Hey, everyone. Back again with another chapter.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 11- Ten Rings
Oliver bends down to tighten his boots, then stands up and looks around. All around him, the people of Ta Lo are rushing around, hurrying to grab weapons and to put on their armor. A signal had reached the village just a few minutes earlier that the strike force assembled by the Ten Rings had arrived through the portal and was coming for the village.
Oliver looks over, and sees Natasha and Yelena getting ready for battle. They have donned their Black Widow suits, and are looking over their weapons, making sure they're all ready. Oliver also sees Xialing and Shang-chi preparing to meet the incoming strike force.
Oliver finally looks over at his bow, resting on the far side of the armory. He raises his hand, and the bow flies across the armory into his hand. Lightning and energy swirls around Oliver as his armor takes shape and he feels the rush of power from the weapon. Oliver looks at his bow for a moment, then hurries out of the armory, Natasha and Yelena following close behind.
The three assemble with the villagers in a defensive formation in front of the village. In a matter of minutes, a small convoy of vehicles arrives in front of the village, mostly Jeeps, with several armored cars as well. As the vehicles all park, Ten Rings soldiers begin pouring out of the vehicles and assembling in front of the vehicles, settling into a battle stance, waiting for the order to attack. Then, as the defenders watch, Wenwu steps out of one of the Jeeps. Wenwu slowly walks forward until he is standing in front of his soldiers.
A few moments of silence pass before Wenwu looks at his children and asks them, "Are you here to help the people holding your own mother hostage?"
Ying Nan responds to the question, saying, "She isn't back there. You're being lied to by a creature who wants to destroy us all."
Wenwu, who had glanced at Ying Nan when she spoke, looks back at his children and asks, "Is that what they told you? I know my wife's voice."
Ying Nan again speaks up in place of Shang-chi and Xialing. "I miss my sister as much as you do. But this is not the way to honor her memory."
Wenwu now focuses on Ying Nan. "Did you honor her when you turned her away from your gate?" he demands.
Guang Bo now speaks up, speaking in Mandarin, and declares, "You fool! We turned you away. The sins of your past would have destroyed this place."
Turning his attention to Guang Bo, Wenwu responds harshly in Mandarin, "Be careful how you speak to me, young man. I've lived ten of your lifetimes." Then, refocusing on Ying Nan, he demands firmly, "Let me pass."
"We cannot do that," Ying Nan responds coldly.
Behind Wenwu, the man called Razor Fist raises a hand, and the Ten Rings soldiers ready their weapons. The defenders respond in kind. Oliver draws an arrow and fits it to his bow, his bow and the arrow crackling with energy.
Wenwu stares at his children for several moments, who stare back at him with iron expressions. Then, he turns back to his men, takes a few steps towards them, and gives the order, "Burn it down."
Razor Fist brings his fist down to signal the troops, and those who are wielding energy projectile weapons fire them. The defenders try to deflect them, but several are wrapped up in the energy bands shot out. Guang Bo then shouts a command in Mandarin, and the defenders charge at the Ten Rings.
Oliver lets loose his arrow. It strikes a soldier in the chest and discharges a burst of electricity, stunning several more soldiers. The two sides then clash with a series of war cries and the sounds of exchanging blows.
Oliver, Natasha, and Yelena rush into the fight. Oliver sees three soldiers rushing him and leaps over their heads, spinning around and clubbing one of them in the head with his bow. As he lands, he whips around and strikes at one of the soldier's head with his bow, who blocks it with his energy axe.
Natasha attacks two more soldiers. Natasha hits the ground and slides between the two, taking their legs out from under them. She then jabs one of them with her Widow's Bite, knocking him out, before tackling the other and throwing punches at his face.
Yelena attacks another one. She leaps up, scissors his head, and uses her body to throw him down before firing her pistol at him. She then has to leap back to avoid getting struck by another soldier's weapon and quickly draws her staff, exchanging blows with the soldier.
All across the open space spread out before the village, the Ten Rings and the defenders of Ta Lo are engaged in a massive free for all. The defenders have a slight advantage, especially with the two lions fighting with them and with three Avengers aiding them, but the Ten Rings are putting up a very good fight.
As Oliver is fighting several soldiers, he sees Wenwu walking towards the building that holds shrines to the dead, which lies right next to the water. He's about to go after him, only to see Shang-chi running after him. Then, two more soldiers attack Oliver, and he is forced onto the defensive again.
Oliver quickly has the soldiers on the defensive. He ducks under a blow from the energy axe of one of them before kicking the man in the knee. He then strikes the man in the head, knocking him out. He then draws and fires an arrow into the chest of the second soldier.
Whipping his head around, Oliver sees Natasha cornered by three soldiers. Natasha is doing her best to avoid their blows, but is unable to strike back due to the speed of their attacks. Oliver sprints towards his wife, firing an arrow as he goes. One of the soldiers collapses with the arrow in his back. The temporary distraction provided by the arrow allows Natasha to leap up and scissor one of the soldiers around the head before ripping his helmet off and delivering several sharp blows to his head, knocking him out.
The third soldier tries to attack Natasha, but Oliver quickly gets in his way. The soldier tries to strike at Oliver's head, but Oliver easily deflects the blow. Oliver then deflects another blow from the soldier's weapon, forcing the weapon down, before jumping up and landing a roundhouse kick right into his chest, knocking him down. Natasha then fires a taser disk from her Widow's Bite, knocking out the soldier.
Oliver sees another soldier about to attack a villager. Oliver quickly fires an arrow, hitting the soldier's weapon and causing it to fall out of his grip. Natasha then rushes the soldier and tackles him, knocking him out with several blows to the head.
As Oliver turns around, he sees something behind the shrine building. A second later, he realizes that he's watching the Mandarin use the rings to propel him across the lake. Fear takes Oliver as he realizes that Shang-chi must not have been able to stop him. Oliver realizes that he may the only one who can get to the Dark Gate and stop him.
Oliver looks down at his bow, knowing he's gonna have to use a trick he's only tried once. Oliver then sprints for the shrine building, knocking aside anyone in his way. As he reaches the open space between the building and the lake. Then, he draws out one of his uru arrows, jumps into the air, and fires it into the ground. The arrow lets out a massive wave of energy, launching Oliver skyward. Oliver then draws another uru arrow, channels his desires into the arrow, then fires it towards the mountain that the Dark Gate lies in. The arrow embeds itself in the mountainside, trailing a trail of energy behind it. As the arrow embeds in the rock, the energy seems to solidify somewhat, serving as a grappling cable.
Oliver swings across the lake, heading straight for the Dark Gate. As he swings up, he sees that that the Mandarin is punching the Dark Gate, and that strange creatures are flying out of the gate, heading for the village.
One of the creatures adjusts course towards Oliver. Oliver ceases the grappling cable, draws an uru arrow and fires it, killing the creature. Oliver then fires off a parachute arrow, slowing himself down. About 10 feet above the ground, Oliver cuts away the parachute and falls down towards the Mandarin. Reaching the ground, Oliver grabs the Mandarin around his neck and throws himself away from the Gate, sending the Mandarin tumbling over the ground.
Wenwu stands up and sees Oliver standing about ten feet from him. His hood has come down, but his armor is glistening and his bow is crackling with energy.
Wenwu glares at Oliver as he says firmly, "Out of my way, Avenger."
"Fat chance," Oliver responds, settling into a combat stance. Wenwu glares at him, before shooting two of the rings at Oliver, who deflects them with his bow. He then fires an uru arrow at Wenwu as he charges towards his opponent. Wenwu easily deflects the arrow away using the rings. Wenwu tries to lash the rings out to restrain Oliver, but Oliver ducks and rolls to avoid it before getting back on his feet and lunging at Wenwu, letting their battle begin at last.
And, I'll end the chapter there. I decided to end it here, since the rest of the battle would make this chapter super long.
Next chapter will be up within a few weeks. Until then, please leave a review, and stay tuned!