"So, Daken is awake? Good, I understand. He's willing to cooperate with us against the Hand? Well, I also hope he'll be willing to cooperate with going to prison, though I doubt he'll be that accommodating."
After hanging up the phone with Logan at the Nelson & Murdock law office, Peter turned to look at Matt, who was still in a state of shock, and then glanced at Elektra sitting opposite Matt before asking, "How is it? Is there anything else that needs adjustment?"
"No, nothing. It's almost perfect—except for the heartbeat being a bit too rhythmic and the fluctuations being unnatural, it's practically flawless," Matt said, referring to the Elektra before them—or more accurately, Elektra's LMD (Life Model Decoy). "It's hard to imagine S.H.I.E.L.D. possessing such technology. At least as far as I can see (even though he was blind), there's nothing out of the ordinary."
"It doesn't matter if there's an abnormality in the heart anyway. By the time the Hand gets their hands on it, there won't be a heartbeat—it wouldn't even count as a dead person at that point."
As Peter quipped, he handed a capsule to Matt. "Here, these are nanomachines specially made by Dr. Pym. They'll help you keep your heart steady and prevent Gorgon from sniffing out any issues."
Matt didn't mind and swallowed the capsule directly, then took a deep breath.
Daken was indeed proactive when it came to screwing over the Hand and had provided Logan with a significant amount of intelligence. First, the leader of the Hand was naturally a Japanese man codenamed Gorgon. He was highly skilled in martial arts and a mutant whose power allowed him to petrify anyone who met his gaze—hence the codename. Because of this, while he wasn't blind, he was accustomed to keeping his eyes covered.
Therefore, considering that the man, like Matt, had spent decades using hearing to replace sight for positioning, it was necessary to assume his hearing was at Matt's level—meaning he could likely judge if someone was lying by listening to their heartbeat.
Beyond that, information on several Hand executives was shared by Daken. First was Elektra, who had already defected. Next was the Silver Samurai, whom everyone had already encountered. Then there was a Japanese woman in ninja attire with a mark on her forehead just like Bullseye's and similar abilities; she was likely a copycat.
The last one was a madwoman with half of her face painted white. From the description, Matt recognized her: Mary Alice Walker, also known as Typhoid Mary—a former villain, Matt's ex-girlfriend, and a mutant with dissociative identity disorder.
It was anyone's guess how Matt had ended up involved with her back in the day.
Matt clearly had no intention of discussing that topic and steered the conversation back to the events of the previous night.
"In any case, their numbers aren't small. Aside from the overwhelming waves of ninjas, the mere fact that we can't locate their headquarters is enough to keep us busy—not to mention I was hunted all night yesterday."
Last night hadn't been nearly as romantic as the night before. His apartment had been hit by a surprise attack from the Hand. He and Elektra had spent the entire night on the run, fighting across the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen with almost no rest. He anticipated that the Hand would launch a major offensive again tonight, with the goal of either reclaiming or killing Elektra.
Thinking of this, Matt asked Peter, "How likely do you think it is that Fisk and the Hand will announce a partnership?"
"Very high, but the likelihood of both sides being completely honest with each other is low. The Hand might just invite Kingpin to help kill you and the traitor while proposing a cooperation. In reality, they'll likely try to protect you and have Elektra killed."
Peter analyzed the desires of both sides and reached a conclusion: "And Kingpin would agree to it. He'll let the Hand think he's succeeded, but as long as he hides the fact that Bullseye has a healing factor, he can make the Hand believe he is your sworn enemy."
"But in reality, because Lester isn't dead, he can pull out at any time. Meanwhile, the Hand believes I'll fight Fisk to the death, at which point they'll try to recruit me."
Peter nodded.
"And Elektra's resurrection ritual is a good hook. I can blackmail the Hand—tell them I won't join unless Elektra is resurrected," Matt said, following the logic. "Elektra's resurrection ritual and my succession ceremony—or more accurately, the advent ceremony for 'The Beast'—will likely be held together. And that will be the moment I summon the entire Defenders alliance to wipe them out in one fell swoop."
Peter nodded, and then both men let out a long breath. Peter looked at Matt.
"Are you ready?"
"To be honest, I'm a bit nervous. Visualizing all of this is quite difficult."
"Shall we run through the rehearsal one more time?"
"Sure, no problem. Uh, the office side will be okay, right?"
Peter scratched his head. Whether Matt's LMD could handle the masquerade wasn't something Peter could guarantee; that was a question for the manufacturer, Nick Fury.
As the two of them stood up, the surrounding environment suddenly transformed from the Nelson & Murdock office to the rooftops of Hell's Kitchen. The clothes on Matt's body shifted into the Daredevil uniform. As images of Hand ninjas—copied from the memories of Daken and Peter—appeared one by one, a grand escape seemed imminent.
"The weather forecast said there would be light rain in Hell's Kitchen tonight, so I added some weather elements."
Beast's voice drifted from the surroundings, and the air immediately became damp. Matt took a deep breath, listening to the sound of the simulated rain falling: "No, the simulation is perfect. Honestly, it's a bit too perfect. It's hard to believe you guys train with this stuff all the time."
Beast gave a friendly smile. The Danger Room was indeed an exceptional and powerful facility; they could simulate any scenario they needed here.
Peter then called out to Gwen, who was on the other side familiarizing herself with the Danger Room controls: "Gwen, how are you doing over there? Don't let the simulation glitch out on us tonight."
"Uh, I think I've mostly got it down. Don't worry. If worst comes to worst, I'll just have Ms. Frost etch the operating manual into my brain."
Gwen spoke with excitement. Finally, a Spider-Man operation was including her. Even though she was sure it was because the role was safe enough, it was still enough to make her happy.
Peter looked at the simulated Hand soldiers and then at Matt, and began the rehearsal once more.