Family Reunion (S2E20)

Fuck! FuckfuckfuckfuckfuckFUCK!
 
I’ve tried so hard to keep my composure, to protect my peace, to uphold the will of Foo.
 
But I can’t, not today. FUCK!
 
Venturing into Triad strongholds is always a risk, I know that. I've already had a chance encounter with my Uncle, which yes, did shake me to my core in that moment, but I survived and emerged victorious. Years of training as a monk has allowed me to harness my Chi for good and heal my mind that's otherwise been left fractured by my past. Under Foo's light, I am balanced, restored - strong as a blade of grass that remains rooted, but allows itself to bend with the wind.
 
I should be stronger than this. I am stronger than this.
 
But the moment I locked eyes with my mother - pools of gold, set alight with quiet but unshakeable fury - I feel something deep inside me unravelling, a knot of control loosening thread by thread. And suddenly, I was a child again, weak and powerless under her iron-fist.
 
The Misfits were the only thing keeping me anchored as we approached my mother, who was meditating within her dojo. We've faced all sorts of nefarious opponents before, but I've seen her wrath, her unfathomable power - the Triad executives are on a completely different level.
 
A single thought rang through my mind: I need to keep them alive.
 
"Yifeng."
 
"Mother... We need to talk."
 
I knew we'd never beat her in a physical fight, so the power of language, a tool I have championed since the start, was our only option.
 
But Mighty Foo, I tried. I tried so hard. I told her we weren’t there for a fight, begged her to not hurt them. With tears stinging my eyes, I explained how the Misfits - even Ko - are my family now. My real family, more than she ever was.
 
But she didn’t, wouldn’t, hear me.
 
Her eyes locked onto Ko, who unfortunately wore her Yakuza uniform (a big oversight on our part, but I digress). “What are you doing with the enemy?” she exclaimed, her voice resolute and rising in volume. “They must be terminated.”
 
No matter what I said, she didn’t budge. Her vitriolic words cut through me like a blade, a familiar feeling from a distant past. Coward. Traitor. Disappointment.
 
"You have run away from the Triad and all your duties. You forget everything " My mother leaned closer, her dragon breath hot against my fur. "You remember that you belong to us - to me. Return at once, Yifeng. "
 
Striking back, I yelled: “No I don’t! I am not a possession, a weapon to be used! Why can’t you understand that?” Yet she kept carrying on, her Mokuna-esque pride preventing her from conceding to anyone, let alone her defector, traitorous daughter.
 
The rage swelled up before I could stop it - and I slapped her.
 
Silence.
 
My heart sunk as I watched my mother, unmoving. We stared, true sadness lingering for just an instance…. And then, just like that, it was gone - replaced by rage that stoked fires in those golden eyes.
 
Fuck.
 
If things couldn’t get ANY WORSE, my uncle barged into the room like a storm. His eyes burned into mine as he grabbed me like I weighed nothing, crushing the air from my lungs. “Kill all of them,” he said.
 
Even me.
 
Everything dissolved into chaos. His Dragon Wing Chi Wave tore through the room - pure energy coursing through his veins and unleashing such terrifying and unfathomable power. The Misfits, all of us, we fought back with all our might, but it was hopeless. Arthom crumpled until the might of his Chi in spite of his mass, now rendered unconscious on the floor. Ko was slammed into the wall, bloodied and crushed to a pulp. And G and Illyana - gone. Just… gone. Fuck, they were dead! And it’s ALL my fault!
 
In the midst of the carnage, I got glimpses of my Mother, who doesn’t participate. On the outskirts she simply just stood there, not fighting. Hesitating. In those golden eyes, for the first time in my life, I see doubt. Regret. Remorse.
 
But it was too late.
 
All seems futile as the Triad guards flooded in like tidal waves, knives drawn, pressed against the Misfits’ throats. I watched, helpless, as blades pierced flesh and blood began to spill... I was the only one untouched - spared.
 
I think… I think that was her doing.
 
As all hope seemed to be lost, purple portals ripped through time-space, swallowing the Misfits one by one. Whoever, whatever, conjured them saved them all at the very nick of time.
 
And so there I was, surrounded by the Triad, under my uncle’s brutal shadow. My mother watched silently from the edge.
 
I’d never felt so completely, utterly alone.