fiction | Part of the journey is the end

4. The Dweller-in-darkness

Wenwu was in his office, flipping through texts about Ta Lo when he heard Ying Li's voice. "We'll be together soon," she said in Mandarin.

"That Dweller-in-Darkness is a manipulative asshole," Shang-Chi snarled.

Razor Fist told him that the men were ready and would prepare the vehicles.

Dread formed in everyone's bodies.

"I hope Ta Lo is prepared," T'Challa said.

"They have dragon-scale weapons. They'll be fine," said Thor.

"Have you seen the Ten Rings? Both the organization and the weapons. They're deadly, and those rings are no joke," said Rhodey.

Wenwu took a deep breath.

Despite Tony's hatred for Wenwu, he couldn't help but feel an ounce of pity. His wife had died, and he would probably be in a similar state if Pepper had died. He wouldn't have molded his child into an assassin, but he would've broken apart too. Wenwu had a thousand-year history of choosing to abuse power and evil, and yet, his wife found redemptive qualities in him and his capacity to love. Tony scowled; he didn't want to feel sympathy toward the leader of the Ten Rings, of all people.

Wanda looked at Wenwu sympathetically. He was doing all of this because he genuinely believed that Ta Lo was holding his wife hostage, not knowing that the Dweller-in-Darkness was manipulating him to set it free.

Meanwhile, Shang-Chi was sitting at the edge of Ta Lo's shores. Cut to a flashback of Ying Li teaching seven-year-old Shang-Chi the martial arts forms of Ta Lo. "Use your heart to master your qi, and your qi to move your body. You first master the conversion between yin and yang; only then you will find inner balance, and thus truly know yourself," she instructed.

Ying Nan's words echoed in Shang-Chi's mind. You are a product of all who came before you. The legacy of your family, the good and the bad, it is all a part of who you are.

The Iron Gang arrived and Ying Li put her children behind her. "Your husband tried to destroy us. The Iron Gang is here to repay that debt," said the Iron Gang leader.

Shang-Chi felt sick. This was the day his mother died and he couldn't do anything to stop it from happening. Everything had gone downhill since then.

The Avengers sucked in a breath as they realized what was about to happen and what they were about to see.

"My husband is not the man he used to be." "It doesn't matter."

Tony and Rhodey had mixed feelings. They had their own issues with Wenwu and they couldn't help but agree with the Iron Gang since they were going to go after Wenwu and the rest of the Ten Rings too. Shang-Chi could either join them or not, but they planned to go after him either way. They were going to finish what they started all those years ago.

"Your business with him has nothing to do with my children." "They can go, but someone has to pay."

"So why not my dad?!" Shang-Chi yelled. "My mom has nothing to do with this!"

Ying Li told her children to go inside as she would talk to their guests. "But you don't have your powers," Shang-Chi said. "Shang-Chi, you have nothing to fear," she said.

The look in Shang-Chi's eyes was desolate. His mom had been wrong, he had everything to fear. These were her last moments.

Once Shang-Chi left, Ying Li swiftly faced the Iron Gang. Shang-Chi was watching her from the window.