After Danny Rand left K'un-Lun, he was full of confidence, eager to prove his strength and cleanse the Hand of its traitors on behalf of K'un-Lun.
By doing so, he hoped to prove that he truly deserved the inheritance of the power of the Iron Fist.
He took on several branches of the Hand one after another, and following the clues he obtained, eventually returned to New York.
Along the way, he also inherited Rand Enterprises—the company his father left behind—while continuing to investigate the Hand.
Because several leaders of the Hand wished to use the power of the Iron Fist within Danny to obtain the dragon bones buried beneath New York, they deliberately allowed Danny to act freely, even opening convenient paths for him.
They wanted Danny to underestimate the Hand's strength.
This made Danny believe the Hand was nothing special—before the power of the Iron Fist, they were powerless.
This greatly aided the smooth execution of the Hand's plans.
Meanwhile, the other four leaders of the Hand were making their way toward New York with Elektra, who had been resurrected using dragon bones as the vessel for the demon they worshipped—"the Beast."
They planned to use Danny's Iron Fist to break the seal on the dragon bones, and then have Black Sky kill Danny afterward.
Though all five leaders of the Hand believed Danny Rand was merely a rookie kid, he was still the inheritor of the Iron Fist.
None of them wanted to face the Iron Fist head-on, even if Danny could only barely use it, able only to envelop his fists with its power.
But if you took a punch from the Iron Fist, even if you didn't die, you would be crippled.
After all, the five leaders had all defected from K'un-Lun. Although they lacked talent and discipline, unable to advance their cultivation, they used the dragon bones to steal longevity.
Having lived several centuries, they had seen much and knew very clearly how powerful the Iron Fist truly was.
The very reason they established the Hand and worshiped the demonic entity "the Beast" from another realm…
…was to prepare for the possibility that K'un-Lun might one day send an Iron Fist to eliminate them.
Brooklyn, in the back alley of a residential neighborhood.
Jessica Jones and Luke Cage stood to the left and right of a young girl behind them, faces dark as they stared at the seven or eight Gaia-Memory-transformed Dopants surrounding them.
"Don't worry, Lily. With us here, they can't hurt you." Jessica comforted the girl they had only just met.
The girl named Lily was the target of Jessica's investigation assignment.
Both Jessica and Luke had been entrusted by Matt Murdock to protect her.
She was the daughter of a key witness involved in Matt's ongoing case.
But shortly after arriving, just when they had found the girl and barely had time to get familiar—
—this group appeared and surrounded them.
Normally, these gang members—though strong, used to brawling—were no match for Jessica or Luke, whose physical strength far exceeded normal humans.
Luke, with skin like steel, ignored their weapons, knocking each of them down with one punch.
They expected that would be the end of it.
But the gang members unexpectedly all possessed Gaia Memories. After realizing they couldn't defeat Luke and Jessica, they transformed immediately.
Though they were only using mass-produced inferior Gaia Memories, they still gained strength beyond ordinary humans.
Because Luke and Jessica had to protect the child, they were restricted and could not easily break free.
Without using her Clay Doll Memory, Jessica could not quickly take down all of them.
"You two random nobodies actually have some skill.
But if you think just because you're capable, you can interfere in the Thunder Gang's business…
…then you must be tired of living.
Your little bit of strength is nothing in front of me.
That brat is the daughter of a traitor to our gang. Hand her over now, and I might spare your lives."
As the standoff dragged on, a tall, thin man with sharp features stepped forward from behind the transformed goons.
"Thunder Gang? Are they famous?" Jessica blinked blankly at Luke.
Jessica truly didn't know anything about the gangs and honestly asked.
But in the man's eyes, everything about her expression was pure mockery.
Though the gang had only recently renamed themselves the Thunder Gang after obtaining Gaia Memories, they had risen quickly and gained notoriety.
The man had great confidence that one day his gang would become one of New York's underground powerhouses, so naturally he couldn't tolerate Jessica's attitude.
He exploded with anger.
"You asked for this!"
He pulled out a Gaia Memory.
"Energy!"
Electric arcs flashed as he transformed into an Energy Dopant.
Jessica's eyes sharpened—this boss of the Thunder Gang also had a Gaia Memory.
Recently, Gaia Memories had been spreading more and more throughout New York's underworld.
Luke stepped up first, wanting to test the man's Gaia Memory strength.
But although Luke's skin was bulletproof and indestructible, the intense electricity of the Energy Memory overwhelmed him. His whole body went numb, falling to the ground helplessly.
Whether he was charred or not was unclear, but judging from the smoke coming from him, he had taken serious damage.
Jessica sighed softly at the sight and prepared to use her Clay Doll Memory.
But suddenly, a figure dropped from the sky, blocking the Dopant.
"Another meddler," the Energy Dopant sneered as electricity danced over his hands.
Danny Rand frowned at the bizarre form of the Dopant. "Your strange appearance—does it have something to do with the Hand? Did you use the power of some demon?"
To Danny, the Hand—founded by the five traitors who fled K'un-Lun centuries ago—was the greatest evil organization in the world.
Seeing such unnatural transformations, he immediately linked them to the Hand.
He remembered hearing in K'un-Lun that the Hand worshipped a demon from another world.
Danny suspected these people became like this by borrowing demonic power.
"The Hand? We've dealt with them. Done some business together.
But demon power? What kind of nonsense is that? People still believe in that stuff?
My power has nothing to do with the Hand—this is the Gaia Memory.
You don't even know that, and you dare to stick your nose into this?"
The man—transformed into the Energy Dopant—looked at Danny with mild surprise.
(End of Chapter)