Unknownfate
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Chapter 102
🕑 Added 2025-04-18 11:22:21 +0000 UTC“No, no, no, no.” Matt quickly stopped them before they got out, and like herding cats, forced them back onto the couch.
“We can’t just storm in. We don’t know anything about the building. Though I’m sure JARVIS included full satellite schematics, ownership history, power usage data—hell, he probably even color-coded the floor plans like last time. All of which is useless to me because, if you didn’t notice, I can’t see.”
Mordred looked unimpressed. “So don’t read it—just hit things. That’s what you do anyway.”
Jessica, however, frowned. “Wait… Why doesn’t he just send it written in blind? Or in sound files or whatever?”
“Likely the same reason he isn’t here himself, because he is busy, and not even Stark can send Braille in an electronic document,” Matt replied. “And he was probably too busy covering for someone passing out drunk in a holding cell.”
Jessica opened her mouth to snap back, then paused. “Okay, fair.”
Matt continued, pushing the tablet toward her. “Jessica, I need you to read this. Help me plan. Mordred’s a hammer, and you’re… supposed to be the middle ground.”
Jessica blinked. “You want me to be the brain?”
“You’re all I’ve got.”
Mordred let out a loud cackle. “We’re screwed.”
Jessica rolled her eyes but reached for the tablet anyway. “Fine. But if I end up turning into you, Murdock, I’m quitting.”
Matt gave her the faintest smirk. “Deal.”
The coffee table was covered in projections—blueprints, power schematics, infrared overlays, and facial recognition profiles of known Hand operatives. Stark had practically delivered an NSA-level dossier, complete with a 3D holographic model of the building Gao was last seen entering.
Jessica sat on the floor, back against the couch, trying to make sense of it all. The blueprints hovered in the air before her, shifting angles as she waved her hand, zooming in on staircases, exits, underground corridors.
“This…” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “This looks like a tech demo from hell.”
Matt stood nearby, arms crossed. “I’ve listened to every data file Jarvis sent, but there’s only so much I can track without being able to actually see the projections.”
“You mean you’re flying blind,” Mordred said, sprawled on the couch behind them, casually juggling a bag of jellybeans like they were knives. “Figures.”
“I am blind,” Matt said dryly.
“Right,” Mordred said, then paused. “Still. Feels like we’re not really built for this part of the mission.”
Jessica tried to swipe to the next slide in the hologram, only for the whole thing to tilt sideways and spin. “Oh, come on,” she groaned. “Why does every page look like a damn sci-fi maze?”
Jessica pinched the bridge of her nose. She’d been trying. Trying to be helpful. Trying to lead. Trying to be the kind of person Mordred would follow, and Matt would trust.
But the truth was, she didn’t know how to lead. Not really.
Kilgrave had chosen her friends. Her clothes. Her meals. Her words.
Now she was free… and paralyzed by the question of what if I choose wrong?
“What if I screw this up?” she muttered aloud, not meaning to.
Mordred snorted. “Well, then we punch our way out. That’s what I always do.”
“That’s not a plan,” Matt snapped. “That’s a tantrum.”
Jessica stood up suddenly, voice sharper than before. “You know what? Screw this. I’m not going to sit around second-guessing myself because he used to make all my decisions for me. I’m making this one.”
She turned to face both of them, her jaw set, her shoulders square.
“We’re doing both. Matt and I will sneak in from the rooftop. We scout, listen, see if Gao shows up. Mordred goes in the front. Loud. Like she wants.”
Matt blinked. “…You’re sure?”
“Nope,” Jessica said. “But I’m not asking for permission.”
Mordred sat up, visibly impressed. “Damn. Look at you.”
Jessica smirked. Just a little. “Don’t get used to it.”
Matt gave a quiet nod. “Alright then. I’ll start prepping the gear.”
And just like that, the mission had a shape.
The city was quieter now. Not silent—New York never slept—but hushed enough for shadows to stretch, for whispers to travel between buildings, and for three figures to move like ghosts above the streetlights.
Mordred cracked her knuckles as they stood outside the target building.
“Front door, yeah?” she asked, grinning. “Or should I climb through a window and really ruin their night?”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Try not to set the building on fire.”
“No promises.”
Matt crouched beside the back of the van Stark had lent them—still somehow polished to perfection despite the trio’s efforts to trash it in just few weeks. He checked the comms, then held out an earpiece.
Jessica took hers and slipped it in. Mordred stared at hers like it was a bug.
“Does it go in or just stick on?” she asked, poking at it.
“Just… put it in your ear,” Jessica muttered.
Mordred grumbled, jammed it in sideways, and tapped it twice. “Yo, Mordred online. Call sign: Dragon Punch.”
“No,” Matt said instantly.
Jessica smirked. “Too late. That’s canon now.”
Matt sighed. “Let’s go over the plan. Mordred enters first. Loud, fast. If Gao is in there, we want her attention focused on the entrance.”
“Meaning she either escapes up—” Jessica started.
“Or down,” Matt finished. “We’ll be watching from above. If she surfaces, we intercept.”
“Or fall off the roof,” Mordred added helpfully.
“Please don’t,” Matt deadpanned.
The building in question sat on the edge of a block largely swallowed by construction, half its windows boarded, the other half lit just enough to suggest activity that didn’t want attention. A perfect cover for what was beneath.
Mordred stretched one last time, then grinned, green eyes gleaming in the dark.
“Time to make some noise.”
She strolled up to the front entrance like she owned the place, hands in her jacket pockets, humming a tune loud enough to announce her arrival.
Jessica and Matt made their way to the side of the building. They scaled the adjacent fire escape in silence—Matt leading by instinct, Jessica following his rhythm. At the top, they lay flat on the rooftop, eyes trained on the entry point.
Jessica exhaled slowly. “Any sign of movement?”
“I hear them now,” Matt whispered. “Footsteps inside. Five. No—seven. Armed. Someone’s watching from the second floor.”
Jessica tensed.
“Let’s hope she really brings the storm.”
Matt crouched behind the ledge, head tilted as he listened. Jessica stood beside him, arms folded, eyes locked on the upper windows of the building.
Below them, the chaos had already started. Mordred had made her entrance with all the subtlety of a wrecking ball—crashing through the front doors, followed by shouting, gunfire, and a shriek of metal being torn apart.
“She’s already inside,” Matt muttered. “I count six down. They weren’t ready.”
Jessica smirked faintly. “When are they ever?”
Matt turned his head slightly. “Someone’s coming up. Light footsteps. Steady. Confident.”
Jessica leaned forward. “Gao?”
“Likely, whoever it is, they don’t seem worried. I think I also hear a cane tapping the stairs, though I could be wrong; the gun shots make it difficult.”
“Cane? Then she likely isn’t as dangerous as expected.” Jessica commented as they watched the roof.
“Don’t be too sure, and get ready.” Matt warned her.
Momently later, the roof access door opened, and Gao stepped out like she owned the world.
She was small. Frail-looking. Dressed in soft slippers and robes, her silver hair tied neatly back. She tapped her cane once on the concrete rooftop and paused, eyes closed.
“I know you’re here,” she said softly. “Show yourselves.”
Jessica stepped forward. “Nice night for fresh air.”
Gao opened her eyes.
She smiled.
Matt was already moving—charging in with sticks raised. Jessica went the other direction, trying to flank.
Gao moved like a breeze. One step, one twist—and then she struck the rooftop with her cane.
The blast of chi cracked the rooftop beneath her feet and sent Matt flying like a ragdoll.
Jessica’s confidence shattered in an instant.
She froze, watching Matt slam against a wall and drop to one knee. Her breath hitched.
Gao turned toward her.
“You too,” the woman said gently. “I expected the so-called Devil of Hell’s Kitchen, but not that he brought friends, not that it would change anything. After all, your ace is down there, distracted, giving me all the time I need to deal with you.”
Gao was calm, ancient confidence in her eyes said enough. She raised a hand slowly, fingers curling like the claws of some withered beast.
Jessica didn’t move. Couldn’t.
Then Gao struck.
She didn’t leap, or lunge. She flowed—gliding forward on the balls of her feet with a speed that didn’t make sense for someone her age. The first blow didn’t come from her hand, but from the air itself—a sudden ripple of force that hit Jessica square in the chest, launching her backward into a rooftop vent with a metallic crunch.
“Jessica!” Matt’s voice rang out. She rolled to the side just before another wave of invisible energy splintered the metal beside her.
Enhanced. Just like him.
Jessica’s breath caught in her throat. That same twisting panic, the helplessness that gripped her every time Kilgrave so much as looked at her—it clawed at her spine. This woman could knock her across a room with a flick of the wrist. She wasn’t ready.
“Move!” Matt shouted again, swinging his baton at Gao—but she danced around it like smoke, fluid and untouched.
“I can’t—” Jessica gasped, ducking low, her body trembling, “I can’t—”
Gao turned her attention toward Matt. Her next attack sent him flying—straight into the rooftop ledge. He groaned and slumped, not out, but stunned.
Jessica saw him fall.
And the panic cracked.
Not because the fear was gone—but because someone else needed her.
Her fists clenched. She surged up from the rooftop, legs pumping, teeth bared.
Gao turned just in time to catch Jessica’s punch with her palm.
But this time, the force behind it pushed her back.
The rooftop cracked beneath them. Gao’s eyes flickered with something—was it surprise?
Jessica didn’t give her a second to speak.
Left hook. Elbow. Knee. Each strike wild, raw, desperate—but hers. Every swing was a choice. Her choice. Not Kilgrave’s. Not anyone else’s.
Gao retaliated, a wave of chi blasting out from her hands—but Jessica planted her feet. It staggered her, sent blood trickling from her nose, but she stayed upright.
“I’m not afraid of you!” Jessica screamed.
Gao stepped back, adjusting her stance—but Jessica was already moving again.
They collided at the rooftop's edge, and this time, it was Gao who stumbled. Jessica grabbed her coat and threw her—slamming her into the metal doorway with a thunderous clang.
-----
The walls shook as Mordred slammed a body through the bricks.
She’d ditched subtlety the second they entered. Subtlety was Matt’s thing. Jessica could pretend. Mordred? Mordred preferred results.
The halls were dark, dusty, and worn; they had seen better days for sure. The only thing not old and dusty was the men, their blades shiny, their guns new, all useless against Mordred. Even without her armor, she wasn’t easy to hurt.
Not that they didn’t try.
She wiped blood from her jaw with the back of her arm, stepping over the twitching headless remains of someone who tried to block her path with a crowbar.
“Seriously? A crowbar?” she muttered, more disappointed than angry.
Around her, the lights flickered—too many smashed bulbs, too many bodies hitting the walls. It was a good thing this was an old brick and mortar building, or the amount of damage she did could have brought it down on top of her.
From deeper in the compound, she heard the grind of heavy machinery. That low, churning whump-whump-whump of massive drills or excavation gear. They were digging.
Her boots thudded across reinforced steel flooring as she reached the edge of a new shaft—one they hadn’t seen in the stolen blueprints. Freshly reinforced, rimmed in metal, it yawned downward like the throat of some mechanical beast.
At least three stories deep.
From below, the sounds of work continued. Machinery. Voices. Maybe half a dozen men yelling orders in Mandarin or something close to it.
Mordred’s eye twitched. She could wait. She could call it in. Get Matt or Jessica or even Tony to review it.
But patience had never been her virtue.
She grabbed a pipe from the wall—ripped it clean—and leapt.
(End of chapter)
Finally, Gao shows herself, and she is smart enough to avoid Mordred, as expected of someone who have lived so long, they know how to run and hide when things gets rough.
And what get’s rougher then Mordred?
But yes, Jessica, I wasn’t to give her some development she have been doing well, getting distracted by Mordred, drawing strength from her. But in the end, she was just hiding behind her. Not confronting the truth.
Here, she had a bit of growth, fully coming to terms with the fact that she let herself get pulled along, afraid to really make her own decisions.
Here she does that, she makes the call, and then she sees a fight, getting scared at someone else enhanced, reminded of Kilgrave, but she overcomes it, seeing her friend in danger, reminded of Mordred’s just punch everything attitude, she powers through her fear.
Mordred, certified psychiatrist.
