FOURTEEN

July 2nd 1991, Unknown Region, China.

(General POV)

The forest was thickly filled with tres, so much so that light couldn't reach it's bottom. Above it sat an helicopter dancing on the edge. Suddenly, two men jumped off the helicopter, and executed different landings. One of the men simply floated down like he was taking a leisurely walk, while the other brought himself to a stop by ejecting blue energy from his arms.

The blonde man John Rogers turned to his companion Xu Wenwu, whilst radiating excitement. With a bright smile, he said

"An actual mystic realm, oh I can't wait." This caused the other man to simply roll his eyes and reply.

"First, we're not sure this is the location to the entrance of the realm. Second, a man of your capabilities should not be this easily excited and third, I thought you're excitement came from having a good dream. I've never seen you this happy in the morning." At this John simply scoffed and replied

"Flying doesn't stop you from getting excited, I mean it is a mystic realm my superpowers can never give me access to that. Oh, and I don't dream, ever."

"Really?!, I didn't know that." Xu Wenwu said in surprise.

"Yeah I know it's pretty weird. So where do we begin our search?" John asks looking around as if searching for a clue.

"Why don't you first try using your x-ray vision." Wenwu suggested.

"Yeah that's right, let me see." John says as he activated his x-ray vision and began looking around the dense forest. He suddenly sighted an old man sitting on a man made pond by his lonesome. With a victorious smile on his face, he beckoned on Wenwu to follow him.

"This way, I see something unusual." And began flying into the forest, Wenwu in tow. Upon reaching there, the trees slowly parted as if they were giving him a path to follow. And trudge on they did, although John made sure to keep his eyes on the old man as they proceeded.

Halfway to their destination, things went awry. The trees surrounding them suddenly became hostile and they both lost track of themselves. Both of them having abilities beyond normalcy ensured their survival. Xu Wenwu managed to fight for his life till he got flung out of the forest, he had been hit so hard he got knocked out with internal injuries.

John on the other hand being as powerful as he is, was able to shrug of any attack from the trees. Unfortunately their aggressive display had earned them his ire and with the use of his sonic scream, he laid waste to every single tree block his path to the old man. However to John's surprise, the trees were quickly reviving and even multiplying in numbers. And not willing to fight trees all day he quickly dashed to the clearing the old man sat in, now watching him.

Upon arriving in front of him, John found that his tongue must be held somewhere by the proverbial cat. How he would begin to explain to the man what he was there for, he didn't know where to begin with. It was the man himself that broke the silence between them

"Well, you have damaged the area in search of something, so why are you here?" He asked John.

"Uhm, I'm here in search of a mystic realm of sorts. As for why I came directly to you, well an old and wise looking man wearing ancient clothes and sitting by his lonesome is kind of a beacon to people like me." John finally replied.

"Hmmm, wise looking he calls me." The old man muttered to himself. Turning back to John, the man says

"Child you are right about me being connected to what you call a mystic realm. In fact the reason I'm here is to act as a guardian for any who come looking to trouble us. You see we are a separationist people. We isolate ourselves from your world and do not welcome visitors."

The elders words caused a frown to appear on John's face. He felt extremely displeased by the current situation. Not wanting to give up, he frantically asks

"But why?, why isolate yourselves?" At this the mystic guardian simply shrugged.

"That has been our way since ancient times" The ancient man answered stroking his long white beard and watched as anger began to cover John's handsome features. He quickly spoke before things got awry

"Calm down child. I cannot let you in without permission from the elders. If you force your way in, my people will fight you to the end and while we might lose, that is a chance we are willing to take." He promised John, while also preparing to enter a battle stance.

Hearing the old man's words, John shook his head back and forth not wanting to behave like his old self will. Memories of his past actions came at him with full force, drawing tears to his eyes. He began pleading to the old man

"You don't understand, I need this. The things I've done, you can't imagine. I've hurt and killed so many. I need a fresh start badly but I'm not willing to kill for it. Just please help me,I beg of you." The old man began to feel sympathy for John. Slowly reaching forward he held the broken man's shoulders in his hands and began to speak

"My boy it seems you've been through a lot, and for that I am sorry. Personally there is not much i can do for you, but at the very least I can speak to the elders on your behalf. I will make no promises but if I speak to them about your situation then perhaps we can come to an agreement for you to stay with us. But before I do this, are you sure this is what you want?" He asked, and seeing John nod in affirmation, he gave the broken man a smile and introduced himself,

"My name is Tang Ming by the way." And John replied

"I'm John Rogers."

...

Night time

Ten rings compound, Unknown region, China.

After retrieving the unconscious Xu Wenwu from the entrance of the mystic forest, he was placed in his private quarters and left to heal from his injuries. They knew the rings will help with that.The second in command of the organisation stood guard outside the rooms waiting for his master to awaken.

Hearing movement coming from the room, he walked in eyes searching for an ambitious intruder trying to kill his master and steal the rings for themselves. But he was met with his master sitted on the bed staring at him. Bowing to the ground, he spoke

"You are awake master, sorry for my coming in without your permission. I thought perhaps that someone was trying to kill you whilst you slept." Xu Wenwu simply waved his hand, signaling for him to shut up. Standing and walk over to a chair Wenwu asked

"How long was I asleep?."

"9 hours, master."

Now properly sitted, Xu Wenwu stared at the ceiling above the room in thought. Turning to look at his second in command once more, he asked

"Where is John?"

"We do not know master, you were the only one we found on the edge of the forest." He replied, shocking Wenwu.

"He can't possibly be dead. He is the most powerful being in know of." Xu Wenwu said now truly terrified about how he escaped just barely. Quickly calming himself, he said

"Does not matter, we will continue our search on how to get to the mystic realm. There must be a way and we will find it."

"What shall we do before then, master."

"Till then. We wait."