[center][img]http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/marveldatabase/images/1/1d/The_Immortal_Iron_Fist_(2007).png/revision/latest?cb=20130523002657[/img][/center] [b]March 20th, 2005 New York City, Chinatown 9:54 PM[/b] Of all the answers Danny might have been expecting, these were definitely the last ones on his mind. [color=seagreen]"So...you dress up in a mask to fill a role that used to belong to someone else, chasing after leads and shadows for the men who took your family away, trying to make the world make sense again...is that it?" [/color] He walked over to her as memories of his own flashed before his eyes. His father on the icy slopes of a mountain, fighting like a man possessed against an overwhelming horde of ghosts and shadows. A figure coalescing before them inky black against the blinding whiteness of the snows. Laughter as his father was buried in snow and crushed against a ravine, and through all of it the same nauseating sense of corruption, the same overwhelming darkness that resided in the talisman. Danny tossed it back to the White Tiger. [color=seagreen] "You and I have more in common than you could ever know. Now let's go get some answers. Civilly this time." [/color] Danny jogged back over to the door of the Wing residence and knocked politely on the door Professor Wing had fled back through, switching over to the most polite Cantonese he could manage. [color=seagreen] "<>" [/color] "<>" Danny sighed. Ordinarily he'd leave well enough alone but they needed these answers sooner rather than later and ten years had been a long enough wait for revenge. [color=seagreen]"<> [/color] The door opened... and Lee Wing came through it wildly swinging an antique katana that looked surprisingly well maintained, the sword's edge whistling down toward's Danny's head with deadly speed. Before he caught the blade between two palms rather casually and held it there. Professor Wing was no professional swordsman after all. [color=seagreen] "Now Professor, that's hardly the way to treat someone approaching you as a guest. So let's just put the sword away and have a rational discussion. Sound good?" [/color] It might be Danny's imagination, but it looked like the good professor was juuuuust about ready to faint... Maybe there was more subtlety to this superheroing business than he thought. "I...I...I...but..." [color=seagreen] "I'm glad you can see things my way! Now, let's get out of the night air and you can unravel some ancient mysteries for us over tea. I'm sure we'll all feel much better then!" [/color] Lee Wing looked wildly about for a moment, as if searching for some help or escape. Then he slumped visibly and gave a defeated sigh while muttering some equivalent to 'why is it always me' and a string of virulent Cantonese curses before gesturing for the two to come inside. Danny stepped through before turning back to White Tiger. [color=seagreen]"Well...what are you waiting for? Tea and vengeance await us!" [/color] [hr] [b]March 20th, 2005 New York City, Chinatown 10:15 PM[/b] Danny was right of course. Lee Wing knew all about the talisman's true nature. Plus the tea was absolutely exquisite. Lee Wing had regained his composure somewhat once he had figured out that his two 'guests' were no longer planning on breaking all of his limbs and the presence of an Iron Fist-even an inexperienced half realized one like Danny-seemed to reassure him enough of his safety to speak of the dark forces he feared. He now sat in an overstuffed armchair sipping his own blend of tea, lecturing as he might at Empire State University. "That talisman is without a doubt the property of the Cult of Khan. A mysterious group by all measures, the Cult is said to be a secret order of a most ancient nature. They are dedicated to the restoration of a being they believe to be...well, a sort of god or a fragment of a god, a rather grizzly entity known to them as 'Master Khan'. There are ancient records of a being of that nature demanding blood sacrifice [i]en masse[/i], some so ancient that it has been hypothesized by some fringe scholars that the being itself is the source of the term used in Central Asia for a ruler..." He seemed to realize he was digressing somewhat and resumed his original train of thought "Regardless, this Cult believe that their god Khan is...wounded and weakened, or else sleeping to regain strength and that when he returns he will bring about a new age where his rather disturbing evils are law once more and exalt them as part of his new world order. Whether or not this dark god is real is immaterial given that its' followers although obscure, can be linked to various assassinations and gory rituals around the world, all of which they claim hasten their master's return. I would say this is all academic speculation and glory seekers using an old name from history books to grab attention, but I believe I've been vaguely threatened to keep silent by them on multiple occasions, and the darkness of that talisman is plain to anyone who's handled as many artifacts of a mystical nature as I have." The professor's blase attitude couldn't be more at odds with Danny's own. Finally, he had a name for the creature that had killed his father and it was one from his childhood night-terrors. Every K'un-Lunan child knew the name of Khan, like a boogeyman mothers scared their children with at night. [b]The God-Emperor Khan, Shapeshifting Master of Darkness, Oldest of Dark Wizards, fragment of the Amatsukami no Mikaboshi made flesh.[/b] He who once ruled over Heaven and Earth alike and drank rivers of blood to satiate his lust for power. But Khan was a ghost story, or else a figure out of legend defeated by the first Iron Fist in an age hazily remembered even by immortals. The fact that he might still be out there, manipulating mortals and working dark magics...Well it seemed ludicrous. But hadn't Danny seen a being of pure darkness with his own eyes all those years ago, as it struck down his father? Hadn't White Tiger's brother been attacked by assassins carrying talisman's bearing the taint of that same darkness? Didn't he [b][i]need[/i][/b] a target for his revenge after all these years? "In any case the talisman's markings and feel are unmistakable. The Cult believes that when used right it allows them to commune with their god. Before I continue, are there any questions?" Well, the man certainly was a lecturer. But at the moment Danny was too struck by the sudden possibilities to speak. After all, if Kun-Lun's former dark master was alive it raised some troubling doubts. Namely, what other things that he thought he knew were actually based on lies?