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Location: Drakensberg Mountains, South Africa – One Month Later
The wind howled over jagged cliffs and high granite ridges. Hann stood at the edge of a cliff, his staff plunged into the earth beside him, its golden metal humming in resonance with something beneath.
Below, a hidden cave mouth opened into a yawning darkness—the Rift Chamber.
Beside him stood Naledi, now dressed in reinforced tactical armor lined with energy-absorbing mesh. Azari, still cloaked in black, had goggles perched on her head, scanning heat signatures underground.
"It's still growing," Azari said, looking at the crystalline veins pulsing faintly inside the cave walls.
Naledi knelt and touched the ground. "This place is alive."
"No," Hann said softly. "It's awakening."
The land here was old—older than Wakanda's vibranium, older than even the myths of Sun Wukong. The Rift wasn't just a mine or a cave. It was a threshold—a node between realities. His staff responded to it. The rings around his arm had grown brighter every day since arriving.
They would build here.
---
Flashback – 3 Days Earlier
Soweto Township – Hann's Foster Home
The house hadn't changed much—except now, it felt smaller. His foster mother, Gogo Lindiwe, was still strong, stubborn, and sharp-tongued as ever.
"You left like a storm, boy," she said in Zulu, her hand on her hip. "And now you return with glowing sticks and strange people."
"Ngiyaxolisa, Gogo," Hann replied humbly. (I'm sorry, Grandma.)
She eyed him carefully. "Ufuna ukwakha ini eNtabeni?" (What do you want to build in the mountains?)
Hann knelt before her, something ancient and respectful in his eyes.
"Ukuzivikela… nezwe elingcono." (A defense… and a better world.)
She said nothing for a long while. Then nodded once, and handed him a folded cloth—his old blanket from childhood, embroidered with stars.
"You'll need warmth. Even gods get cold."
---
Back to Present – Rift Base Construction
A week of work later, the site buzzed with activity. Portable modules were being flown in via stealth drops funded by Kazmierczak's loan. Azari repurposed the drones into semi-autonomous builders. Naledi set up a basic medbay and training grounds.
But something strange began happening.
People started showing up.
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First Arrival – Sokovia
His name was Aleksander Vanko. A Sokovian meta-hybrid with raw kinetic amplification powers. A former rebel child soldier, the trauma still burned behind his eyes.
He walked into camp half-dead, carrying an old photo of Hann.
"I saw you… in my sleep," he said in broken English. "You pulled me from the fire."
Hann recognized the token in Aleksander's palm—another shard like his own, glowing red.
They shared a look.
No more words were needed.
---
Second Arrival – Kalahari Fringe
She called herself Inkanyamba. A Namibian-born mutant whose body could shift into living mist. Her dialect flowed between Xhosa and Sotho. When Hann approached her, she spoke first.
"Ungu yena, akunjalo?" (You are the one, aren't you?)
"Yebo," Hann replied. (Yes.)
She held up a broken medallion—a fragment of something ancient, inscribed in Mandarin.
---
The Dream Web
The Ancient One had told him that the Rift acted like a spider's web stretched across time and space. It drew echoes of itself across different lives—individuals who, though unknown to each other, carried echoes of resistance, will, and potential.
Hann wasn't creating a team.
He was answering a call.
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Nightfall – Around the Campfire
Aleksander, Inkanyamba, Naledi, and Azari sat quietly around the fire. The night was still. Only the mountains breathed.
Hann sat cross-legged, his staff across his knees, and finally spoke.
"I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't want to lead. But something out there wants us to be ready… and I know I'm not the only one who feels it."
He looked at each of them.
"You've all seen things—felt it. We're not mistakes or orphans or monsters. We're preparation. For what's coming."
Inkanyamba narrowed her eyes. "And what is coming?"
Hann raised his head, looking into the stars.
"Kang."
They all froze.
---
Far Beyond – The Void
Kang stood beside a mirror showing dozens of futures. In some, Hann's group died young. In others, they broke time itself. But one vision glowed brighter—where Hann refused to be a pawn in anyone's game.
Kang clenched his fist.
"Then let him lead… until he's useful."
---
Elsewhere – The Meeting of Blood
Location: Malaysia – The House of the Ten Rings
Wenwu stared at the screen.
His long-lost son—Han Zhenyu, born before Shang-Chi, lost to a mutiny and believed dead—was now building something powerful in Africa.
The woman beside him—Jiang Li, watching from the shadows—spoke first.
"He carries your rage… but something more."
Wenwu nodded. "He will come. And when he does… we'll see if he remembers who he is."
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Final Scene – Secret Wakandan Observation Station
Two Dora Milaje agents watched satellite feeds of the Rift Base's strange activity.
One of them tilted her head. "He speaks Xhosa?"
"And Sotho," said the other. "Fluently."
They exchanged a glance.
"Notify Shuri."
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End of Chapter 8