Author's Note: Hi, everyone. Something a little different today.
I'm not very experienced at writing fight scenes, but I think most people would agree that it would be a disservice to the source material to actively avoid them. I mean… even Iron Fist tried, right? So… so shall I!
Appreciate everyone's thoughts, and thanks for reading, as usual!
Child, touched by fire.
"Sign here."
Danny's hand clutched a pen with a vice grip. Every word that the British man spoke to him bored into his skull, and he obeyed without question. And his ears rang…
"And here."
Danny looked up from the desk as he signed. The man in the purple coat stood directly over him, a lawyer on either side.
"Aaaand… here."
At the command of the British man, Ward and Joy had left him alone in the room, stranded on a couch with his bare feet digging into the carpet.
"Here."
Fifteen years away from home, and this was his grand return.
"Here."
Handing over his birthright to a stranger. For no reason.
"And- last one- at the bottom here."
The pen snapped in his hand, spurting ink onto his fingers. Danny clutched his fist furiously, but no energy flowed through it. Danny grimaced. He was too… unfocused… head too clouded…
The power of Shou-Lao is a gift.
One of the lawyers stepped forward, tapping his index finger on the contract at the top of the stack of papers Danny had signed. "The following entitles Ward Meachum to any residual holdings in Rand Enterprises. From this point forward you shall have no position or role in the company and no property rights. Rand also asks that you refrain from using the name Daniel Rand on legal documentation." He shifts papers around to point to another sheet lower in the stack. "…As we have specified here."
Danny grimaced at the paper, eyes shooting up to meet the lawyers. "You won't let me use my own name?"
"On legal documentation. That's correct."
"This is ridiculous." Danny slid back on the couch, looking up at the three men with a scowl. "You can't just force me out. I've come all this way; you have no right-"
"Oh, stop whining!" commanded the British man, instantly forcing Danny to go silent. "Jesus, you're like a little yapping Pomeranian, aren't you? You've done what you needed to do. Now get up and leave. Don't come back here, and don't tell anyone what you've done here. I'm finished with you."
Straightening his coat, the British man took his exit, waving for the two lawyers to follow him out. Before long, Danny was alone in the office, sitting over a stack of papers. Ink dripped from his fingertips.
Pressing both hands into the couch, he stood and turned to leave, taking one last nostalgic look at the office before stepping through the doors.
The receptionist shot him a worried look as he returned to the elevator.
But beyond that, it is an identity all its own.
Danny's bare feet touched down on the concrete outside the Rand building. A few steps out, a man in a fine suit brushed past him, shooting Danny a distasteful frown.
Fists closing at his sides, Danny looked back over his shoulder at the tall glass windows. The receptionist gawked at him from inside.
His feet carried him down the steps, back onto the sidewalk. Waves of people brushed past him in either direction, and he disappeared into the crowd again.
Danny shook, visions of snow in his mind.
No home in K'un-Lun.
No home here.
No home here…
To earn this power is to undertake a monumental duty.
The late afternoon sun beat down on the old Rand homestead, nearly the same as Danny remembered it. As he hovered uncertainly in front of the entrance, his sleeves hung over his hands, and he scratched his beard, deep in thought.
He needed to see the inside. Even just once.
Planting his feet on the step in front of the door, Danny rang the doorbell, hands folded behind him. Nobody responded right away.
He ran his hand over the top of the door, the place his family used to hide the spare key- but as he did, the door opened suddenly, and Danny's hand snapped back to him.
Joy's face appeared in the half-opened door, frantic.
"Joy." Danny raised his hand passively, frowning slightly. "I'm sorry. I know how strange it sounds- I know- but you have to believe-"
"Get in."
Danny blinked once. "I- what?"
"Get in!" Joy opened the door the rest of the way, waving him in with one hand. "Come on! Quickly!"
Taken aback, Danny widened his eyes and hurried inside. Joy shut the door behind the two of them.
Guardian of the gate.
"I never would have believed it was you. Never, in a million years… hell, even still, Ward is convinced you're just some lunatic…" Joy tapped two fingers together as Danny followed her into the lobby, turning to face him a concerned look on her face. "But that man, he seemed to think it was really you… and you can't lie to him…"
Danny ran a hand through his hair. "Who… who is he?"
"I-" Joy stopped herself. "I can't- I'm not allowed to tell you very much about him. At least, not whatever you don't already know…"
"Does he work for Rand?"
"I guess he does. Now he does. He just showed up, not too long ago… Ward and I, we've been…"
"He's been controlling you somehow…"
She looked up at him with muted desperation, their eyes meeting for the first time. "I don't… I don't know how he does it… he has some kind of… power… over people… I never would have believed…"
"I've seen a lot of things I never would have believed over these past fifteen years…" Danny murmured ominously, scratching his beard again.
"What, you mean… the Incident?"
"What incident?" Danny narrowed his eyes for a moment, then shook his head with realization. "Oh, yeah; uh… aliens, or something? Sorry, that's new to me…"
Joy stared at him with disbelief, obviously at a loss for words. "Danny, what happened to you…? Where have you been all this time…?"
"I don't know if you would believe me even if I could begin to describe it."
Iron Fist.
Joy scoffed, resting one hand on the center table. Danny wandered around her, taking the opportunity to look around the foyer.
"I'm sorry that you had to come back to this, Danny. Things are…" Joy trailed off quietly. "Well. You've seen. I just wish I could have warned you…"
"It's okay." Danny opened and closed his eyes, taking a breath. "Maybe… maybe I can help you."
"Help me? No!" Suddenly alarmed, she clasped her hands together, shooting him an urgent look. "Danny, I'm sorry, but that's the last thing-! I just found out you're alive, and now you're telling me you want to get involved in this? Do you have any idea how dangerous-?"
"I can handle dangerous, Joy." Danny put a hand to his chest, directly over the mark of Shou-Lao. "I can definitely handle dangerous."
"Are you talking about- like, what you did to the security guards in the lobby?" She shot him a confused look. "…Martial arts, or something? What is the deal with that?"
This is who you are.
"I've been training," Danny explained dubiously. "It's how I've survived this long in the first place."
Joy scoffed again. "Well, I'm sorry, Danny, but this isn't something that you can train for! And it's not just that one man, either-! Ever since he showed up, things have been completely out of control. There's something deeper going on; something shady… he's had us move funds around, and cover up these secret transactions, and… serious stuff. Criminal stuff."
"He's using Rand." Danny grimaced, anger boiling within him again. "He's using Rand for personal gain… to use people, and hurt people…?"
"I think so."
"I can't let him get away with it."
"What choice do you have, Danny?" Joy threw up her hands. "He told you, you can't come back. You don't have any place in Rand anymore. Be glad that's all he did to you-!"
"Glad? Glad? How could you say that?" Danny stared down at her furiously. "This is my home! Rand was my father's company! That's my name on the building! He took that from me!"
"And it could have been your life."
"At least then it would have been an honorable loss."
"Danny-!"
"The work that man made you do. These… 'secret transactions'. What can you tell me about them?" Danny brusquely changed the subject, speaking forcefully.
"Not much. Just lots of money being moved around." Joy shrugged. "Meetings in old lots and abandoned properties that Rand owns."
"But you know where?"
"Danny, what are you planning to do?"
This is all you are.
"I'll take care of it," Danny said firmly.
Joy groaned. "How?"
"Does it matter? If I can try, shouldn't I?" Doing his best to center himself, Danny placed his hands over hers, smiling a little. "Joy, I know it's worrying. I know. I just got you and Ward back in my life, too. But you have to let me try. I promise… I know what I'm doing."
They stood together quietly for a moment, taking in the sheer bizarreness of it.
Joy bit her lip. "Alright. Alright. I trust you… but you have to promise me you'll be careful, Danny."
"I promise."
She took a long sigh. "There are documents. I can go through them with you. And maybe you can tell me a little about what happened to you."
"Of course…"
"In the meantime. Ugh…" Joy ran a hand through her hair, looking at the staircase. "I guess you'll have to stay here. You know we have a guest bedroom. But you can't tell anybody you're staying here. And we definitely can't be seen leaving the house together. If that man were to find out…"
"No. No, of course." Danny nodded slowly, standing next to her. "I won't tell a soul."
"And please. Danny." Joy scrunched her nose as she looked over at him, reaching into her purse and pulling out two hundred-dollar bills, which she tucked into his hand. "Buy some new clothes. And shoes."
He took a step back, appalled. "Joy, I don't want your charity!"
"So you'd rather walk around barefoot?" She rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Danny, please."
Danny looked down at the money in his hand, frowning. "Fine, fine… but just for now."
And even as conflict rages on the outside…
A figure dressed in black approached an old warehouse in the dead of night. One door led him straight to the wide room at the center, where four tough-looking men stood around a table.
Danny pulled up his hood and shook out his arms, slamming the door behind him and getting the attention of all four at once.
He took a long breath. Head still cloudy, but… this felt natural…
Things seemed to make sense for a moment.
…the Iron Fist fights the war of K'un-Lun.
One of the men at the table spoke up almost immediately. "Who in the hell…?"
Danny tilted his head, face contorted into a violent grimace. "Two weeks ago you made an off-the-books sale to Rand employees. What is your business with them?"
A man in the back scoffed. "Someone take care of this idiot!"
With a nod, the man nearest the table drew a knife from his belt, hurling it at Danny's face. And he finally found his focus.
Without missing a beat, Danny's hand whipped in front of him, smacking the knife out of the air and sending it clattering to the floor next to him.
"I asked you a question," Danny growled.
A second man drew his pistol and shoved past the one that threw the knife, firing toward Danny. Dropping to the floor for half a second, Danny leapt up and pounced toward him, vaulting off the floor and flipping into the air. The handgun clattered out of the man's hand as Danny's foot collided with it, and Danny hit the ground with just enough time to spin around and sweep his leg. As he fell, the back of his head slammed into the table, and he collapsed unconscious at Danny's feet.
Danny threw up his hands and stepped into a cat stance, glare quickly alternating back and forth between the remaining three men.
The war against the Hand.
"Come on! Come on!" Danny shouted, brow furrowed.
A punch flew from one side, and Danny swiveled to the side to deflect it, landing a kick on his attacker's knee to stagger him. A second man came at him from the other side, narrowly missing an elbow as Danny ducked underneath him. Crouched down, Danny threw fists in both directions, landing a strike on each man's face, then stood to face the standing one, delivering a palm strike to his collarbone and a second to his sternum.
As he collapsed on the ground, the one behind Danny stood again, charging forward with a jab, which Danny narrowly slipped to the side of. Grabbing his wrist with one hand, Danny twisted the man's arm and then drove his elbow into the joint, snapping it with a loud crack. Releasing him, Danny got into position again and then snapped up his leg to kick him- one, in the gut. Two, in the chest. Three, in the face.
Weak and bleeding, the man stumbled backward, raising his good arm in fear. "W- wait! Wait!"
Danny took a long breath. With his eyes closed, he spun around, delivering a roundhouse kick to the man's ribs.
The third man collapsed onto the table, shaking with pain for a moment before sliding into a heap on the ground.
Drive all other thoughts out of your mind except this.
A loud clang drew Danny's attention from the far side of the room. A garage door had slammed shut- the fourth one had run away in the chaos.
Danny scowled. Vaulting over the table, he sprinted the rest of the way across the room to the heavy door, pressing one hand against it with frustration.
"Damn it… damn it!"
He closed his eyes and took a breath, almost shaking. He just needed a moment to center himself… to make things clear…
Energy surged through his chest, then his arms…
…Then his fist.
Like unto a thing of iron.
You are a living weapon.
The crumpled hunk of metal that was the garage door clattered loudly to the concrete, and Danny stepped over it, his fist opening as it returned to its original pale color.
The warehouse opened up into a quiet parking lot, dark under the night sky.
"Oh my God…"
Danny's eyes shot straight up at the sound of a voice, across the lot to the man that had fled.
Visibly frightened, the man lowered a hand to a holster on his waist, aiming a pistol at Danny.
Danny shook his head. "Drop it."
"I- I…" Hands shaking, the man lowered his gun, unsure of how to respond. "Alright… alright… take it easy…"
"Don't test me."
Danny marched across the lot, shoes tapping loudly against the asphalt. Coming face-to-face with the man, he slapped the pistol out of his hand, grabbing him by the collar and staring him down.
This is your purpose.
"Two weeks ago," said Danny, "you made an off-the-books sale to Rand employees. What is your business with them?" Danny shoved the man away from him with one hand. "What is your business with Rand?"
"Oh, God. Oh my God…" the man mumbled, straightening his clothes uncertainly. "You- you don't understand. There's a system. I can't talk. They'll kill-"
"I'll kill you! Do you understand that?" Danny raised a fist threateningly, which surged a golden color again.
"Okay! Okay! Okay!" The man stumbled backward, raising a hand in surrender. "It's called 'Steel Serpent'. It's- it's some special kind of heroin. I mean, I've never used it, but… Rand's had us distributing it…" Nervously fishing through the pocket of his jacket, he pulled out a small white packet with a snakelike design. "Ever since the Blacksmith got taken down, it's been like open season on this stuff… the distributors that sell through us work within Rand; I swear that's all I know…"
Danny snatched the packet out of his hand and glared at it, brow furrowing.
He recognized it instantly. A symbol plastered all over K'un-Lun- Shou-Lao- but missing its wings.
"…That symbol…" he mumbled. "What… what is this?"
The man shrugged helplessly, throwing up his hands. "I don't know, man… honest…"
"But your suppliers. In Rand." Danny dropped the heroin packet on the ground, looking up menacingly. "You can tell me who they are."
"I can! Yeah! Fine!" the man blustered. "I've got contacts! We all do! Here!" He pulled out his phone, swiping through it for a moment before shoving it in Danny's face. "These guys. They call me up when they want to set a meeting. They pick the place and time."
Danny studied the names for a moment before grabbing the phone, tucking it into his hoodie.
"Oh, come on, man, you really need to-" At Danny's scowl, the man cut himself off, hands raised above his head. "-Fine, take the phone, but… what are you gonna do?" He clenched his teeth nervously. "I- I mean… what do you want with me, man?"
Destroy the H-
With a loud grunt, Danny struck the man in the face, knocking him out and sending his body clattering to the ground.
Danny knelt to pick up the pack of heroin, inspecting the bastardized Shou-Lao symbol.
"I just want what's mine," he mumbled.
