Chapter 21.
Hey everyone. Back with another chapter.
I know 2 chapters in two days. But I finished writing this chapter within a few hours after the previous one.
This chapter will follow the second story arc and will be centred on Tripp, Nico and Morris and will introduce a key player in this trilogy.
Also for those wondering, the final battle of this story will commence in Chapter 26.
Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favirouted this fic so far.
On with the show.
HeroWitch: Thanks for the review. I don't blame you on finding Punisher creepy.
Aragorn II Elessar: Thanks for the review. I know it was Bruce Willis's line but it fit the moment. I couldn't exactly have Nuke say "I'll be back" right after kicking someone across a field. Totally forgot about Mack knowing about Natasha.
Tripplett's POV.
Following Jason and his team's departure, me, Nico and Morris had been called in by Novu.
Probably for another mission by my guess.
We appeared in the Monitor's realm where Novu was waiting for us.
"Okay, Jason, Logan, Nuke, Jenna and Rory are on another mission currently. I need you 3 to perform the next part of the mission." Novu said.
"Okay, what is it?" I asked him.
"Your operation is to locate the temple of Cthylla, the Great Old One and secret daughter of Cthulhu" he explained.
I frowned in confusion.
Who the hell was Cthylla and Cthulhu?
"Uh, who are these people?" I asked him.
"There is a race of powerful god like beings called the Great Old Ones. Cthulhu is one of the Great Old Ones and is most extensively worshipped by barbaric cults on Earth. Cthylla is his secret daughter, who is prophesied to give birth to Cthulhu after he is destroyed in the near future. I have seen the future, and in order to make sure Cthulhu stays permanently dead, we must retrieve Cthylla and ensure her aid. She will also prove valuable in rescuing Takio and Conrad" Novu explained.
"Okay, so where is this temple?" I asked him.
"I do not know. Its location is invisible even to me. However there is one who knows of it" Novu said.
"Who is it?" Nico asked.
"His name is Shang Chi and he is a master martial artist. He knows of the temple's location. You will also require his help to defeat the countless hordes of creatures called Yuggya and Deep Ones. If you don't, you will all die" Novu said.
"Okay then. Where is this Shang Chi guy?" I asked.
"He is on a dead planet. You must convince him to help you. You will find him in an abandoned, broken down temple" he said.
"What do we have to do then?" I asked.
"I will send you to the dead planet. The temple is located in a set of jagged mountains. Remember, time is of the essence" Novu said.
"Good luck" he said.
He then wiggled his fingers and we vanished.
When we reappeared, we were on the planet.
There were also two other planets in the sky.
The terrain was barren and dry.
Guess Novu wasn't joking when he said it was a dead planet.
Only thing left to do now was to find Shang Chi.
"Where the heck are these mountains?" Nico asked, looking around.
"I found it. Over there" Morris said, pointing to a series of tall mountains in the distance.
"I guess we should get going" I said.
I began walking towards the mountains with Nico and Morris following.
The planet seemed to have strange dried up skeletons and ruins of pillars.
What the hell happened here that the world was now dead?
There was no sign of life anywhere on the planet at all.
The planets in the sky looked beautiful though.
It was dry and dusty and the air seemed hard to breathe in.
We trudged our way to the mountains which seemed to move further and further away the more we walked.
Nico started coughing violently all of a sudden.
I turned to face him with concern written on my face.
"Yeah I'm good. Just too much dust" Nico said with a tight smile on his face.
I looked at him briefly before turning to continue walking.
After what felt like hours, we finally reached the entrance of the mountains.
There the rocks turned sharp and jagged.
"Guys be careful. I don't want to explain to Novu why you're all kebabs" I said.
"Oh lighten up man. You're like my grandma" Morris said.
"Because I'm wise" I retorted.
Morris just stared at me with his jaw open.
He then shook his head.
We began carefully climbing through the mountains until we reached a long winding path.
"I think this might lead to the temple" I said.
I jumped down onto the path and we began walking uphill towards the distance.
Soon enough, a temple appeared in the distance.
"Guys, I thing we're here" I said.
We walked up to the edge of the temple.
It was old and some parts of it had crumbled to the ground.
There were ancient runes carved onto the pillars at the entrance.
"Anyone getting Indiana Jones vibes here?" Morris asked which caused Nico to roll his eyes.
"Enough with the movie references already" Nico said, shoving Morris forward.
The door to the temple had long since broken down.
"So what do we do? Do we ask to come in?" Nico asked.
"I don't think so. I mean why would we ask if there is no door?" I asked rhetorically.
"Good point" Nico replied.
I took out my pistol from my side.
We silently moved into the temple, checking every nook and cranny for any traps or bad guys that we might stumble into.
There was no one.
At the back of the temple, was a circle of large stone pillars.
And sitting in the middle of the circle, meditating was a man.
He wore ancient Chinese monk robes.
He had a dark beard that looked like it hadn't been shaven in months.
He appeared to be in a deep trance.
"Uh, is that Shang Chi?" Morris asked.
Seriously this guy could get annoying at times.
"Of course that's Shang Chi you idiot, who else could it be?" I asked him.
Nico just had a look of hopelessness on his face.
"Who are you and why are you here?" the man asked all of a sudden.
I nearly jumped into the air.
"Are you Shang Chi?" I asked.
"I asked you a question. Who are you and why are you here?" Shang Chi asked.
"I'm Antonnie Tripplett. This is Nico Di Angelo and Morris Bench. If you're Shang Chi, then we're here to find you" I said.
"Whatever it is I am not interested" Shang Chi replied, his eyes never opening.
"You don't even know why we're here" I retorted.
"I don't. But like I said; not interested" Shang Chi said.
Boy this was going to be difficult wasn't it?
"Can you at least look at us?" I asked.
He slowly opened his eyes.
"Leave me alone, before you boys wind up in some serious trouble" he said.
"Dude, don't take that attitude with me" I said getting angry.
He stood up abruptly.
"Come here" he gestured.
I slowly walked into the stone circle.
Morris and Nico moved to stand outside the circle.
"Let's make things interesting. I put you on the ground, you leave me alone forever. You put me on the ground, I'll help you. Is that good enough for you?" Shang Chi asked.
"Sounds good to me" I replied.
I took off my jacket and threw it aside, followed by my pistol.
Shang Chi got into a fighting stance.
I also got ready to fight.
Shang Chi suddenly shifted his stance.
We waited for a few seconds, as I tried to anticipate his moves.
He suddenly kicked me in the leg and I went forward.
He then punched me in the face.
I tried to counter his attacks, but he sent a blow to the side of my head and elbowed me in the ribs.
I stumbled back to the edge of the stone circle.
My ribs hurt like hell from that elbow strike.
I leapt back to punch him in the face.
I did and he blocked my next strike before back fisting me in the face.
I grabbed his arm and tried to break it but he flipped into the air and landed on his feet.
He then crossed his arms and looked at me expectantly.
He then kicked me in the ribs before trying to do it again.
I caught his leg, but he jumped into the air and kneed me in the face.
I dropped him and stumbled back, my nose now broken.
Nico and Morris were staring at me in horror.
"COME ON IS THAT ALL YOU'VE GOT?!" Shang Chi roared as he got into another fighting stance.
I wiped the blood from my face and got ready to fight.
He leapt and punched me in the chest before blocking another strike from me.
This was very bad.
I stumbled back.
I wasn't sure how long I could keep fighting for.
He blocked a punch from me before kicking me in the face.
I punched him square in the face and he spun around, punching me as well.
I fell to my knees, groaning with blood spilling from my mouth.
Shang Chi punched me in the face multiple times brutally.
He then flipped into the air and kicked me down.
I staggered to my feet, not ready to give up.
He grabbed me and punched me with an extra strong punch and I finally fell to the ground, battered and injured, groaning in pain.
"I win" he said smugly.
"I have never seen anyone this good" Morris commented.
"I win. So take your friend, get the hell out of here and never come back" Shang Chi said.
"Great. So now Jason is definitely going to die now" Nico muttered sarcastically.
That made Shang Chi stop.
"Jason?" he questioned.
"Uh yeah, Jason Stark" Morris said uncertainly.
By that stage, I had slowly gotten to my feet and I was using a stone pillar to support myself.
A thin smile formed on Shang Chi's face.
"What kind of trouble is the kiddo in?" Shang Chi asked.
"What does it matter to you?" Nico asked.
"The kiddo and I go way back. He helped me retrieve a piece of valuable jade once with his friend Colonel James Rhodes. I owe him one" Shang Chi replied.
Well this was certainly interesting.
"So explain to me what's going on" Shang Chi said.
So we explained Novu, the Anti Monitor, Annihlus and our mission to recruit him as he knew the location of the temple.
He nodded when it was finished.
"Yes I know where the temple is. It is in R'lyeh, in its interdimensional state. You will find its entrance at the edge of the world. And yes, I will go with you" he said.
"All right then. We need to get going now" Nico said.
Morris helped me stand, as I was still bloodied and injured from my fight with Shang Chi.
"Let's go rescue this Cthylla person" I said.
Boy but this was going to be one hell of a fight.
And Chapter 21 is done. I hope you all enjoyed it.
Yep. Shang Chi is here. For those who have been paying close attention to this story, you will remember that I referenced Shang Chi in Chapter 11. So now he is here. Picture him being played by British actor Andrew Koji. I know Simu Liu will play Shang Chi in the upcoming MCU Phase 4 film Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings but I have honesty always imagined Andrew Koji in the role.
And Cthylla is the secret daughter of Cthulhu who is destined to give birth to him after he is destroyed. I know gross right?
Next chapter will go back to Jason's team.
Until next time, review, follow, faviroute, stay tuned and tell me what you though of this chapter.
Arrowverse Fan 217 Out.