1962-03-21 - Challenges Met
Summary: Shen finds Danny in Chinatown and tests the Iron Fist.
Related: If there are no related logs, put 'None', — please don't leave blank!
Theme Song: None
loki shen danny 


*

It's late in the evening in Chinatown, though here in New York, the city never sleeps. It especially doesn't sleep in immigrant-heavy neighborhoods like this, where a large portion of the population works the jobs that keep the rest of the city running. Laundries vent steam out into the street, restaurants do a brisk business, and even a few street markets keep going late at night - both legal and illegal.

It's a place that at least feels like home to Danny Rand, which is why it's a neighborhood where the locals claim that those looking to find trouble are just as likely to have a run-in with the Iron Fist. Somebody didn't believe it tonight.

Down a relatively quiet alley, a group of teens was trying to hassle a young mother on her way home from her second job. They were interrupted by the arrival of someone in green and gold silk, a mask tied over their eyes. If they had time, they might realize from the slight build and the blonde braid down her back that it's a woman - as it is, they seem thoroughly occupied trying not to end up on the pavement as the woman flows between them, striking out with hands and feet with graceful speed.

*

Perched on a building nearby is another woman. She is dressed in black, crouched gracefully in a dark blue cheongsam with her black hair pulled into a neat bun behind her head. She wears long black gloves on her hands, leather to match her boots. She is not a costumed hero, with a cool face and steel gray eyes. She isn't here to save people, it appears. Instead she watches as the Iron Fist rushes into the fray from two stories above and gives a single nod.

Gracefully the Cat descends. Catch a ledge, drop down, hit the ground with a crouch to absorb the force of a long fall. Her approach is silent as she moves down the alley, hands at her sides, and watches the confrontation unfold. The woman's shadow, however, falls along the buildings, a silhouette sure to announce her presence when one looks up.

If Shen-hua is the Iron Fist's enemy she is a polite one since she does not interfere. She's also not in the correct age group to be a member of this little gang, of course.

*

A bookseller from a few blocks over had a delivery for Chinatown, a volume wrapped up in red paper, priding himself on the find and on the presentation of it to the client, as well as the personal delivery after the shop closed. So, Serrure moved through the streets shoe-click by shoe-click until he heard the sounds of the scuffling. And from his vantage, he sees the lady sneaking up on the green lady and he assumes…villainy, so, he yells to Danny, "There's another one, up! Look out!" Though all he does is speak the words, they are amazingly crafted in every way, each nuance describing distress, alarm.

*

A little would-be gang of five teenagers is no match for the Iron Fist. The "fight" lasts barely more than thirty seconds before the boys are making a run for it, leaving Danny with the woman who is gratefully still in possession of her purse.

Once the boys have made their break, Danny turns toward the woman in black, head tilting slightly with her mask firmly in place. "You don't look like you're in the same league as these boys," she observes, a wry smile tugging at one corner of her lips.

*

Shen bows her head slightly and nods at that. "You are observant," she muses in a rich, soft voice. The woman continues forward with slow steps, still making no threatening gestures. "That is correct. I have no interest in a mugging. I am sure you have heard this story before. I heard the Iron Fist was in New York City and when my work permitted I came to look."

Now a few meters off, still outside the range of engagement, Shen takes a deep breath, keeping that perfect, relaxed posture. "I am Shen Kuei, the Cat. They say the Iron Fist is the greatest fighter of their generation. I wanted to see for myself." She starts to smile faintly as well, now. "That was a good start. Thank you."

*

Iron Fist. The cat. Serrure lifts his chin and narrows his verdant eyes, looking at them both curiously. He slips past the alley, but then presses his back to the wall and peeks around the corner, seeing what these two mysterious ones are up to. And, if there's gonna be a ninja chick fight.

*

"That was…not impressive," Danny chuckles with a rueful glance after the boys. "That would hardly qualify as a warm-up. And best of a generation is really a relative thing when you consider that it's best out of a cohort of fighters in a very small celestial city that doesn't exactly get a lot of new blood, you know?"

She flashes a smile from beneath her mask, glancing toward the bystander who called out a warning before she looks back toward Shen. "Then there's the part where every fight is new. Winning one never means for certain you'll win the next. And then there are the intangibles, like if you're stupid enough to go into the cave where the dragon lives. There's a lot that goes into it, really."

*

Another squint of eyes, and Loki sneaks on off down the street, remembering the two heroes to make sure he mentions them to others later. Nothing if not a bit of a gossip.

*

Loki has left.

*

The bystander gets a glance from Shen-hua as well. She just arches a brow at him before disregarding entirely. As Danny speaks Shen-hua begins to laugh softly, a ringing sound that matches her classic feature. Cool and elegant. Distinct.

"That is true. The best part of fighting is that every fight is new. A test of your ability to adapt, to plan, to overcome. A chance to prove that if you walked into the dragon's lair it was because you could handle it. Or… Be roasted alive. Really, the dragon isn't terribly particular. It is up to the challenger." She takes a deep breath now, considering.

"I was expecting a man," The Cat notes with no small amount of good humour. She is often taken for a man by reputation. "In any case. Shall we begin? You may open."

*

"So was K'un-Lun," Danny snorts softly, pressing her hands together as she bows toward the other woman. "I've never been very good at being what's expected of me."

It's all the warning she gives, before she's stepping forward with a sweep of her arms, as smooth and unthinking as breathing.

*

Shen immediately drops into a powerful stance, feet shoulder width apart, arms in front of her. Left hand open, right in a fist. When Danny moves toward her she sidesteps, swinging her body left and allowing the blow to just sweep past. The response is just as swift, a series of sharp, low kicks aimed at the Iron Fist's side while she uses her arm to ward off further punches at this close range.

"People like that can use a little disappointment," Shen notes as they clash.

*

Danny is all speed and grace, a side-step here, a sweep of an arm redirecting a kick there. It's like trying to hit the wind, except this wind hits back. On the last of the kicks, she catches Shen's foot - she doesn't hold it, though, instead using the momentum to send herself into a back-flip that gives her a little more space to work.

"Been a while since I've come across someone who knew what they were doing," she says, circling to one side, watching the other woman a little more carefully.

*

When her foot is caught the Cat stomps downward forcefully, a move which might become a crushing blow had Danny not so nimbly darted away. "I am honored to hear that from you."

Now that they are apart Shen takes a deep breath, using her the same distance to circle in turn. She evaluates her opponent carefully, her eyes almost glowing in the shadows of the alley. Danny is pure, beautiful grace, and in sharp contrast to the Cat. The Cat has speed, yes- but her strikes are meant to crush bones and break barriers. There is a certain amount of grace in being unrelenting and swift.

The short truce is broken suddenly. It's a furious barrage of powerful strikes, kicks and punches at all angles. Rather than dodge most blows she prefers to block and use that contact to close for more brutal strikes. Throat, kidney, solar plexus. She fights to win, and without leaving many openings. "You make a very formidable adversary, Iron Fist. Have you been bored?"

*

Once you fight the dragon (and a few sparring sessions with Captain America), hard hits are a little less frightening. Which doesn't actually make them hurt any less, and a few of those powerful strikes get through, thumping against bone and muscle. Danny doesn't back away, though, waiting for an opening, biding her time with counter-strikes that are little more than the buffet of a bird's wing in comparison to the Cat's strikes.

"It wouldn't be very balanced of me to be bored without a fight, would it?" she replies, a distinct note of amusement in the question. Translation: more than she's willing to admit. "Where did you learn to fight?" One foot forward, the other, a shuffle step, a slip to the side, and she's striking under the arm.

*

The Cat takes more blows than Danny does, of course. She isn't dodging all of them, only the ones she judges will hurt the most. That's how she closes. Even being buffeted can wear one down and she's definitely showing signs of the conflict. Strike, counter strike. Block, kick. A heavy elbow to the abdomen, a narrow miss to the jaw.

"I started my training in Hong Kong," Shen-hua offers quietly. "You might know me by reputation if you've been." They continue their deadly dance. Shen smashes throw a wooden crate someone had stacked beside one of the dumpsters sending shards of wood in the air as another strike is narrowly dodged. "From there? Russia. Korea. Japan. Thailand. Taking the best of everything I could learn…

"I suppose your celestial city only taught Kung Fu?" And then… The Cat changes stances entirely. It may as well be a new fight. New strikes and defenses. The same crushing strength."

*

Danny laughs, half-running up a wall out of reach of the shards of wood only to flip back to her feet a short distance down the alley. "You say that as though kung fu is some monolith. I think you know it isn't." Her stance shifts as well, seeking to counter the change in the other woman.

She takes a moment to adjust, shifting through a series of styles until she can find one that counters the Cat's new style. "There's always something new on the street, apparently."

*

The fight has taken a new tone entirely. Shifting styles. Danny changes styles, so does the Cat. On and on and back and forth. Cat runs up a wall and kicks off of it at one point, flipping through the air when nothing else would do to avoid a series of blows. The pace picks up as well. It's almost like she is testing Danny's skills. Her defenses. Probing to see what she knows.

"Our peers would tend to disagree. But I find that people who fight for sport are often very different than those who fight to the death. They allow themselves certain delusions. For instance. How would you evaluate my combat style?" Shen doesn't allow a lull while she speaks, even though the fight has become far more acrobatic.

*

"Powerful," Danny answers without hesitation, picking up her own speed as she focuses past evaluation and into truly trying to hit the Cat. "Vicious. You don't hold back. But you've certainly got the skill and training."

For all she's clearly a skilled fighter herself, though, and for all she wears the attire, she's made no move that would truly prove she's the Iron Fist.

*

"If you don't stop holding back you are going to lose," observes the Cat. After this Danny promptly punches her in the face. She winces and quickly leaps back, avoiding further blows. For now the taller woman is keeping her distance, circling slightly while watching her opponent's movements once again. A short interlude.

*

"So says you," Danny laughs, though she's breathing a little heavier at the moment herself, wiping the back of her thumb at the corner of her mouth where she's cut her lip against her teeth on the Cat's fist. "There is an appropriate amount of force for all things."

She circles as the Cat does, matching her steps with a bit of stiffness - those blows are adding up. "I don't think you're here to hurt me. I'd rather not hurt you."

*

"I will hurt you if I have to in order to ascertain the truth," the Cat replies. She is certainly not unscathed, it's true. She moves in a way that shows she is bruised but at the same time… Shen-hua seems to almost revel in it. "And if you hurt me then you can rest easy knowing it was self-defense. I didn't come all this way to spar with a well-trained girl."

This time the Cat continues to stay back, watching thoughtfully. Her blue eyes are cool in the dim light, her expression a faint frown. "I am not your enemy. But I a a mercenary. This could change. Would you prefer to fight me then?"

*

Danny smirks, shaking her head. "You might remember I mentioned I'm not much of one for doing what's expected of me." She tilts her head at the last, sobering. "I prefer to fight when I have to, and for the right reasons. But you want to know if it's true. If the Iron Fist is truly here, or if there's someone taking the name."

A smile quirks once more, amused. "It'd be kind of disappointing for them if they were, for the record. Not many people know what it means to be the Iron Fist. But."

There's a shift in her weight, a stillness in her posture born of focus, and as she takes up her next stance, a warm, golden glow builds around her hands.

*

The Cat watches as Danny goes through the motions of drawing upon her power and smiles quietly, observing with a fair amount of intensity. Once the woman's hands begin to glow she nods her head slowly, shifting her weight slightly from foot to foot. "Thank you," she starts in a soft tone.

"That isn't quite the truth I was after, however." This is stated earnestly as the Cat starts forward, this time making no motion to attack. "I want to know if the Iron Fist is truly the warrior they say. …And I want a good fight. If your heart isn't in it then there is no point in continuing now." Now the Cat lowers her head to offer respect to her opponent.

"I would love to talk more… And to fight when you are ready to commit." There's a certain tension in the woman now, as she watches. Like she's prepared to leap back into the fray and just barely holding back. A panther ready to strike.

*

"Yeah, well. Life's a bitch right now." Danny's rueful smile suggests there's something more to those words, something that's weighing down her own life, before she slowly straightens up. "The Cat," she nods. "I'll be touch. Somewhere we maybe don't have to worry so much about property damage or police calls, yeah?"

*

"Life is always a bitch," Shen-hua muses then, taking a slow breath. "I'd be willing to listen if you want to talk to someone who has no reason whatsoever to interfere with anything you're doing." Then she offers a soft laugh before adding, "Somewhere quieter. Yes. If you ask for Shen Kuei someone will know me. I suppose I cannot ask for a name? Given that it defeats the purpose of a mask."

*

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Danny chuckles, taking a few steps back. "But show up when I send word. Then maybe we can do some show and tell and it'll be one fewer person who thinks I'm crazy." On that note, she turns away, leaping to the top of a dumpster, then up a fire escape to head away.

*

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