Click!
Fenris grabbed the locked iron gate with one hand and gave it a light pull. The gate came off its frame like it was made of paper, snapping at the hinges and lock before flying through the air.
Clang!
The gate slammed into the wall and crashed to the ground.
The girl hiding under the table, who had been staring intently at the television, hadn't reacted when Fenris appeared, nor when the man fired his gun wildly, nor even when he was killed by heat vision. It was as if nothing in the world existed beyond the TV.
But when the gate was ripped off and thrown aside, she finally reacted. She slowly poked her head out from under the table, turning to face the door.
At the moment the gate hit the ground, she pounced at Fenris like a wild wolf. Her eyes were sharp and cold, her claw-like hands slicing through the air like blades, aiming directly for his eyes, throat, and heart, every vulnerable, deadly point on the body.
Swish swish swish!
Her hands moved so fast they looked like phantoms.
Ding!
Battle detected. Reward acquired: Self-Healing (Kimiko)
"So this outfit is officially ruined." Fenris glanced down at his already bullet-riddled clothing, now slashed into tatters by the girl's claws. He wasn't the least bit regretful as he looked at the girl charging again.
What was there to regret about ruined clothes, when he'd just gained a regenerative ability?
If he could get that ability every time, he'd happily open a clothing store just to let her rip through the inventory for fun.
Her razor-sharp claws gleamed as they lunged for his throat. Fenris, who had been a full head taller than the girl, suddenly shrank to the size of a thumb just as she struck.
This was the ability of the Shrinking Man, whom Fenris had killed at a nightclub.
"Whoa, that's high…" Looking up at the now-mountainous girl, the miniature Fenris shot straight upward and delivered a powerful uppercut with his tiny fist to her jaw.
Bang!
The girl was lifted slightly off the ground from the punch, her eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.
Whoosh!
Returning to his normal size in an instant, Fenris caught the girl as she fell backward.
Beneath the dirty, matted hair was a surprisingly delicate and lovely face. On closer inspection, it looked oddly familiar, identical, in fact, to Katana from DC's Suicide Squad.
Not just her. Now that he thought about it, Billy Butcher had looked familiar too. Wasn't he basically a scruffier version of Skurge, the Executioner, from Thor: Ragnarok? The one who first served Hela, then betrayed her, wielding two machine guns?
Granted, Skurge didn't have a beard or much hair at all, which made the resemblance less obvious at first glance.
Carrying the unconscious Kimiko, Fenris returned to Popclaw's apartment. She had already finished packing. There wasn't much, just a single suitcase.
Seeing Fenris walk in with a tattered shirt and a filthy girl in his arms, Popclaw hesitated, curiosity in her eyes, but chose not to ask anything.
"Ready?"
"Yes."
Fenris carried Kimiko in one arm and held onto Popclaw with the other, disappearing silently.
Marvel Universe.
New York branch of "Everywhere Logistics Company," third floor, master bedroom.
Click.
Warm light filled the dim room as Fenris gently set Kimiko down. He turned to the nervous and unsure Popclaw and told her to wait, then walked into the storage room.
Inside the storage room was a magical artifact called the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. He had found it in the ruins of the New York Sanctum within the Void. Originally belonging to Kamar-Taj, its greatest function was perfect restraint of enemies.
The only downside was that it forced the restrained target into extremely embarrassing poses.
No one could explain this better than Kaecilius, who had once been captured by Doctor Stephen Strange using the Crimson Bands in the Sanctum during the Doctor Strange film.
"Fenris, is that you?"
"Are you back?"
Just as Fenris came out of the storage room holding the Crimson Bands, he heard Jessica Jones calling out.
"It's me. Come on up," he replied as he walked toward the bedroom.
Before he reached it, Jessica came bounding up the stairs in her casual loungewear.
"You're finally back! Do you have any idea what I've been through these past few days? I didn't dare leave during the day or sleep at night, worried someone might break in and steal something and I'd let you down."
"Let me tell you, don't ever ask me to house-sit again!"
She launched into a barrage of complaints the moment she saw him.
"If anything's missing, just go find it. If you can't, pay me back with your body. I wouldn't hold it against you, so what's there to be afraid of?" Fenris teased as he opened the bedroom door. "Come on in, I'll introduce you to two new coworkers."
Rolling her eyes, Jessica huffed. "The way you say it, I should be thanking you for your generosity?"
"No need for thanks. Just be my servant in the next life."
What a jerk. His words were infuriating.
Jessica shot him a glare and stepped into the bedroom out of curiosity.
Inside, she froze.
There were two women in the room.
One was standing by a suitcase, looking nervous and uneasy.
The other looked like a homeless person, her clothes filthy and her hair unkempt, lying motionless on the floor.
These were his "new coworkers"?