Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Also, let me know if you'd like me to refer to Wenwu by his name or as the Mandarin.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 8- Escape

"Do you think Taskmaster told us the truth?" Yelena asks as she clambers over a boulder. Oliver and her had flown to the region of China that Taskmaster had told them was the location of the Ten Rings' HQ, and then chartered a helicopter to land them about 2 miles from the exact location. They were now hiking over the mountainous landscape to reach the coordinates Taskmaster gave them. The hike was difficult, given it was nighttime, but they are also carrying some night vision goggles to make sure they don't injure themselves.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough. But I could see it in his mannerisms. The Mandarin really does make Taskmaster nervous. I think he was being truthful," Oliver says. Yelena doesn't respond, but just takes a swig of water from his water bottle and climbs over another large rock.

Oliver has found this time since the Mandarin captured Natasha that he's spent with Yelena to be a very interesting time. He hadn't really gotten to know his sister in law in since first meeting her. But, although it's been brief, the time they've spent together since Natasha's abduction has really helped them start to understand each other, and Oliver is starting to actually be grateful to have Yelena as a sister-in-law instead of just kind of neutral.

Oliver quickly refocuses on the hike ahead. Taking a quick drink from his own water bottle, Oliver starts hurrying to get to the edge of the ridge up ahead. With how close the ridge is, it takes him only seconds to get there.

As Oliver reaches the ridge, he instantly freezes. Because he can now see the other side of the mountain they've been climbing. And right below him is the Ten Rings HQ.

Oliver stares down at fortress for a few moments before he calls behind him, "Yelena, we found it!"

Yelena, hearing that, comes sprinting towards Oliver, reaching his side in seconds. As she looks down at the fortress below, she grins like a little child at Christmas. "Yes. At last," she says eagerly.

Oliver removes his bow from his back, smiling a bit himself. "Alright. Let's go. Let's go rescue our friends and family," he says. Oliver then starts to slowly descend the slope, heading towards the spot just east of the fortress that Taskmaster had mentioned. It doesn't take long before he spots what looks like a small cave in the side of the mountain with the help of his night vision goggles.

"There," Oliver says, pointing. Oliver and Yelena move towards the cave. Reaching it, Oliver looks in, and it looks a normal cave leading into the mountain. No sign of any guards or defenses.

"Let's move," Oliver says, and he and Yelena make their way into the cave.

Natasha looks at the man in front of her and the others with shock. After a dinner with the Mandarin, whose real name was Wenwu as he had revealed, he had revealed his plan to the group: to travel to the mythical Ta Lo and supposedly free his late wife from behind a gate her people had trapped her behind. After his children had protested, Wenwu had locked them, Katy, and Natasha in the cells deep in the fortress. While in their cell, they had heard a strange noise and made their way through the passageways connecting cells, and found a man in what looked like a mix between a cave and a dressing room. To their shock, the man was Trevor Slattery, the actor who Natasha knew had been hired by Aldritch Killian to fake being the Mandarin. Apparently, Wenwu had broken Slattery out of prison and imprisoned him for impersonating him, but now had made him something like his jester.

As Slattery offers to show them a bit of his act, Shang-chi smiles and says, "Uh, thank you, Trevor, but I think we're good. But, right now, we really just need to…"

However, Shang-chi is cut off as a strange creature suddenly wanders into view from behind. Shang-chi, Katy, and Natasha all jump back a bit and let out cries of alarm.

"What is that?" the three of them all shout in various forms and timing. The creature looks like it has the body of a pig, but without a head or face, covered all in brown fur, and with four small wings on its back.

"What is what?" Trevor asks.

"That! That! That!" Katy shouts, pointing wildly at the creature.

Trevor looks down at the creature, then back up at them as he asks, "You can see Morris?" He then holds out his hands as the creature, apparently named Morris, leaps up into his lap, and he exclaims, "Oh, Morris! They can see you! You're real. All this time, i thought I was hallucinating him. Oh, this is such fab news."

"Where's his face?" Katy asks.

Morris lets out a series of strange sounds, and Trevor says, "Oh, shh. He's a bit sensitive about that."

The three of them all look at Trevor and Morris in confusion. Then, Morris lets out a chitter. Trevor leans in, then looks up at them and says, "Morris says he knows who you are."

"Wait. The creature can talk to you and you can understand him?" Natasha asks, wondering if Trevor is absolutely insane.

Morris leaps down from Trevor's lap as Trevor says, "If he didn't talk to me, I'd have gone mad yonks ago."

"How would he know me?" Shang-chi asks in confusion.

"He says he grew up with your mum. In Ta Lo. Apparently your dad picked him up in some magical forest on one of his expeditions to find the entrance," Trevor says. He pauses for a second, then says, "He wants you to take him home."

As Trevor was explaining, Shang-chi has kneeled down in front of Morris. Now, he kind of scratches Morris behind one of his sets of wings and mutters, "Believe me, buddy, I would if I knew how. But according to my dad, the path there only opens once a year." As he does, Natasha feels a ping of pity for Morris.

Morris suddenly starts chirping and runs back to Trevor, jumping back into his lap. Trevor listens, then says, "Morris says he can guide you there right now. You can get through the maze without waiting for the path to open. But, and it's a big 'but, it's very dangerous."

"How dangerous?" Natasha queries.

"Nobody's made it out alive. But Morris is…90 percent confident he can lead us there safely," Trevor says. However, Morris chirps, and Trevor laughs as he amends his statement, "Ah-ha. 19 percent."

Natasha's hopes for this to work fall a bit. A second later, Katy says, "Look, I've done dumber things with worse odds."

"Join the club," Natasha mutters.

Katy glances at Natasha, then continues, "But even if that chicken pig is right, we're still locked in your…"

Right then, there's a crashing sound. Looking in the direction of the sound, they see Xialing breaking down the wall, opening a large hole big enough for them to walk through. She walks through the hole and dusts herself off. She looks up and says, "Dad has a tunnel system under the whole compound. It's how I escaped last time. This will take us right to the garage." Right then, she notices Morris and looks at the creature with a look of confusion and curiosity.

Trevor stands up with Morris, and everyone follows Xialing into the tunnels. Xialing, clearly knowing exactly where she's going, leads them quickly through the tunnels. Sure enough, it leads them straight to the garage.

As soon as they enter the garage, Xialing makes her way straight to a pillar where a box is fixed. She immediately opens the box to reveal a mass of keys. Looking through the keys, she quickly finds one with a tag that reads "RZRFST". She takes the key, then closes the box and rips the entire box off the pillar to prevent anyone from chasing them while tossing the key she took to Katy.

Katy now leads the group through the garage, searching for the car the key belongs to. Pressing the unlock button every few seconds, she finds a Cadillac Escalade, black with the words "Razor Fist" painted on the side in bright orange and purple lettering.

"Oh, yes. I kinda like this guy," Katy says in excitement.

Everyone heads for the car as Shang-chi says, "Just head up that ramp and through the front gate. Should be a straight shot. We should have about 30 seconds before…" However, he stops as he opens the door to the passenger side, and finds Trevor in the passenger seat. Trevor looks up at Shang-chi and asks, "Do you mind? I get sick in the back. Car sick."

Natasha chuckles a bit as she climbs into the very back while Shang-chi and Xialing climb into the middle. Katy starts up the car, and stomps on the gas, peeling out of the parking spot and heading for the exit Shang-chi mentioned.

They head up the tunnel. However, before long, they suddenly find their path blocked by an armored car and several men on motorbikes.

"Oh, crap," Katy mutters before she throws the car in reverse and starts backing back down the tunnel as fast as she can manage. As she does, trying to avoid crashing into the walls of the tunnel, she asks urgently, "Is there another exit?"

"The other end of the garage. But we need a fingerprint to open it," Xialing responds quickly.

They quickly reach the garage, but find themselves surrounded by two motorbikes, and the armored car driving right at them. But then, the two men on the two motorbikes drop dead as gunshots ring out, and then an explosion destroys the armored car.

"What the?" Katy says aloud. Then, out of nowhere, Oliver and Yelena come running into view.

"Looks like you guys saved us half of the trouble of trying to rescue you," Oliver quips.

Natasha feels relief flood through her. She had had no idea what had happened to Oliver or Yelena after the Mandarin captured her and the others, and feels very relieved to see them.

The sound of more engines catches their attention. "Get in!" Katy yells. Oliver and Yelena run to one of the doors and throw it open, climbing into the back. Katy then guns the engine and takes off.

Two more motorbikes appear, pulling up alongside the car. Xialing and Shang-chi proceed to roll down the windows and slide out, attacking the men on the motorbikes. Xialing sends the two she's fighting flying into a pillar. Shang-chi wrestles a guy off a motorbike and into the car before taking his weapon and throwing it into the wheel of the bike he was riding, causing it to go flipping end over end.

Xialing and Shang-chi now focus on the guy in the car, beating him up in the middle seat while Katy is trying to avoid soldiers rushing into the garage. One soldier tries to deploy spike strips, but Katy swerves and avoids them. That move bring the other exit into view.

"Shaun! Hurry!" Katy yells as she speeds towards the exit. Despite the guy still resisting, Shang-chi manages to subdue him and rip his glove off. Shang-chi lunges forward and places the guy's hand on the bio-scanner on the dashboard, causing the door ahead to open. Shang-chi then closes the door behind them, causing it to slam down on the hood of the car pursuing them. Xialing then opens her door and throws the soldier out of the car before shutting it again.

Everyone breathes a bit of a sigh of relief as the car speeds away from the fortress. At last, they've escaped. But, they know they still have a big challenge ahead of them.

And, I'll end the chapter there. Hope you liked it.

Also, just a reminder. If you see Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, don't mention anything about it in reviews until I confirm I've seen it :)

Next chapter should be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review, and stay tuned!