Wilson Fisk's face was a mask of cold fury.
The cream of New York society surrounded him, but now they looked at him with horror. His true face had been exposed.
James Wesley! Fisk thought, his mind racing. He betrayed me!
Only Wesley had access to those files.
A senator stormed up to the podium, his face red with indignation. "Wilson! I demand an explanation! Is this true?"
Thwip.
A toothpick flew through the air, piercing the senator's forehead and embedding itself deep into his brain. He dropped dead instantly.
Bullseye stood on a table, grinning maniacally, a toothpick in his mouth.
"Now... how should I handle the rest of you?"
Fisk tore off his tie. The facade was gone.
"Kill them all," Fisk ordered calmly.
If they all died, he could blame it on a terrorist attack. Or the Ice Demon. He could spin this.
Dozens of armed men flooded the ballroom, locking the doors.
The guests screamed, huddling together in terror as they realized the "Philanthropist" was about to execute them.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Slow, mocking applause echoed from the stage.
A figure emerged from the shadows behind the podium. He wore a black tactical suit with a hood, and his face was covered by a mask of solid, opaque ice.
"Ladies and gentlemen," a raspy, distorted voice boomed. "The man you admire... is a monster. But tonight, he dies. And you get a front-row seat."
Vincent Hall stood on the stage, his eyes glowing blue behind the ice mask.
"Mr. Fisk," Vincent said. "Do you like my gift?"
Fisk stared at him, hatred burning in his eyes.
"I built this empire for twenty years," Fisk growled, his voice vibrating with rage. "And you ruined it in twenty seconds. Tonight, only one of us leaves this room alive. Even a demon can bleed."
Fisk radiated an aura of pure violence. He looked less like a man and more like a landslide in a tuxedo.
"Naive," Vincent scoffed.
Bullseye was already aiming at Vincent's forehead. But he hesitated. Bullets don't work. What about fire?
"Naive?" Fisk roared. "This is MY city! I am the ill intent!"
"You think you're safe?" Fisk continued, his voice dropping to a lethal whisper. "I know who you are. I will find your friends. I will peel them apart."
Vincent didn't even blink.
His friends?
Jessica Jones (Super Strength).
Gwen Stacy (Spider-Woman).
Good luck with that, Wilson.
"It's getting late. I have school tomorrow," Vincent said, checking an invisible watch.
Fisk realized the Ice Demon wasn't scared. He was bored.
"Since I'm in a rush," Vincent raised his hand. "I'll show you a new trick."
Hydro-Kinesis.
The moisture in the air condensed rapidly. But instead of freezing externally, Vincent used his magic to seize control of the water inside their bodies.
Fisk and his fifty guards were suddenly lifted off the ground, suspended in mid-air as if by invisible strings.
"Ice Burial: Funeral of Spikes!"
Vincent clenched his fist.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
The water inside their bloodstreams froze instantly and expanded outward.
Hundreds of razor-sharp ice spikes erupted from their pores, piercing their skin from the inside out.
Fisk looked like a porcupine made of red ice.
His body, now devoid of liquid, withered instantly into a desiccated husk.
The Kingpin of Crime was dead before he hit the floor.
Vincent turned and leaped away without a backward glance.
Behind him, the ballroom erupted into chaos. Socialites fainted. Grown men wept.
Ice is just solid water, Vincent thought as he escaped. Controlling the phase change inside a living body... that's the ultimate weapon.
Inspired by Gaara's Sand Burial, but colder. Much colder.
Outside, Vincent channeled his mana again.
Moisture gathered on his back, forming two massive, crystalline wings.
Ice Phoenix Wings.
He didn't need to flap them. He used Hydro-Kinesis to levitate the water within the wings, carrying him through the sky like a jet.
He soared between the skyscrapers of Manhattan, a blur of blue light, before landing in a secluded parking garage.
He switched cars and drove back to his penthouse.
By the time he got home, the internet was melting down.
[BREAKING: Ice Demon Executes Wilson Fisk on Live TV!]
[Kingpin Revealed: The Dark Side of Wall Street!]
[Ice Burial: The New Face of Terror!]
Vincent checked his System.
[Desire Points (Terror): +6,000... +8,000... +12,000...]
The points were flooding in. The whole world now feared the Ice Demon.
Malibu. Stark Mansion.
Tony Stark slumped onto his sofa, exhausted.
His phone rang.
"Pepper?"
"Tony! Watch out! It's Obadiah! He paid the Ten Rings to kill you!" Pepper Potts screamed.
BZZZZT.
A high-pitched whine filled the room.
Tony stiffened. His veins bulged, his face went pale. Paralysis.
"Remember this, Tony?"
Obadiah Stane stepped out of the shadows, holding a small sonic device.
"Too bad the government never approved it for non-lethal use. It creates... temporary paralysis. Very effective."
Tony couldn't move. He could only watch, eyes wide with betrayal, as Stane loomed over him.
"I ordered the hit on you, Tony. You were the golden goose. But you survived."
Stane reached into Tony's chest and twisted the Arc Reactor.
Click.
He pulled the glowing heart out of Tony's chest.
"This is your last golden egg."
Stane held it up, admiring the blue light.
"Did you really think this belonged to you? Your father helped build the atomic bomb. If he was as selfish as you, what would the world look like?"
Tony gasped for air, his heart failing.
"This is your legacy, Tony. A new generation of weapons. With this, I will rule the world."
Stane placed the reactor in a briefcase.
"I wish you could see my prototype. It's... certainly not as elegant as yours, but it gets the job done."
Stane walked to the door, pausing to look back at the dying man.
"It's a shame Pepper got involved. I would have let her live."
Stane walked out into the night, smiling.
He had the money. He had the power. And now, he had the infinite energy source.
He was going to be the most powerful man on Earth.
Unless, of course, a certain Ice Demon had something to say about it.