Chapter Text
Despite the title of the “Immortal Iron Fist”, Danny Rand was anything but immortal. If he was keeping track (which he wasn’t), he could list at least thirty-seven different attempts on his life, some of which weren’t even from the villain of the week. Still, he’d managed to best them and get away mostly unscathed.
He’d even managed to escape the grasp of Ch’i-Lin, a monstrous-looking creature who had killed all the previous Iron Fists. Still, Ch’i-Lin had sworn revenge, not that it wasn’t unusual for the beings he defeated to do that, but for some reason, this promise stuck with him. Maybe because Ch’i-Lin was one of the few creatures that had actually killed previous iterations of the Iron Fist, or maybe because this wasn’t a fight he felt he could ask the other Defenders for help with. Danny knew they’d be willing, but… he didn’t want to put them in that sort of danger.
Regardless, mortality had most definitely been on Danny’s mind when a kid had come to the Heroes for Hire office looking for help. Luke had left a few minutes before to go pick up lunch, and Danny decided to pass the time by flipping through the latest issue of The Daily Bugle to see what problem J. Jonah Jameson had with Spider-Man this time.
The doorbell chimed as the door itself swung open, and Danny hastily shoved the magazine back onto Luke’s desk and looked at their visitor. Just by looking at him, Danny could tell he was stressed. His clothes were rumpled, and his shoulder were hunched with his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His eyes flicked around the room nervously before they landed on Danny.
Danny made his way over to him, then offered him his hand. “Welcome to Heroes for Hire. How can we help you?”
The kid hesitated for a moment, then fished his hand out of his pocket and shook Danny’s. “Hi, um… my name is Benjamin Li. My mom, she… she was taken, three days ago, by a group of ninjas dressed in red. I went to the police already, they said that they would keep an eye out but there’s nothing they can do, and I know she’s in danger and you guys help people like that, so I came to you.”
The Hand. It had to be. How many other ninja clans dressed in red were there? Though why they had taken an interest in Ben’s mom Danny had no idea. Ben seemed to be fighting back tears, and at that moment, Danny had wished Luke was present instead of on his lunch break, because between the two of them, Luke was much better at counseling.
Still, Danny placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. “Hey, it’ll be alright. Deep breaths, okay? I promise you; I’ll help you find your mom.”
Ben squeezed his eyes shut and nodded tightly. “Thank you.”
Danny had obtained what little information he could from Ben about the incident before setting off on a mission to dig up information of his own. Still, it was harder to find the Hand’s enclave in New York City than he would have thought. He considered dragging Matt into it (his enhanced senses would have definitely come in handy), but he ultimately decided against it. This was a case that Danny would tackle alone.
Well, almost.
He’d been looking into Ben’s mom’s disappearance for nearly a week when he decided to address the shadow that had been following him. That shadow, of course, being Benjamin Li himself. Danny had known Ben was following him since day one, but since the danger level up until now had been moderately low, he’d decided to humor him. But things were getting darker fast, and it wasn’t going to be long before Ben himself was in danger. Still, he waited until he knew that it was safe before he called Ben out.
“I know you’re there, you know,” he called, and Ben reluctantly slinked out from where he was hiding.
“How did you know?”
Danny shrugged. “In this line of work, you learn how to know if someone’s following you. But what are you doing here, Ben? I said I would handle this.”
“Well…” Ben couldn’t meet his eyes. “I feel useless, just sitting around and waiting. I want to be able to do something to help.”
“I know that feeling, believe me, but this is dangerous, Ben.”
“I can handle myself. Please, Iron Fist, I just… I need to be doing something.”
Danny sighed, running a hand over his face. Well, it seemed he had a choice to make. Let Ben tag along into potentially dangerous situations or say no and watch as Ben found said dangerous situations all on his own.
“Fine,” he finally decided. “But you have to do exactly what I tell you. If I tell you to run, you don’t look back, alright?”
Ben brightened, and he nodded. “Of course. I won’t let you down.”
From that point on, Danny had a – well, sidekick wasn’t quite the right word, but it was close enough. He’d even, against his better judgement, begun to train the kid. If he was going to drag him into dangerous situations, the least he could do was make sure the kid could handle himself when things inevitably got hairy. Ben was a natural, picking up on moves almost as fast as Danny taught them. Danny was sure to tell him that, and every time, Ben would glow at the praise.
Months had come and gone before Danny got a reliable tip about where the Hand had holed themself up. An old warehouse, down by the river probably four blocks outside of Hell’s Kitchen. He’d entered quietly, Ben not far behind, only to find the place was empty.
Ben groaned and balled his hands into fists. “Are you kidding? After everything, we come up with nothing?”
“This is just a setback. We’ll find your mom. We just need to have-” Danny cut himself off, tensing. His chi flared to life around his hands. “Ben, run. Now.”
Ben’s eyes widened. He nodded and took off towards the front of the warehouse.
Just as Ben disappeared from his line of sight, a monster in the body of a man stepped from the shadows. Their skin was scaly and green, and their red eyes gleamed. Long claws extended from their hands, and their teeth were sharpened to deadly points.
“Ch’i-Lin,” Danny greeted frostily. “Back for more, I see.”
“Daniel Rand. You really thought you could avoid your fate, did you?” Ch’i-Lin snarled. “You will die this time, and the egg of Shao-Lao will be mine!”
Danny didn’t reply. He slipped into a fighting stance, waiting for Ch’i-Lin to make the first move. He didn’t have to wait long.
Ch’i-Lin lunged at him, and Danny slipped out of the way, firing a blast of chi at him as he passed. Ch’i-Lin just shrugged off the blast and swiped a clawed hand at Danny’s face, the blow coming close enough that Danny could feel the air it displaced.
Wreathing his hand in chi, Danny punched Ch’i-Lin. Ch’i-Lin did not manage to shrug off that attack, giving Danny the opportunity to land a few more before Ch’i-Lin recovered. Ch’i-Lin landed a kick to Danny’s torso, and he stumbled backward, barely managing to dodge their next slash.
The two of them continued to trade blows, and Danny was willing to admit he was beginning to feel the effects of the fight. One of his ribs twinged uncomfortably every time he moved, and he was almost certain he had a foot-shaped bruise on his ribcage. Yet he fought on.
Finally, he landed another hit with his chi, and Ch’i-Lin didn’t have enough time to react before he was launched across the warehouse into one of the many stacks of crates littering the warehouse floor.
Cautiously, he approached the site, only to find that Ch’i-Lin was gone.
Danny knew better than to drop his guard, especially where Ch’i-Lin was involved. Slowly, he turned, scanning the room. Ch’i-Lin could have hidden himself in any shadow, he could be anywhere… He saw a flicker of motion to his left and he turned to counter, but he wasn’t quite fast enough.
Ch’i-Lin plunged its clawed hand into his chest.
Danny stumbled backward, collapsing to the floor and pressing his hands to his chest. He tried to infuse the injury with chi, but to no avail. He was losing too much blood too quickly.
Ch’i-Lin leered down at him, a toothy smirk on their face. Danny didn’t have the strength to fight back. He knew what would happen next. Ch’i-Lin would steal his heart and go to K’un-Lun to consume the egg of Shao-Lao the Undying. He needed to get up, to move, to fight-
A metallic clang rang through the air. Ch’i-Lin stumbled backward, dazed, before collapsing to the ground. Danny lifted his head weakly and saw Ben holding a metal pipe like a bat.
The pipe dropped to the ground, and suddenly Ben was by his side, elevating his head and pressing a hand to Danny’s chest. Blood still continued to flow freely from the wound, and Danny could tell from the way Ben’s hands were shaking that he was panicking.
“Ben,” Danny managed. “It’s too late. I’m… I’m sorry.”
“No, it can’t be, please, you can’t-”
“Ben.” Ben looked at Danny with tears in his eyes. “I… need you to do something for me.”
“What is it?”
“I want you… to take my chi. I… can’t risk it falling into the wrong hands.”
“No, I can’t do that-”
“Please.”
Ben squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled sharply. “What do I need to do?”
“Place your hand on my heart. From there, my chi will flow into you.”
Ben nodded tightly. He did as Danny asked, and there was a burst of golden light. Ben flinched back, and Danny saw that the Mark of Shao-Lao had burned itself into his palm.
“Iron Fist-”
“It’s not your fault, Ben. I need you to believe that.” Danny coughed, and blood began to drip from his mouth. “Tell Luke… tell everyone else that I’m sorry. That there’s nothing they could have done.”
Ben nodded. “I will. I promise.”
Danny felt the drop in temperature that signified a portal to K’un-Lun had opened. He was faintly aware of the Yu-Ti and Lei-Kung leading Ben away. He felt Lei-Kung’s gaze linger on him, knew the sorrow that came with being too late.
Slowly, Danny’s eyes fluttered shut, and the sixty-sixth Iron Fist was no more.