Toss Up (Danny Rand)

Forgiveness

"Tiger, do you have him in your sights?"

"Crystal clear, Shadow. We're bringing him over to your position. Is the area all clear?"

"Yeah, I'm good to go." I can already hear the fight between them and Doc Oc from where I'm perched on a lamppost.

"We're turning the corner! You ready?"

"You bet." I hold my arms out, feeling the shadows from the building shift as my tails leave me and sink into them. Doc Oc bounds down the now-empty street, his metal claws causing the ground to shake, and as he passes me, I raise my arms up.

He lets out a cry of surprise as tendrils of shadows wrap around his artificial limbs, suspending him in the air as he swivels his head to turn to me.

"You pest!" he snarls, fighting against my hold, and I have to focus on holding him until the others catch up.

"Any day now, guys!" I grunt as one of his claws break free. He nearly grabs me, but Power Man jumps in just in time to punch it away.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Octopuses are slippery, ya know?" Nova says, darting around in the air and shooting a well-placed energy beam straight onto Doc Oc's back.

"GAH!"

"Huh, you actually used that word right, Bucket Head." White Tiger jabs, using her claws to slice through another limb, causing Doc Oc to stagger.

Iron Fist follows up behind her, destroying another arm that broke free, and I can finally get a better grip on him to wrangle him up. I summon two large tails of darkness, slicing through the last two metal tentacles and immobilizing him. The shock of it knocks him out as his head drops and I slowly let him down.

"Finally getting a hand on that Shadow Bind, huh?" Power Man asks as I jump down to join him and the others, slightly out of breath. I lean against the pole a little, letting the dizziness pass. I summon my tails back, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand.

"More or less. I still can't move much while I do it. That, and it takes up a lot of energy for me to use." I say. After I told Kele about it, he amped up training and started having me use it more and more on missions.

Needless to say, the past two weeks have been a whole lot of 'fun'.

"Still, it's awesome seeing you use your powers!" Nova grins, floating over beside me. "It's super creepy—your eyes go all dark and you get this weird—"

"Thanks, Nova." I cut him off, earning a snicker from him. "Should I make a portal back to the Tri-Carrier?"

"There's already a transport ship on its way to bring him in. We don't want to risk anything with Doc Oc, so Fury wants to double down on his... security..." White Tiger trails off and I follow her gaze up to see everyone's favorite neighborhood, Spider-Man.

"Spidey!" I say, meeting him half-way for a hug as he drops from a lamppost. "How's everything with The Avengers?" He had taken them up on a few weeks ago and though it was hard to see him go, it was good to see him living his dream.

"It's awesome! I have my own room and it has a freaking ceiling gym! The only downside is Hulks noogies..." he grumbles, rubbing his head from the sheer memory of it. "How's everything with you guys?"

"We're managing." Power Man shrugs as a sudden chill rolls off Nova and White Tiger. They didn't want to admit it, but they took his leaving the hardest.

"Glad to see you're doing so well with your new team." Nova huffs. "As you can see, we got this handled without you." I roll my eyes at his childishness, noting Spidey's shoulders falling.