OOOOO10OOOOO

"I seriously thought we were gonna die that day. And I had only learned to shoot a bow like a day earlier, and now I'm on a freaking battlefield, killing all these Soul Suckers with Shaun's auntie, who's this awesome magical Kung Fu goddess-"

"And I'm hanging onto The Great Protector and Dryaa at this point," jumped in Shaun. "With my sister, trying not to get eaten by the Mega Soul Sucker-"

"Ugh, the Mega Soul Sucker was such a nasty bitch!"

"Yeah it was trying to eat our dragon's soul-" Dryaa explained. "Which would have allowed it to destroy the entire universe!"

"Yeah!"

The three continued to talk over one another, each jumping in with pieces of their own to add to the epic tale.

Back home in San Fran, the friends met up with Soo and John again, who just stared back at them blankly as they recounted their adventure.

"I only had one arrow left and all I could hear in the back of my mind was my mom's voice saying, "Just take the shot you little mooch!" And so I aimed right for the sucker's throat, and I let it fly."

"And she hit it dead on!"

"Yeah and then Shaun used the Ten Rings to like, to do this like crazy Kamehameha fireball thing that exploded the thing-"

"And all this blood and guts and body parts went flying!" Dryaa recalled.

"And he saved the world."

"Yeah, we lost some good people that day," Shaun finished. "But we made it."

"We made it."

"And that's not even the best part! The best part is that these two are finally doing it!" Katy gestured to her two friends.

"Katy is the best third wheel."

"Yeah I am!"

"Okay, are you done mocking me already?" Soo finally spoke, finally finding a break in her friends' story.

"We're not mocking you."

"No? So where is this sister of yours?" she asked Shaun.

"She's back at my dad's compound shutting down his operations."

"Yeah his dad was the head of the Ten Rings for the past thousand years," Dryaa explained.

Soo shook her head. "Two weeks ago you were parking cars for tips and now you want me to believe you're now saving the world from soul-sucking monsters."

"Yeah..."

"Well, when you put it that way..."

"I know you're trying to get back at me for what I said last time, but I'm not going to apologize for speaking the truth as a friend. I really meant what I said and, in fact, I actually think this whole bit you're doing just further proves my point. You guys are obviously-"

Soo was cut off suddenly when they all noticed it - the glowing orange light materializing before their table. The light itself turned out to be attached to a portal from which a man in long robes emerged.

It was Wong, Master of the Mystic Arts, an ally of the Avengers who had aided in their victory and reversing of the Snap.

"Shang-Chi?" he called into the suddenly dead-silent restaurant. "Shang-Chi?"

"Uh, here, present..." Shaun raised his hand.

Upon identifying him, Wong strode forward up to them, pushing John and Soo's chairs out of the way. "My name is Wong."

"Uh yeah, I know Sir, I'm a huge fan-"

"Do you have the Rings?"

Shaun exchanged a look with his new girlfriend. "Uh, yeah, yes-"

"Good, then let's go - we have a lot to talk about-" Wong scooped up Soo's drink and downed it in one gulp. "You too, Dryaa, Guardian of the Rings. And you as well, Katy Chen."

Katy pointed to herself. "Me too?"

"Uh, I think we should-"

"Yeah, I mean, yeah."

"Um, we've gotta go." The three were on their feet in seconds, stepping towards the portal which still swirled there in the middle of the restaurant, Wong waiting at the portal's mouth expectantly.

"Nice to see you again"

"I know this is like crazy, but I'll text you."

"I'll e-transfer you for the drinks"

Now the trio stood before the portal themselves. Shaun extended his hand to Dryaa who happily accepted it. She in turn extended her hand to Katy, who took in and, hand-in-hand-in-hand, they stepped through the portal.

"Hot damn..." Dryaa breathed.

They were now in the New York Sanctum. There, Wong analyzed the Rings, and that wasn't all - two more Avengers joined them via video call: Captain Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, and Dr. Bruce Banner, Hulk.

"They don't match any artifacts from our codex," Wong explained. "What do you think?"

"Hm, I'm not sure," agreed Bruce. "They're not Vibranium. Chitauri?"

Carol shook her head. "Not like any alien tech I've seen. How long did your dad have them before he gave them to you?"

"Uh, about a thousand years..."

"Their thermoluminescence indicates that they're older than that, by a lot," Bruce told them. Now he addressed Dryaa. "And you don't know where they came from?"

"No, I've always just been under instruction to guard them."

"Under instruction by who?"

"I don't know. A powerful figure who communicates with me via a telepathic link. That's all I know."

"The first time you used the Rings, we felt it in Kamar-Taj," Wong explained.

"What do you mean?"

"There's a beacon," Carol answered.

"They're sending a message," said Bruce.

"A message to where?"

Before they could get an answer, something beeped on Carol's end. "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but I have to deal with this. It's my girlfriend - she actually looks a lot like you." She nodded to Dryaa. "You can get my number from Bruce, it was so nice to meet you-" And with that she was gone.

Bruce shook his head. "Yeah, I don't have her number, she does this a lot... Guys, stay safe, and welcome to the circus." And his screen disappeared as well.

"I know this is a lot to take in, but you're going to have to start getting used to that," Wong told them. "From now on, the trajectory of your lives will be like nothing you've ever experienced before."

"Damn," mumbled Katy beside Dryaa.

"And there's no going back."

"Double damn..."

"You have a long journey ahead of you. Go home, get some rest."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

"Yeah yeah, we should probably do that," Shaun agreed. Then he looked between his best friend and his girlfriend. "Or-"

Flashforward to the Karaoke bar, found the trio, as well as Wong, belting out the lyrics to the Eagles' Hotel California.

"Welcome to the Hotel California

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely face

Such a lovely face!"

And as far as commitments went, this was pretty darn good.

Well would you look at that, Ten Rings, and ten chapters! I didn't even plan that, it just all worked itself out! ;)

And there we have it - that's the end! I absolutely love this movie and can't wait to see more of these characters and this world that's for sure!

If Dryaa's connection to the Rings seems a little fuzzy, totally meant to be! We never got a firm description of the Rings' origins, just teases, in the movie, so I can build on that later when the films continue :)

Once more, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed overall! :) Bye!