Disclaimer: I only own what is mine. My OCs and Ideas.

A/N: I'm having a great start to Thanksgiving break. And with no context, you don't know if that was sarcasm or not. (You should know now.) Anyway, I hope to get a lot of writing done this week and finish writing through maybe chapter 31 if I'm lucky (or just being an optimist). Anyway, this is the last chapter for the episode "Journey of the Iron Fist", well I mean Peter's chapter is next, but if you remember there is one scene still missing. Anyway: Read! Review! Enjoy!

Review:

Death Fury - Thank you!

Chapter 19: Danny

Sleep had not come easily. Even with my meditations finished. I had stepped into the hallways to take a walk and finally settled on attempting to write an explanation for the team, something that Peter could take back to them, so at least in my own words I can try to explain everything.

It was harder than I thought it would be, but it passed the time, sitting by candlelight, and restarting what felt like every hour.

I'm unaware of how early it has become until there is a knocking at the door.

The candle has burned very low, but the light coming in from the window has more than made up for it.

I stretch out my back and cover the scraps of parchment that I have not already burned. I blow out the candle, standing up silently and take a quick glance at Peter to make sure he is still asleep.

I open the door to see Master Kung standing on the other side.

"Master Kung," I greet him.

"Young Dragon," Master Kung's voice is as stern as I remember it to be. "I regret that I was unable to see you before the contest."

I step outside of the room and close the door. "Things… went astray leading up to the beginning of the contest."

"Master Zhang has informed me of everything that has happened." Master Kung says calmly. "Walk with me."

I nod my head as I follow him down the hallway.

We do not speak as we walk, and it is comforting. To have Master Kung with me, I can feel his ever calm spirit. He has been a constant force in my life, pushing me forwards, always in the right direction to better myself. I have no reason to distrust or question him.

It's reassuring in ways I do not know how to interpret.

"You seem different, more at ease," Master Kung says without looking at me.

"The contest has been concluded," I speak carefully. "I feel at ease having won."

Master Kung nods as he turns down the hallway and I follow him. This hallway was on the outside of the monastery and the wall had large rectangles cut out of it to view the valley below.

"This is what I wanted to show you," Master Kung stops, standing next to one of the large cut outs.

I stand beside him and look down at the valley below us, the buildings are all tightly huddled together, the streets are hard to spot, and all the rooftops blend together as the sunlight pours down the mountains into the city. There are fields on the outskirts where crops are grown and some animals are raised.

Standing above it all and watching as the sunlight makes its way into every inch of the valley is surreal, almost like a dream.

On a mountain across from the monastery, perched above the city, also looking down at all of K'un-Lun was the royal palace, gleaming in the morning sunlight.

"This is…"

"This is K'un-Lun." Master Kung finishes for me when I cannot find the words. "This is everything under your protection. Thousands of souls live and thrive in the valley. And they will look to you as their king to lead them into the future."

I can't speak; the weight of his words keeps me silent.

"Lord Tuan, put provisions in place to protect you from your father's past. The sins of the father should not be the sins of the son." Master Kung speaks. "You are not your father. Lord Tuan and most who know him look at you and all they can see is Wendell. And while perhaps it will be difficult to tell you, when you are ready to hear it, I will tell you all I can."

I look up at Master Kung, whose solemn masked stare remains on the city below us.

I look back to the city as well. "Thank you, Master. I fell I am not ready to know everything yet, there is much laid out on my path before me. But, one day soon, I will be ready to know the truth."

"And it will be waiting for you, Daniel."

We stand in silence as the sun continues to rise over the mountains and the city begins to awaken. We are too far away to see individuals coming out of their houses and beginning their mornings, but the energy of the city has changed.

"Master, I should get back to my teammate, thank you for showing me this, and thank you for your offer." I step back from the window and bow. "Namaste, Master."

"Namaste, Daniel."

The walk back to the room where Peter was waiting on me felt quick. Master Kung is confident in my ability to lead K'un-Lun. He is confident in me as his student.

I open the door to the room and walk in to see Peter walking on the ceiling. "Hey! You're back! Where were you?"

"I was speaking with my Master, Master Lei Kung," I explain as I walk over to the desk and begin to clean up the letters I had written. "He wanted to speak to me about some things."

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm going to get changed back into my costume." Peter says ducking behind the room divider.

I picked up my final letter that was still sealed with a wax stamp. I slide it under my chest plate to be held unseen. I will give them to Peter before we part ways.

"So, yeah, talk about a Kung Fu adventure." Spider-Man sighs as we stand in the foyer of the monastery.

"I just call it life," I explain calmly to him.

"Have fun," Spider-Man turns to half face the door. "You know, ruling the Kingdom and all."

I step forward and wrap my arms around him.

Spider-Man coughs almost instantly. "Iron Hug… ok… I gotcha… we're buds. Oxygen please!"

"Daniel," Master Zhang addresses me as I let Spider-Man go, I turn to face him. "We were thinking, if more outsiders are like your friend, then perhaps all of K'un-Lun could benefit from our leader walking among them, at least for one more year."

I take a step back in shock, keeping my face emotionless.

I bow to the masters calmly. "One year. Then I will return to take the mantle I have to graciously been given. Thank you, Master."

"Sweet," Spider-Man grabs my shoulder and moves me to the side. "Law one on me sensei short stuff!" He holds out a fist to Master Zhang, I know Master Zhang does not understand the gesture.

He simply looks off to the side where there are some guards standing in silence. His hand moves in a sharp flicking motion in Spider-Man's direction and one guard walks over.

Grabbing Spider-Man by the shoulder and dragging him to the door and throwing him out into the freshly fallen snow from last night.

"I apologize for him, Master." I bow quickly.

"Perhaps you should not bring infidels into the monastery." Master Zhang advises.

"Of course, Master."

"We will see to Master Strange returning the Book of the Iron Fist to you," Master Zhang adds on, "now that you can use the Iron Fist in both hands you will need it more than you have in the past, more will be revealed, because you are ready to continue your training."

"Thank you again, for everything." I bow to the three of them. I take a deep breath and walk out of the monastery, helping Spider-Man out of the snow.

"I can't believe they are letting you come back with me," Spider-Man says as I pull him out of the snow.

"It is surprising." I agree. "Are you ready to go home?"

"Yeah, as much as you love it here, I've overstayed my welcome, haven't I?" Peter asked sheepishly.

I look over to where the plane sat in waiting on the long strip on cement. "This place is not your home; it is very different from New York."

"Yeah," Peter starts walking to the plane. "I've learned to tell when I'm not welcome. Being literally thrown out of the monastery was a clear sign."

"You know, this part of the plane is much nicer than hiding out with the landing gear," Peter says walking over and sitting in the seat across from me.

I look up at him, almost unable to acknowledge his comment.

"Hey, is everything ok?"

"I'm fine." I look back out the window; the land below us is unidentifiable.

"Uh, you survived an assassination attempt, was poison, put a ton of blind faith in me," he pauses as if to say pun intended. "And you're now king of your homeland. There's no way you are just 'fine' after everything that happened in the past 48 hours."

"It's been crazy." I agree. "Just… I don't know."

"What don't you know?"

"I've spent the past year preparing from this weekend, The Return of Shou-Lao." I explain. "Now that it's over, I feel a little hallow."

"Well, going back to New York will cure that," Peter assures me. "You'll be busy with finishing high school, fighting baddies, the whole normal superhero thing. That's fulfilling, right?"

"It is." I agree. "It's just hard to believe everything that has happened with Scorpion and the contest."

"Yeah, Scorpion and you were friends once upon a time, weren't you?" Peter guesses.

"That feels like a lifetime ago," I admit.

"Well," Peter sighs. "We can't give up on those we care about, even when they are against us."

I look over at him. "Harry?"

"You advised me to maintain a balance between being Peter and Spider-Man when it came to interacting with Harry, and things may not be at their best, but they are getting better." Peter shrugs. "I think it's going in the right direction."

"Scorpion knows both sides of me, Danny Rand-K'ai and Iron Fist. Everyone in K'un-Lun knows that Danny Rand-K'ai is the Iron Fist. I cannot do what you are doing." I explain, looking out the window again. "He's been to New York City once, I'm sure he could find his way back. And he could come after Danny Rand-K'ai or Iron Fist. Peter Parker – you're civilian ego – protects you. But I can't hide behind Danny Rand."

"You sound like you have no hope of fixing this."

"I don't think there is." I let out a deep breath.

I cannot change how Scorpion sees me. And now, I have won the throne and he is exiled. This has only deepened the wound for him.

Things can never go back to how they were.

"Hey Danny," Sam greeted me as I walked into the common area; he was in the kitchen and not paying much attention to me. "Dinner will be ready in fi-"

He stops when he looks up at me. "What are you wearing?"

"My K'un-Lun robes."

"It's a long story, Sam," I sigh as I stand in the entryway, I slip off my shoes and walk into the living space.

"Where have you-" Ava started but stopped as she took in the sight of me. "What happened to you?"

"It's a long story, Ava," I repeat. "I am very tired; I've hardly slept in the past 48 hours. Can I explain later?"

I wince inwardly; I'm avoiding talking to them about this all over again.

"Uh, sure" Ava agrees reluctantly.

"Everything ok, man?" Luke asks looking over from the couch.

I nod my head quietly. "Everything is fine."

We stand in awkward silence. They are all looking at me, trying to see what they can piece together.

"If you will excuse me, I need to go lay down." I finally speak up as I walk to my room and disappear inside.

The dark room feels familiar; I take off my armored chest place and lay it down beside my dresser. The letters I had written lay forgotten on the floor.

I pick them up and put them on my desk.

It is difficult to believe how much trouble I have had explaining this to my team. I won, I will be King, I should be confident in this, not scared of it and ashamed.

Am I ashamed of this title? Or do I worry about how the team will react to the news?

I sit down on my bed and look at my dresser across the room.

I need to get a good night's sleep, so tomorrow I can explain everything to them truthfully. Tell them everything that has happened.

I lie down on my side, closing my eyes, and rub my bruised ribs gently with my hand.

I'm glad to be back here, learning all I can to better myself. For K'un-Lun.

PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW!