Chương 33: Bloody Mary

Mason sat atop a crane, watching the construction site beneath. Officially, this was supposed to be a future museum dedicated to modern-day philanthropists. Its construction had been halted for five years, however, because of bureaucratic problems. Still, plenty of 'subventions' were being poured in every year. The truth was that this was one of the largest fronts for Fisk, used as a massive laundering operation he lent to other rich people.

Actually, it was a pretty ingenious scheme that turned the construction site virtually invincible. To give some background, Fisk had supplanted and absorbed the Irish Mafia about a decade ago, and with it, gained a nigh-absolute control over the construction industry in the city. That was not to say he was behind each and every construction company, but they did all have ties to him, one way or another.

It was through this overwhelming influence that Fisk had started the project of the museum, which was supposedly financed through 'revolutionary means'. Since it was a museum supposed to celebrate philanthropists, it qualified as charity work and received money from the city for its construction. However, that only covered a part of the costs. The true chunk of it came from donations from wealthy patrons. Of course, all that was a load of bullshit.

The workers on site only worked superficially, the night crews demolishing what had been accomplished during the day. To be fair, most of Fisk's projects were actually completed at competition-crushing speeds, since the Kingpin used every means possible to keep his monopoly. If he had to threaten a foreman's family to make him work overtime, it wouldn't spoil the taste of his coffee in the morning. This particular project, though, was different. The money the city kept pouring into it was only a part of it.

More importantly, all those 'wealthy patrons' were rich people laundering their money. Because the construction was halted, whoever made a donation would be reimbursed since most of the money could not be used, with only a small fee remaining behind. In other words, in exchange for a small percentage of commissions, every felon in the city and beyond was invited to turn their dirty money into clean bills.

Of course, this was limited to already wealthy people, since their donation had to make sense in the first place, but that only ensured that only the most powerful would partake in it. And that was where the genius of it was. Be it the Maggia, the Hand, Jeffrey Epstein, or organizations like the Hand, allies and enemies alike had a stake in the operation, meaning that even if someone wanted to hurt Fisk, they would not aim for his biggest operation since they would be hurting their own finances.

The installation should not be underestimated, as with Fisk's ties within New York's Mayor's office, billions of dollars were being passed around every year, if not every month. Moreover, they would draw the ire of everyone else who had invested in it, so it was protected from essentially anyone with enough power to do something about it. Unfortunately for them, Fisk had made the wrong enemy.

Mason was in the unique position where he had enough power to do something about it, and he did not have to fear the consequences for doing so. Actually, it was his plan to better things for himself. From what Mason had learned, the kill order on him had originated from the Hand, and Fisk had accepted it probably because of their close relationship.

But he had not forgotten that Spider-Man had erupted on a meeting between them and the Maggia, meaning the Hand was extending the kill order to other organizations as well. Individuals, too, since the Vulture had tried to take the bounty for himself. Then, Danny, that is the Iron Fist, had confirmed to him that the kill order was an open one, meaning that anyone in the world could deliver his corpse to the Hand and they would get the bounty. It was not a paltry sum either, standing at a whopping 25 million dollars.

And from what Danny had heard, many parties were interested. Mason had been left alone so far because of how swiftly he had taken down Toomes, the Vulture, and that New York was contested territory already, but at the first sign of weakness, they would swoop in to take the bounty for themselves. That made Mason feel like John Wick, which was awesome, but more seriously, it meant that he did not have to fear retaliation, since they already wanted to kill him. On the contrary, this was a move to intimidate them.

By striking at what was arguably the heart of Fisk's operations, he would show he was no pushover, and that anyone who attacked should be ready to suffer the consequences. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Of course, there was always the worry about his family, but they were precisely the reason why he had decided to act so swiftly. Because Mason knew that if he showed himself impossible to catch, Fisk would come after his family.

So, that was why Mason was there tonight, despite Daredevil's and the Iron Fist's disapproval. Tonight, Mason was making his preemptive attack and putting Solis back on the radar. Watching a limo pull in, Mason watched with interest the unusual ride. Obviously, someone important was coming, which was an unexpected but welcome surprise. Getting up with a grunt, Mason shook his stiff legs, looking down at the people down there getting agitated.

Several of the 'foremen' came out of the office, Mason's goal for tonight. Of course, causing a ruckus and forcing the police to investigate the place would already represent a severe hit to Kingpin's operations, but Mason was sure Fisk would manage to finesse his way through the problem. That was why Mason aimed for the information inside. Daredevil had learned that the office was important to Fisk's operation, and very possibly held important information.

Clapping his hands together, Mason gave the signal to Daredevil, who was lying in wait a street over. The plan for tonight was for only Mason to show himself, since he was already a target. However, this was not something he could easily do alone since they could erase the information while he kicked their asses, so he would act as the diversion while Daredevil and Iron Fist snuck inside.

The clap was relatively light, light enough that the people below could not possibly hear it, but two figures jutted across the street nonetheless, Daredevil's sonar abilities allowing him to easily pick up on it. Seeing the car coming to a stop and his two allies about to enter the building, Mason took a breath, channeled his inner Batman, and dropped down. The crane was nearly a hundred feet in the air, which would have been all but a deadly fall for a normal person.

Mason only felt excitement, though, as he wreathed his legs in Chi, gaining a faint yellowish luster that seemed especially striking in the night sky. It was conspicuous enough for them to see Mason, but they only had the time to look up before he landed on the roof of the limo. The roof of the car folded under him, forcing it to a sudden stop as the limo was nearly cut in half by the sudden force.

The impact was rather strong, but Mason forced himself to stand ramrod straight, arms crossed as he stood like a monolith. He looked around as the henchmen fumbled for their weapons, grinned, then laughed out loud, "Fight!" With a flex of his thighs, Mason leapt off the car, going for the foremen first. Covering his fist with a light film of Chi instead of filling his limb with it, he decked one of them as hard as he could.

Mason's physique was already much stronger than someone like Captain America, so adding the boost from Chi to it, Mason's fist should have gone through the man's head. However, thanks to the properties of Chi, all that piercing power was turned into a bludgeoning force, sending the man flying. Mason did not even have to worry about killing them, with Chi helping him once again as he rapidly weaved between the henchmen, dropping them all with a single strike.

Below, the fight looked almost theatrical as every man Mason hit was sent flying like ragdolls, almost like they were in a movie. Some of them stood frozen, unable to do anything but watch as he swiftly dispatched their leaders with brutal efficiency. Those were not men used to Supers. Most heroes present in the city had only appeared somewhere around a year ago, and most of them were focused on the bigger picture.

As for the older generation, the X-Men, and seemingly most mutants, had disappeared nearly thirty years ago, so most of them had probably never met a mutant before, much less fought one. So there was something terrifying about watching a man swat aside men like they were toddlers, the feeling of standing before a force of nature.

It had been documented in many history books that most battles Captain America took part in were considerably easier because of the psychological effect his presence had on the Nazis, and those were trained military men. The men facing Mason were only henchmen. Still, as Mason turned his gaze towards them, the deformed door of the limo was suddenly sent flying, and a red-haired woman stepped out. She was tall for a woman, her form athletic yet curvy, but she still gave Mason a strange feeling.

She was dressed professionally, but the left side of her face was painted white, giving her almost a clownish appearance with her hair. She had curly red hair, but most strangely, it was rising as she stepped out of the limo, each strand writhing as she stared at Mason with a mixture of rage, violence, and lust, the emotions so intense she looked feverish. Licking her lips, the woman raised a hand, a jagged piece of metal from the car rising with her gesture, and she said, "My oh my, aren't you a treat?"

The jagged piece of metal levitated over to her mouth, and she gave it a lick, giving the other men around her a wild look as she called out, "Well? Should I report your uselessness to the boss once I'm done with him?" It was as though they had been struck by lightning as they started, reaching for their weapons, screaming, "No, Lady Typhoid!" Meanwhile, Mason watched on, calculating. Seeing the woman, Lady Typhoid, look at him again, he asked, "Are you one of Fisk's enforcers?

You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?" The woman cackled at that, several more improvised weapons rising from the wreckage behind her.

"Just stand still for me, and maybe I'll tell you." The dagger-like weapons floating around her shot out towards Mason, all nine of them, and much to her shock, Mason did not try to dodge. Instead, he let out an amused chuckle, grabbing each one of them before they could pierce his flesh. Lady Typhoid, whose name was actually Typhoid Mary, stared in shock at the weapons, attempting to wrestle them away, but it felt like moving a block of cement.

The shock she felt was only overpowered by the shame she felt as she heard Mason guffawing above.