A parking garage of the building that houses Stark-Fujikawa, an international technological research and development company, in Seattle. ‘Hope you don’t mind me cutting in, Iron Fist!’ exclaims Dwayne Taylor a.k.a. Night Thrasher, formerly of the New Warriors. Danny Rand a.k.a. Iron Fist kicks an attacking ninja and replies ‘Not at all, Night Thrasher - it is Night Thrasher, right? You New Warriors change your costumes too much!’ Danny remarks. Night Thrasher throws a small blade towards another ninja as the hooded figures swarm them. Iron Fist knocks back another ninja and explains that he just wanted to make it to his car and hit the gym after a hard day at the office, but now these gentlemen are kind enough to provide him with an ample work out. ‘So what brings you to Seattle?’ Iron Fist asks.
‘You, actually. These ninjas are assassins from a Japanese guild called The Hand’ Night Thrasher explains, explaining that he learned they had an interest in Iron Fist, which is why he came looking for him. ‘I’m just sorry they found you before I did’ Night Thrasher exclaims. ‘You heard they were looking for me? Why didn’t you just pick up the phone?’ Iron Fist asks. ‘Not my style’ Night Thrasher replies as he dodges several energy blasts. Iron Fist asks his ally what the Hand wants with him, and as one of the ninjas fires an arrow with an explosive attached to it, it lands in a car that Night Thrasher has leapt on to. ‘Um, can I explain later?’ Night Thrasher asks as the explosion knocks him out of the building, and he begins to plummet towards the ground below.
As he falls backwards, Night Thrasher tells himself that he may not be wearing his armor anymore, but that the triple-weave protection he had built in into this suit absorbed most of the blast. He tells himself that he now has to stop his fall, and pulls a rope from a pouch on his hip. Night Thrasher throws the rope and it wraps around a column of the car parking building. ‘Ugh!’ he utters as he thumps against the side of the column. Night Thrasher begins to climb up the column by walking up the side of the building, hanging onto the rope. ‘Hold on, Danny, I’m coming…’ he thinks to himself, but as he reaches the car park level they were on, he finds Iron Fist has gone, as have the ninjas. ‘Looks like I might need to call in some back-up on this one’ Night Thrasher thinks to himself.
Meanwhile, at a popular Manhattan dance club, ‘I can’tbeleive this! If only my friends knew who I was clubbing with tonight - Namorita…Firestar…and Turbo!’ exclaims Donna Funaro as the young women stand around a table in the busy nightclub, lights flashing, people dancing nearby. Namorita tells Donna that she is really glad she could come with them tonight. ‘Since you’re dating Bolt, that makes you part of the Warriors family’ she exclaims, adding that she is glad they were able to drag Angelica away from the Avengers for a night. Angelica “Firestar” Jones smiles and tells Namorita that from what she reads in the tabloids, it is they who were lucky to snatch her away from Johnny Storm for one night. Namorita replies that Johnny had other plans, and remarks that he is probably off saving the world or discovering a new dimension. ‘Or, I dunno…doing his laundry’, before stating that it doesn’t matter, as tonight is girls’ night out!
Noticing that Mickey “Turbo” Musashi is slumped over somewhat, Angelica points out that she doesn’t look to into the idea. Angelica reveals that Rich told Vance about Mickey’s boyfriend turning out to be the criminal, Firestrike. ‘Vance and I are so sorry for you’ Angelica tells her friend. Mickey thanks her, before remarking that Rich said she and Vance are taking some time off from the Avengers and going to France. ‘He said there might even be talk of a wedding…?’ Mickey asks. Angelica confirms that they are thinking about setting a date. ‘It’s about time! I was beginning to think Robbie was going to get married before you two!’ Namorita exclaims, hugging Angelica. ‘Wait, which one’s Robbie?’ Donna whispers to Mickey. ‘Speedball’ Mickey replies. ‘Oh, okay, now I get it’ Donna remarks.
Namorita turns to Donna and asks her what she thinks - ‘Hanging out with super heroes is just as boring as hanging out with regular folks, isn’t’ it?’ Donna smiles and replies that she was just thinking how lucky Chris is to have such nice friends. ‘He’s going to need your support’ Donna points out. ‘Support? With what?’ Namorita asks, surprised. ‘Is Chris in some sort of trouble?’ Angelica inquires. Donna looks worried, and realizes that the Warriors don’t know Chris has the Legacy Virus which is slowly killing him. ‘Oh! Heh…no, nothing like that. I, er, just meant that he’ll need your support as he learns the ropes of this super hero stuff, that’s all’ Donna claims.
Meanwhile, in the Greenwich Village apartment of Madelyne Naylor and her son, Robbie Baldwin. Robbie, a.k.a. Speedball, and his fellow New Warrior, Rich Rider a.k.a. Nova, are in Robbie’s bedroom. Robbie is tapping away at his computer keyboard, ‘I’m telling you, Toothpick, it doesn’t make any sense - Thrash isn’t in the team anymore, so why would he be in our movie?’ Rich exclaims. ‘If he wants to be in a movie, let him write his own - like we’re doing!’ Rich adds. ‘Oh, come on, Buckethead, Thrash formed the Warriors in the first place. I think if you had your way, this movie would only have Nova and Speedball in it!’ Robbie replies. ‘Works for me’ Rich tells him, but asks that the Warriors are so important to Thrash, then where is he now?
A movie theatre in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Trey “Aegis” Rollins and Chris “Bolt” Bradley leave the theatre, and Trey tells Chris that it is nice to actually get together and socialize instead of putting on their costumes and getting into fights. ‘I hear ya! Us newbies have to stick together’ Chris replies. Trey asks Chris how it feels to have his powers back, to which Chris replies that it feels great, and remarks that he is not sure what caused him to lose them in the first place. He supposes that he will have to call Iceman or Wolverine, his pals in the X-Men, as they always seem to know what’s going on with this “mutant stuff”.
‘Must be cool to have friends like - hm? Aw, nuts’ Trey exclaims when an alarm sounds inside his jacket pocket. Chris looks worried, and knows he can’t tell Trey this, but part of him was glad he lost his powers, since it might have meant the Legacy Virus would go away. ‘But I guess I could never be that lucky. And even though the Legacy Virus only affects mutants so far, I’m still afraid of how the Warriors will react if they find out I’ve got a fatal disease’. Trey pulls his New Warriors communi-pin from his jacket, ‘Duty calls’ he exclaims. ‘No rest for the wicked’ Chris smiles.
Later, somewhere over the Midwest, ‘So, how’re you holding up, Turbo?’ Nova asks as he and Turbo fly behind the New Warriors’ hovercraft. ‘Will you stop asking me that? Everyone keeps asking me that. It turned out my boyfriend was a jerk. Let’s move on’ Turbo snaps. Nova tells Turbo not to bite his head off, and reminds her that he is her friend. Turbo apologizes, and tells nova that she just wants to pretend it all never happened. Inside the hovercraft, Bolt asks ‘So who exactly is Night Thrasher, again?’, to which Speedball exclaims that it is a good thing Nova is flying outside and isn’t in the craft with them. ‘What, Nova had a problem, with another Warrior besides me?’ Aegis asks. ‘Oh, did he ever!’ Namorita replies, before adding that that isn’t important right now.
Namorita explains that when Night Thrasher formed the Warriors, he thought he was assembling them to find the kinds of criminals who murdered his parents, but in reality, he had been manipulated by an evil old woman called Tai, who needed some super-kids to fulfil some ancient prophecy. Namorita adds that Thrash had an on-again / off-again relationship with the Warriors over the years, and he disbanded the team shortly before Bolt and Aegis joined up, explaining that he as going to head to Seattle to go to college and pursue and internship at Stark-Fujikawa. Namorita reveals that Thrash owns his own multinational corporation, which he inherited from his parents, so she doesn’t know why he thought he needed an internship. ‘But Thrash was always a hard one to figure out’ Namorita adds. ‘So we’re flying all the way across the country just because Thrash asked us to? And he’s not even a member of the team anymore?’ Aegis asks, confused. ‘That’s how it works, dude. Once a Warrior, always a Warrior. Heck, we’d do the same thing for you’ Speedball exclaims.
Later, over Gas Works Park in Seattle. ‘There is he. Thrash’ Nova calls out as he and Turbo drop down on the ledge of the water tower where Night Thrasher is waiting for them. ‘Nova. Turbo’ Night Thrasher remarks matter-of-factly. ‘Hi, Dwayne!’ Turbo exclaims, before Speedball bounds out of the hovercraft, and Namorita flies down, carrying Aegis and Bolt. ‘Wooo-ee! Look at Thrash’s new duds! Does Stark-Fujikawa offer an internship on fashion design or what?’ Speedball jokes. Night Thrasher tells Speedball that it is nice to see he hasn’t changed. Bolt smiles and introduces himself and Aegis. ‘We -’ he begins, but Night Thrasher folds his arms and replies ‘I know who you are’. Bolt and Aegis look unhappy, as Night Thrasher ignores them and announces that he doesn’t have a lot of time to explain.
Night Thrasher begins his story, stating that back when the Warriors were only semi-active, he took advantage of the free time by travelling to Japan to hone his fighting skills, and there, he trained with a renowned sensei named Masahiko. ‘He was the best, and I learned more from him in a few short months than I learned in years with my old teachers’ Thrash reveals. He tells his former teammates that when Masahiko failed to show for one of their training sessions, he went looking for him, and found him dead - beaten to death. Thrash reveals that he asked around about Masahiko’s death, realizing that whoever killed him had to be quite a martial artist, and he was finally able to piece together that he was killed by a guild of assassins called the Hand.
Thrash shows an image of a fifteen year old killed named Junzo Muto, and reveals that he is the one who did the actual killing. ‘Near as I can tell, assassinating Masahiko was the latest in a series of “tests”, Junzo had to undergo, in order to fulfil his destiny - that of ultimate leadership of the Hand’. Night Thrasher continues, revealing that Junzo has since completed all his tests except for one - that test is stealing Iron Fist’s “chi”, his special life force. ‘I learned about all of this right around the time the Warriors broke up, and since Iron Fist is working in Seattle now, I came here, too, hoping I could stop the Hand’. Thrash tells the New Warriors that he gave them that bogus cover story of working as an intern for Stark-Fujikawa so no one would know what he was up to, as that way, the Hand couldn’t stumble onto him.
Soon, the Warriors and Night Thrasher travel inside the hovercraft, and Night Thrasher reveals that earlier this evening, he found Iron Fist, but wasn’t able to prevent the Hand from abducting him. Thrash continues, stating that they have to find Iron Fist before the Hand can enact their ritual which will transfer the power of the Iron Fist into Junzo. As the hovercraft descends upon a building, the New Warriors do not see a hooded figure lurking on the street below. Namorita asks Thrash how he knows the ritual wasn’t already performed, meaning they will be too late. The New Warriors leave the hovercraft and Thrash explains that the ritual takes time to set up, and since it has only been a few hours since the abduction, so there is still a chance they can save him. ‘Provided we find him, of course. Any bright ideas on how that’s gonna work, Thrash-Man?’ Speedball enquires.
Night Thrasher reveals that they are standing on the building next to the parking garage where Iron Fist was abducted. ‘Now, we’re going to split up in a -’ Thrash begins, but Aegis interrupts him: ‘Who put you in charge, man? You may have formed this team, but it’s not yours anymore - and I’m not taking orders from you!’ he declares, clenching a fist. Thrash frowns and reminds Aegis that a life is at stake here, and time doesn’t afford him the luxury of making sure no one’s feelings get hurt. ‘I’m giving the orders because I’m most equipped for the job. I know the situation, and I know the city’ he adds. Nova and Speedball grin, while Bolt looks concerned. ‘Lookit that. Aegis has some guts. Maybe the kid’s not so bad after all’ Nova remarks.
Bolt asks if they shouldn’t break their argument up, but Speedball pulls out some money and exclaims ‘No way! Twenty bucks on Thrash!’, while Namorita sighs, and wonders why she thought they boys would outgrow that sort of thing. Turbo calls out to Namorita: ‘Do you see what I see?’ she asks. ‘And how. I can see at the bottom of the ocean. A night-time sky is nothing!’ Namorita replies as she flies off the rooftop, followed by Turbo. ‘He was watching us from the street. You think he’s with the Hand?’ Turbo asks her friend as they fly down an alleyway, pursuing the hooded figure who was lurking about. ‘You see what he’s wearing? I’d bet on it!’ Namorita replies. Suddenly, they find that the hooded figure has vanished. ‘He couldn’t have just disappeared’ Namorita exclaims, while Nova drops down with Speedball and Aegis. ‘Hey! What’d you guys see?’ Nova asks the girls.
Namorita announces that they saw a Hand ninja, but that they are not sure what happened to him. Turbo switches her mask to infra-red, and then she sees the Hand ninja, informing her teammates that he is underground. The New Warriors cause an explosion, and the ground gives way. They enter the cavern below, and Nova declares that it is like some sort of underground city. ‘What’s it doing here?’ he wonders. Aegis suggests that they keep alert, as the ninja could be anywhere. Night Thrasher remarks that Seattle was practically destroyed by fire over a hundred years ago, and when the city was rebuilt, it rebuilt over the remains of the old city - literally. Bolt suddenly tells everyone that he thinks Aegis was right, as he can hear something.
An instant later, the New Warriors are surrounded by a huge gathering of ninjas. ‘It’s a trap! They had us surrounded the minute we got here!’ Nova exclaims. Night Thrasher tells everyone to look sharp, as the Hand are the deadliest assassins in the world. ‘Just because you don’t have powers doesn’t mean they can’t kill you’ he adds, and as he leaps forward and kicks one of the ninjas, he supposes that they are getting close to Iron Fist. Suddenly, Aegis and Bolt are both struck in the back by throwing stars, and they fall to the ground. Night Thrasher adds that the ninjas are here to keep them from finding Iron Fist, while at that moment, Iron Fist is strapped to a table, and Junzo Muto stands over him.
Aegis gets up and goes over to Bolt, asking him if he is okay. He reaches down to the star sticking out of Bolt’s left shoulder blade and tells him that he has to take it out of him. No! Get away! Don’t touch me!’ Bolt exclaims urgently, and he releases a surge of energy, knocking Aegis backwards. Chris thinks to himself that he doesn’t know what will happen if Aegis touches his blood, and he can’t take the chance of finding out. At that moment, Muto slams his hands down on Iron Fist’s chest. Nova strikes a punch at one of the ninjas, but the ninja dodges him with ease. ‘These guys are fast!’ Nova exclaims, when suddenly, one of the ninjas throws a gas pellet, and it explodes around Nova, who begins to cough and clutch at his throat.
Turbo sees her friend in trouble and flies towards him, she knows that Nova’s body may be invulnerable, but that the gas could kill him. She releases a wind-blast, which disperses the gas, hopefully before it does any real harm. As the gas vanishes, Nova continues to cough, when Turbo is suddenly caught off guard by a ninja who comes up beside her and slams his sword down on her - although it clashes with her armored shoulder pad. ‘My armor protected me…but just barely!’ Turbo tells herself, while Namorita wraps a hand around one of the ninja’s necks and declares that they aren’t so tough once you get hold of them. However, the ninja reaches out with his sword. ‘You were saying, Goldilocks?’ Speedball asks, as the ninja hacks off Namorita’s ponytail. ‘Hey! Watch the hair!’ Namorita snaps angrily.
Speedball suddenly finds a chain thrown around his ankle, and he is pulled downwards by the ninja holding the other end. ‘Mayday! Red alert!’ Speedball exclaims, before he is flung into Namorita. Night Thrasher tells everyone that they aren’t approaching this correctly, and points out that the objective isn’t to beat the ninjas, but to get past them. ‘There’s a difference!’ he shouts, while Nova and Aegis approach him, and Nova announces that they have plan to get past the ninjas and get to Iron Fist. Aegis extends his force field around himself and Nova, who asks him if he can handle this, as it he will be putting pressure on his back. ‘I can take it, Nova. Let’s do it!’ Aegis exclaims as Nova picks him up and flies him forward, with the force field now extended outwards so that it knocks aside the ninjas as Nova flies onwards.
‘Yeah! It’s working! Your force field is acting like one of those cattle-catchers, pushing the ninjas out of our way!’ Nova exclaims. Speedball bounds after them, while Namorita picks up the injured Bolt and Turbo flies Night Thrasher forward, who tells them to move before the ninjas have a chance to regroup. The New Warriors arrive at set of wooden doors, and burst through them. ‘Thrash was right! We were close!’ Nova exclaims as he sees Iron Fist, chained to the table. ‘Is he..is he alive?’ Namorita asks. Turbo announces that she thinks this place is an old slaughterhouse, while Thrash tells everyone to look sharp, as he can’t tell if the ritual has been completed. Junzo Muto and an elderly Hand operative stand over Iron Fist,. ‘What are we waiting for, Thrash? It’s just one kid’ Turbo points out. ‘Remember what I said about underestimating these people, Turbo. Just because they don’t have powers -’ Thrash replies, when suddenly, Junzo begins to glow, and he declares that he does have power, as it is written, ages ago - ‘I have the power of the Iron Fist!’ he boasts.
‘No way! He’s bluffing!’ Aegis exclaims. ‘Am I? Tell them, Mister Rand’ Junzo smirks. Wearily, with energy evaporating around him, Danny confirms that Junzo isn’t bluffing, that he stole the Iron Fist. ‘Hang in there, Danny. We’re gonna make things right’ Namorita assures him as she hovers overhead. Night Thrasher frowns, and declares ‘Kid, you’ve left a trail of dead bodies across two continents. It ends here. First, we take you down, then we reverse the ritual. It’s as simple as that’ Thrash declares. ‘Is it?’ Junzo replies as he leaps towards the heroes, foot outstretched for a powerful kick, he strikes Namorita, knocking her back. ‘There are seven of you, and one of me. That makes this fight about even, wouldn’t you agree?’ he remarks, while Turbo exclaims that Junzo is faster than Thrash. ‘I’m faster than any of you!’ Junzo boasts as he lands away from the Warriors.
Nova flies up behind the villain, and grabs him - but Junzo slips away easily. ‘I had time! He was right here!’ Nova exclaims. ‘It’s just one kid! How is he doing this?’ Aegis calls out as Junzo escapes his grasp. ‘Why are you so surprised? It’s not like you’re a well-oiled team. Look at yourselves. It’s embarrassing!’ Junzo smirks as he somersaults about, dodging Speedball, who bounds into Bolt. ‘I almost wonder if I couldn’t beat you without the power of the Iron Fist’ Junzo remarks. ‘But alas, as shall never know’ he exclaims as he lands in front of Turbo. ‘I thought ninjas were supposed to be silent!’ Turbo declares as she flies towards Junzo, a turbine of wind blasting in front of her. Nova calls out to Turbo, warning her to be careful, and as Junzo leaps out of Turbo’s direction, she loses control of the turbine, as it spirals into one of the support columns holding up the ceiling.
‘Which means this whole place will collapse unless I hold it up!’ Nova exclaims as he flies over to the collapsing ceiling and forces himself against it. Nova looks down to where Junzo is rushing towards Aegis. He tells Aegis to make his shield bigger, but Aegis tells Nova to lay off, as he can handle this. However, Junzo drops to the ground and slides between Aegis’s legs, smirking, he declares that he had heard of the overconfidence of the American “super heroes”, but that he never believed the extent to which hit was true. Junzo then flips backwards, kicking Aegis from behind, striking him right where he was hit with the shurikens. ‘Don’t let him fool you, Speedy - he’s real fast!’ Nova calls out as Speedball bounds towards Junzo.
Speedball reminds Nova that he can control kinetic energy, so “fast” is a relative term. ‘If you control kinetic energy, why do you insist on bouncing about like an imbecile?’ Junzo enquires. ‘Not that I’m complaining, mind you. You make for a truly excellent launching pad’ Junzo declares as he jumps on Speedball’s back, and then upwards towards Turbo, kicking her in the face. Junzo then darts away, but finds himself in Namorita’s arms. ‘Well, well. Look what we have here. Looks like this dance is over, kid’ Namorita smirks, but Night Thrasher tells Namorita that just because she is stronger, doesn’t mean she has the advantage. ‘Make sure you -’ he begins, but ‘Too late!’ exclaims Junzo as he grabs Namorita’s back, and she goes limp, falling towards the ground.
‘Even Atlanteans have pressure-points which can be manipulated’ Junzo remarks as he lands on a beam. Thrash catches Namorita, while Speedball asks if she is okay. Thrash reports that she is, but unconscious. Speedball turns his attention back to Junzo, ‘You got lucky last time, no biggie. You may be fast, but I can go you one better. My kinetic field reflects anything that touches me’ Speedball exclaims, as he closes in on Junzo, who suddenly surrounds himself with energy. ‘Physical force can’t hurt me!’ Speedball boasts. ‘Then how about - mystical force?’ Junzo asks. ‘Toothpick! Watch out! He’s using his Iron Fist!’ Nova warns Speedball, but it’s too late, as Junzo’s energies strike Speedball, knocking him out.
Danny Rand is still chained to the table, while Nova is holding the ceiling up. Everyone else has been taken out except for Night Thrasher. Nova looks down at Speedball, he thinks he is breathing, but can’t tell from where he is. Nova is wanting to get in on the battle, but knows that if he moves, the entire place will fall down around them. He hopes that Thrash can take Junzo out. Junzo turns to Night Thrasher, ‘You’ve just faced down dozens of my assassin. You’re exhausted. Do you really think you can stand up to me, after I decimated your friends?’ he enquires. Danny calls out to Thrash, telling him that using the Iron Fist is draining, so Junzo is just as tired as he is. ‘Sounds like we’ve got ourselves a fair fight’.
The two men bow before each other, while the Warriors begin to regain consciousness and watch on. ‘Come on, Thrash. You can do this. You’re better than he is’ Nova thinks to himself. Thrash blocks Junzo’s first attack, while Namorita looks around and wonders what is happening. Junzo recoils, then attacks with a kick, and Aegis is surprised that Thrash is actually holding his own. ‘The others were right about this guy’ he thinks to himself, as Thrash dodges another attack. ‘Cooool…’ Bolt thinks to himself. Turbo is worried, though, she can see that Thrash started out strong, but thinks he is getting too tired. Thrash falls to the ground, and Speedball thinks ‘Thrash looks like I feel’. Thrash manages to get to his feet, and Junzo declares ‘Do you see? You are fatigued’, to which Night Thrasher tells his foe ‘You’re gonna have to kill me, because I’m not going to stop’.
‘Guys! He’s right! Thrash won’t quit! He’ll die first!’ nova calls out, and as he flies away from the ceiling, he tells his teammates to grab who they can and move. ‘Without me to support this place, it’s gonna come crashing down around us!’ Nova declares. Namorita collects Danny from the table and tells him to take it easy. ‘We’re gonna get you out of here’ she assures him. ‘Everyone accounted for?’ Nova calls out as he grabs Night Thrasher and flies forward. Aegis runs along behind them, while Turbo collects Bolt. ‘Everyone that matters!’ Turbo replies, as Junzo watches them leave. ‘Put me down! This ain’t finished!’ Night Thrasher declares as the complex begins to collapse around them.
On the street above, a man is walking his pet dog. He is quoting his wife: “But, Herbie, if we get a dog, you won’t have to do anything. I’ll walk him every morning before work”. ‘Yeah. Right. I don’t know why I believe that woman’ the man thinks to himself, when suddenly, he does a double-take as the New Warriors burst through the pavement ahead of him. ‘This is the only way, Thrash! We couldn’t beat him!’ Nova calls out. ‘Retreat is not an option!’ Thrash exclaims. ‘Oh. My. Goodness!’ the man gasps, while his dog begins barking. Nova places Thrash on the ground and tells him that retreat isn’t his favourite option, but he will take “retreat” over “death”.
‘You don’t get it, do you? Junzo and the Hand are still at large because we failed!’ Thrash declares, pointing out that they are back at square one now. ‘Who knows where we’ll find them’ he adds. Danny Rand tells Thrash that that is not entirely true, as they were trying to kill him. ‘You prevented them, and lived to tell about it’ Iron Fist narrows his eyes and tells the New Warriors to trust him - they have not seen the last of Junzo or the Hand….
