- "I mean, look at these super freaks. This is nothing less than a battle for the soul of Harlem."
- ―Mariah Dillard[src]
The Duel at Malcolm X Boulevard was an open confrontation between Luke Cage and Diamondback, with the latter using an enhanced Hammer Industries battle suit to replicate Cage's abilities.
Background
- "You have to get past me first."
"I don't go past. I go through." - ―Luke Cage and Diamondback[src]
While reading the bible inside his Secret Warehouse, Diamondback was confronted by Domingo Colon and several of his own men, who noted that he preferred Harlem's Paradise to this empty warehouse. Colon then revealed that he had come to that warehouse with the intention of killing Diamondback, drawing his guns with men while Diamondback's own men came to his aid, leading to a tense standoff between the two rival criminals while Diamondback remained calm throughout.
Eventually Diamondback made it to the back where he opened a crate which contained his own Specialized Battle Suit, as he looked down upon it, Diamondback quoted the bible before putting it on. Stepping out into the gunfight, Diamondback soon defeated his attackers before using the Judas Gauntlet to punch Colon in the stomach and crush his bones before setting off a bomb and leaving any survivors to burn in the now incoming blast.[2]
Luke Cage headed back to Pop's Barber Shop, he was then introduced back to Mariah Dillard and Shades entered the shop. They told Cage that they came to offer him a truce and an alliance against Diamondback. They offered that in exchange for helping him find Diamondback, Cage will stop hunting them. In addition they will help exonerate him from his crimes as both Carl Lucas and Luke Cage. As Cage considered the offer, Misty Knight appeared, having been following Cage. Before the tension got violent, they were interrupted when a grenade exploded outside the shop. Diamondback was ready for the battle and he also prepared his battle suit to fight Luke Cage.[3]
Duel
- "Where you going, Carl? I'mma whoop your ass up and down the block."
- ―Diamondback to Luke Cage[src]
Luke Cage and Diamondback fight each other.
Diamondback punched Luke Cage until he fell down to the street with crowds of people watching him. Then Diamondback came down. He kept punching Luke in the stomach causing him to flew high and dropped again. He then approached Luke again and said that James Lucas never loved his wife but he only loved his mother Dana Stryker. And they continued to fight while Misty was having a talk with some polices. After being punched by Diamondback, Luke punched back him. Mariah Dillard was talking in a show while recording with camera saying that Luke might be a sweeper or Carl Lucas who escaped from Seagate Prison while Luke and Diamondback kept fighting. Seeing this, Claire Temple then asked Misty if Luke can win this, Misty answered her with confident that he can win this. Diamondback then threw him a motorcycle but Luke can hold it up. Since Diamondback knew that he must use a new tactic to defeat Luke, so he remembered when he was young when he was using a fighting skill. His fighting skill made Luke exhausted and he saw Claire saying that he could do it while everybody was shouting his name.
Diamondback is defeated by Luke Cage.
So Luke also remembered his fighting skill when he was young, he used it again when fighting Diamondback again. And he closed the fight by saying that he wasn't his brother keeper and fatally punched him until Diamondback flew up high and dropped again.[3]
Aftermath
- "Looks like this place don't wanna be a barber shop anymore."
"Maybe not."
"But whatever it is, it's gonna be famous. People are gonna be talking about what went down here for years." - ―Bobby Fish and Luke Cage[src]
At the precinct, Luke Cage explained to Misty Knight about his activities against Cottonmouth. He explained his motivations and his desire to protect the people of Harlem. Once that was done, Cage was no longer a suspect. He and Claire Temple stayed in the precinct to eat take-aways. Cage noticed Mariah Dillard was about to leave so he then approached her and asked her about the files, she denied any knowledge of the files and left. Knight entered and explained that Candace Miller had been killed. Without her, the case against Dillard was unwinnable. Temple blamed herself on Miller's death. As Cage went to comfort her, Marshall Franco and Marshall Johnson entered and called Cage by his real name, Carl Lucas. They have come to arrest Cage for his unlawful escape from Seagate Prison.
Diamondback was then quickly arrested by the New York City Police Department for his crimes, but was first taken to a hospital where he was given a neck brace and waited to recover from the fight. While he sat in his hospital bed, Diamondback was visited by Noah Burstein.[3]