Chapter 010

The Hand

From what Alex knew about it, it was one of the major crime organizations in Marvel.

Their origins were Japanese and in simple words, they were a ninja organization trying to find ways to become immortal. 

Other than the standard things that evil organizations are known for, Hand was also known for creating mindless ninjas from potential candidates.

As for Colleen wing, she was one of the people who felt indebted to Hand and her master was one of the leaders of the evil organization.

'She later betrays her master and chooses Iron Fist over him. Even in comics, she was a street superhero, I think.'

Alex thought about the information he knew about Colleen.

He assembled all the information he knew of her past, present and the upcoming future and pondered on whether he should approach her to learn martial arts.

Although he had no intentions to make himself noticed to Hand, he knew that it would be hard for him to find someone who can teach him genuine martial arts.

There were other dojos and training centers he had found but he didn't know if they taught genuine martial arts and he didn't remember any of them from the comics or the MCU.

All of them promised 100 percent authenticity.

There was even one dojo whose name was 'The true taekwondo centre.'

Looking through the advertisements of these dojos really made Alex doubt them. He didn't want to learn martial arts to win a competition or beat up a bully.

His purpose was to fight crime and for that reason, it was necessary he learns from a genuine martial artist.

'It seems like going to the Chikara dojo is my best bet.'

Alex decided, even if there was an anxious feeling looming in his heart.

After all, he still didn't like the idea of going into danger but he had no other option. Learning genuine martial arts was an important step to become a hero.

The rest of the day was pretty normal for Alex.

Although lessons were mostly boring for him, he didn't entirely hate the fact that he was back to a high school life.

In his previous life, if he could call it that, high school was the period where he had acted mostly carefree, avoiding most of the worries about his future and career.

It was only after he was in university that he had grown serious.

Even if he enjoyed the familiarity of being in high school again, it didn't stop him from working towards one of his objectives which was getting close to Peter.

Thankfully, it was easy to approach Peter without looking out of place.

He was able to get a chance to talk to him during the chemistry class together. It was a short conversation about an experiment but it was a rather nice beginning.

Alex left it at that, trying to not seem too pushy.

His plan was to slowly build more familiarity and trust between them and when Peter finally became Spiderman, he would have a trusted ally on his side.

The plan was simple but Alex had no doubt that it would work.

'I just have to keep it simple.'

* * *

After school, Alex decided to take a train to go to Chinatown.

He texted his mom that he needed to complete an assignment and he will stay in the library till evening. He didn't like making an excuse but he knew that this was just the start.

No one knows what type of excuses he will have to make in the future to sustain his hero's life.

Apart from that, he also wanted to ask Peter whether they can hang out together later or not.

But Peter was nowhere to be found.

Alex guessed that Peter was probably in the middle of making his web shooters and his costume. That's why he left the school as soon as it ended.

'Looks like it won't be long before New York gets its friendly neighborhood Spiderman.'

He thought as he took the train to Chinatown.

Chikara dojo was in a desolate area in Chinatown. While going through a bunch of ramen and antique shops, Alex finally found the old dojo.

The sound of a train passing by could be heard as he walked through the stairs of the dojo. The stairs creaked as he stepped on them like old bones with no exercise.

The interior of the building was old and the paint had already lost most of its colour, giving the whole building an old look.

'It's rare to find a place like New York.'

He thought as he finally reached the first floor hallway.

He walked a few steps before the sound of students thrusting their swords through the air reached his ears.

He opened the rattling door and looked inside.

Few rows of students were practicing swinging the sword. Overseeing them was a Asian woman with sharp eyes and a ponytail.

The woman looked at him as he entered the door, her eyes glancing at his school bag and then his face.

'Colleen wing. She doesn't really look that different from the Iron Fist show.'

Alex thought as he waited for the practice to end.

After a few minutes, Colleen signaled the end of the practice.

"Let's end it here for today. Make sure to practice when you get time. And Mark, bring the fee tomorrow." 

She said as all the students bowed a little and left through the door, brushing past Alex in the process.

After they left, Colleen finally focused all her attention on him.

"Who are you?"

"I saw an online advertisement about the dojo. I wish to learn." Alex said, trying to look as confident as he can.

He wondered whether he should do one of the poses from old kung fu movies that he had seen, but decided against it.

"I don't mind teaching you, but you at least should introduce yourself."

"Oh yes. My name is Alex Krown."

"Colleen wing."

She said and walked close to Alex, assessing his body.

"Are you the master here?" He asked, trying to ignore her snake-like gaze. He knew that martial artists can know if someone's body can go through the training or not, but he didn't know whether Colleen had the ability too.

In the Iron fist series, she was mostly just an ally of him and her capabilities were never explored.

"Yes, I'm the master here." She said with a nod. "If you want to learn here, you can do so. But before that, I have to know why you want to learn. If I'm satisfied with your answer, we can do the registration."