"I don't understand. What is it that you want me to do? There is a disturbance in-"

a howl of wind drowned out the words of the speaker.

"Please, give me guidance."

A golden figure stared blankly at the colossal figure kneeling before it which also shined with a golden hue. The pair shared a moment of silence before the smaller figure shook its head and disappeared.

"What does this mean..?"

A hint of fear could be heard in its voice before it too faded away in a blinding light. The lifeless moon they were on had none to witness the meeting.

"Dodge!" A sudden shout was heard followed by the sound of flesh hitting flesh

A blurred figure shot through paper doors and into a stone courtyard. They lied limply in a boneless heap and simply moaned in pain on the ground. It was indeed our hero, John.

"Did you have to hit me so hard, sensei?"

"I said to dodge, not block!"

Deciding that arguing with his teacher was a pointless effort the young boy decided to just shut up and get back up. It had been a few weeks since he had been taken under the wing of Shang Chi and he still had yet to unlock his Ki. Knowing of his situation his master kindly took him in and offered him a place to stay and food to eat. After all, he could hardly be expected to sustain such a high level of physical activities with a poor diet. He had taken to personally planning out a meal plan and regiment for the young aspiring hero.

John, in turn, helped to do chores such as cleaning and laundry and occasionally taking up cooking their meals.

They had formed a close bond akin to siblings if not close friends. Even if most of their time spent together was John trying his best to not get beaten to a pulp by his taskmaster of a teacher... He could hardly complain though as the result spoke for themselves.

While he the more mystical aspect of his training continued to elude him, his fitness and skills had never been better! He could confidently say that in a 1vs1 match he could kick his former self's ass! He wasn't sure to be proud or sad at that thought. Even if it was himself in the hypothetical situation, getting your ass whooped by a kid a third your age was embarrassing, to say the least.

"Take a break John, your friend has been waiting for us for some time not. It'd be rude to keep her waiting any longer."

He wasn't shocked that Shang Chi could sense Mary Jane entering the Dojo while sparring with him, he was just that good after all, and it only drove him further to seek the heights which his teacher has reached. At this point he couldn't even begin to see the base of the mountain, to even begin to see the peak would be a long journey.

"Yes, thank you for your guidance today!"

John scurried off back indoors before finding Mary Jane sitting cross-legged on a cushion in the "living room" of the dojo. He and Shang Chi both lived here, although he returned to the orphan on occasions to keep suspicions off his whereabouts.

"Woah there, tiger, you didn't need to pour an entire bottle of water on yourself just to impress me." The little redhead said with an impish smile. He hadn't noticed it at the moment, but now that he had stopped exerting himself he was absolutely drenched in sweat. Although it was early August it was very windy and he felt a chill as a draft picked up through the broken door.

"You know, you're pretty snarky for someone who's depending on me to pass half her classes." Although Mary Jane was by no means an idiot, she was more interested in going to parties than studying. She was the type who only did enough to pass and it didn't help matters that she had taken Ap and honor classes with the heavier workload on his recommendation.

"Oh, come on, you know you love me~!" She said as he dragged out the last syllable with a pout on her face while exaggeratedly fluttering her eyelashes.

"Yup, as much as a rash"

He gave a small laugh at the affronted look before she took her pillow and threw it across the room and nailed his head.

"That's no way to talk to a lady, Mr!"

"A lady? Where? Is she hiding behind you somewhere?"

They continued their familiar banter for a few more moments as he made tea for both of them. He personally wasn't a fan, but Shang Chi greatly enjoyed it and he picked up the art. Plus MJ was in one of her hipster health phases, at least he sure hoped it was a phase and she would eventually stop dragging him with her to tea places.

After he took a moment to shower and clean off they started doing their homework. Well, more like he helped her do hers while he did Danny Fernades' homework. He had taken up tutoring and doing people's homework or papers for money. It was relatively easy and quick cash for him, especially when he had gained a sort of reputation among his peer and the nearby local schools.

Thank you, lazy rich kids!

It was only one of his few methods of getting money. He had also recently gotten approved for a business license from the city and a food stall. He had partnered with Mr. Fu and was providing authentic Asian cuisine and traditional American hot dogs and burgers to his area which predominately only had pizza places. It was a huge hit. He'll start up his stall right as school ended and hungry school kids were pouring out en mass. Doing a round trip around the four local schools had earned him enough to make back the cost of starting the business within the week!

He was considering expanding his business soon as he actually ran out of supplies before he ran out of customers.

His final source of income came from underground fights. Normally he wouldn't do something so dangerous, but his master thought he could use the experience and John trusted his friend to keep him safe from anything life-threatening and healed anything potentially crippling. It took a bit of convincing, but he also managed to get the man to place bets on him in his place as fighters weren't allowed to wager.

While he did not win all of his fights, even a 6-4 ratio meant he was still making money and it was only going to go up as he continued to polish his skills.

If he was getting the shit beaten out of him for people's amusement, he may as well get paid for it, right?

Mary Jane had taken to visiting him at the dojo on occasion to see how he was doing and hang out. Although she was interested in joining at first and Shang Chi allowed her to part take out of consideration for him, she had quit after the first day and since then Shang Chi had been distant with her. He was still cordial and polite, but he did not try to get closer to her as he did himself. He supposes it might be because Shang Chi didn't like quitters.

"Finally! That took absolutely forever!" the girl slammed her book shut before slumping over the table like a limp noodle. John shared her sentiments as he stretched his back until it gave off a satisfying series of pops. He was sore and tense not only from his training, read as an ass-kicking, by his teacher, but from sitting still and going over Friday's assignment with his friend. He could use a break.

"Yeah, hey, want to go to Mr. Fu's? I heard he was experimenting with some new dishes for the menu and wanted to me try. I can call Henry while you pack up."

"Yeah, sounds good, just give me a minute, or five" She mumbled into her arms, not bothering to even lift her head. Seeing the state of his friend John just started to clean everything and do it for her. By the time he finished, she had actually fallen asleep!

"Mj, hey MJ!"

"Wazh? What? Oh, hey there, how'd you get in my room?"

"Hey there yourself, Sleeping Beauty. This is my room, remember?"

She gave out a long drawn yawn before using her sleeve to wipe a small strand of drool from the side of her lips. Emerald eyes slowly gained clarity as she rubbed the sleep out of them.

"Oh, you're right, my bad. Did you call Henry yet?"

"Yeah, he's on the train now and should be there in 10. Do you still want to go? If not you can just head home and go to sleep, I'm sure he'll understand."

"No, no, I'm good! I'm good. Let's go!" She scooped her bag in hand and walked to the entrance to put on her shoes. He followed closely behind with a small frown as he saw her walk unsteadily and looked like she was going to fall asleep on her feet.

"You know, Red, maybe you should cut back on all the late night partying. You're clearly exhausted and I'm worried about you."

"Pfft, yeah ok, whatever you say, mom, now come on and let's get some dumplings! I'll have more energy once I have some food in me."

He held back from saying anymore as he followed her once she took off running and they laughed as they raced each other.

Neither of them noticed a pair of eyes tracking their movements as they zipped down the streets.