[center][b][color=fff200][sup][h1]T H E  I R O N  F I S T[/h1][/sup][/color][/b]

[b][color=fff200][sup]Issue #9: [i]The Reveal[/i][/sup][/color][/b][/center]
[COLOR=fff200][INDENT][B][SUP][SUB][H3]Staten Island, New York City[/H3][/SUB][/SUP][/B][/INDENT][hr][/COLOR][INDENT][INDENT][sup][color=darkgray]December 26[sup]th[/sup], 2018  |  11:00am |  Rand Residence[/color][/sup][/INDENT][/INDENT]

Joy Meachem impatiently tapped her foot as she stood at the door of her childhood friend's house. The car was idling on the street. She was only here to bring him in for the board meeting, after all. Her patience was wearing thin, however, and it only took a few idle minutes for her to kneel down and inspect under the doormat, where she found a spare key to her surprise. Despite her better judgement, she decided to enter into the house.

[color=pink]"Danny? It's Joy! I'm here to pick you up for the meeting!"[/color] Her calls towards the upper floor from the foyer were met with silence. She gave a slight sigh, looking down at the ground as her internal monologue began debating whether to go upstairs to fetch him. But her mind shifted gears as she noticed dried blood spattered in a trail leading towards the parlor. She reached into her purse, clutching the sidearm her uncle Ward had insisted she keep on her at all times.

She nearly had a heart attack as she saw a bloodied figure lying on the ground of the parlor. It took her a moment to recognize that it was Danny himself, his shirt and hoodie lying in a bloody pile near the entrance. She circled around him, moving her hands to try and shake him awake. But her hands fell limp as her eyes fell upon a tattoo on his chest: the tattoo of a dragon. She took a few steps back, her eyes widening in recognition. Her mind was taken back to the security camera footage she was shown of her father's death. And that the one person seen entering his apartment minutes before he died was a shirtless man with the same tattoo. The same skin tone. The same muscular frame. The message her father had left... it was his name.

She rushed towards the entrance, her mind racing as she tried to figure out what she was going to do next. The next thing she knew, Joy found herself in the back of her car, the driver looking at her through the rear view mirror. [color=gray]"I take it he's not joining us, Miss Meachem?"[/color]

She took a moment to catch her breath before her eyes raised to meet her driver's. [color=pink]"No... and I don't think I will be able to make the meeting today, Richard. Take me home. I have some work to do."[/color]