At night, the New York City sky is painted with vibrant colors by neon lights.
"Whoosh—!"
The golden-red armor pierced through the clouds, its thrusters leaving twin trails of blue flame in its wake.
"Jarvis, prepare for landing procedures."
Tony Stark yawned. His mask displayed a reading of 87% remaining energy.
"Sir, the satellite has detected an anomaly."
Jarvis's voice rang out. "Multiple biothermal signatures have been detected on 39th Street in Midtown West, Manhattan. Their energy characteristics are inconsistent with known profiles. Visual recognition indicates Daredevil is engaged in combat."
A holographic projection unfolded across Tony's heads-up display. In the blurry surveillance footage, a figure in a red suit rolled and dodged through a narrow alleyway.
Tony Stark abruptly changed course, instantly boosting thruster output to 120%.
"Jarvis, pull up the monster database… What the hell is that?!"
Meanwhile, in the damp alleyways—
"Sizzle—!"
Matt Murdock's short stick clashed with the creature's claws, sending up a shower of blinding sparks.
He stepped back half a pace, his nostrils assaulted by the stench of sulfur and rotting flesh.
Demon!
Danger alarms blared in his mind. The three-meter-tall crimson figure nearly blocked the entire alley entrance, its bat-like wings scraping against the brick walls on either side and sending loose stones clattering to the ground like raindrops.
"Seventh left claw strike, angle 32 degrees."
Murdock muttered the words to himself, using echolocation to sidestep the attack.
But the demon suddenly shifted tactics—its massive claws swept sideways in a wave of searing heat.
"Bang—!"
Murdock crossed his batons just in time to block, but the impact hurled him into the air. His back slammed hard against a fire escape ladder.
"Crunch…"
The iron railing dented like putty, and a sharp pain lanced through his ribs.
Instead of pursuing, the demon opened its gaping maw, rows of jagged teeth glinting in the dim light.
"Buzz… buzz… buzz…"
Murdock's enhanced hearing caught the telltale pop of compressed air. He rolled aside just in time.
"Boom—!"
An invisible force ripped open a three-meter-long gash where he'd stood moments before, shattering the asphalt as though a monstrous beast had taken a bite from the street.
"Temperature's rising again…"
Murdock panted heavily—his sweat evaporated almost as soon as it formed.
Heat radiating from the demon's body warped the air around it. A sharp, burning pain shot through his right arm: the sleeve of his suit had been carbonized during the last parry, and angry blisters bloomed across his skin.
"Whoosh—!"
Suddenly, the demon flapped its wings and leapt nimbly onto the rooftop.
Murdock heard bricks crack beneath its weight—then the rush of wind as it dove.
"Sizzle—!"
He lunged forward. The demon's claws grazed his back, shearing an air conditioner unit cleanly in two.
Sparking wires writhed like dying snakes, and the released refrigerant vaporized instantly in the intense heat.
"Bang!"
A laser beam struck the demon squarely in the back, sending it rearing up with a guttural roar.
Iron Man, dressed in gold and red, hovered at the alley entrance, his shoulder armor opening to reveal miniature missile launchers.
"Good evening, Little Red. Looks like you need the help of a superhero?"
Tony Stark's voice emanated from an external speaker.
"My name isn't Red—"
"ROAR—!"
The demon's roar shattered every nearby window.
It abandoned Matt Murdock, its bat-like wings flapping wildly and generating a gust that sent trash cans and bicycles flying down the alley.
Just as Tony Stark shifted into a defensive stance, the scattered metal debris shot toward him as if guided by an invisible hand.
"Jarvis!"
"Point-defense system activated, sir."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A miniature laser cannon popped out from the armor's wrist, precisely intercepting the incoming metal fragments.
But the demon suddenly spread its claws—and Tony felt an invisible force seize his armor's limbs, locking them in place.
"BOOM—!"
The thruster-overload alarm blared, and he slammed hard into the ground. The concrete cracked radially beneath him, and the chest display flickered with static.
Matt Murdock seized the opening, hurling an alloy rope that coiled around the demon's ankles. Using the momentum, he swung upward and drove both of his sticks hard into the back of its neck.
"To be honest, I don't really recommend you do that," Tony called out. "This guy's skin is tougher than tungsten carbide—"
Before he could finish, the demon swept Matt aside with a single backhanded motion and continued, as if to itself:
"...Still hard."
Matt gritted his teeth, struggled to his feet, and snapped, "Your reminder was very timely!"
The demon turned and strode toward Tony Stark, leaving molten footprints that sizzled on the pavement with every step.
As its crimson claws came crashing down, Tony fired his leg thrusters and dodged sideways.
"BANG!"
The claws gouged the street, sending tremors through the entire block.
Tony executed a tactical roll and launched himself back into the air, shouting:
"Jarvis, find this thing's weak point!"
"Analyzing, sir. There's a wound in the center of the creature's back—between the shoulder blades. That may be your best point of entry."
Tony didn't hesitate. He ripped off his badly deformed left arm armor, exposing the built-in laser emitter, and yelled:
"Little Red! Center of the back—I'll count to three! On 'three,' you go left; I'll go right!"
Matt Murdock understood instantly. He spat blood and foam from his mouth and snapped his short sticks together into a single long staff.
The demon seemed to sense the danger. Its wings flared wide, readying for flight—
"Three!"
The moment the word left Tony's lips, his laser beam lanced out, striking the demon's back with a searing hiss that burned through its scales.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR—!"
Matt seized the opening, hurling his staff like a javelin. The tip vibrated at high frequency as it pierced the gap between the demon's shoulder blades.
"PFFT—!"
Almost simultaneously, Tony launched all twelve of his remaining micro-missiles.
"BOOM—!"
Every missile struck the exact same spot—the end of Matt's embedded alloy rod. The explosion drove the staff clean through the demon's torso, its tip bursting from the creature's chest.
"AAAAAAAH—!"
The demon's scream shattered windows across three city blocks. From its wounds gushed not blood, but a lava-like substance.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
It thrashed wildly, its claws raking across Tony's armor and tearing three deep gashes into the plating. The shockwave hurled Matt Murdock ten meters down the alley.
Tony gritted his teeth and channeled the last of his power. The arc reactor in his chest flared brilliantly.
"FIRE!"
The pulse blast struck true. The demon's body swelled like an overinflated balloon, magma-like light bursting from the cracks between it
s scales.
"Boom…"
With a muffled detonation, the creature exploded into countless burning fragments. Its searing flesh hissed as it hit the rain-slicked ground.
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