- A few Months Later - 1996 -
Erik knew that if he made his body a weapon. Something unassailable, something undetectable... Apart from a few individuals, he couldn't be stopped.
And he knew that Xu Wenwu was the key.
The man had mastered nearly every fighting style from across the globe. That knowledge was in his outstretched hand. He just had to grab it. They all did.
'Dress for combat.'
That was the order Death Dealer, Feng, Midnight and Killmonger had received earlier.
Now, they stood in line, all four of them clad in combat gear, hands clasped behind their backs.
"You called for us, master?" Erik stepped forward and asked.
"I did" Xu Wenwu replied, seated in an ornate wooden chair in the vast chamber hidden deep within the mountains.
The room was massive, illuminated by braziers on either side, their flames casting flickering shadows on the ancient Chinese architecture.
The Chancellor and the Advisor stood beside him, silently overseeing the gathering.
The chamber had the eerie ambiance of a cave fused with traditional grandeur, giving it a timeless mystical atmosphere.
"I called you from around the world.." Xu Wenwu began, his voice steady and composed. "I called you through time." He paused, his eyes narrowing as if drawing from centuries-old memories.
"You want to know why you are here? Not just here, in this room with me, but why you exist on this earth?"
His gaze sharpened, sweeping across each of them. "To rule. To conquer. To save this planet."
Xu Wenwu let the words hang in the air, the weight of his ambition settling over them like a heavy fog.
"Blood has been shed, and blood may still be shed. Whatever path the four of you think you're walking... it is not a peaceful one. It is a forceful one, in the service of peace."
Erik listened, his eyes on Xu Wenwu but his mind elsewhere.
Crazy man.. He thought. Even as the man spoke of peace, his ambition for control was as clear as day.
"You've learned how to disguise yourselves, how to steal and how to kill." Xu Wenwu said, rising from his chair with deliberate calm. "You've trained on mountaintops, in the wilderness and here..."
He walked slowly, his hands clasped behind his back, eyes cold and piercing as they scanned the group. "Advisor!" He commanded, without looking away from them. "Tell them why they're really here."
Ling, standing to Xu Wenwu's right, stepped forward with a nod. "Yes, sir."
"It has been centuries since anyone has been worthy to claim the title of champion of the House of the Deadly Hand." Ling began, his voice clear and direct. "We have searched the world, seeking those who are fit—fit to bear the title, to serve our cause."
Xu Wenwu moved toward them as Ling spoke, his gaze fixed intensely on each of them.
"To find you!" He added, his voice low but charged with purpose, as if sealing their fates.
Another fight to the death? Erik wondered internally, a flicker of disgust crossing his mind as he stood, arms relaxed but tension brewing beneath the surface.
Xu Wenwu stepped forward, his face calm yet there was an undercurrent of something darker behind his words.
"A decision must be made." Xu Wenwu declared, as the Chancellor approached and bowed, presenting four swords.
Xu Wenwu took the swords, his movements deliberate and threw them at their feet with a metallic clatter.
"You all have the training. You all have the drive..." He continued, his voice measured, almost mocking. "But can you do what is necessary? Which one of you is willing to kill Killmonger to become my personal disciple?"
A smirk tugged at the corner of Xu Wenwu's lips, the challenge laid bare.
Erik glanced at the swords on the ground, his mind racing.
Swords? He thought, his brow furrowing slightly. Ain't the House of the Deadly Hand supposed to fight with fists.. Is he tryna give them a shot?
His thoughts spiraled. Do I have to kill them ? What am I even doin' here?
To kill monsters do I really have to become one? Is this really the right way? This is what my life has been building toward. And yet still..
"I ain't playing this game, sir. Said Erik. His eyes hardened, as he made his choice. "There's no need to fight between us."
"If you want our help to "save" the world just ask. I got nothing to prove. Not to you, not to anyone."
Xu Wenwu raised an eyebrow, amused by Erik's defiance. "Hn. The fascinating arrogance of a young man." He mused with a slight smile, circling them like a predator watching its prey.
"But tell me, Killmonger..." Xu Wenwu's eyes gleamed, his voice lowering like a venomous whisper. "Do your friends feel the same way?"
Before Erik could react, a voice cut through the tension.
"Sorry!" Feng said, stepping forward with a sword in hand, its sharp edge leveled at Erik's neck.
The hesitation in his voice was gone. There was only cold determination.
Erik eyes narrowed, feeling the weight of betrayal heavier than the steel at his throat.
"This is the future. And I'm gonna usher it in, even if it means putting this sword through you!" Feng exclaimed, his voice echoing with conviction as he held the blade steady at Erik's throat.
Midnight and Death Dealer stood back, retreating into the shadows. They weren't uninterested—they had ambitions of their own. But they weren't fools.
They'd seen Erik's abilities up close. To challenge him head-on was a losing battle, and both of them knew it.
Erik locked eyes with Feng, the cold steel still poised at his neck.
Maybe he's right.. He thought, the weight of the moment sinking in.
Becomin' a monster might be the only way forward... The only way to fulfill my duty to this world.
With the speed of a spider striking, Erik executed a back handspring, his body twisting fluidly as he launched one of the discarded swords into the air with his feet.
But I won't kill him. And I won't die here.
As Erik's feet hit the ground, he kicked Feng hard in the chest sending him stumbling backward.
In the same motion, he caught the sword mid-air flipping it expertly in his hand.
One thing's for sure, though... if I do go down one day... it's gon' be on my feet. Fighting till the end. He thought to himself.
"Go ahead and try." Erik said coldly. His voice like ice as he readied himself, sword in hand and eyes locked on Feng.
The air around them seemed to still, tension thick as battle loomed.
- In the MC Memories -
"I love you…" The woman whispered, her voice barely audible choked by the blood pooling in her mouth.
She lay there in the middle of the street, her arms and legs bent at impossible angles.
A reflection of Erik's own grief as he clung to her, desperately refusing to accept the brutal reality before him.
"No… no, please don't… please, no." He choked, his voice breaking as he tried to hold her, his own tears falling uncontrollably.
That day… Erik thought, the memory rushing over him. It had all happened so fast..
Gunshots, then the sudden screech of tires.
A flurry of police sirens cut through the air as cars raced down the street.
Two of the criminals cars, in that chaotic instant had swerved, slamming into people, ending his son and wife's life in a single, merciless moment.
Her final words echoed in his mind.
"I love you."
They kept ringing in his ears, haunting him.
He hadn't said it back. He hadn't sung it back to her, the way she loved to hear it.
His wife had always told him life was like a song.
Of all the heartbreak that came in the aftermath.. That, was his deepest.
The realization that he hadn't sung those words back to her.
He came to understand that heartbreak was just anger sung in a minor chord.
And from that moment on, that song grew louder in his heart, reverberating through him.
It was as if some unseen composer had decided, "This. This is what your song of life needed. The music was comfort and light. But now you'll sing your way across the world, but it would be a song of darkness, perfected by loss."
I'm tired of whoever's been writing my song. Erik thought, effortlessly deflecting a sword strike from Feng.
The clash of metal echoed around them, but his mind was somewhere else, tangled in questions that clawed at him.
Who put me in this world? Why am I here?
He'd never seen himself as a hero—never tried to be one.
He was a killer, yes. But only of people who deserved it.
But who am I to decide who lives and who dies?
He had never killed an innocent, never taken a life for the thrill of it.
But who am I to decide who's innocent? Who's guilty?
Criminals—he despised them, truly. And yet, here he was, honing his craft under the tutelage of Xu Wenwu. A man whose hands dripped with more innocent blood than he could count.
Xu Wenwu was a monster, a mass murderer who deserved a death as brutal as the pain he'd inflicted.
So why am I here learning from him? Maybe I am just a hypocrite.. Erik thought, blocking a rapid series of strikes from Feng.
A hypocrite holding on to a code, trying to convince himself that he's not one of them.
I am sure that in the eyes of some, I am already a monster. Maybe I have always been one..
Had he become it the day his wife and son died? Or had the seeds of that darkness always been rooted in him, waiting for something to pull them free?
His sword cut a swift arc, forcing Feng back. But Erik's thoughts weighed heavier than any blade, deeper and more complex than the battle itself.
He launched a flurry of strikes, each one faster and more forceful, pushing Feng further onto the defensive.
The boy could barely keep up with the speed, his movements strained as he parried the onslaught.
The clang of their blades echoed, sharp and unrelenting.
Until Erik put more of his strength into a final blow, shattering Feng's sword in two and knocking it out of his hand.
I've been holding back. Erik thought, his indifferent gaze fixed on Feng.
Holding back with M'Nai, with Li even with Feng.. Clinging to fellowships that may have only existed in my mind.
My previous life experiences added to this one, made me change.
As I've picked up skills I've also learned a lot about people... And as a result it feels like my intuition has been greatly sharpened. Or maybe it's just cynicism settling in, he mused.
But the truth is, Xu chose Feng, M'Nai, and Li for a reason. They're no ordinary kids. They've faced horrors young, suffered deeply.. And Wenwu's indoctrination had only reinforced that darkness.
He had hoped to reach them somehow, to pull them out of that cycle.
But Feng's actions were clear enough. He had jumped at the first chance to tear him down, to prove himself to Xu Wenwu.
Fine.. He thought, tossing his own sword to the ground, his unyielding gaze locked onto Feng, who now looked tense and wary.
"Walk away, Feng!" Erik's voice was cold, unshakable. "Or fight me. FIGHT ME!"
"This is unnecessary." Whispered Ling the advisor, his gaze fixed on the one-sided clash in front of him.
"Ling, can you not simply appreciate what we're witnessing here?" Xu Wenwu's voice was a murmur, his eyes fixed on Erik as if he were observing a force of nature.
"This young man… The level he's attained. This isn't just combat. It's a seismic shift in the world. This… is the FUTURE." He spoke with a rare, genuine smile and a spark in his usually bored eyes.
Ling looked at his Supreme Commander with surprise, then back toward the boy absorbing his master's words.
Wenwu's vision was clear. Erik's potential wasn't just an asset to the Ten Rings. It was a herald of a new era.
"You're not gonna live long, Killmonger!" Feng shouted, his face smeared with blood from Erik's punch. "You know why?" He breathed heavily, anger seething in his voice. "Because you don't have a true killer's instinct."
Feng's memory brought him back to that mission.
He and Erik had been tasked with assassinating an Iron Gang member and the kill had been swift and precise.
But just as they were about to leave, the target's wife and young daughter entered the room, terrified and frozen in place.
Feng hadn't hesitated.. He'd raised his blade, ready to eliminate the witnesses.
But Erik had stopped him, his grip firm, his face unreadable.
Feng had never forgotten that moment, never forgiven Erik for what he saw as weakness. In Feng's eyes, Erik's refusal to kill wasn't an act of restraint.
It was a fatal flaw.
"You're soft!" Feng spat, his glare filled with disdain. "You think you're different from us? That you're better? But all it does is make you weaker."
"Killer instinct?.. That's ALL you have!" Erik snapped, his voice low and sharp before driving a front kick into Feng's stomach, sending him to his knees.
He loomed over the boy, his words cutting like a blade. "You know why you'll never WIN? DO YOU?"
Feng struggled to stand, clutching his side, but Erik's voice rose, fierce and unyielding.
"Because you're HOLLOW! There's nothing to you! Nothing in there!" His fists clenched as he stared down at him. "You know what's in me? EVERYTHING!"
Erik expression was one of intensity, his mind thinking with fierce resolve.
I don't know about my doubts.. If what I do is right or wrong. But what I do know? Is that, it's NEEDED!
This life I'm writing... It's got anger. It's got justice. It's got meaning. And it's got love.
His breath steadied, grounding him as he faced Feng.
And that's why I'll never lose..