The X-Factory. At night, it became the hottest spot in Mutant Town. One of the clubs that will cause even those from more affluent areas to make the trip out to the potentially-dangerous Mutant Town in order to experience Jumbo Carnation’s nightclub. Two of the men, however, were there for different purposes.

Danny Rand and Luke Cage. In the past, they’ve been known as Iron Fist and Power Man, the Heroes For Hire. Although they no longer use those monikers, the Heroes For Hire name has stuck. They’ve come to the X-Factory to locate the source of the fever trade.

“So this the place?” asked Luke. The two of them stood in the line which slowly inched forward towards the entrance.

“Yeah,” said Danny. “Gloria said this is where her son died.”

A stretch limousine pulled up to the curb and the crowd began to cheer. The driver opened the back door and out stepped a large, bald man dressed in extravagent clothing with four arms. He smiled and waved to them as his bodyguards led him through the front doors.

“An’ that?” asked Luke.

“Jumbo Carnation, made a name for himself in mutant fashion. He owns the X-Factory,” said Danny. He craned his neck to catch a glimpse of the two bouncers. Both of them were built like olympic weightlifters, one of them had a body made of stone. He looked at Luke. “When we get up there, just let me do the talking. We don’t want any trouble.”

Luke looked down at his partner. “You insinuatin’ somethin’?”

“You tend to be on a short fuse sometimes.”

“Who? Me?”

Danny cocked an eyebrow.

“C’mon man, that was years ago,” said Luke. “I’ve cooled down since then.”

“You sure?” asked Danny.

“Definitely,” said Luke. “I’m as mellow as can be.”

DOWN AND OUT IN MUTANT DOWN

Part II: Clubbing

By Dino Pollard

Detective Ismael Ortega marveled at the size of Jumbo Carnation’s office at the X-Factory. It was easily as big as his entire apartment and judging from the grimace on his face, Detective Gus Kucharsky felt the same way. The walls were lined with framed newspaper headlines throughout the years involving mutants. There was a framed poster behind Carnation’s desk that read “MAGNETO WAS RIGHT” and a facsimile of the former terrorist’s famous helmet sitting on his desk.

Carnation himself was bald and extremely large. His ears were lined with piercings and his clothing was nothing short of extravagent. Two of his hands rested on his desk while the other two extended in greeting towards the pair of detectives.

“Ah, Detectives Ortega and Kucharsky. To what do I owe this honor?” asked Carnation.

“The death of Eddie Marchek,” said Ortega.

“Hmm…” said Carnation. He tapped his chin with a finger as his eyes drifted around his sockets. He then stopped and shook his head. “Sorry no, the name doesn’t ring a bell.”

“He died in your club last night, from a fever overdose,” said Ortega.

“And you think I was involved somehow?” asked Carnation. “Detective, I’m insulted at that insinuation.”

“I just want to know if you know of any fever dealers in your club,” said Ortega.

“Certainly not!” said Carnation with a look of disgust on his face. “I run a clean operation, Detective. Everyone is patted down before they enter the X-Factory and if we find any drugs on anyone, we immediately contact the authorities. Those are the rules for X-Factory and those who don’t follow them do not gain access to my fine establishment.”

“Then how did Marchek overdose on fever if it’s not allowed in the club?” asked Ortega.

“I don’t appreciate your tone, Detective Ortega.” Carnation reclined in his chair and interlocked the fingers of each hand together. “So unless you have a warrant, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“If you want me to get a warrant, that won’t be a problem, you piece of—”

“Hey, hold up, Izzy,” said Kucharsky, putting his hand on Ortega’s shoulder.

Ortega sighed. “I apologize, Mr. Carnation.”

“Accepted,” said Carnation with a smile. The smile quickly turned to a frown. “Now, kindly leave.”

Ortega walked towards the exit and Kucharsky followed. Once they stepped outside, Kucharsky tapped Ortega on the shoulder. “I gotta take a piss, I’ll meet you at the car.”

Ortega nodded and descended the staircase to the main floor of the X-Factory. Once Kucharsky was certain his partner was lost in the crowd, he walked back inside Carnation’s office. The mutant celebrity looked up at Kucharsky in surprise.

“Is there something you forgot, Detectiv—”

Before Carnation could finish his sentence, Kucharsky had crossed the entire length of the room and backhanded the club owner. Carnation recoiled and then looked at the detective in shock.

“What the fuck is your problem, you piece of shit?” asked Kucharsky. “We had a deal, freak. We get a cut from the fever trade for looking the other way provided you avoidproblems like this.”

“You think I wanted this kind of attention?” asked Carnation.

“One or two overdose, that can be explained. But when you’ve got these freako kids piling up, it starts to look suspicious,” said Kucharsky.

“Last time I checked, Ortega was your partner, so that makes him your problem,” said Carnation.

“You do not want to fuck with me, gene trash,” said Kucharsky. “I will—”

Kucharsky’s words were cut off by the sound of a loud crash, people screaming, and the music suddenly coming to a stop. Both him and Carnation looked out the window that oversaw the club.

Danny Rand shook his head as he looked at the flesh-and-blood bouncer who lay on the ground with a bloody nose. He turned his glance to Luke Cage and shook his head. Luke looked at his partner and shrugged his shoulders.

“What?”

“I thought you were as mellow as can be,” said Danny.

“I am mellow,” said Luke. “You see me curse or anythin’ when I hit him?”

Danny leaned against the wall as the stone-clad bouncer entered the club after Luke. He looked from the bouncer to Luke then said, “looks like someone wants to dance.”

Luke flashed a grin as he cracked his knuckles. “Happy days are here again.”

“I’ll be right over here,” said Danny, moving to take a seat at the bar.

The bouncer threw a right hook and Luke ducked. He thrusted forward with his left fist, but Luke simply sidestepped. The bouncer grew agitated and grabbed Luke by the collar of his leather jacket and hurled him against the bar. Luke’s body hit the bottles on the shelves behind the bar and then he fell, the alcohol pouring over him. Danny looked over the counter and saw Luke get to his feet, his jacket torn. He looked at the jacket and groaned.

“Having fun?” asked Danny.

“That was my favorite jacket,” said Luke.

“Maybe you should tell him that.”

“I’m gonna do that right now,” said Luke. “Don’t help or nothin’.”

“Didn’t plan on it,” said Danny. He turned to the bartender. “What’ve you got on tap?”

Luke cracked his neck as he walked back towards the bouncer. The mutant made of stone smiled and motioned for Luke to come forward. Luke pulled his jacket off and let it fall to the ground, revealing his bare chest. He brought his hands into fists and stormed up to the bouncer, then slammed one of his fists against the bouncer’s face. It sounded like steel colliding with rock.

“That was my favorite jacket, muthafucka,” said Luke.

The bouncer shook it off and stood back up. He threw a punch, but Luke grabbed his fist and flipped the bouncer onto the ground.

“C’mon, you piece of shit—that the best you got?” asked Luke.

The bouncer grunted and slammed his massive fists on the ground. It sent tremors through the floor and Luke struggled to maintain his balance. The bouncer charged forward and bodyslammed the hero for hire. Luke went flying and hit the bar. Danny looked down at him while sipping his beer.

“Need a hand?” he asked.

“Nah, I got this,” said Luke.

“Looks to me like you’re getting your ass kicked,” said Danny.

“You kiddin’? I’m just warmin’ up.”

Luke picked up one of the barstools and slammed it on the bouncer’s head. It didn’t seem to even have much of an effect, but it gave Luke the distraction he needed to headbutt the mutant. The bouncer cried out in pain and blood came from his nose, which was now fractured.

“Oh quit being a little bitch,” said Luke. The bouncer looked at him with rage in his eyes and threw a punch. Luke countered with his own punch and the two fists slammed against each other. Chunks of stone flew from the bouncer’s hand and Luke threw all his bodyweight against the man’s chest. Luke Cage stood back up, the bouncer did not.

“Satisfied?” asked Danny, coming up beside his partner, beer in hand. Luke picked up the remains of his jacket and shook his head.

“Not until someone foots the bill for this jacket,” he said.

“Well, now’s your chance,” said Danny, motioning with his thumb to the approaching figure of Jumbo Carnation. “Here comes the owner right now.”

“What is the meaning of this?” asked Carnation. He bent down and lightly smacked the bouncer’s face. “Robby? Robby, you okay? Robby?”

Robby offered no response. He was out cold. Carnation looked up at Luke.

“Did you do this?” he asked.

“Yeah,” said Luke. He made no attempt to hide his involvement, instead he was completely forthcoming with his response.

“You single-handedly defeated my best bouncer?” asked Carnation.

“If he was your best, that ain’t sayin’ much,” said Luke. “Besides, your boys started it.”

Danny rolled his eyes.

“An’ look what they did to my jacket,” said Luke, motioning to the tattered garmet.

Carnation stepped up to Luke and simply stared him down. “Do you know what I do to people who rough up my bouncers?”

“Know or care?” asked Luke.

“I offer them a job,” said Carnation. Danny spit out his beer at that line.

Luke simply raised an eyebrow. “Come again?”

“If you were able to take out Robby and Lance, that means you’re obviously pretty strong and you can handle yourself in a fight,” said Carnation. “How would you like a job?”

“No thanks, not in the market for a jo—”

Danny cleared his throat and jabbed Luke in the arm with his elbow. Luke looked at him in confusion and Danny glared at him.

“Well, think it over,” said Carnation. He took a card out of his pocket and handed it to Luke. “If you change your mind, you can stop on by.”

Luke took the card and nodded his thanks.

“In the meantime, you and your friend enjoy a round on me,” said Carnation. “And enjoy the rest of your evening at the X-Factory.”

The large owner walked off, leaving the two mercenaries alone. Once he was gone, Danny smacked Luke on the arm. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh?” asked Luke.

“He offered you a job,” said Danny. “If you’re working at the X-Factory, that means we’ve got a better chance of finding out who’s responsible for pushing those drugs. This is a golden opportunity for us.”

“Oh c’mon, you mean to tell me you want me workin’ here as a bouncer?” asked Luke.

“It’s the perfect job for you,” said Danny.

“An’ what’re you gonna do while I’m sniffin’ around here?” asked Luke.

“I’m gonna look into the investigation of the kid’s death, see if the cops have turned up anything useful,” said Danny.

“Who you kiddin’?” asked Luke. “Out here in Mutant Town, you’ll be lucky if they even filed a report. Mutant kids overdosin’ ain’t exactly a top priority.”

“Maybe I’ll get lucky,” said Danny.

“Maybe we both will,” said Luke. “C’mon, let’s get our free drinks.”

The two men took their seats at the bar and both of them ordered a beer. The bartender had already spoken to Jumbo and she recognized them and quickly filled their glasses.

“Y’know, I gotta admit, I’m startin’ t’ enjoy myself,” said Luke. “Thanks for gettin’ me back into this game.”

“I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away,” said Danny with a grin. The two men clinked their glasses together. “And tomorrow, hopefully we dig up some answers.”