Chapter 34: Colleen, Left Alone
"But..." Coulson hesitated, and then said: "By then, New York would already be a battlefield, and people would suffer great losses! We're looking at countless possible casualties."
"Coulson."
The one-eyed man looked up and said: "With us already knowing of an evil organization such as the Hand, why do you think we haven't taken action?"
Coulson took a while to think, using all of his recently gathered information and replied! "Their Five Fingers are really well hidden, so we can't cut the head right now. They also have many branches and fodders, too many for it to many any sense to take them down from the bottom up. I believe these are the reasons?"
"You're missing out on the most important reason! The Five Fingers of the Hand are always scattered across the world! Even if we can cut a finger, the Hand itself would continue to exist."
As he talked, the one-eyed man raised his right hand gathering his five-fingers slowly into a fist: "Over the years, I've been looking for an opportunity to take them all out at once. This Iron Fist, Danny Rand, is my best bait!"
"…"
Coulson still couldssx not bear the idea of risking innocent lives, but he just nodded silently.
...
At eleven o'clock that evening, on the second floor of Lee's Chinese restaurant, Saint who was meditating in the quiet room suddenly opened his eyes: "A strong Ki… this is… Danny Rand? He's back!"
He leaped from the floor, and then after careful sensing he muttered to himself: "Sure enough, Colleen is with him… but wait, are they fighting?"
Saint's eyes were opened wide opened. Surprised, he rushed out of the quiet room, ignoring the stairs that led to the first floor and directly jumping of the balcony. In mid-air, he adjusted his balance, and landed steadily on the floor. He coped with the impact, and then rushed immediately towards Colleen's Dojo.
Right then, Lorna, who had heard some commotion on the 2nd floor, went up just to find it empty: "Boss? What happened?"
Of course, she couldn't sense Danny or Colleen from that distance.
In less than half a minute, Saint had reached the Dojo. Downstairs, all doors were closed, so he just stepped on the lower edge of a window, climbed up as if walking on the wall. On the 3rd floor's level, he found a glass non protected window, through which he jumped in, shattering it, and landing into the Dojo shouting: "Stop!"
Colleen, who was holding a Katana with both hands, and Danny, whose hand was shining golden, were both shocked. After screaming "Who?" in unison, they both exclaimed: "Saint?"
"Yes it's Saint! What happened? Why are you fighting like this?" He did not hesitate to get in between the two.
Hearing his question, Danny's surprised expression immediately turned into an angry one: "You should ask your old friend! She's actually with the Hand! She's been deceiving us all along!"
Saint had already known that, but was surprised with Rand's reaction. Normally, Colleen should have helped him a lot by now, getting him out of the Hand's stronghold and saving him from a lot of trouble. So, why isn't he letting go of her affiliation with the Hand? Why would he be so angry?"
"Danny, are you calm down, is there any misunderstanding?"
Saint looked at Colleen. As Danny remained silent, he had already stepped forward, getting her hand on Saint's arm, as if sending him away: "Saint, you don't have to interfere. Didn't he just tell you? I'm with the Hand. He's from Kunlun, so we are sworn enemies. You get out of it."
This girl… Did she just abandon everything with the foundation of her life collapsing?
As Saint was thinking about that, Colleen was pushing him away. However, she felt like she was pushing a wall, so she decided to further persuade him. But then, he was the one to push her instead: "Alright just shut up! Stand behind me!"
He pushed her so hard that she would have fallen if she didn't try to balance herself, but that did not concern her. As she looked at Saint, she wondered; his back was not that wide; but what is it? What is it that makes if feel warm and safe behind him?
Initially, she had felt that everything that she believed in was fake; everyone she could have trusted had abandoned her. But no; there was as least one person willing to unconditionally stand in front of her!
On the other side, Danny clenched his teeth staring at Saint: "Saint, you've heard her! If you are still willing to protect her, you'll be my enemy!"
"Danny, think about it! Colleen is not that kind of person!" Saint stepped forward, trying to convince Danny: "Have you never thought that she might be the one being deceived?"
Danny sneered and did not plan to answer Saint. He raised his shining right fist and threatened: "Saint, you did say that you were no match for me if I ever was to summon my Iron Fist! Get out of the way; I don't want to hurt you!"
Over half a month ago, that was true. As for now…
Saint wasn't going to leave things up to chance. He did not say anything, and raised his hands to his forehead immediately: "Solar Flare!"
As he spoke, dazzling light shrouded every corner of the Dojo. The unprepared Danny and Colleen both screamed at the same time; their eyes being hit.
Saint put his hands down, and walked quietly behind Danny Rand. He aimed at his neck with a Knifehand strike, just to bring him down for now and deal with this matter later. He knew that even if he couldn't calm Danny down after he wakes up, the latter shouldn't be able to summon the Iron Fist again for a while with his current level.