Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, yes, as the title suggests, part of this story will include the events of Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. In my opinion, Shang-chi is one of the best Marvel movies yet, and I want to include it. Shang-chi and the rings will later play an important role. However, it'll be a while before I get to the events, as we'll see some events with Just Oliver, Natasha, and a friend to begin with.
But for now, let's get to this chapter!
Chapter 1-
Natasha ducks and rolls to avoid the shield that just got thrown at her. She pops back up and fires one of her pistols, but as she expected, Taskmaster easily avoids the bullets. Taskmaster flips over her head and quickly retrieves his shield.
"You'll have to do better than that," Taskmaster says, almost mockingly.
Taskmaster then hears a crackle of electricity, and he ducks and rolls to avoid an electrified uru arrow flying right at him. He then brings his shield up to block a strike from Olliver's bow. He then flips himself backwards, kicking Oliver in the chin as he does. He then switches to his bow and fires an arrow, but the arrow is deflected by Oliver's armor.
Natasha snaps out her batons and tries to strike at Taskmaster's head, but Taskmaster deflects it with his bow before returning his bow to his back and drawing two batons of his own, striking back against her. The two exchange several fierce blows before Oliver lunges forward to join the fight. Taskmaster switches back to his sword and shield, blocking Natasha's batons with his shield before parrying a strike from Oliver's bow with his sword.
Taskmaster kicks Natasha in her knee and then shoots a taser disk at her, causing her to collapse in pain, trying to get it off. Oliver growls and strikes at Taskmaster again. Taskmaster easily parries the strike with his shield before slashing at Oliver's head. Oliver ducks under it and spins to try and kick Taskmaster's feet out from under him, but Taskmaster jumps and flips over Oliver's head, scissoring Oliver's head with his legs and then twisting his body, throwing Oliver across the ground. Oliver flips himself up onto his knees, drawing an arrow and firing it at Taskmaster, who quickly brings up his shield and blocks the arrow. Taskmaster then draws his bow and fires an arrow too, but Oliver catches the arrow and then throws it away.
Oliver springs to his feet and rushes Taskmaster, who rushes towards Oliver too. The two strike at each other with their bows, exchanging a flurry of strikes with their bows and their fists. After several tense moments, Oliver manages to land a punch to Taskmaster's stomach. As Taskmaster bends over a bit from the punch, Oliver strikes at his head with his bow. However, Taskmaster manages to raise his bow and lock it with Oliver's bow, then twisting his arm enough to twist Oliver's bow out of his hand, but losing his grip on his own bow in the process.
Oliver throws a kick towards Taskmaster's leg, but Taskmaster jumps back. Taskmaster then raises his hands, and to Oliver's surprise, claws like T'Challa's pop out of his fingers. Oliver narrows his eyes before rushing Taskmaster.
The two exchange a flurry of blows, Oliver taking a few nicks from Taskmaster's claws. He then throws a punch at Taskmaster's head, but Taskmaster deflects it with his forearm. He then jumps up and kicks Oliver in the chest with both feet before backpedaling off his chest and landing on one knee and one foot with one hand down as Oliver falls on his back.
Right then, Natasha, having removed and recovered from the taser disk, rushes Taskmaster and leaps towards him, kicking him in the chest and knocking him back. She then pulls out a pistol, but Taskmaster flips himself up and kick's Natasha's pistol out of her grip. He then scissors her left arm as she tries to punch him and rolls, bringing Natasha down to the ground.
Natasha quickly manages to free her arm from Taskmaster's grip. She jabs one of her Widow's Bite into Taskmaster's leg, causing Taskmaster to yell in pain before he manages to kick her away. He then does a kip up before pulling out his shield and blocking several shots Natasha fires at him from another pistol. He then draws a knife and throws it at her, causing her to dodge aside. In the distraction, Taskmaster jumps over to his bow and grabs it. He then whips around, draws two arrows, and fires them into the ground, releasing a large cloud of smoke.
Oliver and Natasha cover their mouths as the smoke washes over them. As the smoke clears, they look around and see that Taskmaster is gone. Not only that, but the briefcase containing what Taskmaster had been trying to steal is gone too.
The two mutter curses under their breath, feeling very angry that once again, Taskmaster has escaped
(New Avengers Facility)
"I thought we had a chance of bringing him in. Damn, he's good," Natasha says as they enter the armory.
Oliver sets his bow and quiver down. "The real question is what is Taskmaster doing here. We got the word from Steve and the others that they encountered him on Earth-1 not that long ago," he says.
"He must still have whatever tech allowed him to travel to Earth-1 in the first place. He must be travelling back and forth between Earths to take new mercenary jobs," Natasha says.
"You may be right. And that makes him all the more dangerous. We really need to work on stopping him, or at least confining him to one Earth," Oliver says.
"I agree," Natasha says. She pauses, then says, "I wish we knew what he was stealing at that place. He seemed to be even more secretive than he ever has."
"I know. But, we need to be more focused on containing him than knowing what his goal is on every one of his missions," Oliver says.
Natasha nods in agreement. Then, she starts to smile slyly as she says, "You know, most of the rest of the team have gone to bed by now."
Oliver smiles. Then, he pulls Natasha in and the two exchange a passionate kiss. He picks her up and carries her off towards their bedroom.
And, I'll end there.
Hope you liked this chapter, and that I started it off with a fight with Taskmaster. As some of you may have guessed from what Oliver said about Steve, Taskmaster is going to show up in the story I'm writing centered around Steve and Caitlin. However, this story will contain no spoilers for that one. Also, Taskmaster will show up once or twice more in this story.
Next chapter will kind of be an easygoing one, but start to introduce the conflict of the story with the return of an old character. It should be up soon. Until then, leave a review, and stay tuned!