Deceit and Disguise

Romulus saw red.

Red and a beast— tearing through his flesh and shattering his bones. 

Romulus laughed despite his body crying in pain. He was enjoying every little bit of it!

He has intended to kill James and use his death to turn Akihiro into a beast… just like him.

But he never expected to meet a beast worse than him.

*Gaahh*

He splattered blood as James' claws dug into his guts.

He knew James was strong, courageous and beastly. But never in his wildest dreams would he have expected James to be a berserk mutant beast.

Romulus was confident in his victory before James showed up. But the young'un came prepared… and ten times stronger than before.

*ROAR!!!* 

James shoved his claws inside his throat— making Romulus cough blood.

"WHERE IS MY SON!"

Romulus was barely able to push James away. But as he tried to recover, James punctured his barely healed stomach. 

"Where is my son…"

…

…

[[Marcellus Hanley]]

Being back in China felt weird. It was one of the countries that I rarely visited. But to find Shifu, it was a must visit.

China… despite being religious and following old traditions— was a country that grew rapidly. 

And after walking for an hour… I found his kwoon.

It hadn't changed a bit from the outside, it was the same old traditional kwoon. There were no guards outside the doors, but as I stepped in— I was greeted by a bunch of new faces.

None of whom I recognised. 

Fu Manchu kept the ones he trusted the most to guard his hidden wealth, while he kept the newly assigned to guard the compound. Every two years, he changed the compound guards and that was exactly the reason I recognised none of these faces.

Once the guards had completed their two years of scouting and protecting the compound… gaining Shifu's trust. He gave them appropriate jobs. 

As I walked towards the hall, one of the men stopped me.

"Hush! Shifu is busy, the kwoon is closed today."

Annoying… No matter who guards, they are always annoying.

With a smile, I replied. "I have come to visit Shifu for a very important reason. I have trained under him in the past." 

The guards looked at me in suspicion. 

"Shifu would never teach a white man. Get lost."

Ah, yes… The racism.

I didn't let go of my smile. "You just need to tell him that his student, Marcellus... is here to meet him."

They looked at each other and then at me. 

"We cannot do that. Now, scram!"

*Sigh*

"I don't have time for this bullshit." 

Without wasting any more time, I punched them in the gut— making them cough before throwing up blood.

"Annoying…"

The rest of the guards tried to attack me but all of them ended up the same way— knocked out.

I walked through the halls and strode towards his chamber. 

But as I entered the inner chambers, I was greeted by some known faces. And I was glad about that… I had no intention of facing any more of Shifu's students.

"Shifu is in his chamber." 

One of the inner guards said and I gave him a nod.

"Thank you."

While the exterior had almost no change, the interior of the kwoon had seen moderate alterations.

The ancient painting and swords hung on the walls to this date but the rest… from the flooring to the wooden carvings had changed.

I passed many wooden sculptures and many candlelit pathways. The inside of the kwoon was massive as the majority of it went down… 

It was kind of an underground place… and a very big one at that.

But I walked and finally reached his chamber. The chamber that no one can enter without his permission.

I was about to knock but paused as I heard his voice.

"Enter."

A smile formed on my face… Of course, he knew I was here.

I opened the sliding door and entered the place.

"Shifu." I gave the man a bow. "It's good to see that you are healthy."

Fu Manchu, or Zheng Zu as the rest knows him… was a master of disguise, martial arts and assassination. 

But above all, he was a man of his words.

"I once gave you my word… Shifu. Word that I would return and pay the remaining debt."

Fu Manchu didn't look at me and kept sharpening his sword.

"You are here sooner than I expected." He said. "But it doesn't matter."

He turned and looked at me. And to my surprise— or it would have been a surprise if I didn't know him— He looked 20 years younger.

"You succeeded." I said. "Congratulations, Shifu."

The man had obtained immortality. Not one bound by the need to sacrifice souls… but actual immortality.

He nodded. "I cannot die of old age or diseases… but I can still be killed. But it would take a lot to kill me."

I can vouch… Even in the comics, despite only being a martial artist and a sorcerer— who is far weaker than the rest of the sorcerers of this world… he survived to the very end. Killing Fu Manchu was one of the most difficult tasks and even the overly powerful beings could barely touch him.

"But your vibranium piece helped me a lot. The reason for success in such a short period of time was because of you." He rubbed his chin. "So tell me my student, what brings you here? The debt was something that you forced upon yourself. The vibranium was enough for the martial arts."

True. The debt was something that I imposed on myself, but I had to build a good relationship with him. And to do that, I had to pay a good price.

"Your teachings are far above a piece of metal, Shifu." 

Well, a small piece of metal. 

"So, allow me to pay the rest." Saying that, I took out a piece of perfectly packed anti-metal. "This is just a sample. I will send you more later as delivering this is far more dangerous than one might think."

Curious about the item, he picked it up and instantly opened it. 

And to his surprise, the moment he opened the packaging— the sword near him melted and vaporised.

He looked at the metal and then at me.

"This is…" He asked with wide eyes.

"It's exactly what you think, Shifu. It's a variant of the vibranium… called the anti-metal. And it works in the opposite manner of the standard vibranium." 

He nodded at my explanation. 

"This is… priceless." He said and then looked at me curiously. "I won't ask how you got this but… what else do you want in return."

He is Fu Manchu… Of course, he is not stupid. And it would be my stupidity if I don't get to the point.

"I am… in a bit of trouble, Shifu." 

He raised an eyebrow.

"I want you to teach me the art of disguise and deceit." I said and he smiled.

"I thought so." He said. "It is related to your appearance, correct? And because you don't look a day older than when you left this place."

As I said… he is Fu Manchu.

Without lying, I nodded. I read his mind and he was coming out with countless speculations… and it was scary how accurate a few of those were.

"I told you the day when you became my student that I would never teach anyone sorcery… but thankfully you are not asking for that. The art of deceit and disguise is an ancient technique which has no relation with magic. So…" He looked at me sternly. "How much of this… anti-metal are you willing to pay."

I have heaps of anti-metal… mountains even. The savage lands are filthy rich when it comes to anti-metal and I have an open trade with them.

But…

"I can give you ten times the amount you hold in your hands." 

He had a solid chunk of anti-metal in his hands. And ten times that amount would be enough to make a sword and a gauntlet. But giving him more than that… would be foolish.

He examined the piece of metal in his hand. 

"Two weeks." He said. "In two weeks you will be able to hide the fact that you are unaging. But once you reach old age, it will be up to you… how you handle the future." 

I gave the man a full bow. 

"I am forever grateful, Shifu." 

And with that… I have the final piece.

…

…

Laying on the ground, Romulus barely had a hold of his consciousness. He was bleeding everywhere, with cuts and holes in his entire body.

His eyelids were closing but he forced himself awake. He wouldn't die… not unless James got rid of every fibre in his body— he was immortal after all.

James stood next to him, huffing and holding a sleeping boy in his arms. 

Akihiro had grown and James knew it. He also knew that it would take a long time for the kid to get used to his father. But it was something he was going to invest in.

"Never… in my wildest dreams… would have I thought *cough* That you… James. *cough* would be able to defeat me." Romulus smiled in pain. "So what now? Kill me?"

He asked and James wanted to kill him more than anything in this world. But he shook his head.

"No… Your future lies in the hands of another man." His words confused Romulus. "Whether you live or die, will be up to him."

Romulus didn't like the fact that another man was going to be in charge of his life. He wanted James to kill him right there. But James declined.

"You don't die that easily, Romulus." James smiled. "I can vouch that the future which awaits you is far worse than death."

He had gone through Jester's experiments… And he knew how terrifying they were.

"No!" Romulus roared as the blood gushed out of him. "Kill me. *cough* now!"

He demanded but James merely chuckled. 

"No… Romulus no. You will suffer more than I did. You will regret your every damn choice."

"No, you— *Gakkk*"

His words came to a halt as James slid open his throat with his claws. 

"You won't die from that. You are Romulus, but that was necessary to shut you up… and to make it easier to carry." James laughed as he patted Akihiro.

"Jester did me a favour… and now I returned it." He smiled. "We are even."

He smiled at his son. "It's over, Bub. It's over. We can go home now."

But even if he said that… he knew that it was not over. He knew that things might turn even more hectic from now on. But he wanted to believe… that he could live in peace with his son.

But that was no more than a distant dream.

__________________________________________________________________________

[[A/N: Next chapter, tomorrow.

Marvel Facts: (1) Dormammu caused the Great Fire of London in 1666.

(2) Everything about Franklin Richards… His future started with the Cosmic bug villain, Annihilus. Annihilus is a beyond omega level cosmic entity that possesses the cosmic control rod. It was because of the cosmic control rod that Franklin survived and gained so many powers.