Disclaimer: I don't own Three Kingdoms or Dynasty Warriors or any related media based on Three Kingdoms. Koei still owns Dynasty Warriors.
#MakeWuGreatAgain
Chapter 1: Popularity Poll Fallout
*Flashback 2008*
The celebration on the Battle of Chi Bi which happened nearly 1,800 years ago had been the grand focus on Chinese media with John Woo's Red Cliff movie being promoted. Koei starts promoting Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires with Zhou Yu as the coverboy in Japan.
"For once, it's not Zhao Yun or Lu Bu," Sun Quan said, standing with his swore brother Zhou Tai next to him.
"They don't have anything to do with Chi Bi, so what?" Gan Ning crossed his arms joining among the Wu officers watching the Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires opening starring Zhou Yu.
Sun Shangxiang been in a bad mood amongst the group. Her outfit, her redesign, it's wrong, everything is wrong about her new look and that's not the worst part.
"Why….?" Sun Shangxiang muttered.
"Does anyone notice how ridiculous our outfits are since the changes in the vanilla? I never worn such armor this bulky in my life," Taishi Ci been refitting his armor everyday to endure the uncomfortable weight.
Lu Meng chuckled and reminded Ziyi something, "You should check out Cao Ren's armor. It's atrocious and people were already calling him a Megaman villain."
"And I'm tinkerbell!" Sun Shangxiang's outrage brought everyone's attention to her.
"I have one fan and a time displaced dress, Shangxiang. Like everyone here is looking out of time," Xiao Qiao glares at Shangxiang.
Zhou Yu been too occupied with watching the DW 6 Empires opening to hear his wife uttering a science word. He didn't pay attention to her own rants when the 6th installment came out. Right now, this year is suppose to be his year, his spotlight in the Three Kingdoms media. How will Koei represent the greatest hero of SunWu and one of the innovators of naval combat in military history?
"My wife called, she demands an explanation for being cut on the roster!" Sun Ce rushed to the group when the two women were arguing about their redesigns.
"After my debut, Koei didn't touch me until I get a three stick nunchunks to replace the generic halberd we all wielded historically," Ling Tong showed the group his new weapon.
The group's babbling still did not bring Zhou Yu's attention as he continues to watch the opening and describe it's theme. He leads the group whom are 4 officers of different forces, giving and taking orders on a daily routine. The next thing he saw was himself fighting brigands from either the plateau near Huiji or some village. This shows the immersion on officer missions in the game.
"What I've done in history, I was cherished by the people of Jiangdong. However, why do I feel like this dedication to me isn't enough?" Zhou Yu thought.
He remembers the unforgettable box art of Dynasty Warriors 5 Empires and the glorification of Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi rivalry. Compare to that, this isn't superficial. But, it's better than no Wu centric opening, not like the one on DW 5 Xtreme Legends where it's basically Gan Ning x Ling Tong featurette. They aren't even true friends in history.
Sun Shangxiang is still arguing about her look and his wife tried to remind Shangxiang about her sister's absence from the series.
Dynasty Warriors 6 was considered a dark day in Musou history.
Now…..
Zhou Yu's movements hasten throughout the hallway after finding out his place in the 2017 Dynasty Warriors Popularity Poll. He's 30th place, below Guo Jia, Lu Xun, Jia Chong, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, and Fa Zheng. Not even a single Wu officer besides Lu Xun and Da Qiao are at a higher place. Since the changes in Dynasty Warriors 6, Wu was just the 'Pretty Boy Force', 'Campy and hard to take serious' and 'Only good at betraying their Chi Bi allies' been the recurring theme on their kingdom.
The DW 8 Wu hypothetical ending doesn't change how this poll affecting him right now. What's good of getting a decent storyline if Koei is soon going to turn Wu into the bad guy kingdom in the end.
"It's all the same, this direction, our isolation culture, and the scrutiny Lu Meng's plan brought us. It's time Akihiro Suzuki comes out and reveal who he really is as a Three Kingdoms game creator," Zhou Yu thought.
After he passed by Motonari, who is talking to his sons Takakage and Motoharu, he soon descend upon the office of the creative director himself. Nearly a decade after promoting Red Cliffs and it's online game spin off along with the Empire's expansion of Dynasty Warriors 6, he had long been out of the TK media spotlight. He's only relevant for Chi Bi now.
"We'll have a Romance of the Three Kingdoms popularity poll for series 30th anniversary in the future. All 700 officers from ROTK 13 Puk and the expansion will be localized for the first time in English on April 25th along with the first ever English release on Xbox One. Why do westerners still support that Xbox console? Over saturating First Person Shooters is bad for business. Well, we'll continue to give quality action and cookie cutting storylines from the Warriors franchise for years to come! Good bye!" the Omega Force Executive Officer hang up and noticed Zhou Yu been standing next to his desk overhearing his cell conversation.
Akihiro fold his hands together on the desk politely. He saw the Hero of Chi Bi not looking pleased. This makes him curious on what brings this man into his office right now.
"Are you satisfied with the way our kingdom's direction is going?" Zhou Yu asked him.
The director looks at Gongjin with great concernment. It's not every day someone comes here and asks him how he feels about the way each kingdom's direction is going after the Dynasty Warriors 8 series is finished.
"Is there something wrong with the Wu kingdom?" Akihiro Suzuki clears his throat after asking. This is a very unexpected reaction he's getting from one of the greatest heroes in Ancient China.
"More frequently, there's a lot of wrong with our kingdom. Not just that fanatic poll that's been unveil, but what's the deal with this god forsaken joke on us being in the Kick The Dog trope once your goons started over glorify Jin's unification. For starters, using Chi Bi as a shoe horn to pissing my legacy in Jin's Hypothetical final stage!" Zhou Yu erupted.
"Ooh…it didn't mean to add insult to your name. It's just….Jin figured out the'Jiang Wei Problem'," Akihiro stated.
Is he serious? Did that just came out of the mouth of the Dynasty Warriors director? Zhou Yu could not believe what he's hearing! Finally, the true is out! After a decade since DW 6, they used Chi Bi as a plot device for Jin unification!
"What does Jiang Wei got to do with Chi Bi!? He was still on diapers while I've been burning almost 200,000 perturbed troops under Cao Cao! Those 200,000 were the Han imperial army that man tyrannized! That kid doesn't know anything about the importance of that battle! Sima Zhao, Sima Shi, Wang Yuanji, Jia Chong, Wen Yang, and their Jin Emperor and Empress should stay off my only dignity to that era!" Zhou Yu snarled.
Akihiro stuttered and tried to explain the fun in it, but failed, "B..but, it's meant to be comedic in the end!"
"That's a poor taste of ending Jiangdong's 83 years of independent from the central government over Kongming's stupid successor," Zhou Yu crossed his arms and looking as insulted as ever.
Akihiro retreat from Zhou Yu's gaze and thought hard over the direction on ending Jin's hypothetical route. He didn't expected this to come after him after the results of this year's Dynasty Warriors Popularity poll.
"But, if we follow history…." Akihiro winced.
"Then Wu had to be the bad guy kingdom in the end right? Well, Sun Hao was a disgraceful successor, but that was contributed to his grandfather disinheriting his father and his aunt manipulating the Wu succession before Sun Quan died," Zhou Yu nodded.
Akihiro didn't speak a moment after that. His thoughts were lost abruptly. It couldn't be that bad to drag the Jiang Wei vs Sima clan drama into the heart of Wu's heroism, but to see Zhou Yu this upset. He'd regret the idea to ever work in closing the Three Kingdoms story.
"Where were you placed on the Poll?" Akihiro Suzuki asked.
"Number 30, out of all the Wu cast Lu Xun and Da Qiao were the only ones placed higher, Huang Gai and Ling Tong were slightly above 30. Of the four, our kingdom outnumbered by Shu, Jin, and Wei. Those three kingdoms have dominated the top, save for Lu Bu's men. We were the ones who loss greatly in the popularity," Zhou Yu answered calmly.
He's already that incited to make his point towards Suzuki over the poor state of Wu in the franchise now.
"How many from Wu are above 30?" Akihiro asked again.
Did this guy not checked the poll clearer, "Four. I've just told you the names on my previous sentence."
The Dynasty Warriors director rubbed his head and felt the moist sweat coming out of his forehead. The four Wu characters were Lu Xun, Da Qiao, Huang Gai, and Ling Tong. He can understand Lu Xun and Da Qiao as they were the officers the majority of players in Dynasty Warriors Online joined as their mentors at Wu Kingdom, but Huang Gai and Ling Tong, one is supposedly obscure and surprising while the other has fangirls compare to Lu Xun. He understand how those four remain at a higher position over Zhou Yu.
"You'll be surprise how many from Wu are below rank compare to the rest of the kingdoms. Now, whether you want to apologize for the unexpected turnover in Dynasty Warriors 8 or admit you and your goons hate Wu in general. In the end, my kingdom got the short end of the stick," Zhou Yu turned around and walk out the door to leave that man's office.
"But, we gave you guys the most happy ending in the Wu hypothetical!" Akihiro beg to differ.
Zhou Yu opened the door on the way out and turned before leaving, "It wasn't enough, Mr. Suzuki."
After he left the Dynasty Warriors Director's office, Suzuki's face pouted. He didn't know the reaction from Zhou Yu on the 2017 popularity poll will be like this. There's no way to redo the character poll either as the votes were all sent the year before.
At the Wu group, everyone is talking about the results in the popularity poll. Lu Xun doesn't look proud of his position as many officers, mostly the ones who are less benevolent than him jeered. Lu Meng stood in Boyun's defense during the outrage. It doesn't help when Zhu Huan proved his accomplishments in defending against Cao Ren was greater than a simple fire attack at Shu's supply camp. Yu Fan joked that Lu Xun is an equal to Sima Yi, which made Lu Xun groan.
"Yeah, let's say Boyun is an equal to Zhongda, did he even had to confident to challenge him at Jingzhou? Cao Xiu would have been considered an equal to Cao Ren and I've just beaten Zixiao!" Zhu Huan scanned around the Wu group who would dare prove their merits can be considered greater than that.
"If you weren't such a psychotic scumbag, then future generations would honor your heroic deeds more," Xu Sheng said. He stood next to Ding Feng with the same glare towards the gloating Zhu Huan.
Zhu Huan scoffed, "And what did you do? Surely scaring that pretender could be a greater merit than beating a top tier Wei general."
"I built a wall!" Xu Sheng shouted.
The Wu group went silent. Ling Tong smirked at the event where the Wei pretender invaded Wu and all Xu Sheng came up with the most controversial idea to drive out a larger force. He didn't just drove out Wei, he ruined Cao Pi's reputation as a intimidating ruler.
"I don't see how that's amazing, Wenxiang. Anyone can build a wall. That pretender Cao Pi is nothing if I could come up with a simple strategy like that. I could just take Cao Pi's soul and Wei will be in ruins before they let his brat rule in his stead!" Zhu Huan don his card pose with his soul stealing pike.
"Why would the so called Emperor of China be afraid of a wall? I'm not at all impressed by Lady Zhen's ex. I hope her son really is different from his father if he were in the games. She had to be even more humiliated to have married such a guy. Hahaha!" Sun Luban laughed hysterically.
Sun Quan clears his throat and tried to speak before his great generals start fighting each other over childish favoritism.
"You all have outstanding merits and even my brother is proud to see such potential and commitment to prove our kingdom is better than Pi's disunited empire. But, no Koei did not give us enough respect to consider our position in that gawd awful poll. I was number 66! Me, the greatest emperor of Three Kingdoms at sixty six!?" Sun Quan winced after revealing his place in the poll.
"Zhongmou…." Lianshi frowned.
Luban came forward, "It doesn't matter anyway. We outlived the two losing kingdoms, right! The Caos never thought about longevity before that pretender ever thought of taking the throne."
"Long live Wu!" Lu Meng cried.
Ling Tong nodded at Zhu Ran and they both shouted with Ameng, "Long Live Wu!"
"Long Live Wu!" Xu Sheng and Ding Feng cried.
Zhou Tai grinned and with Zhu Huan, they too shouted, "Long Live Wu!"
"Live long, Live prosperous. The dream and the will of Jiangdong. You guys make me proud," Sun Ce crossed his arms.
"Yeah, you were the one who spoke those words after we conquered Yangzhou, Bofu," a handsome man in blue tonic with a red scarf and his hair covered the right side of his face and eye side stood next to him.
Sun Ce took a look at his second best friend's appearance. Odd how his hair had an exaggerated feature, but he looks exactly as Sun Ce could imagine his friend be if he makes the cut in DW 9.
"Your appearance from Sangoku Legion is just how I guess right, Lu Fan. Aside from the crazy rainbow strips on the front covering your right eye, you're a badass. Sort of…" Sun Ce burst into laughter.
"You mean, I'm a pretty boy. A badass wouldn't look flamboyant with rainbow stripes on its hair. And this butterfly hairpin, who would come up with that idea?" Lu Fan sighed in embarrassment.
Yu Fan came to see Lu Fan's look and shook his head, "What is it with those Japanese designers and these womanly appearances and men with bangs? I don't look any worse than you are Ziheng and those Koei imbeciles own me a redesign!"
Sun Quan saw Lu Fan's look at was satisfied, "There's nothing wrong with your look Yu Fan. Do you want to be portrayed a boring character like Han Dang? You look great, Ziheng."
"I'm meant to be boring and a sensitive character, O' Great Emperor who's proud to betray his true allies for territorial gain!" Yu Fan pointed his fingers at his lord.
"….."
Sun Ce quickly went in between the two and shrugged his brother off from running tantrum on Yu Fan's trolling.
"It's been all about us taking Jing from Liu Bei, Wentai and in turn, it allowed Cao Pi to have less threats to prevent his ascend. I didn't remember we're helping Cao Cao to make his son emperor," Han Dang shrugged.
Sun Jian just watches his son Quan's bad temper with Yu Fan to his amusement with Guotai.
"I shouldn't have allowed our daughter to be married off to Liu Bei if Quan was really going to start a war with him," Wu Guotai told her husband her regret.
"What would I know, Guotai? I was long dead to hear the tale of our family's bad history," Sun Jian looked at his second wife and gave a sad smile.
The Wu group continue to conversation on the popularity poll while Zhu Huan continues to gloat on about his feats being greater than Lu Xun's. Lu Meng reminded Zhu Huan that Lu Xun shows the positive image of Wu and shall continue leading Wu .
"We don't need a PR guy, Ziming. Wu shall not be a soft kingdom. We were never soft on Shu and Wei. Not even those Jin nobodies. We weren't alive when they started getting well known all of sudden. This is why Koei picked me to have a story mode in Musou Blast," Zhu Huan denied.
"A story about you stealing souls, how 'heroic' Xiumu…" Xu Sheng shook his head.
Zhu Huan dreadfully stare at Xu Sheng and gave him a warning, "Don't make me take yours…"
Huang Gai was also watching the younger folks quibble with Sun Jian and Wu Guotai. It all started with just him, Sun Jian, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu, then more and more people and joined the family. This is a sight for his old eyes.
Xiao Qiao pondered at the hall waiting for Zhou Yu to return. While she waits, Sun Shangxiang been leading on the wall during the group gathering muttering to herself about her relationship with Liu Bei needing to be revoked so she can focus on being a loyal warrior princess.
Suddenly, she hears footsteps coming towards her. The man in red and white slowly appears with both of his hands on his back walking with the highest dignity of a well classed gentlemen.
"Gongjin!" Xiao Qiao rushes to his side.
"What took you so long? Zhu Huan putting down on Lu Xun for being 3rd in the poll!" Sun Shangxiang told him.
"Zhu Huan is jealous of Lu Xun since both of them were noble born natives. Even if Xiumu fought Liu Bei at Yiling, Shu will still end up a predictable defeat. However, Cao Ren was a greater opponent. I can see why he's fed up with Boyun's popularity," Zhou Yu explained to Sun Shangxiang about the enmity between Xiumu and Boyun.
"So, he's still being a jerk with Lu Xun…" Sun Shangxiang couldn't tolerate it anymore. She felt so bad about it in a while and must be by Boyun's side.
Zhou Yu turns his gaze at Zhu Huan a few feet away from where he stands, "Zhu Xiumu has always been a jerk and notorious towards innocent people. It's no surprise he'll be the first to put Lu Xun in his place. I have something to tell everyone about. Come with me."
The Trio head for the Wu group which continues to chatter over Lu Xun's 3rd place. The pressure is getting too much for Lu Xun and before he starts to speak, Zhou Yu's presence took the entire group's attention away.
"No other man from Jiangdong had the grandest merit in chinese military history than myself, Zhou Gongjin, the man who defeated Cao Cao at Chi Bi. Nothing can compare to that. Don't you agree Zhu Huan?" Zhou Yu's words struck at Zhu Huan's presence. Xiumu slowly retreated from Lu Xun and bowed.
Lu Meng and the rest of the Wu folks stare at Zhou Yu and welcomed his return from where he left earlier.
"I led at Chi Bi and fought at Chi Bi alongside the rest of the Jiangdong Elite. But, debaters and doubters alike had put down on our resistance against Cao Cao and call it a fluke! The Battle of Chi Bi gets disowned as infamous because we choose war over a coward's peace! Imagine the Mori clan of Chogoku surrendering to Nobunaga! Nay, they continued to resist the samurai tyrant of the Oda the same way Yi Soon Shin defended Joseon from the Toyotomi!" Zhou Yu shouted.
Everyone exchanged looks murmuring what Zhou Yu is talking about. Xiao Qiao glance at him wondering why he's being so serious right now.
"Meanwhile, after 2008, I've been put into the sidelines. Koei couldn't do much about me as I had such a short lifespan on such a large amount of contribution I've done before Chi Bi. I've prepared every protocol, every draft, every structure of domestic appliance from Lu Jiang to Chai Sang to Jian An to Wukou to Hui Ji, but did all that matter when Zhuge Liang shows up after the so called 'three visits'?" Zhou Yu added.
Yu Fan whispered into Lu Su's ear, "Where's Ziyu when you need him to expose Kongming's liability?"
The name Zhuge Liang has been a common 'setback' to most of the Wu folks. He is the very same man who debated the Jiangdong scholars before Chi Bi began. Lu Su and Yu Fan were among those who saw the brother of Zhuge Jin.
"Hell, does my existence even matter when a single man who waited almost a decade, refusing to be put under service of Cao Cao and Liu Biao showed up in my home acting like he controls the world's events with a single catchphrase?!" Zhou Yu uttered.
"Yeah, we really need Zhuge Jin here…" Yu Fan whispered at Lu Su again.
"He came and gone and then took the whole world by a storm with his most amazing invention, the wheelchair! His..thing outshining my heroism at Chi Bi! His overpowering plot armor covering the entire story of Three Kingdoms and media! Heavens, do you know that man had such plot armor everywhere and people are complaining about Zhao Yun?! Koei rides on that plot armor! Akihiro Suzuki rides on that plot armor! Luo Guanzhong rides on that plot armor and made him the pop culture of China! Then everyone believes the crap about me being jealous of some Daoist made deity who didn't do anything nor was at the sidelines with Liu Bei and his ragtag bunch at Chi Bi! I never had any beef with the guy and if so, I would have dishonored Ziyu! That's not who I am! That's not how Koei should portray me nor any other game company!" Zhou Yu's voice stuck everyone whom each nodded.
Behind the audience, a shadowy figure stood firmly watching Zhou Yu's speech. Who is this mysterious person stalking the Wu group?
"We may have some setbacks in our kingdom. We rather could have waited, but Lu Meng took the initiative with his plan taking Jingzhou. We could have stop butchering innocent lives for no reason, but Zhu Huan could never control his ruthless behavior," Zhou Yu scanned at both men he's referring to and continued, "These setbacks greatly affect our kingdom's moral ambiguity and spang confusion on what kind of person I was in general."
Zhu Huan thought about what was said from Zhou Yu as he stares down the floor admitting his flaw. Lu Meng still will not change his opinion on attacking Liu Bei, but he agree about their kingdom's setbacks.
"But of course, I shall admit my own mistakes. Still, it's for the best interest in Wu," Sun Luban thought.
"My patience has wore thin and can no longer stand at the sidelines anymore. This time, we go out there and show the fans what the real Wu is like. The Wu that burns the Cao family's ambitions! The Wu that inherited the goodwill and commonwealth of the people of Jiangdong! The Wu that don't take crap from Zhuge Liang's dickriders or Cao Cao fascists! Let's make Wu great again!" Zhou Yu raise his fist in triumphant.
Sun Ce laughed at that remark, "Hahaha, did he just call all the Cao Cao lovers as fascists?!"
Cheers from the Wu group echoed the Koei building hall causing the Wei group to stop and listen. The officers of Wei could not stand for the loud ovation from the opposing kingdom. It doesn't help that it's derailing the momentum after winning the 2017 Dynasty Warriors popularity poll with Guo Jia at number one.
"Jiangdong never stops howling like feral tigers with their exaggerating pride. Just who it is that made their lord King under me!?" Cao Pi snared
"Here we go again. If it weren't for those plagues at the marshes, we would not have loss those battles against them," Cao Ren sighed.
Zhou Yu ushers a new moment for Wu. It will soon become a meme once his catchphrase goes viral. Huang Gai rallies the officers chanting Zhou Yu's stylename. The shadowy figure from moments ago decides to join in the crowd of proud folks of Wu.
"That's a wonderful speech, Gongjin. It's a good thing I've decided to put my trust on leading Wu to you," the mysterious man clapped his hands joining the group revealing his appearance of an elderly man in red mail with a light green scarf.
The group turn their attention to the man in awe. They know who this man is. The man who is the most demanding officer in Wu. Sun Jian can't believe his eyes while Sun Ce's jaws dropped and felt down on his knee.
"What the…is that Demou…? But I thought he looks like…?" Han Dang turns to Huang Gai who didn't spoke a single word of what happened to their long serving comrade.
"It is I, Yigong," Cheng Pu exchanged a grin.
Yuan Shao: And now for this special announcement. Liu Bei had already signed the papers and agreed to transform all Shu officers into my officers as part of owning half of Zhao Yun's merchandises!
Zhuge Liang: To think I'll ever give advice to someone who will not listen for good measures.
Yuan Shao: I heard you had a bigger mouth than Tian Feng….
Xingcai: Yellow is so bland.
Yuan Shang: You'll get used to it. How about joining me on my free time some place romantic?
Liu Shan: She's taken.
Xingcai: Have you forgotten we were divorced?
Liu Shan: Oh, that's true…..
Guan Ping: He's right about the 'taken' part though. *crosses his arms*
Liu Bei: So it comes to this. I can never forgive myself for the hardships I gave to Zilong, thus I shall repay the debt from Yuan Shao over the extra troops after Guan Du.
Yan Liang: Guan Yu, do you miss wearing blue?
Guan Yu: I miss going 65 miles an hour on my horse slaying you with the Green Dragon Saber.