Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
r3ggc4lderon: Of course they will.
the pig: Dude, just buzz off and stop bothering me.
Chapter 3- Finding Your Enemy
"So, explain this to me again," Oliver asks Natasha and Yelena.
Yelena is the one who responds, saying, "I have been trying to track down and free General Dreykov's network of Black Widows around the world for years. I found most of them within a year of starting, however a few managed to evade me for a long time. I had finally found the last one, and was trying to pin her down so I could free her, when I ran into the Ten Rings."
"And who exactly are the Ten Rings?" Oliver asks.
"Nobody knows for sure. They're a group of terrorists, but we know little beyond that. Fury himself said that the Ten Rings took secrecy to whole other level. It was hard to ever pin down whether some terrorist attack was committed by the Ten Rings or not. Most of their operations and attacks they kept so secret it was hard to know the attacks or hits had ever happened at all," Natasha says.
Oliver is quiet for a moment, then asks, "What else do you know about them?"
"Well, we do know that a cell of the Ten Rings was responsible for Tony's kidnapping back in 2008, and that the organization itself has existed for centuries. We also believe they were behind the Extremis incident, and that like the fake terrorist from that incident, one of the titles their leader is known by is the Mandarin," Natasha says.
"Okay. So, now the Ten Rings are going to be after Yelena after her little encounter with them, and we know next to nothing about them?" Oliver asks.
"Yeah. Isn't that your area of expertise, Oliver?" Yelena asks innocently.
Oliver rolls his eye, but then shrugs and says, "Fair point."
"Oliver, we are going to have to do something. The Ten Rings aren't known for giving up. If Yelena's now on their radar, they're going to keep coming after her," Natasha says.
"You don't have to convince me, Nat. I'm not about to abandon your sister when she could be in trouble. But this is going to be a real challenge. And if the Ten Rings are what you say they are, perhaps we should keep this just between the three of us, and not tell the rest of the team," Oliver says.
"I agree. If we have the whole team taking part in this, it's more likely that the Ten Rings will catch onto us, and that will make our task all the more difficult," Natasha says.
"Do you think Tony might be able to help us, though," Oliver asks.
"I don't think so. One of the things SHIELD did know about the Ten Rings is that the cells operated very independently from each other. Even if Tony knew everything about the cell he encountered, it likely wouldn't help us find or fight those who might come after us, nor would it likely help us find their leader," Natasha says.
"Well, what if I use myself to draw them to us?" Yelena proposes.
"That might work," Oliver says.
"Are you sure?" Natasha asks with concern for her sister.
"I'm not a helpless little girl, sister," Yelena says with a confident smirk.
"Okay," Natasha says after a moment, clearly still concerned for her little sister.
"I did some research. There's been some sightings of the Ten Rings here in California. If I show myself openly here in Los Angeles for long enough, they may come for me," Yelena says.
"And then we catch them," Oliver says.
(Three weeks later)
"I'm starting to wonder if this is actually going to work," Oliver says as he looks down at the street below. He and Natasha are circling above LA in a Quinjet. They've been following Yelena, who is down on the ground trying to act like a normal person just spending a day in LA.
"Oliver, I know we've been trying this for several weeks now, but until we get any other evidence of where to find the Ten Rings, this may be our best chance at drawing them out. We just need to keep at it. I know you're impatient, but sometimes you just need to stick it out," Natasha says.
Oliver rolls her eyes, but knows better than to respond the way he actually wants to, and so stays quiet.
Down on the ground, Yelena exits the small convenience store she has spent the last ten minutes in, a small bag containing the food she bought for lunch clutched in one hand.
Yelena sighs to herself, feeling more impatient than Oliver that this hasn't worked yet. She's really starting to think about giving up this approach and trying a more proactive approach to locating the Ten Rings.
As Yelena looks around for a spot to go and eat lunch, she sees a man down the street who seems to be staring at her in a way that catches her attention. She looks at him for a second longer before turning and heading the other way up the street. As she glances back a few seconds later, she sees that the man is no longer there.
After Yelena has gone about two weeks, she sees a small park up ahead where she can sit down to eat. However, right as she is about to sped up to head to the park, she suddenly hears something whistling towards her from off to her left. She manages to dodge aside, just avoiding a knife slashing across her face.
Yelena whips towards the direction the knife came from, and sees what appears to be a slight older man who looks Japanese rushing at her with two more knives. To her surprise, he doesn't have eyes. She quickly drops her lunch and whips out a baton, blocking the man's strike with one of his knives before jumping up to kick him in the chest. Right as her foot connects with his chest, she sees a tattoo on his neck. A tattoo of ten interlocking rings with Chinese writing in the center.
"I have a slight problem down here," Yelena says as she pulls out her other baton and snaps them together to expand them into her staff.
"What's going on?" Natasha asks.
"I think they found me," Yelena says, ducking another thrown knife and then somersaulting to avoid a flying kick from the man.
Natasha immediately wings the Quinjet over and heads for the ground as Oliver heads for the back, bow in hand, ready to drop down to suport Yelena.
As Natasha tries to get the Quinjet low enough, Yelena jumps over a strike by the man before jumping up and scissoring his head, then using her body to throw him across the ground. However, as she lets him go, the man manages to cut her across the leg with one of his knives.
Yelena growls as she feels the pain lance up her leg. She glares at the man. "Who are you?" she demands.
"You may call me Master Izo," he responds before throwing another knife, which she deflects with her staff. He then rushes her, knives at the ready.
Yelena separates her staff into separate batons again as the man slashes at her with a knife. She deflects the strike, then strikes at his head. He deflects her strike and aims a kick at her knee, which she jumps up to avoid.
Yelena and Master Izo exchange a flurry of blows at great speed, but Yelena is surprised to find that Master Izo is slowly outmatching her. You'd better get down here quick, Yelena thinks to Oliver and Natasha.
Up above, Natasha levels off the Quinjet and opens up the back. "Good luck, babe," Natasha says. Oliver just flashes her a confident smile before leaping out of the Quinjet.
As Oliver falls towards the ground, he turns himself around and draws out a grappling hook arrow. He quickly fires it off, then uses it to swing towards the street where Yelena is engaging Master Izo.
As Master Izo knocks Yelena onto her back, she looks up and sees Oliver swinging in. He quickly detaches himself from the cable, then draws another arrow and fires it through Master Izo's leg.
Master Izo collapses to one knee. However, to Oliver's surprise, he pulls the arrow out and turns back to face Oliver. "It will take more than that to bring me down," Master Izo says as the wound begins to slowly close.
"Alright," Oliver responds simply before pulling out another arrow and firing it at Master Izo. Izo manages to dodge it with relative ease, then readies himself as Oliver charges him.
Oliver swings his bow at Master Izo's head, but Izo ducks and then does a roundhouse kick, knocking Oliver back. Oliver immediately does a kip up, then deflects a blow from Izo aimed at his head and delivers a punch right to Izo's chest.
Right then, Yelena rejoins the fight, hurtling in and kicking Izo in the side of the head. Izo stumbles, but recovers just in time to stop a blow aimed at his chest from Oliver's bow.
Oliver forces Izo back up against the wall. "Where can we find the rest of the Ten Rings?" he demands.
"You will not get such information so easily," Izo says before twisting himself free and knocking Oliver back. He attempts to slash at Oliver again with a knife, but Yelena blocks the blow and knocks Izo back.
The two exchange several more blows before Yelena hits him in the knee. Izo stumbles back, but then kicks his legs up and knocks Yelena back. However, Izo's attack gives Oliver enough of a chance to kick Izo in the chest. Oliver then pulls out one of his uru arrows, draws it back, and fires it. The arrow hits Izo in the stomach, electricity arcing across his body as he falls to the ground.
Oliver and Yelena stalk over to Master Izo. Unlike Oliver's last arrow, Izo does not seem to be recovering.
"What do you want with me?" Yelena demands.
"All those who cross the Ten Rings must be destroyed. The master himself sent me to dispose of you. However, you have proven your mettle. But it will not be enough to save you," Master Izo says. He then lies back and his eyes close as he takes his last breath.
Oliver and Yelena stand there, wondering what to do now that their one lead so far is gone, and wondering what will be the Ten Rings' next move.
And, I'll end the chapter there. Hope it was a good one.
For those wondering, Master Izo is a character associated with The Hand in Marvel comics. Although traditionally associated with Daredevil, I decided to use him here.
So, next chapter, we'l start getting into the events of Shang-chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. So, yes, both Shang-chi and the rings will continue to play a role in the MACU.
Next chapter should be up fairly soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!