C4 Shang-Chi (Patreon)

While waiting for his father to return, Shang-Chi crawled out of the covers and sat on the side of the bed, moving slowly and carefully not to reopen the wound on his shoulder.

‘This is real, huh?’ He thought as he turned to look over his shoulder at his bandaged mother.

The feelings of sadness and worry that overcame him as he saw her were immense, but he also felt love and care for the woman that raised him as well.

Half of him was raised by this woman for seven years, so it’s literally impossible to not feel anything for her, or the rest of his family for that matter.

He loved them all, which was oddly comforting...

‘Is she alright?’ Shang-Chi thought as he hoped his mother would wake up soon.

The soldier part of him knew that the human body could take a beating and heal right back up with the right amount of care, while the child part of him was deathly worried for his mommy’s wellbeing.

“She’ll be fine.” Wenwu spoke as he entered the room without Xialing this time. “I patched her up myself.”

“I didn't know that you're a Doctor...” Shang-Chi says in surprise.

“Yes, I've collect quite a few skills in my lifetime.” Wenwu says with a smirk as he leaned against the doorframe. “Can you walk?”

“Uh, yeah?” Shang-Chi answers as he hops out of the bed and stands without much of a problem.

“Good, come on.” Wenwu says as he walks off.

Following his father out of the room, Shang-Chi couldn’t help but worry a little.

In the Shang-Chi movie, Wenwu went from a caring and loving father to a strict and uptight villain, who would ignore his daughter, as if she didn’t exist, and morph his son into an assassin.

All because Ying Li died, though that didn’t happen in this world.

‘Will he still turn into an a*shole?’ Shang-Chi asks himself as they left the compound and walked down the stony mountain steps. “Where are we going, dad?”

“I need to show you something.” Wenwu says cryptically as they walk for a few more minutes.

Soon enough, the father and son arrived at a flattened area around a quarter of the way down the mountain.

In the open grassy area, ten men stood around a wide shallow hole filled with wood and...

‘Okay, that’s definitely something a child shouldn’t see...’ Shang-Chi thought as he caught sight of the many dead bodies of the Iron Gang.

They were all interlaced with the wood, but not only that, Shang-Chi could smell the gasoline that was dowsed all over them.

“Light it up!” Wenwu ordered as one of his men lit a match and tossed it into the hole.

Instantly, the gasoline-coated wood and bodies burst into flames as the entire hole turned into a fiery funeral pyre.

“As I said before, a blood debt must always be paid in blood.” Wenwu says as he places a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. “After a few days pass, the Iron Gang will be nothing but a fading memory.”

“...” Shang-Chi looked between his father and the fire. ‘He would never have taken me to watch something like this before yesterday’s incident.’

Although Shang-Chi hoped that saving his mother's life would change his father's timeline, it appeared that just the attack on Wenwu’s family was enough to shake off his new non-violent ideology and revert back to his old ways.

“Your mother won’t be happy to hear that I’ve shown you this, but I’ve come to an important decision.” Wenwu says as two of the ten rings on his arms glow blue and detach from the rest.

“?” Shang-Chi watched in confusion as those two rings floated off of his father's arms and slipped onto his own.

“Kneel, Xu Shang-Chi.” Wenwu spoke formally as the rings on his son's arms pulled him down to one knee. “I hereby name you my student and heir. Everything that I have built will one day be yours, that is, as long as you continue to meet my expectations.”

As he finished speaking, the two blue rings on Shang-Chi’s wrists turn golden and stopped tugging him toward the ground.

Looking behind his father, Shang-Chi saw ten men, who appeared to be Wenwu’s subordinates, all bowing toward him respectfully.

“Young Master!” Their voices chorused as they picked their heads up and dutifully stood off to the side.

“...” Shang-Chi stood up and looked at the rings on his arms. “Are these mine?”

As he says this, he tries to control them just like yesterday. Immediately, the rings fly off of his hands and spin around his body a few times before slipping back on and deactivating.

“Yes.” Wenwu nods with a proud smile on his face. “You impressed me yesterday more than you know. No one, and I mean no one has ever been able to use my rings, yet you were able to do it so quickly.”

Technically, anyone can use them with a great enough mental focus and a certain level of training.

The only reason Wenwu says that, is because he guarded the rings very well for almost a thousand years.

Yes, a few people over the years have taken possession of the rings from him, but he would always steal them back before they could figure out how to actually use them.

“I don’t know what to say...” Shang-Chi utters, as he didn’t expect any of this to happen.

In the movie, Wenwu simply turned into a deadbeat villainous single father, though now that doesn’t seem to be the whole case.

Based on their interactions so far, his father seemed both proud and loving toward Shang-Chi. Although the body burning wasn’t exactly a fatherly thing to do, for a thousand-year-old comic book villain, it wasn’t so bad.

‘...’ Shang-Chi remained silent as he eyed the other eight rings in his father's possession.

Seeing his son's line of sight, Wenwu smirked.

“If you want the rest of the rings, come and get them.” He says provokingly. “The first two are a gift, but you must take the others yourself.”

‘Damn, I feel like I’m in a movie right now...’ Shang-Chi thought as he looked up at his father in determination. “I’ll work hard and become strong enough to take those rings in no time.”

“I like your confidence.” Wenwu smiles down at his son as he rustles his hair. “But I’m afraid that your training will have to wait until your shoulder is fully healed.”

“How long will that take?” Shang-Chi asks as his burning determination faded as if someone poured water over his head. ‘This damn old man got me excited for a fight for no reason...’

“Probably about a month...”

————————————————

After watching the bodies burn for a few more minutes, Wenwu took his son home while the grunts remained behind to fill in the hole once the fire dies down.

After eating some food together, Wenwu retired for the night, leaving Shang-Chi in his bedroom alone, unable to sleep.

‘What the hell am I supposed to do?’ He thought as he sat on the windowsill and gazed at the starry sky.

As they lived in the mountains, far away from civilization, the light pollution that would usually block out most of the beauty in the night sky wasn’t a problem.

‘I’m Shang-Chi, but I changed the story. My father may be a bit villainous, but he doesn’t seem to be as bad as his movie counterpart.’ Shang-Chi’s mind ran miles throughout the night.

...

‘Do I even want to be a hero?’ He thought negatively.

Shang-Chi certainly didn’t want to be a villain, as that would only end in one way. After all, the good guys always win in the long run.

That’s just the usual comic book and movie rules.

Though the idea of running around in skin-tight spandex and saving people didn’t sound all that appealing.

In fact, it sounded like servitude.

As a soldier, Shang-Chi dedicated his entire life to serving others and doing that all over again wasn’t how he wanted to spend his second chance at life.

“I want to be free and enjoy my life. Spend time with my new family... Travel the world when I’m older... Settle down with a beautiful woman... Maybe even have a few kids...” Shang-Chi spoke his desires to the starry sky one after another.

As for taking over the Ten Rings, as his father seems to want, that would have to depend on what the organization would become.

‘I refuse to be the leader of a terrorist group.’ Shang-Chi thought resolutely as his time as an Army Ranger wouldn’t allow that.

Hopefully, his father doesn’t go too overboard, as leading a thousand-year-old organization of loyal warriors didn’t sound so bad.

‘Mom should be able to keep him under control...’ He thought, though there was one small problem with all of this. ‘What if the Avengers fail?’

His presence and actions could act as a butterfly effect, ruining the happy ending of Avengers: End Game.

Shang-Chi thought of all sorts of horrifying scenarios. The worst of them being himself or his family being erased by Thanos with a snap of his fingers...

...

Soon enough, the sun started to rise as the sky slowly brightened, erasing the beautiful stars.

“Shang-Chi!” A slightly muffled raspy feminine voice yelled from inside the compound.

“!” Forgetting his little dilemma, Shang-Chi rushed into the hallway and burst into a nearby room, where he found his mother in bed, straining herself to sit up.

A/N: 1627 words. How is the direction we’re going? Any thoughts? Also, starting Spider-Man now.