WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Daredevil #25, by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, Marcio Menyz, and VC's Clayton Cowles, on sale now. 

Much like the massive video game of the same name, Contest of Champions, by Al Ewing, Paco Medina, and Rhoald Marcellius, brought several long-absent characters back to the Marvel Universe. In this way, the manipulations of the Grandmaster and the Collector left major ramifications on the Earth's heroes. Most recently, Daredevil's old mentor, Stick, has returned from the Contest and back into his life.

Stick first appears during an extended flashback sequence early in Daredevil #25's story. The old ninja teams with Elektra to raid the Hand's base in Jericho. Stick and Elektra tear through a large group of ninjas to reach a mysterious book that the Hand is guarding. Struggling through booby traps and a horde of hostile adversaries, Elektra and Stick manage to procure the book. When Elektra is severely wounded by the Hand's booby traps, Stick also patches her up.

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daredevil elektra stick

It's no surprise that Stick and Elektra are working together. He was originally part of the Chaste, a group of warriors whose purpose was to fight the Hand. Elektra initially trained under Stick, before he banished the young woman from the Chaste. Due to the extreme levels of darkness in her soul, Elektra could not continue her training under Stick. Earlier on, Stick also trained a young Matt Murdock, leading him to become Daredevil. When Matt was blinded by radioactive waste, Stick taught the young boy how to use his other senses and develop his unique radar sense. As another blind warrior, Stick formally trained Matt how to fight. Years later, when Daredevil and Stick were cornered by the Hand, Stick sacrificed himself to defeat their foes. Along with fellow Chaste member, Shaft, Stick absorbed the life force of the ninjas into himself, before overloading and exploding.

During Contest of Champions, the Grandmaster and the Collector revived Stick. These cosmic entities used the rare Isotope-8 to revive many dead Marvel characters, including Stick, to participate in their tournament. Desiring to break free from this competition, Stick convinced Sentry to help him escape. Their initial attempt failed, killing both of them. Later on, when the Maestro attempted to resurrect his world's version of Rick Jones, Stick managed to transport his own energy into Rick's lifeless body. He decided to impersonate Rick, manipulating the Maestro until he could find a way to escape the Contest. Sure enough, Stick resurrected Sentry, who he used to distract the Maestro in battle. Stick got a hold of the ISO-Sphere, which Outlaw used to end the Contest. With the competition officially over, everyone was transported back to wherever they wanted to be. For Stick, this theoretically left him back on Earth, residing in his original body.

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Currently, it seems that Stick and Elektra are planning on fighting the Hand once again. Conveniently enough, the book that Stick and Elektra stole is revealed to be an instruction manual on how to defeat the Hand. It details the way of "the Fist," an organization that is even older than the Chaste. The Fist was created to counter The Hand's dark designs, and the Fist represents the light to counter that darkness. After learning of the Fist, Stick sends Elektra to recruit his old student, Daredevil.

Matt is mainly needed because the Fist requires both a king and a queen to be effective. Of course, Stick reveals, between the king and the queen, only one can survive. Whether or not Stick knows just which one will live remains unclear, but it's clear that Stick plans to take down the Hand by any means necessary.

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