MCU Earth.
A mystic arts portal opened on the roof of the Avengers Tower as Alex walked out through it with Natasha and Xialing trailing behind him. Before Alex could even say a word, he heard the sound of Iron Man's repulsors charging. Seconds later, identical Iron Man suits flew up to the sky and surrounded them on all sides.
"I see Tony's been busy," Alex commented.
"He restarted the Iron Legion project…" Natasha frowned, observing the surrounding suits and noticing the distinct lack of human presence within them. They were all unmanned and remotely controlled by Friday.
"It's only natural," Alex said. "The Avengers, the sorcerers, even Atlantis and Wakanda. Everyone's being swamped with the increasing number of probes to this planet in the past few days. An invasion is practically imminent."
"Do you want to get both planets in one fell swoop?"
"That one's got a Thor and a Doctor Strange that I'm not particularly interested in going toe-to-toe with just yet."
"So I need to convince Tony and Steve to surrender to you…" Natasha sighed. "They're going to be mad."
"It's their only option. This planet's Doctor Strange is—was pitifully weak in comparison, and Thor and Hulk are likely stuck in a cosmic ditch at the moment."
"Let me handle the negotiations," Natasha said, bumping the back of her fist with Alex's chest. "I'm afraid you'll further antagonize them and ruin things."
"Is that what you take me for?"
"She's not wrong, Dad," Xialing said from the side. "You're too aggressive."
"Et tu, Brute?" Alex looked at his adoptive daughter with a hurt expression.
Before she could respond, another suit flew up to them; this one was the real deal, sporting the official red and gold theme that Tony was so fond of.
"Natasha," he said as the nanotech visor pulled back to reveal his head. "A heads up would have been nice."
"Mind not pointing repulsors at me? Not the best greeting after so long."
"Who's the kid?" Tony asked.
"Xialing," Natasha said. "I left a message about her, didn't I? I was in the Apex Empire."
"Xu Xialing is twelve years old," Tony said.
"It's a long story, Tony. I'll tell you everything, but not like this," Natasha got stern.
"How do I know if you're the real deal or not?" Tony asked. "For all I know, I killed Natasha Romanoff yesterday."
"Because I've come here as a representative of the Apex Empire, and I'm here to help you against the very people invading this planet," Natasha said. "To you, it's only been a few days, but I've spent over a decade away from home, Tony. I want to have a civil conversation with you. About what comes next."
Tony momentarily glanced at Alex, who had his arms crossed and seemed like he was watching a good show without the slightest intent to intervene, before turning back to Natasha.
"Fine," he said. "I'll take you on your word."
"Can you handle things here, Mom?" Alex asked. "I'm going to take Dad out to play."
"Sure, honey," Natasha smiled gratefully at Xialing.
"So that's all I am to you, huh? A burden? Woe is me." Alex lamented.
"Let's go…" Xialing didn't give Natasha any time to say anything and pulled Alex's hand, forcing him to follow her into a portal that she created with a wave of her other hand.
"She's a magician?" Tony asked Natasha.
"Yeah, she's quite good at it as well," Natasha said. "Maybe she'll also take the mantle from Strange in the future."
"He's still incapacitated," Tony said. "Wong is the one holding the fort on that end."
"Have you been working with them? The sorcerers."
"Had to…"
The two of them continued their conversation as Xialing led Alex through the portal.
…
On the other end of the world, in a forest in the Kunlun Mountains, China. A mystic arts portal opened, leading to the Avengers Compound in New York.
Xialing emerged from the portal, pulling Alex with her as the two of them continued walking to the edge of a cliff. In the distance, they could see the headquarters of the Ten Rings, and the home that Xialing had grown up in.
"Here we are…" she muttered, still holding Alex's hand as he stopped beside her.
"You planning to jump into the middle of the compound?" He asked.
"Daddy…" Xialing mumbled with a weak voice, almost a squeal.
"Hm?"
"If I take over the Ten Rings, I want something from you."
"Anything for you, darling," he said, patting her head. "All that goal-based reward stuff is your mom's domain. What do you want? We'll do the Ten Rings later."
"No…" she shook her head. "I want you to promise a reward if I can take over the Ten Rings without you needing to directly intervene."
"All right, anything you want, you have my word. Do you want me to stay here while you go on ahead?"
She shook her head. "I want to show off a little."
"Go, give 'em hell," Alex said, once again patting Xialing's head encouragingly.
The girl immediately leaped into the air, pulling Alex with her as the cliff under them cracked and collapsed.
Mid-air, Xialing gave Alex a wide smile as the two practically flew through the air, quickly approaching the Ten Rings Headquarters that had been in the distance just now.
"Good aim," Alex praised.
"I've been practicing."
Soon, they landed right in the middle of the main foyer, cracking the concrete flooring as dust flew all around them. Alex subtly conjured a gentle gust of wind that quickly dissipated it all away as Xialing stood silently beside him with a stoic expression on her face.
The sounds of blades being unsheathed filled the surroundings as four men, all clad in full black ninja uniforms, instantly lunged at Xialing and Alex. Before Alex could do anything, Xialing let go of his hand and shot forward, directly punching one of her assailants in the neck to immediately incapacitate him while nudging the other assailant's wrist with her elbow to divert the man's blade off course. A sweep of her leg sent the man tumbling to the ground as she finished him off with a kick to his head.
As for the two approaching Alex, he didn't even bother to move as they raised their blades, seemingly planning to take him hostage. Unfortunately, before they could even get into arm's reach of him, Xialing jumped in between and disarmed them with ease, quickly incapacitating them in a few strikes.
While her inhuman speed and strength left the incoming attackers hesitant, that only lasted a moment before they continued charging both her and Alex.
For the next few minutes, Alex didn't do anything and continued standing at ease with his arms crossed while keeping his eyes on Xialing's movements as if observing for mistakes. No matter how many she fought, she consistently maintained the upper hand, not even needing to pull out her weapons, even for those who appeared with guns. Not only was her physique currently on par with that of Captain America, but she also possessed far superior skills compared to her enemies. And with Alex supporting her passively, the concept of being overwhelmed by numbers didn't exist as long as Alex kept her in her optimal peak state.
It only took a few minutes before she'd dealt with over a hundred people, with their incapacitated bodies lying all around her as their groans filled the air. It was at this point that the members of the Ten Rings stopped attacking her and stepped back, forming a circle around her and Alex.
"To what do I owe such an…explosive meeting?" A man's voice broke through the tense silence as the people in front of Xialing parted, revealing a middle-aged man dressed in a robe, with five thick rings on each of his wrists. "Might you tell me the purpose of your visit?"
Behind the visible politeness was a subtle sense of disdain that only Alex noticed in the man's eyes. Even after Xialing's display, he didn't take her particularly seriously, only maintaining a polite tone to maintain his calm and collected persona.
"You don't even remember your own daughter anymore?" Unlike Xu Wenwu, who had asked his question in English, Xialing responded in fluent Mandarin, smirking at her biological father. Without a word, she held her hands apart as a back rope appeared in them with a spiked point at the end. Not giving her father any time to respond, she swung her rope dart at the man.
Wenwu's eyes widened at the words as he instinctively glanced at Alex, instantly recognizing the man as the one who had kidnapped his daughter mere days ago. "You lie!" He snarled in the same tongue, raising his arm to block the dart as it bounced off of the five rings that formed an iron-clad defense. He swung his other arm, treating the rings as a telekinetic whip that he smacked toward Xialing, putting Alex in its path right behind her.
"That's cheating…" Xialing almost pouted. Unable to dodge the rings due to her self-imposed limitation, she spread the rope apart and tried to hold the rings off with it, but the force behind them was too much for her, immediately overwhelming her as she was forced to dig her feet into the ground. She clicked her tongue in frustration as a faint hum escaped her body. Immediately, the wind around her was stirred as a faint golden glow appeared in her eyes. From her as the center, a powerful shockwave emerged, forcing almost everyone to take a step back except for Wenwu and Alex. That disrupted the cohesion between the rings as they faltered, allowing Xialing to push through them as she grasped one of the rings, yanking it toward herself as the rest of them flew back to Wenwu.
Looking at the woman who looked so much like his late wife, and even possessed the same power, Wenwu's eyes trembled, and he hesitated in his next move.
Xialing had no such qualms as she snaked her rope dart through the ring and used it to anchor the rope to her wrist before swinging it at Wenwu, who barely defended himself at the last moment.
***
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