘You want teamwork, Nita? How’s this?’ Aegis asks as he leaps in front of Namorita, blocking a burst of energy from Riot from striking her. Instead, his chest plate deflects it. ‘Very nice’ Namorita tells him. ‘Kinda hurts when your sonic blast is absorbed and sent back at you…don’t it?’ Aegis tells Riot, blasting him backwards with his own power.
Barracuda tears open the door to the truck, revealing the cargo inside. Bolt approaches him and offers the villain the opportunity to surrender. ‘I could’ve just ambushed you…but I’m not that kinda guy’ Bolt points out. ‘You’re an idiot’ Barracuda replies as he swings his staff at Bolt, who grabs hold of one end. ‘Don’t do this…’ Bolt urges Barracuda. ‘Kid, I’m stronger than you are’ Barracuda replies. ‘So? Your staff’s made of metal. Metal conducts electricity’ Bolt replies as he releases his power, which charges through the metal staff and strikes Barracuda. ‘Remember that I gave you a chance to surrender’ Bolt tells him.
Speedball goes over to the truck and tells all of the Baintronics people to get clear, as they are in danger. ‘They ain’t the only ones…’ Warbow mutters as he fires an energy arrow, striking Speedball in the back. ‘Hah! You see that? The runt’s kinetic field can’t repel my energy arrows’ Warbow boasts as Firestrike lands down beside him. ‘you wanna do the honors, Firestrike?’ Warbow enquires. ‘It’s be my pleasure’ Firestrike replies, as he whacks Warbow, knocking him back through the air. ‘You okay, Toothpick?’ Firestrike asks as he helps Speedball up. ‘Yeah…yeah, I’m okay’ Speedball replies, claiming that was part of his plan, to let Warbow hit him. ‘Suuure it was, man’ Nova replies as his costume shifts from that of Firestrike’s back into his own. ‘But it looks like having me pose as Firestrike for this mission really paid off’ Nova smiles.
At that moment, ‘How can you people live with yourselves, knowing you’re helping kids kill each other?’ Turbo calls out as she flies after Blackwing. ‘Hey, our employer’s check clears. That’s all I really worry about’ the female Blackwing replies, before swooping downwards towards a forest. Turbo continues pursuit, and Blackwing tells her that she is just mad because she doesn’t have the courage to do what they do. ‘We use our talents to suit nobody by us, and you’re so jealous I can smell it!’ Blackwing exclaims. ‘I think what you’re smelling is your own fear, Blackwing. Because once I catch you I’m going to - OW!’ Turbo declares as she suddenly slams into a tree. ‘Ow! Engh!’ Turbo mutters as she falls to the ground and is propelled along for a while, eventually coming to a halt, but not without creating a ditch in the ground.
‘You were saying, oh noble hero?’ Blackwing enquires as she hovers over Turbo. ‘I could kill you right now, and I’d get a bonus, you know that?’ Blackwing remarks, when, suddenly, ‘Not while I’m around, you won’t!’ Dalton exclaims as he lunges at Blackwing and wraps an arm around her neck. Blackwing manages to throw him off though, and Dalton falls against a tree. ‘Get off me! Where’d you come from?’ Blackwing calls out, while Turbo knows that Dalton has bought her the time she needs, and raising an arm, blasts Blackwing against a tree with a powerful turbine. Turbo goes over and helps Dalton up, thanking him, she tells him that she doesn’t think she would have lasted without him. ‘See? I’m not so bad -’ Dalton begins, but Turbo doesn’t let him finish as she grabs the unconscious Blackwing and takes flight. ‘- after all’ Dalton concludes, before sighing and watching Turbo fly away.
A short while later, the members of Heavy Mettle are loaded into the back of a police van, while a reporter stands nearby, reporting on the recent incident. Police cars have blocked off the area, and the New Warriors are speaking with a detective. ‘So these guys are involved with whoever’s been selling those guns to the gangs back in the city?’ the detective asks, remarking that he will have to get hold of his boys in the Nine-Four precinct and let them know they may be able to nail the guy in charge of this operation. ‘We couldn’t have done it without you kids’ the detective tells the New Warriors. Nova addresses him as Detective Avery and tells him that it was their pleasure, as the Warriors are always happy to help the people of New York. ‘And you can quote me on that’ Nova adds. ‘Er, the reporters are over there, son’ Detective Avery points out. ‘Heh, um, don’t mind him, Sir’ Bolt remarks.
Detective Avery smiles and admits that he knows not all of his colleagues in law enforcement are appreciative of masked vigilantes, but that as far as he is concerned, he would rather have the New Warriors with them than against them. The detective turns to walk away, explaining that he has a lot of paperwork to take care of. ‘Take care, okay?’ he tells the Warriors. ‘See ya, detective!’ Bolt calls out, when suddenly, ‘Detective, wait - you missed one!’ Turbo exclaims, dragging Dalton forward. ‘This guy was working with Heavy Mettle, too. He should be arrested along with them’ Turbo announces.
One month later, at Sing Sing Penitentiary, Mickey has come to visit Dalton. She sits opposite him in a meeting area, glass separates them, they speak into telephone receivers. ‘I’m so glad you came, Mickey. But I have to ask why. You ignored my other phone calls - why did you accept this one?’ Dalton enquires. Mickey replies that she isn’t really sure, but suggesting that perhaps she has finally had time to process the entire nightmare. ‘Don’t misunderstand me, Dalton - I’m still very hurt and angry, but maybe…maybe…we can try to get to know each other. Kind of like starting over from scratch’ Mickey replies.
‘Oh, baby, yoyou don’t know how great that is to hear…sort of’ Dalton begins, before announcing that the reason he called is that this is he wanted to tell her that he is never going to be able to see her again. ‘What? I don’t understand’ Dalton reveals that the District Attorney is having a hard time building a case against Joe, but is confident he can get a conviction with his testimony. Dalton explains that the problem is, Joe is dangerous, so the DA wants to put him in the Witness Protection Program. ‘That means a new name and a new life - and that I can’t ever revisit anyone from my old life’ Dalton explains. ‘I…Dalton, my God. I don’t know what to say’ Mickey utters, shocked. Dalton gets to his feet and tells her not to say anything, but to promise him something: ‘When you remember me, remember this - this moment here…where I finally did the right thing’. Mickey leaves the facility, arms wrapped around herself, tears falling down her face.
Seattle, Washington, ‘I don’t ask for much, you know. I just wanted to set up shop in Seattle, and try to make the best out of my company’s buyout from Stark-Fujiyama’ a man in green and yellow thinks to himself as he is swarmed by ninjas. ‘I was content to be Danny Rand, businessman. But then you guys show up and judging by your attire, you don’t want Danny Rand. You want IRON FIST!’ Danny fights off his opponents with ease, inside a car parking building. ‘You guys really - aren’t - the chatty type - are -’ Danny begins as he kicks one away, before another attacks him from behind. Suddenly, two of the ninjas find throwing knives in their backs, and they fall to the ground. ‘Who the -?’ Danny calls out as he looks up at a man in black, with red accessories. ‘Don’t let the new look fool you, Iron Fist. I’m Night Thrasher!’ exclaims the former New Warrior….
