C1 Shang-Chi (Patreon)

A/N: I just re-watched Shang-Chi and decided to write this. I think this will be the next story that I write once the Spider-Man one is finished. Give me feedback.

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China Mountains - 2003

In a large compound at the peak of an undisclosed mountaintop, a large crowd of unsavory-looking men surrounded a beautiful woman in a white gown.

Unlike the thuggish group of gangsters, who didn’t seem to belong in the stunning garden at the heart of the compound, the woman looks right at home as she twirled with the grace of a goddess, taking the poised stance of a master martial artist.

As even more men entered the compound and surrounded the single woman, a young seven-year-old boy watched from a nearby window.

He stared at the woman in worry, as the men rushed forward and began their attack.

When the first wave came for her, the woman leaped into the air as if defying gravity and spun, kicking three thugs in a row, and sending them flying across the garden.

Though that certainly wasn’t the end of it.

As one group of attackers was thwarted, another two groups took their place, tiring the poor woman as they dogpiled her with constant waves.

When the woman started losing her footing in the fight, if this can even be called a fight, tears started to roll down the cheeks of the little boy in the window.

While this was all happening, a wisp of rainbow-colored light shot down from the dark cloudy sky and struck the young boy in the head, entering his body and merging with a matching wisp inside.

Two souls merged into one with the foreign older soul taking the reigns, causing the boys body to wobble in place for a moment before grabbing the windowsill to steady himself.

“?!” His startled eyes shoot open in confusion.

When the process was finished, all sorts of foreign memories of a young boy's life in the mountains with his parents and younger sister started playing out alongside the memories of a crippled soldier from another world.

The new soul that who was born from this accidental merger came to a shocking realization.

“What the f*ck...” He muttered in shock, unbefitting of a small child. “I’m Shang-Chi?”

-Flashback-

Only moments earlier...

Members of the infamous Iron Gang came knocking at the undefended Ten Rings compound, hoping to get revenge for the past actions committed against them by Shang-Chi’s father, Xu Wenwu.

The reason that the compound is unguarded is that Wenwu disbanded the Ten Rings, as he decided to turn over a new leaf after meeting his wife and Shang-Chi’s mother, Ying Li.

Wenwu, the leader of the Ten Rings was an evil power-hungry man for almost a thousand years before meeting Ying Li and changing his ways, retiring his most prized possessions, the Ten Rings.

[Insert picture of the Ten Rings]

Not only did he retire the members of the ancient Ten Rings organization, but the Rings themselves as well, which granted him untold power and immortality.

All for the chance to grow old with a family and the woman he loves, but sadly, that family was about to lose a very important member.

“Go inside.” Ying Li shoos her children inside the compound. “I’ll greet our guests.”

Shang-Chi’s sister dutifully followed her mother’s words and ran inside, but Shang-Chi didn’t budge.

“...but you don’t have your powers anymore.” Little Shang-Chi stood by his mother's side, afraid for her safety as a dangerous group of unknown men loomed behind her.

Ying Li was the former guardian of Ta Lo, a dimension within the Multiverse only accessible through a portal on Earth.

She was bestowed great power by Ta Lo’s guardian dragon, but gave all of it up to live a normal life on earth with her husband, Wenwu.

“Shang-Chi, you have nothing to fear.” Ying Li bends down and smiles warmly. “You have the heart of our dragon. Your father and I will always be a part of you. Take everything we’ve given you and make it your own.”

Holding her son closely, Shang-Chi’s mother leaned their foreheads together, enjoying what could be the last moment they would ever have together.

“I’m so proud of you.” She says wholeheartedly as they separate, looking each other in the eyes. “Our family needs you. Now go.”

-Flashback end-

The man who merged with the seven-year-old Shang-Chi, and somehow took control of his body, snapped out of his shocked stupor as he heard the fighting and screams of pain coming from the garden outside.

Peaked out of the open window, he found his mother on the losing end of a one-sided beatdown, perpetrated by a swarm of what looked to be a hundred men.

Ying Li fought back where she could, but strength was almost always in numbers, and the Iron Gang certainly had that in spades.

Watching his mother's beaten form, fighting back with bruises, cuts, and scrapes all over her body, the warm memories of being raised by this valiant woman started replaying over and over.

Her warm hugs, delicious meals, caring attitude, loving devotion...

Tears welled up in the new Shang-Chi’s eyes, as he felt such overwhelming motherly love for the first time in a long time, yet the source of it all was about to die.

After all, he watched all of the MCU movies.

Shang-Chi’s mother was supposed to die, as that tragic moment in his life will help shape the hero that he was always meant to be.

‘...’ The new Shang-Chi cried in silence as he felt this unending urge to hop into action and do something.

It was as if the seven-year-old Shang-Chi part of him was shoving him, begging for the older soul to save his mother.

“Alright, kid. You win.” He mutters to himself resignedly. “I’ve already died once. What’s a second death to a guy like me?”

“Who are you talking to?” The voice of a little girl asks from behind.

Turning around, Shang-Chi found his little sister, Xu Xialing, curled up into a ball under the nearby table.

“Nobody... Stay there.” Shang-Chi answers strictly as he rushed out of the room, looking for any type of weapons he could use to help his mother.

‘This place has to have a gun or something...’ He thought as he ran around the compound as fast as his little body could go.

...

After running around the whole building, he couldn’t find a single weapon, not even a sword decorated the compounds walls.

“Wasn’t this place the headquarters of the Ten Rings?” Shang-Chi uttered as he caught his breath in his father's office. “How is there not a single f*cking weapon!?”

Without at least a knife, Shang-Chi wouldn’t be able to take down a single person. He may be a former soldier, but his small body won’t be able to stand up against a grown adult.

Especially, gang members in the Marvel universe, who are most likely at the level of a top tier UFC fighter.

As he shouted and cursed in anger, still feeling the same prodding feeling to save his mother, Shang-Chi threw his hands up in the air and knocked an old wooden box off of his father's desk.

The box fell to the floor with a crash as it burst open with the sound of metal rattling.

Looking down, Shang-Chi found the source of that rattling, which was ten thick bracelet-sized rings that spilled out of the box and now littered the floor.

“Oh, sh*t...” the young boy cursed again. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’

Though his mother wouldn’t be happy with his new vocabulary, she was a bit preoccupied at the moment.

“Aaahhhh!” A loud feminine scream echoed from the garden, snapping Shang-Chi into action.

Without a second thought, he scrambled to pick up all of the rings, split them up, and placed five of them on each of his forearms, like multi-piece gauntlets.

“Here goes nothing.” Shang-Chi muttered as he rushed out of the office and into the garden. ‘It was nice knowing you, kid.’

As he rushed into the garden, Shang-Chi found his battered mother on the ground with what looked to be a broken arm and a bunch of other gruesome injuries.

Though, Ying Li seemed to give more than she took, leaving about 30% of her attackers unmoving on the ground, while the rest looked to have a wide range of injuries as well.

“This is it.” A man who seemed to be in charge walks up to Ying Li’s downed form. “The blood debt of the Iron Gang is finally paid...”

Holding his hand to the side expectantly, a nearby lackey offers him a sword, which he unsheathes and raises in the air, above Shang-Chi’s exhausted and defenseless mother.

“Just leave when you’re done...” Ying Li says as she looks up at her killer unwaveringly.

“Don’t worry, we aren’t like your husband.” He says as the sword begins its descent. “We would never hurt innocent children-”

As he was speaking a small black-haired blur sped through the garden and appeared in front of the falling blade.

“Shang-Chi!” Ying Li recognized who it was but was too beaten and tired to move a single muscle.

As the sword came down like an executioner's blade, Shang-Chi raised his arms to shield himself and his mother, hoping to at the very least use the metal rings to block or deflect the attack.

When the sword came within inches of Shang-Chi, the rings lit up with golden markings as a thin transparent shield of the same color appeared, breaking the sword in half on contact.

...

A/N: 1618 words. Starting the Spider-Man chapter now.