Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe, Iron Fist or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Rest In Peace Ken Page. You will be missed, and I will always remember you as Oogie Boogie. This year has really taken its toll. Bernard Hill, Shannen Doherty, Kris Kristofferson, and now Ken Page.
In lighter matters, I'm glad to see the first chapter was received well. Here we go with 'Episode' 2.
Hope all enjoy.
Chapter 2- The Legend
Present day, New York City, Chikara Dojo
It was early morning now, Danny sitting quietly in a meditative position, eyes closed as he breathed in and out deeply, controlling his breath perfectly.
The noise of the city and the people in it could be heard in the dojo, but not by Danny, who'd phased all these sounds out during his meditation. Even a fly sitting on his wouldn't be able to break his focus.
Few years ago, K'un-Lun
Danny lay on the ground, panting and badly bruised, having been pushed beyond his limits in this training session. He tried to get up, but fell to the ground again, right in front of Lei Kung's feet.
"If you are to be the Iron Fist and master it, you must control not only your body but also your mind, and your emotions. You still have a long way to go."
Davos ran past Lei Kung, helping Danny up. "Besides, we both know I'll be the Iron Fist, not you."
Danny scoffed, then chuckled. "We'll see Davos."
Present day, New York City, Chikara Dojo
Danny opened his eyes, thinking of what Lei Kung had said. The mind and all his emotions must be mastered. Had he truly done that yet?
Iron Fist intro plays and is shown, displaying a shadowed figure doing martial arts with a dark-greenish background, and it ends with the title screen.
In his office, Ward reclined back onto his chair, his eyes fixed on an old newspaper article from 15 years ago, specifically a certain headline- "The Rand family killed in plane crash."
They were dead! They all had to be dead….right?
He then typed on his laptop, getting various links that had reports about the crash, and clicked on each of them, trying to find anything….and failing.
It was all just the stuff everyone already knew, nothing knew!
His phone beeped, and he looked down to see a text from Harold- "Are you keeping an eye on him?"
Ward scoffed and groaned. First, this vagrant claiming to be Danny, and then his father being obsessed with the guy, telling Ward to keep an eye on him. What was it about this guy? What was it about Danny in general?
Quickly taking out his flask, Ward took a large sip, then shut it and put it back inside his coat's inner pocket, which was when Joy knocked on the door and walked inside.
"Hey", she greeted her brother.
"Hey", he echoed, when she noticed the newspaper on his desk, and started walking closer, Ward quickly crossing out the tab he'd opened on the Internet researching into the plane crash just a second before she was next to his table.
"Seriously?" She asked Ward, while he rubbed his head. "You say its not Danny, then you look into this stuff? What's up with you?"
"Nothing Joy, just curiosity is all", Ward tried to wave her off.
"Having such an old newspaper on your desk says its more than just curiosity", Joy pointed out, Ward looking up at her.
"What do you want me to do? Walk up to the guy, hug him, and welcome him with open arms?"
"I'm not saying that, Ward, I'm just saying that maybe-"
"Maybe we should tell him to shove it!"
"He was at my house yesterday."
Now Ward's eyes widened as he got up swiftly. "What? Why didn't you tell me before? Did he hurt you?!"
Joy gently waved him off. "No, he didn't do anything."
"Thank God", Ward sighed in relief before his expression hardened. "Oh I'm gonna make him pay for this. Rip him apart, and serve him a restraining order! Let's see how the stalker likes that!"
"He wasn't there for me, Ward."
"Come on, Joy! We both-"
"He didn't even know that I lived there!" Joy snapped, making Ward stop mid-sentence as he looked at her, wondering if he'd heard her clearly.
"What did you say?"
"He did not know that I lived there", Joy emphasized by repeating what she'd just said. "He thought it was his place, because it used to be."
"It used to be Danny's place."
"And what if he is Danny?"
"You don't know that."
"The keys he found under the carpet say otherwise."
"What keys?"
"We used to put our keys under there. Danny's was still there, after all this time." A smile crossed Joy's face as she remembered those days.
When things used to be simpler. And they were just happy children with little care in the world.
"Only Danny and I knew where those keys used to be kept. He knew about those, Ward."
Ward tried to say. "But that doesn't pro-"
"Its not concrete proof, yes", Joy admitted to Ward. "But it is something. Maybe we should get him tested, find if the DNA matches or not. Even if there are no samples of his DNA, there'd be samples of his parents' DNA. A match would prove he is who he says he is."
"And I say he is not who he says he is! You just want him to be because you always had a soft spot for him, Joy!" Ward snapped, making his sister look at him in disbelief, as well as hurt.
"Well, clearly, its more than what you had for him", Joy snarled, Ward wincing as he remembered how he used to bully Danny when they were children.
Joy stormed out, as Ward called out to her. "Joy!" But she didn't listen, walking out without breaking stride, Ward sighing as his phone beeped again.
He looked at the message from Harold.
"Start keeping an eye on him, son!"
Ward growled and slammed his fist on the table. "Of course!" He never had any peace, did he? This vagrant claiming to be Danny, his sister believing the guy, and his father wanting to keep an eye on him!
It was all about Danny, even when he was dead! Panting, Ward took out the flask and took another long and sloppy sip from it.
Chikara Dojo
Danny was up and about, doing some push-ups, when Colleen walked downstairs, having woken up and freshened herself finally.
"You're up already", she noted, folding her arms and leaning back into the wall.
Danny stopped his push-ups and flipped up, standing upright. "Well, need to keep myself in shape and all."
"Because you're the Iron Fist?"
"Exactly."
"Right", Colleen nodded, then thought back to last night. "I saw how you fought those hatchet men of the Triad. You know your stuff well. How long have you been training?"
"I've been trained in K'un-Lun for the last 15 years to become the immortal Iron Fist", Danny declared to her.
"Where is this place?"
"Not in this Dimension, I know that much."
"You're confusing me", Colleen groaned. "But I could see a lot of refinement in your moves. Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, I recognized those easily."
"Good catch", Danny said with a smirk before kicking high into the air, then did a couple of practise punches before flipping into the air and landing straight on his feet.
Colleen picked up her katana, and did practise swings with it, asking Danny. "What all did you learn?"
"Its not just my body I need to control", Danny said as they started circling each other. "My mind, my emotions, I must control them all, and master my inner self, find inner peace and purpose, use this as a path to my spiritual enlightenment."
"Its about fighting", Colleen told him her own view while twirling her katana. "Fighting to stay alive, fighting to win. Fighting to protect myself and those I care about. Efficiency, practicality, all to neutralize threats quickly."
Danny gestured at himself. "We have life energy that we can use to harmonize with the natural flow of the Universe, and live in self-awareness and harmony with the environment."
Colleen gave her katana some practise swings. "I see it as a tool for empowering the powerless, helping people defend themselves and take control of their lives."
"I believe in protecting the innocent and maintaining balance", Danny told her while putting his left fist to his right palm. "Fight only when necessary, to maintain the peace."
"I believe in discipline, using this to develop inner strength and self-control", Colleen told him. "And achieve self-mastery through it."
Danny smirked. "I guess that's why you have this dojo open."
Colleen shrugged. "Guilty as charged." She put the katana away. "Wanna see how it all compares?"
Danny stretched, then took a fighting stance. "Definitely." Colleen took her own fighting stance as well.
Then, Colleen threw a punch that Danny dodged, then he dodged and blocked her next few punches and elbows, before she grasped the back of his head and tried to knee him, but he blocked and freed himself effortlessly.
She tried to strike but he grasped her arm, slightly twisting it, making her wince, before she freed herself as he threw a kick but she backed to avoid. Then he threw two punches that she dodged as well, before throwing a spin kick which was dodged too.
Danny spun and tried to strike her but she grabbed his arm, and twisted slightly, decking his stomach, then kneeing him there and on the face. Danny pushed her off and leaping, kicked her face. She kicked his abdomen as he was sent back slightly.
Colleen leapt and did a spin kick that he ducked to avoid but she did another and got his chest, pushing him back by a bit. Danny quickly recovered and kicked Colleen's chest, sending her back, before spinning and punching her, then spinning again and sweeping her feet from underneath her.
Colleen flipped back up, giving Danny a nod that he returned, and then she picked up her katana again, while tossing Danny a three-section staff, the two preparing to clash again.
Danny unfurled the staff, and Colleen charged. She struck with her katana, Danny blocking, and she continued to strike, Danny spinning and blocking with different sections of the staff.
Then he tried to strike with the staff twice as Colleen backed to avoid both times. With that, she thrust forth with her katana, Danny blocking the strikes and spinning while trying to strike himself, their weapons clashing.
He struck with the staff as Colleen leaned backwards to avoid, and then their clashing continued, the weapons ringing as they connected with each other.
Danny then twirled the staff all over before striking at Colleen, who raised her katana to block. He tried to strike Colleen as she ducked to avoid, and then he tried to strike at her feet as she leapt to avoid before landing and raising her katana.
She struck, Danny blocking, then ducking to avoid a swing before side-stepping to avoid another, and then he rushed before leaping into the air while spinning, and hurled the staff towards Colleen, only for her to swing her katana and block.
Danny landed while spinning the three-section staff, Colleen ducking to avoid a swing and backing to avoid another. Danny spun and leapt, Colleen trying to strike as Danny clashed the staff against her sword and it wrapped around her back. She caught that section, then thrust forth but Danny avoided it and grabbed her hand, before using the movement to throw her off, but in the process, she got the three-section staff while he got the katana.
Danny then swung the katana as Colleen blocked with the staff, and it continued on for a few seconds before she flipped and landed a few feet back.
Colleen then swung the staff a few times, trying to strike Danny who avoided each time. Danny then held out the katana while keeping the blade faced towards himself, and Colleen held out the staff, the two exchanging weapons, and taking fighting stances again.
Danny swung the staff, Colleen leaning backwards to dodge, then leaping up with her katana raised, clashing it against the sections of the staff. She then drew it against the section and cut that one off from the rest, leaving just two sections. Danny held the broken section in his right hand when Colleen cut off another section too, throwing that one off as Danny was left with two broken sections.
She then swung her katana as he blocked with the sections, their speed increasing each time their weapons rang out, when Colleen thrust forth the blade, putting it to the side of Danny's neck, only for him to hold back the hilt with one section and put the other to her neck.
The two smiled at each other, which was when Claire walked in, seeing Danny and Colleen retract their weapons and give each other a respectful bow.
"Did I interrupt something?"
"Nah, we were just finished", Colleen shrugged, taking the sections from Danny to put them back. "The time for classes hasn't started yet."
"I just came to see how he was doing", Claire said, gesturing to Danny, before smiling. "You're moving about already, huh?" Claire noted, impressed by him. "Most people won't be."
"I'm not most people", Danny told her with a shrug.
"Then what are you?" Claire asked, wondering if he'd turn out to be like Matt, Jessica and Luke.
"I'm the Immortal Iron Fist!"
"What?" Okay, this she really wasn't prepared for.
"Protector of K'un-Lun!"
"K'un-what?" Claire was confused.
"I was chosen to battle the Dragon, and now I have the power", Danny told her with a straight face. "I must battle my enemies, who have lived for centuries."
"….Right."
Claire didn't have anything for that. Though….his enemies living for centuries. That ninja guy already had an autopsy done on him.
"Is that why you wanna stay in New York?" Colleen asked him.
"I remembered hearing your name somewhere. Danny Rand, like the kid who died in that crash?" Colleen asked Danny.
"I did not die", Danny told her sincerely.
Claire narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. "Well, much weirder stuff has happened frankly."
"So, are you back to get your company then?" Colleen inquired.
"Its not really about that", Danny confessed to her. "I believe my enemies are here, in this city. In fact, I am sure the attack on me last night was organized by them. They might be after Joy and Ward too." He looked down, then looked back up. "I am here to stop them."
"Well, I don't get all this Immortal Iron Fist and Dragon stuff, but I believe you", Claire assured Danny, seeing the sincerity in his eyes and his story. "Good luck."
"Yeah…" Colleen trailed off, having a good idea of who these enemies were, "….good luck."
Ward shut his laptop off after having read the last article he saw regarding the Rand plane crash, groaning as he once more leaned back into his chair, and took out his flask, only to see that it was empty, making him groan.
Well, time to buy another one then.
That was when he got a call on his phone, and groaned again, because of who it was from. He accepted it, putting the phone to his ear. "What?"
"I told you to start keeping an eye on Danny, son."
"Look, I'll start as soon as possible. Why are you so insistent about it anyways? What if its not Danny at all, huh?"
"I'm worried about the possibility that he might be."
"Why is that?" Ward inquired, thinking there was something more going on than what he realized. Something his father wasn't telling him. "What do you have to fear from Danny really, dad? Huh?"
There was a pause for a few seconds, and Ward could hear the heavy breathing of his father. Then, Harold spoke again.
"Because he is a threat to everything that we have built, son. Which is why an eye must be kept on him."
The call was cut, Ward scoffing as he ran his hand across his hair. This was getting worse and worse, it seemed.
Madame Gao sat on a chair inside her warehouse, with some high-ranking members of her faction sitting on either side of the really long table.
"His return can be a threat to our operations", Madame Gao noted, looking at each person sitting at the table one by one, and all of them looked down or just turned away, unable to hold her gaze for more than one second.
That was something which amused her, her power over people. Power was what she had always wanted, she was ambitious to rise up, and be the most powerful person around.
She wasn't the most powerful, not by a long shot, even in her own organization, but she was close enough, as the scared faces of her underlings proved.
With that, she spoke once more.
"But even then, while he might be the legend due to the power he wields, he is still unripe as of now."
Gao looked at the members of her faction once more, and they nodded, agreeing with what she was saying.
"So", one member finally asked her, "what should we do, Madame Gao?"
Gao looked ahead, her gaze seeming to penetrate the closed walls of the warehouse.
"We need to test him and see what he truly has mastered."
Joy was walking out of the building, to have lunch by herself (because her brother was clearly not in the mood, and neither was she to be honest!), when she ran into someone, and gasped before backing off, seeing it was Danny.
"Danny?"
"Hey Joy", he greeted her with a smile, making her chuckle a bit. "How are you?"
"Still wondering if you're Danny or not", Joy told him, and Danny shrugged, deciding not to push that issue. "Why are you here?"
"I came to see if you made up your mind or not", Danny assured her, before adding. "I can see that you haven't."
Joy felt bad over the fact that she might be hurting him. "Look, I-"
"Its all right", Danny assured Joy, raising his hands briefly. "I do not expect anyone to believe me instantly, not even you. I've been away for 15 years after all, and just came back. I just want to have you and Ward in my life again is wall."
Joy smiled at that. This man did sound like Danny all right. No matter how much Ward bullied him, Danny seemed to look up to Ward like an older brother.
She and Ward hadn't really given him a warm welcome, but he wanted to be in their lives still.
"Look", she said, stroking his face affectionately, "we still need time to decide, but if you really are Danny, and I do think that you are, then I'll always be part of your life."
Danny smiled back as Joy lowered her hand. "Thank you."
They shared another look, and then Joy walked off, Danny sighing.
Years ago, K'un-Lun
Danny's fists bled as he punched the block over and over, to no avail at all. He started panting, falling to his knees, before putting his bleeding fists to the ground, and picking himself back up, ready to punch the block again.
With that, he punched it once, then twice, and then three times. Nothing happened, but Danny didn't give up.
"You're doing quite well, Danny."
Danny turned to see Master Khan standing there, giving him a look of approval.
"Thank you, Master Khan."
Master Khan nodded, then suggested. "I believe that would be enough for today, don't you think?"
"Not until I finish the point of this exercise, Master Khan", Danny told him, and went back to punching the block.
"And what would that be?"
"Perfecting a punch, and learning how to resist pain", Danny informed him, before continuing to punch the block.
"Come on!" Davos said as he ran up to them. "Its not that hard, Danny. I managed to learn it in 3 hours."
"Well, I'm not you", Danny pointed out, continuing to punch the block.
"You are right, and that is why, you already know that I'll be the Iron Fist!" Davos said, teasing Danny, causing Danny to chuckle a bit and shake his head.
"We'll see", he replied, as Khan nodded and walked off, seeing Lei Kung watching from a distance, while Davos rushed to him.
Lei Kung looked at what Danny was doing, his expression stern, when Davos ran up to him.
"Sifu, I will be the Iron Fist, right?!"
Lei Kung looked at him, conflicted, his hand shaking as he felt guilty about his big mistake that he was trying to rectify with Danny.
"Like Danny said- we will see."
Davos chuckled. "Yes, we will see when I have it." He ran off, as Master Khan walked up to Lei Kung.
"Are you not pushing him too much?" Khan inquired of Lei Kung.
"No, I am not", Lei Kung confirmed to him. "Because Danny wants all of this himself. That is the reason he is doing this, otherwise I would never train him for the Iron Fist." He looked at Davos, who was almost away from the scene already. "I do not want to make the same mistakes I did before."
With that, Lei Kung continued to watch Danny punching the block repeatedly.
Present Day, New York City
Danny was walking in an alleyway, when suddenly, a Chinese man jumped down in front of him, and punched him really hard on the face, turning it the other way. Before Danny could react, the man spin kicked him so hard he was sent to the ground.
Rolling away, Danny quickly flipped up, glaring at the man, who threw two more kicks that Danny blocked before spinning and punching his face, sending him back.
At that moment, another man gave Danny a flying kick from the side, making him crash into a wall as he groaned, while the two men looked down upon him.
Just as Danny flipped back up, they leapt onto a ledge nearby, and then leapt away, Danny growling before leaping right after them.
Joy sat in front of her laptop, typing in 'Advanced Prosthetics', before pressing 'Enter', as the project came up before. It was a project in the company that she really wanted to start up, and fund by herself, to help those who'd lost limbs in crime, or worse, in war.
She then typed in again, to find funds from their budget to use in this project, but what she found made her narrow her eyes.
There was funding going into their other projects, but some money was being diverted away from them as well, and she'd no idea where it was going either.
It was Ward who handled the funding, and always took care of it, so she'd never really looked into the funding, always asking him about anything related to their budget and funds, with him taking care of the funding.
But recently, with a wall having come between them due to his erratic behavior after the return of Danny, she'd not asked him at all, and just decided to look into it herself.
What was even going on?
Getting up, she walked out of the room, and knocked on Ward's office door, before entering, as Ward looked up at her, Joy noticing his eyes looked quite red.
"Are you alright?" She asked him.
"I'm fine, why are you here?" Ward asked her, trying to keep a hold on his voice, she noticed.
"Well, I was looking into our budget to get funds for the 'Advanced Prosthetics' project, and-"
"Don't you ask me to look into the funding though? Because we both know that I take care of it."
"Well, this time I didn't", Joy said matter-of-fact, before telling him. "I noticed that some money was being diverted away from certain projects." Ward paled briefly as he realized what she'd finally seen, before putting his emotions in check, but this did not go unnoticed by her. "Do you know anything about it?"
Now that she thought of it, Ward had always been a bit too insistent that he always take care of the budget and funding. Was he hiding something? Was he behind it? What was he hiding?
Ward looked at her for a few seconds, then shook his head. "No, I don't think so. I…I think there has been a…..well, a mistake with the accounting side." Before Joy could say anything else, Ward raised his hand. "I'll look into it." With that, he got up and walked past her, Joy turning to look at his retreating form with a surprised expression.
He was slurring his words slightly. What was even up with him? And brushing her off on such an important matter?
Something was going on, and she was going to do her best to find out just what it was.
Danny kicked down the door of the warehouse, pretty sure the two guys had come right here, and then he walked inside, looking around the place, when the lights lit up, and one of the two guys was right in front of him.
With a roar, he charged Danny to strike him, Danny deflecting his blow, and blocking some more strikes, before trying to punch as the guy dodged and threw a kick which Danny blocked. They backed off, and the guy charged again to strike but Danny blocked and decked his chest, sending him back.
Then he struck the man's arms before punching his chest, sending him flying off and falling down. At that point, he heard a roar and turned to see a bigger fighter rushing at him, head aimed right at Danny.
Danny spun his foot and hit him on the head, making him fall down, while his veins started glowing a little.
Years ago, K'un-Lun
Danny now stood in front of a boulder, with Lei Kung standing at a short distance from him, and Davos a bit further back with Master Khan.
"Master Kung, this is too early for him", Master Khan tried to dissuade Lei Kung from this course of action. "Let him rest, and grow at a reasonable pace."
Davos agreed. "I had to get stronger and it took me weeks to get here, you think you can do it in a day?"
Danny aimed his fist, as Lei Kung told him. "Do it Danny."
Danny threw a punch, and to the shock of Davos, and to a lesser extent, Master Khan, the boulder shattered into pieces.
"….Huh?" Davos muttered, his jaw dropped, while Danny turned to him with a smile.
"Guess I learnt a bit better than you", Danny said, Davos shaking his head.
"So what? It will get harder, Danny", Davos said to him, before smiling. "But do not worry, I will be there to help you."
"I know, Davos, thank you", Danny said, the two sharing a nod,
"It seems I underestimated you, Danny. You are growing at a remarkable rate", Master Khan said, praising Danny.
New York City, present day
Danny turned to see one fighter taking a stance, while another flipped and stood on the shoulders of that fighter.
With speed and strength beyond normal humans, Danny kicked the one below so hard he was sent flying off, and as the other one was coming to the ground, Danny punched him away too.
The glow around his veins brightened, his speed and strength being enhanced, while he turned around to see the other guy from before.
Seeing how skilled they were, and the fact that they'd lured him here for a fight, Danny knew just who these people are.
"You're The Hand, aren't you?"
The man smirked as he and Danny circled each other. "Rightly guessed, Iron Fist."
Danny's expression hardened. "I will defeat all of you."
"Hmph. Come and try."
With that, he charged at Danny, and tried to strike, but Danny easily blocked with just one hand, the Ninja's eyes widening on seeing his glowing veins, as Danny grasped his hand and twisted, making him gasp, then kicked his abdomen, before letting his hand go and kneeing him so hard he was knocked out.
At that moment, many Hand ninjas jumped down, all surrounding him as they circled him together, while Danny looked at them, prepared to fight back with his own skills and the chi running through his veins, enhancing his strength and speed beyond what was possible for any normal human being.
As they charged him, Danny kicked away the one in the front before pushing his foot backwards to kick away another who was behind, and then spun and kicked another on the face, making him fall down as well.
Before anyone could do anything, he leapt up and kicked two on their faces, sending them down as well. As he landed, he blocked another blow and punched the guy away, before ducking to avoid another's blow and kicking him away too.
He then spun around and kicked another one down, before punching another down, and as one more tried to strike, Danny side-stepped and grabbed his arm in a hold, pinned him down, and knocked him out.
Then, with a spin, he threw an enhanced kick at one Ninja who was sent flying into two more as all three went down on the ground.
Danny then blocked the strikes of two more simultaneously, and punched them both out, before using his own kick to deflect another kick, and spun around, kicking another ninja out as well.
As one more punched, Danny blocked and elbowed his face, knocking him out on the spot too. One tried to leap at him with a kick but Danny gave a spin kick to his feet, making him fall down to the ground too.
Danny then punched another away, and grasped the wrist of another attacker, before kicking him away too. As one more tried to punch, Danny grasped his arm and pushed him behind himself onto another Ninja.
Then, he kicked another away, and grabbed the foot of another Ninja attempting to throw a kick, before throwing his own as that one was thrown off too.
After that, in very swift motions, he blocked another's strike and punched him away before kicking another one away, and grasped the arm of one more attempting to punch, then punched his face so hard he was sent flying off.
This entire group was all out pretty much.
That was when a staff was tossed to him, and he caught it, looking up to see a remaining Ninja twirling two swords effortlessly.
He charged at Danny, trying to strike with the sword, but Danny blocked using his staff, and struck him on the head, as he was sent back.
The swordsman attempted to strike again as Danny blocked, and then he dodged a thrust by side-stepping, grasped his hand, and then swung his staff at a speed impossible for normal humans, whacking him a few times in quick succession as the sword-wielding Ninja gasped in pain, and Danny pinned the guy's hand behind him in his own grip, before whacking him on the head, knocking him out.
Then, he threw the staff away, and the glow in his veins faded while he looked around at all the Ninjas.
"Why are you all here?" He asked all of them. "What do you want?"
The one he'd fought first on coming here staggered up with a smirk. "You will not even see it coming until it is too late, Iron Fist."
From high above, Madame Gao looked down, having seen this entire fight from start to end, a neutral expression on her face.
He was unripe, but he was still quite skilled, having defeated so many warriors with such ease and finesse. The Iron Fist had not even been properly used in this fight; he'd just enhanced his body with his chi to increase his strength and speed was all.
But it was time to end this, for now. Closing her eyes, Gao focused.
Danny looked around at all the Ninjas, who were staggering up, and he took a fighting stance, readying himself for Round 2, even though he was unable to call upon his chi to help him again.
Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light, making Danny gasp as he staggered back, shutting his eyes. When he opened them again, the Ninjas were all gone.
"Damn it!" He groaned, before walking out of the warehouse.
Chikara Dojo
Colleen watched her students leave, Dylan saying. "Thank you, sensei."
Colleen just gave him a smile and nod. "See you all tomorrow." Claire was the only one who didn't go, as Colleen got a call, and seeing who it was, picked up.
"Hey."
"Your dedication is admirable."
That was when Danny walked in, Colleen's expression getting uncomfortable, as Claire noted he looked a bit worn-out but still fine for the most part.
"Thank you."
"Keep an eye on him and let me know of what he does."
"…S-sure, all right. Got it. See you." With that, the call was cut.
"What happened to you?" Claire asked, as Danny sat on the floor, breathing in, and then breathing out.
"I was attacked by some of my enemies", Danny confessed to them both. "I defeated all of them."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, but still, who are these enemies?" Claire inquired, sitting near him.
Danny looked down, closing his eyes, before opening them and looking at her and Colleen.
"The Hand."
"Shit!" Claire's expression turned to one of horror, and Colleen noticed that too.
"You know them?" Danny inquired.
"A friend of mine fought against them too", Claire revealed. "They are all dangerous people. I've seen them up close!" She shuddered at the memory of what had happened back in the hospital, something Colleen paid attention to as well.
Claire was a former nurse, and she'd come here to train because she always found herself in trouble. Colleen could tell that she was a good person.
Why had she found herself in trouble with The Hand though?
Claire then told Danny. "You're in some really bad shit, what are you even gonna do?"
"I don't think you can fight them just like that. I've heard the name, know them by reputation only", Colleen added from her end, as Danny looked at the both of them.
"Well, I do know what I've to focus on", Danny told the two women firmly. "I cannot reclaim my place at Rand Enterprises just yet, not that I was really interested in that anyways." He stood up, determination on his face, and in his eyes. "I need to investigate The Hand's operations in New York, and see just how far it really goes."
A Hand Ninja was right next to the dojo, his ear on the wall, and he'd heard everything that Danny had just said. He discreetly walked away from the dojo, and then used a rope to scale a rooftop and leap away.
Madame Gao stood by a window that was overlooking the city, and sensed the Hand Ninja landing behind her.
"The Iron Fist is going to investigate what we are doing here, Madame Gao."
She smiled to herself.
"Finally, he is beginning to understand."
She continued looking out, knowing that he would be face-to-face with their organization again very soon.
"Have some men handle the heroin trade for a while, I have more important matters to deal with."
The Ninja bowed.
"Yes, Madame Gao."
With that, he walked off, as Madame Gao continued to smirk.
Ending credits play.
And that ends another one.
I hated that the show basically made it look like Danny's training was more abuse than anything. So here, I'm showing more of his training, as well as more scenes of him and Davos in K'un-Lun.
As you can see, there is a rivalry between them over who will be the Iron Fist, but they are very good friends still.
Plus, Danny seemed like a weak fighter in the show. Here, while he has not fully mastered the Iron Fist, he is still using the chi decently, having used it to enhance himself, and is actually coming off as a combat expert.
Colleen and her arc were amongst the few positives of Season 1, so that I'm keeping, but also changing due to the new context and all that.
Plus, Claire gets a bigger role, as in 'The Defenders' and 'Luke Cage' Season 2, she became just Luke's girlfriend and lost what made her character a stand-out.
The corporate plot is still a thing, but it's a sub-plot here, because I sure as hell don't wanna see badly-written corporate politics in a show that is called 'Iron Fist'.
I wasn't sure how to implement Madame Gao's heroin trade in the plot fully so I just had her delegate it to others in her organization while she focuses on the Iron Fist.
The fight scenes this time paid homage to Jet Li's 'Fearless', and one bit was also taken from the video 'FIGHT TEST / MIX KARATE & KUNG FU' Samuel KEFI ABRIKH / AC-S' by 'Samuel KEFI ABRIKH - AC STUNTS' on YouTube. Thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for suggesting that video, and also for a suggestion regarding the Ward/Joy plot here, plus some bits in the training, and thank you to gussygus28 for a suggestion on that front and the big fight too.
The training paid homage to 'Kill Bill: Volume 2' obviously.
And thus, the plot thickens and continues.
How do you like it compared to the actual show so far? And how good are the fight scenes and training scenes, homage included?
Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter.
