A Celebration

Once again, the Heroes For Hire found themselves at Wu Fong's gardening supply store called 'Oriental Gardens'. The damage and havoc wrought by Hammerhead, his goons, and the Dreadnought fighting robot's attack were still apparent but repair work had begun.

Wu greeted the HFH at the door and led them into his garden behind the shop. It was difficult to believe a deadly battle had once taken place there. The lawn and plants were all perfectly manicured. Beautifully large bonsai trees were alight with paper lanterns that hung from silk bows. A fountain bubbled merrily to one side of the garden. As a marvelous new centerpiece, a golden statue of a tigress protecting her cubs had been installed in the middle of the garden.

Sitting on a table nearby sat bowls and plates filled to brimming with Chinese cuisine. Coupled with the aromas and fragrances of the oriental garden, the festival smelled fabulous.

Milling about the garden and buffet were about 30+ people, who all turned to watch as the Heroes For Hire and Wu approached. Several faces amongst the crowd were recognizable. Wu spoke loudly as he entered the gathering, "Please, esteemed guests, may i have your attention. Our guests of honor have arrived! Please give a round of applause, for the saviours of Chinatown, the Heroes For Hire!"

Most of the guests clapped, While others bowed graciously. Then, the Heroes for Hire were seated at a long table and served an assortment of delicious food by Eddie and Mei Li Wong who had come out of hiding after the incarceration if the White Dragon and planned to reopen their restaurant.

The owner of the Snake House, Mike Shin, was still very distraught over the loss of his snakes. He approached the Heroes for Hire while they ate. "My children are still missing! When are you going to do something about the Silver Samurai?" he asked.

The owner of the Souvenir shop who had been being harassed by garbage-tossing Dargonlords, Henry Ting, presented the women of HFH with special gifts. Silver statuettes of dragons, individual for each of the women. "May the spirits of these serpents grant you strength of body and harmony of mind when danger is upon you." Henry blessed.

Tak and his parents also attended the party to once again thank the HFH. Tak had mustered the courage to quit the gang, and intended to enroll in the military after finishing his education.

Dr. Maximillian Pride, the curator of Literature at the Metropolitan museum of History was also in attendance at the festival. He awarded the HFH a sum of money for all of their heroics in Chinatown. But, he had also attended to remind the franchise of their current investigation in the recovery of the stolen book. "I am glad to see the great amount of good you have done for these people. But, i am still concerned for the whereabouts of the book." he said. "Not for the monetary or historical value of the tome, but for the deeds it has and has yet to be put to. If it was involved, and has yet to be found, i fear more than a gang war is brewing in New York."

The humpback Chinese man, Hish Feng, from the Chinatown shop 'Oriental Antiques & Curiosities' had made it to the party. As the Heroes neared the finish of their massive feast he presented each of the heroes with a fortune cookie. Before the cookies could be eaten, or the fortunes read Hsih Feng disappeared into the crowd of revelers and left the gardens. Later, Marc Spector opened his cookie and read the fortune which turned oit to be a secret message. It read: "Rejoicing is premature, for things are much worse than they seem. Meet me at my master's shop after the celebration. --Hsih Feng."

After everyone had eaten, but before Marc Spector had the opportunity to share his message with his compatriots Wu Fong began honoring the Heroes For Hire presence with a speech. Wu Fong regaled an account of each of their acts of bravery and heroic daring-do. At the culmination of his long-winded speech Wu Fong unveiled a large golden plaque to be embossed on the garden's new statue. The plaque was engraved with a silhouette of each of the Heroes For Hire with their name beneath the image in stylized calligraphy. All of the other guests had chipped in to afford the crafting of the plaque and the attachment to the statue, which would occur at a later date. After his presentation the Heroes are asked to stand and take a bow before their audience, whom all shout in unison for a speech from the Heroes.

Each of the gathered Heroes make a short statement of positivity and gratitude to the assembly.

-

The ensuing applause was cut short by a sudden scream. With looks of fright, the guests stumbled away from the center of the garden where thick mists and eery lights rose into the air. Rising through the growing cloud of dense fog was the spectral form of an evil-looking ancient Chinese man. His hair laid across his back in a single-tie ponytail, his dark mustache hung down below his chin, and his fingernails were freakishly long like claws. With a wicked laugh he mocked the assembly, "Ha! You fools! Rejoice while you still can, for the rise of the Imperial Dawn nears and i shall live again! Now, enjoy a sample of the sickly sweet taste of death!"

Then the spirit opened its mouth incredibly wide, so wide it was disgustingly grotesque to watch. The ghost unhinged its jaw like a snake, and outpoured a small horde of gibbering evil entities native only to the spirit world. Screaming and crying, the party guests ran about wildly as the ancient chinese descended back into the ground with a maniacal cackle and leaving his hellish minions to rend and slay.

There were 10 hellish entities that strangely resembled skeletal ghosts that began swooping down on the celebrants. The Heroes For Hire struggled to keep the panicked guests from being injured by the aggressive apparitions. Every time a spirit was injured it would simply vanish into a cloud of noxious smoke that then dissipated.

After the battle, most of the guests had ran away. "Did anybody recognize the ghost?" Moon Knight asked.

"It was the spirit who terrorized our restaurant." spoke up a terrified Eddie Wong.

"What is the Imperial Dawn?" Iron Fist then asked, but nobody in attendance seemed to have the answer.

It was then that Moon Knight shared his secret message with the rest of the HFH and it was decided they would return to the Oriental Curiosity shop to speak with Hsih Feng.

-

As Moon Knight, Colleen Wing, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, Cloak & Dagger walked down the alley towards the Oriental Antiques and Curiosity shop the grotesque form of Hsih Fen stepped out from the shadows behind a dumpster. "It is me, Hsih Feng." he said, although the sight of his deformity made it apparent as to who it had been.

"I must take you into my confidence," Hsih Feng began in an odd british cockney inflection. "I need your help. I--" he was interrupted mid-sentence by the shop's back door banging open, where in the doorway stood the elderly and blind Chinese shop owner, Lee Min. Lee Min cradled a siamese cat in his arms who he placed on the ground, where it then scampered off into the darkness of the alley with a loud drawn meow.

Lee Min scolded his servant, "Hsih Feng! You did not tell me we were expecting guests. Where are your manners?" the old man's milky white eyes peered blindly at the heroes. "Please enter. I insist you partake in some freshly brewed tea. I wish to speak with you about your quest for the clay statuettes of Buddha."

Hsih Feng hurried into the shop with his head bowed, as Lee Min held the door wide open and broadly gestured for the guests to enter.

Once the Heroes entered the shop, Hsih Feng quietly swept the floor and completely refused to acknowledge the heroes. Lee escorted the heroes through a bead curtain to a lpw table in the back room where they were all seated on silk cushions befpre Lee sat on the floor.

Once they were all seated comfortably, Lee Min called out. "A good servant knows their masters wish before it is spoken! Hsih Feng, bring tea, you fool!" lee Min then bowed graciously to his guests. "My humble apologies. It seems my servant Hsih Feng is not only a cripple but an imbecile as well."

Lee Min then spread out the cards of his deck of fortunes "I must confess," Lee Min said. "Your presence at my back door has caught me by quite a surprise, you see, for tonight is a very special night."

Lee turned over a card. It bore the visage of a brilliant rising Sun above a land of ruin. Cities lay in devastation, burning beneath the sun's rays. Speaking in a low rasping whisper, Lee Min uttered, "It is the rise of the Imperial Dawn!"

A loud CRASH behind the heroes caused them to turn about. Hsih Feng laid in a pool of hot tea and broken porcelain crockery. He writhed in anguish as he reached out for the heroes. "Master, No!" he cried.

They turned sharply on Lee Min. The elderly man stood pointing a dangerous-looking device that resembled a hand-held calculator. Before any of the heroes could react Lee Min pressed a button. Tingling electrical sparks danced across their skin, and every strand of their hair stood on end -- but in addition none of them could move a single muscle!

The heroes had all fallen victim to Lee Min's treachery and his wicked Stasis-Gun. Each of them became covered with an unearthly intensity invisible force field. Each of them could still see and hear, but had no control over their functions. The field caught them in a form of suspended animation. They had no need for food, drink, or even air. They could not intake oxygen, and therefore could not speak. The force field also nullified all of their inborn or technological powers. All within the orbs were no longer affected by the forces of gravity either, and the Heroes prostrate forms' began bobbing through the air within the shop.

Hsih Feng watched silently with a look of horror on his malformed face as Lee Min set to blindly attempting to catch and tether the captured heroes with loose kite string.

Strangely, Colleen Wing's force field begins shorting and going haywire. It was then that she noticed the static electricity surging around one of her belt pouches. Not being completely paralyzed by the stasis, Colleen reached in and withdrew the Silver Serpent statuette gift she had received at the party. Because of the molecular structure of the statuette, the silver caused the stasis field around her to malfunction and release. She was free! She quietly joined Hish Feng and watched Lee Min.

Once he held the bounds to the heroes he began towing them through the air behind him, and down through a hidden door in the basement that opened into a large sewer tunnel. Counting his steps aloud, the blind chinese continued through the twisting tunnels and passages with the Heroes For Hire floating helplessly behind him.

Hsih Feng and Colleen Wing followed closely behind through the sewer system. Hsih Feng explained that evil deeds were being perpetrated in a secret hideout beneath Chinatown, and that they involved the book titled 'A Madman's Mutterings' and his sister who was kidnapped by Lee Min.

Up ahead, Lee Min carried the Heroes through an arch that opened into a broad tunnel. The cathedral-like ceiling arched up to 50 feet above the tunnel floor. Shiny, metal lights hung from the walls and ceiling and contrasted strikingly with the grimy stone. Numerous tunnels branched off of this large central chamber. On the floor in the middle of the chamber were 20 tong ninja in green robes, kneeling on straw mats. Standing amongst them was the mighty form of the Silver Samurai.

All of them were facing away from the entrance, towards the other end of the chamber. There, a wall of blinking machinery had been erected around a pool of glowing water. The water churned with the force of hundreds of writhing snakes that swam in the pool. On an immaculate pedestal near the pool sat a large tome.

Pulling levers and flipping switches, 2 shadowy figures moved around the machinery by the pool. One of them flicked a switch, and four huge video monitors descended from the ceiling. The monitors slowly crackled to life. On each of them could be seen a separate group of warriors, some in Leopard-print costumes, while other wore red or gold robes. All of them knelt before the monitors, much like the samurai and his tong ninja.

When the 2 shadowy figures stepped out into the light to get a better look at Lee, all of the heroes For Hire could instantly recognize the villains from the countless times they had been shown on television. They were the vile duo, The Fixer and Mentallo.

The Fixer spoke to the captured Heroes For Hire, "I'm so glad you all could make it to our show! But, you're all just a bit too late. All the ancient spells have been spoken, and my machinery has performed perfectly. The Celestial One will be reborn!"

Mentallo stepped forward and added, "yes!! And with his resurrection, the Celestial One's vast empire will rise again! The warriors you see on those video screens are spread throughout the world, and have been in hiding for years waiting for this moment. Now the time has come! When the Celestial One is reborn, the Fixer and I will rule at his side! Even the Maggia will quake in fear at our rise to power!"

As if lending his ominous words credence, water erupted from the pool like a geyser. Serpents slithered in and out of the machinery, causing sizzling sparks to leap from the face of the mechanism in a cloud of smoke. Amidst the chaos, a shadowy figure rose to stand in the shallow pool. The figures menacing eyes glowed with eery red light from behind the horde of serpents that crawled across the figure. It resembled exactly the ancient Chinese spirit that had tormented the Red Star restaurany and the Oriental Gardens, only much younger and stronger in physique. Accompanied by their brothers-in-arms on the video monitors, the tongs and Silver Samurai stood and held the point of their swords to the sky, "The Celestial One has risen!! Fu Manchu Lives! Fu Manchu lives!!!" they cried in unison.

As the tong continued their creepy chant in Mandarin, all were in shock to see the servant Hsih Feng step from the darkness of the entrance tunnel. Clawing at his own face, Hish Feng tore a wig and scarred silicone mask from his head. He then ripped off his shirt and the prosthetic hump, and threw the cloth and wad of artificial flesh to the ground. He was not the crippled, and deformed Hsih Feng at all, but actually a very powerful-looking and strong, young Chinese man.

The man once believed to be Hsih Feng screamed over the noise in Chinese, "Silence!" except for the occasional hiss of steam, the entire chamber fell deathly quiet. "I have already murdered you once, Father! Now, it seems i must do so once more!"

With a look of anger, Fu Manchu spoke. "Shang-Chi, my son, can you not feel this tremendous power?! You could never stop me now. I hold the power of, and am the Celestial One!"

Shaking with anger, Fu Manchu commanded his ninja army, "Destroy them all! Rip Shang-Chi's heart from his chest! Warriors of the Imperial Dawn, arise and slay all who oppose your master!"

The 18 Si Fan assassins serving under the Silver Samurai rose and began to menacingly step closer to the incapacitated heroes and Shang-Chi. In a bold move, Shang-Chi leapt through the air and kicked the Stasis-gun controller from Lee Min's hands. It crunched against the wall, and the invisible force-fields dropped freeing the Heroes For Hire from stasis.

From the onset of the battle, Shang-Chi defended the heroes. The martial artist pummelled the Si Fan assassins left and right with flying kicks, acrobatic moves, and tremendous elbow smashes. He also leapt to grab blades out of the air, and landed to hurl them back at the attackers. The Fixer, Mentallo, and Fu Manchu all set in action their escape. After Fu Manchu retrieved the book, 'A Madman's Mutterings' they headed for one of the many exit passages that led into the lower sewer tunnels.

While the heroes had been being deceived by Lee Min in the curiosity shop, Hsih Feng(alias Shang-Chi) had been sending a secret message to Wu Fong of the events that were about to occur. As many as 10 elite members of the Tiger's Claw emerged from the tunnels to contest the villains. 

When the Heroes For Hire had been taken captive, their wrist-worn communicators (acquired in their parley with the Avengers) were temporarily deactivated. However, when the confining force fields were destroyed the communicators issued a strange signal that was immediately received by the Avengers. As the villains laid waste to the Tiger's Claw and escaped, Black Panther, Captain America, and Vision stormed the tunnels from the shop entrance and began assisting the HFH in their fight for survival.

After the battle, and the villains' escape, the HFH and Avengers investigated the ritual site. The snakes slithering about in the pool were the harmless domesticated serpents stolen from the snake house. Water from the pool had short-circuited all the machinery used in the techno-magical resurrection process. There was no valuable information to be found in the wreckage of computer. The junked video monitors were amongst the wreckage. If anyone were to trace the broadcast to determine the locations of the hidden sects of warriors, all attempts would fail as the wires had melted. In a locked side-chamber lied the emaciated corpse of Shang-Chi's sister. She had been exsanguinated, and all the blood from her body used to craft the elixir vitae Fu Manchu needed to achieve his youthful physique. In another room rested a crate, delivered from China and reading: "RELIGIOUS STATUETTES" in stencil. Inside was a casket, with the lid removed and the inhabitant vacated.