fiction | Part of the journey is the end

3. Ta Lo

A helicopter brought Shang-Chi, Katy, Xialing, Wenwu, and Razor Fist to the Ten Rings headquarters where an army of agents were waiting to greet them.

A fresh swell of rage rose in Tony and Rhodey at seeing the Ten Rings' army.

"My son is home," Wenwu announced. The army bowed toward him.

"I bet he would rather be anywhere else than there," Tony said.

"I would," Shang-Chi agreed.

Wenwu told Razor Fist to take Xialing and Katy to their room.

Shang-Chi wished he could go with them rather than face his father after all these years.

Xialing's room was covered in music posters. "I've seen some really scary stuff this week, but your dad's on, like, a whole 'nother level. Is he gonna kill us?" Katy said.

"It's an option and I bet he won't have any qualms about doing so. His agents nearly killed Katy," said Bruce.

Irritation sparked in Shang-Chi. Even if his father wanted the jade pendants, his agents didn't have to put innocent people in harm's way to get them. Katy meant the world to him.

"Just nod. Don't talk. He'll forget you're there. That's how I survived," Xialing said.

Shang-Chi wished he could've done that when he had been living at the headquarters. Everyone else found Xialing's admission to be depressing, but everything about Xialing and Shang-Chi's lives after their mother died was miserable.

"He always treats you like that?" "Only after my mom died. He said he couldn't look at me because I reminded him of her."

The Avengers scowled.

"If this is how Wenwu treats his children, it's good that both of them got out," said Scott.

"I wasn't allowed to train with the boys, but I watched everything they did and taught myself to do it better," Xialing said.

"Good for her," said Kate.

"And it worked out pretty well because she kicked Shaun's ass," said America. "The same Shaun who easily beat up all those Ten Rings agents."

"That's true, but sibling rage is something else," said Natasha.

"When did you leave?" "I ran away when I was sixteen. As soon as I knew my brother wasn't coming back."

Shang-Chi's shoulders slumped. According to his math, Xialing hasn't left the Ten Rings yet so he was going to go back for her, just as he should've done a long time ago.

"Sixteen? That's basically Kate, America, and Peter's age," Steve said.

"Both of Wenwu's children ran away from him when they got the chance which says a lot about his parenting," said Clint.

Tony scoffed. "What else do you expect from the leader of the Ten Rings?"

"You started an underground fight ring in Macau when you were sixteen years old?" "If my dad won't let me into his empire, I'm gonna build my own." "Hell yeah."

Wong couldn't believe his new favorite underground fight club was founded by a teenager who hadn't even built it yet.

"Look, if Xialing can start an underground fight ring at sixteen, I think I can participate in it at fifteen," said America.

"That's fair," said Clea. Stephen sighed.

"Starting an underground fight ring at sixteen is still better than living with the Ten Rings," said Rhodey.