Journey of the Iron Fist #4

[fan4]

Journey Of The Iron Fist #4
The Shogun Dynasty, Part 4:
Final Bell

Written by G.M. Brown
Edited by Aaron Martel

K’un L’un:

“Master...Master....I can’t move my arms. The pain is......”

“There is no pain. Pain is simply the passing of a barrier. A barrier that leads to growth.”

Young Danny Rand had forgotten how long he stood on the top of the thin wooden pillar. His knees ached and his legs cramped, but still he stood upright. His outstretched arms felt as if they were on fire as he held onto a huge metal urn filled to the brim with hot stones. Pain lanced up his arms finding a home in his throbbing shoulders. He stopped feeling his hands a long time ago. Minutes, hours, days? Danny stopped keeping track of time. He had no idea how long he balanced like this over the deep pit. He only knew the constant pain and it felt like it had been with him forever.

“My arms, I cannot even feel them anymore. I only feel the pain.”

“Then you know they are still there.”

Across the pit, sat Lei Kung the Thunderer. His face was a mask of disappointment and contempt.

“Who is the Master, Rand-Kai? The arms or the heart? Do you control the body or does the body control you?”

Danny tried to move his arms, but they would not respond. His face grimaced with effort and pain.

“I can’t.....”

“Who is the Master, Rand-Kai? Who?” The Thunderer yelled at him, drowning out Danny’s protests.

Gritting his teeth, Danny pushed past the immense pain slowly as he began to scream out loud, his arms beginning to rise over his head. One slow inch at a time!

[fan4]

Now:

Iron Fist’s broken arm began to move slowly as Shogun boasted over him.

“See, Iron Fist, The Shogun is the one and only.....”

Iron Fist focused on the pain, blocking out Dunston’s words, and pushing through the barrier of fire in his arm. Lei Kung faded as Iron Fist looked past the Shogun’s legs to see Colleen and Misty sprawled out on the floor. Danny shot out a straight punch with his right arm connecting with Dunston’s thigh. The blow was powerful and fast, surprising his opponent. Dunston had thought Danny finished. The punch caused him to bend over and when he did Iron Fist spun and sprang to his feet, meeting him half way. Danny’s left elbow smashed into the larger man’s face!

The Shogun stumbled backwards, falling to the floor as Iron Fist grimaced and buried the intense pain flowing through his broken arm. The bone that was snapped was the forearm; he would need to utilize the arm from the elbow up, but he was far from helpless. He was the Living Weapon of K’un L’un.

“Ho, ho...so ‘The Fist’ has a little more fight in him.” Dunston laughed as he wiped blood from his broken lip.

“A lot more, Dunston. Broken is far from beaten.”

Iron Fist and Shogun began to circle each other with small, careful steps as they spoke. Each kept the perfect distance from one another, every muscle tensed in readiness to react at a moment’s notice. Danny took notice of the metallic glints showing through the artificial skin on Dunston’s arms.

“I see you felt the need for an artificial supplement or two.”

Dunston smiled his shark-like smile.

“It pays to have a man at Stark International. They do amazing things over there. Stark is a f**cking genius.” Dunston began moving his arms in circles. “Indestructible, unbelievably strong and they never tire.”

Danny tucked his left arm into his belt. His entire hand up to his wrist was through the yellow belt, his arm bent at the elbow as if ready to sing ‘I’m a Little Tea Pot’. From shoulder to elbow, his arm was still strong and useful.

“A man should never rely on weapons. They are only an extension of one’s body. The human body is the perfect weapon.”

The two men stopped circling, but their eyes never wavered from the others.

“They are a part of me. This is what I am. I am unbeatable.”

“They are a crutch. A crutch for a small, weak man hiding behind an wall of muscle and metal.”

“Man, I’m going to enjoy breaking you in half. When I tear you apart, I’m going to wear that yellow mask as a do-rag.”

“Stop talking and show me.” Iron Fist smiled.

[fan4]

Several police cars screeched to a halt outside the warehouse. Detective Harry Nyguen and several uniformed cops raced from the cars toward the building. Nyguen knew immediately when the calls began to come in about the fighting coming from this address, that it had to involve Dunston and the missing Misty Knight, his partner. The eyewitness reports were coming in about Diamond Dragons, East Side Boys and even Shogun’s Students with their unique uniforms. It was sounding like a full-blown ‘Kung Fu’ gang war.

The younger uniformed men entered the ground floor first as Harry trailed behind. Something on the roof across the street caught his eye. The detective looked upward and saw Iron Fist standing on the edge of the roof, the street lamp nearest to him lighting him like a spot light. The man was dressed as Iron Fist, but he most certainly wasn’t the genuine article. Harry was one of the department’s best marksmen, his eyes being the last to go, he would joke. The man on the roof had the costume all wrong. Blue where there should have been yellow and blood red where there should have been green. As if that wasn’t enough, Harry had seen Iron Fist up close on more than one occasion and this man had a scar running from his left eye down to his cheek and his dragon tattoo seemed unfinished, not as long and no wings. It seemed to be more serpent than dragon. No, this man wasn’t Iron Fist, but an imposter. The fake Iron Fist disappeared into the shadows without so much as moving. It was like he was there and then he wasn’t.

Harry turned to enter the building wondering why a man so skilled exposed himself in the light like that.

“It’s as if he wanted to be seen” Harry said aloud as he ran into the building and right onto the remnants of a battlefield war zone.

[fan4]

Shogun moved with superhuman speed, his muscles enhanced by the X-Cel and his arms bionically enhanced. His first fist was pushed aside by Iron Fist’s left elbow, pain shooting through the broken arm , as Danny spun, allowing the attacking Dunston to pass by him. As Danny pivoted by the Shogun, he struck at the back of his head with his good elbow. Dunston grunted and twirled his torso as he was hit, striking out at Iron Fist with a backfist clipping Danny on the chin as the two passed each other with cat-like quickness. Like dancers performing a complicated routine, the two faced the other again on opposite sides of the room, as if they had simply switched places.

Danny knew if not for the power of Shou Loa the Undying inside of him, he never would be able to keep up with Dunston’s augmented abilities. Had that blow from the bionic arm hit him squarely, he would have been surely unconscious or worse.

“You’re fast, Very fast, but I’m going to land one soon.”

Iron Fist knew an opening when he saw one and attacked rather than bantering. He launched himself at the larger Shogun like a whirling dervish. His leg snaked out to kick the midsection, but was blocked.. The attack had several follow throughs and Iron Fist pressed the attack. He feigned a punch to the solar plexus and Dunston reacted to the set up attack. Danny then leaped into the air, switching strategies, and while in the air, roundhouse kicked the Shogun on the left temple. As the head moved from the force of the kick, it turned right into a reverse punch from Iron Fist’s good arm! All the momentum from Danny’s leap, his power, speed and body weight combined with Dunston’s head forced directly into the punch by the kick, created a tremendous blow. The Shogun fell to the floor with a crack! Iron Fist landed without a sound gracefully, his broken arm still tucked into his belt.

He took the moment to run to Misty’s side, retrieving a piece of glass from the shattered window and beginning to cut her loose.

“Are you alright? Detective Knight?” Danny tried to hide both his voice and his concern as he set her free.

“I’m fine. How about your friend over there? She took quite a shot.” Misty rubbed her arms as she looked in Colleen’s direction. Colleen was just getting to her feet.

Colleen Wing shook her head to indicate that she didn’t need any help as she rose to her feet, a look of determination on her face.

“Payback time,” she whispered as she reached for her samurai sword, but before she could grasp it, Dunston had recovered and sprang on the weapon like a jungle cat.

“I agree, skank. Payback starts now.”

Dunston’s bionic arm flashed as the blade arched toward Colleen’s head. Danny and Misty both saw what was about to happen. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Iron Fist’s broken arm faced closest to Shogun so he could not reach her in time. Misty was between Colleen and himself.

“No!” Misty yelled as she leaped into action.

She had spent the better part of the night helpless, a prisoner, and earlier her lack of action may have caused the death of a man she was beginning to care deeply for. She was not about to stand around helpless again. Misty leaped in the path of the blade as it came down aiming for Colleen. Instead of the woman’s neck, the blade found Misty’s left arm, which she thrust up to block the weapon. The sword sliced right through bone and sinew. Slicing her arm in two just below the bicep. Blood splashed all over Colleen, Misty and Dunston as Misty dropped to the floor, grasping her wound in pain and shock.

“Gods…..!” Danny ran to Misty just as Harry Nyguen kicked in the door along with two police officers.

“Nobody move!”

Dunston did exactly as his instincts told him to. He spun around and threw the sword directly into the chest of one of the uniformed officers, impaling him to the wall due to his increased strength. Before the stunned rookie or Harry could even fire back, the Shogun ran into them shoulder first. He headed up a service ladder to the roof as the two cops were knocked to the floor hard.

Danny and Colleen were focused on Misty and made no attempt to stop him. Blood flowed freely from her wound. She wouldn’t last long.

“Hold on Knight. You can’t die.”

Tears welled up in Colleen’s eyes as she watched Misty’s life poor out of her open wound, her body shaking as if she was freezing. This woman had, without a doubt, just saved her life and yet Colleen knelt helplessly, watching as she died.

“Hold her still! Grab her and hold her steady!” Iron Fist commanded, with no panic in his voice: only sharp, stern leadership.

Colleen snapped out of her daze of shock and fear and held on to the tone of Danny’s voice, jumping to his orders. For a second she mistook his voice for that of her demanding father’s. She came around and knelt with each knee on opposite sides of Misty’s head and held her steady with her hands on her shoulders. The shaking slowed and eased, but didn’t stop. Misty was in too much pain and shock to speak, but she locked eyes with the half-Asian woman as if her eyes were an anchor to life. With his good arm, iron Fist placed his open palm over the stump that was once her arm. Blood flowed in between Danny’s fingers. He closed his eyes and concentrated on his Chi, summoning the power of the Dragon, the Iron Fist. The power within him could harm as well as heal, but it would take a lot of energy. His hand began to glow as he held on tightly to Misty’s wound. Misty gave out a scream of pain, possibly the last sound she would ever make in life. Colleen never took her eyes off of Misty’s, even as she was tempted to gaze at the glowing hand. The pain was too much and Misty passed out after her scream. The glow faded and Colleen looked over to see the flow of blood stopped and the wound closed.

“Is she dead?” Colleen asked frantically.

“No, but she won’t last long. She needs medical attention immediately,” Iron Fist said as he rose to his feet. Harry Nyguen and the rookie rushed over to Misty.

“Misty!” Harry exclaimed as he saw the horrible sight of his partner on the floor in a puddle of blood. Iron Fist put his hand on his shoulder.

“She’s alive for now. You need to get her help, right away. No delays. I’m going after Dunston.”

“Wait, Fist. Let me get you some backup, some of my men. You look like hell.”

Danny’s gaze turned to the officer pinned to the wall and the scarlet stain on the wall behind him. Harry’s gaze soon followed.

“No. Dunston is mine. No one else dies tonight. That includes Misty. Colleen, Harry, take care of her. I’m finishing this.”

Harry and Colleen only nodded. No argument would make any difference. Even with half of his face masked, the look of determination was clear on Iron Fist’s face as well as his body language. Harry grabbed his radio microphone calling for EMT and all available units ASAP. Iron Fist climbed up the ladder, ignoring his fatigue. The use of the Iron Fist took a toll on the bearer, but Danny would push himself to the limit. The Shogun was going to be stopped, even if the effort killed him.

[fan4]

Iron Fist slammed open the hatch to the roof before stepping through it. After feeling certain that Shogun wasn’t waiting in ambush, he climbed through and looked over the rooftop. The police lights in the sky gave the sky an eerie glow. Danny looked around, but the roof appeared empty. He concentrated without moving, his hearing stretching across the roof for the tiniest sound. Then he heard it. The shuffle of a boot against gravel, only one. He turned just as Dunston appeared from behind an A/C unit.

“No where for me to go, Fist. I’m stuck up here, but I’m telling you I won’t go down alone.”

Danny faced him, but made no movement. He was summoning his Chi yet again, the energy inside of him welling up even as it took a drain on his body itself now. The power had been used; slightly during the battle with the men, again during the fight with Dunston to push past the pain and then a large amount to give Misty a chance at life. At this point the power was pulling from his very body. He would not have much left.

“What? No backtalk? No exchange? Come on Iron Fist, tell me you have one last dance in you. You and me, mano y mano. One more round.”

“No more. This is over. Your final bell, Shogun. This fight is over before it begins. You lose. End of story.” Iron Fist’s good arm began to glow with power.

Shogun’s eyes squinted as he tried to understand what he was seeing.

“What the F.....”

Dunston launched himself at Iron Fist with a yell, his speed incredible as he attacked with a combination of lunge punch and reverse punch. Iron Fist made no move at the yell, not so much as a flinch. When the bionic fist came within millimeters of its target, Danny moved his upper torso inhumanly fast to avoid the blow, and as the second fist sped past his already moving head, Iron Fist’s glowing arm struck upward, hitting Shogun’s bionic arm right between the shoulder and bicep. The metallic arm exploded in a hail of sparks and wires as Dunston stumbled past the defender of K’un L’un. Dunston stopped his forward momentum and stared at his arm as it hung from its socket by a
few sparse wires.

“That’s not possible. Nothing on earth can break....”

“What you now face is not of this world. You face now the stuff of legends.”

Sparks rained on Dunston’s chest and feet. One arm hanging useless from his torso, he began to flex the other one while clenching its fist. His face a billboard of rage and pain, he turned to face Iron Fist as Danny continued.

“What you face now is a Son of K’un L’un, a pupil of Lei Kung the Thunderer”

“F*** all that!” The Shogun charged at Iron Fist, his good arm slashing down to smash Danny’s head open. Iron Fist stepped to the side, leaning forward so the blow whizzed by him completely. Iron Fist’s glowing hand shot in an arc from one shoulder, across his chest, towards the other shoulder, his palm open and formed in the shape of a knife hand. The glow created a trail like a comet’s tail across his body. Another explosion erupted as the bladed hand shattered the other bionic arm right at the housing joint! More sparks flew as the broken arm cracked and splintered, hanging by twin red wires from its joint. Danny stepped in front of the broken man, his face calm but stern as he continued his words.

“You face one who Shou-Loa the Undying knows as Master.”

Dunston, arms hanging useless at his side, looked directly into Iron Fist’s eyes as he stumbled backward in an attempt to get away from him. He was precariously close to the edge. Iron Fist saw something new in The Shogun’s eyes...fear.

“Tonight you face The Iron Fist!”

As Danny uttered the final words, he clenched his good fist and it began to glow brighter than ever before, as it became Unto a Thing of Iron!

“Kiaii!!!!!!”

Iron Fist punched the Shogun right in the center of his barrel chest, the blow from the Iron Fist breaking bone and marrow as it connected. The force of the punch sent a shockwave through Dunston’s body and launched him off his feet and beyond the roof ledge. The twin bionic arms tore from their sockets and fell uselessly at Danny’s feet as the armless body of the Shogun free fell through the air toward the ground below. Iron Fist fell to his knees between the cybernetic arms, exhausted and dizzy. Danny had to concentrate on his heart and breathing just to remain conscious. The power had drained him to the brink; he had nothing left. He couldn’t even get up to watch Dunston fall. He could only hear the slam and crunch as his body crashed into the hood of an unmanned police car below. Danny stayed like that, regulating his heart and breathing until he heard the blaring horn of an ambulance, demanding its way through the crowd below.

“Misty....” Danny struggled to his feet, picking up the arms and fading into the darkness of the night.

[fan4]

North Methodist Hospital:

Misty Knight was wheeled into her hospital room, sedated and sleeping. She had just returned from hours of surgery. It was a miracle she was alive at all. The surgery was successful, but she had lost the entire arm. Danny Rand, dressed in his camel hair coat, stepped into the room after the nurses had cleared out. He sat in a chair next to Misty’s bed, head hung low. He looked like death warmed over, but to anyone noticing it would be attributed to his just being shot the night before. No one knew the extent of the things he had actually been through as Iron Fist. He looked at Misty sleeping and then up at her vitals on the screen above her bed. All her signs were faint. Barely enough to be called alive. The doctors had assured him that should she make it through the night, all would be fine, but this night would be the hardest. She had lost much blood and the trauma should have killed her on-scene. She would be touch-and-go all night.

Just then a man entered, a man recognized everywhere he went: Anthony Stark.

“Mr. Rand. I don’t want to be in the way, but I wanted to check on Ms. Knight. She is quite the hero. NYPD tells me I owe a great deal to the efforts of her, Ms. Wing and a masked man known as Iron Fist.”

“I don’t know about any costumed men, But Misty and Colleen put their lives on the line out there tonight.”

Danny didn’t even look over at Tony, he only continued to stare between Misty’s face and her vital sign display.

“Yes, they did. The technology returned to me tonight should never have gotten out. They were a prototype to something I was working on...Anyway, should Ms. Knight make it through, I’d like to take care of her needs. Her treatment, therapy and recovery. I may be able to help with her arm. It’s the least I can do.”

Danny snapped his answer without ever averting his gaze from Misty and her machine.

“She WILL pull through. She will. She will......”

Tony went to put his arm on Danny’s shoulder, but then thought better of it.

“Of course she will. Good night, Danny.”

Tony Stark left quietly leaving Danny and Misty alone again. Danny leaned over and whispered into Misty’s ear.

“You will make it, Misty.”

He placed his palm on her chest and his hand began to glow. Misty stirred and her vitals signs began to increase, slowly but steadily, in strength and numbers. She was still below normal, but steadily leaving the danger zone. Danny kissed her on the forehead.

“Good night, Misty Knight. I’ll be waiting when you wake up.”

Danny Rand exited the room as Misty’s vitals continued to climb.

In the waiting area, Danny found Colleen sitting alone with a cup of tea from a vending machine.

“Colleen, What are you still doing here?”

“I just gave blood. Misty and I are the same type, what are the chances?”

Danny sat next to her after getting a cup of his own tea.

“You should go home and get some rest. Tonight took a toll on all of us.”

Colleen gave him the severe look he remembered from when he first met her.

“I would have died if not for that woman. You can go your whole life and never see someone do what she did for me tonight. I’m not going anywhere. She’s special. We’re kindred spirits”

“Yes, you are. You’re both special.”

Colleen sipped and nodded.

“Remember what you called me? Daughter of the Dragon. She’s one as well. A warrior.”

Danny nodded and raised his paper cup to Colleen.

“To the Daughters of the Dragon.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

The two new friends and allies drank in silence. Soon Harry walked in and sat beside them without a word, all three standing vigil over a woman who meant so much to all of them.

[fan4]

Epilogue:

Misty Knight stirred during the night, waking and sleeping, not sure what was real or what was a dream. She raised her head as she fought the fog of her mind. Attempting to regain full consciousness, through her dry and cracked lips, she mumbled aloud, before falling
back into a drug-induced sleep..

“Danny Rand is Iron Fist........”

The End