The Three Named One (Worm/Dynasty Warriors.)

Arc 1.1-Peerless

/x/

Having a shadow trail you can be really annoying, as my experiences with Ryu Hayabusa and Hattori Hanzo can attest-

Damn it. I'm letting his memories meld into mine again. Who the hell was Ryu Hayabusa, and when the hell did Hattori Hanzo jump almost a thousand four hundred years into Three Kingdoms China? I took a deep breath, which caught the attention of Emma and Shadow Stalker, the latter whom who trailed behind me. I didn't have to look to feel the air around her head move, which clued me in that she was looking at me.

Huh, super-senses. I never knew Brutes had a package deal like this. Am I even a Brute? What little I knew of triggers was that what happened to you allegedly affects what you become. I can guess why my powers as a Brute from feeling helpless made me what I am, but how did I end up like him?!

I stopped mid-stride, which prompted a concerned look from Emma. I smiled back at her, while I counted down to ten silently before continuing my walk.

Standing at over seven feet tall now, with my new muscular frame I knew keeping my trigger a secret was futile. We stepped out of the alley, into the lighted streets while Shadow Stalker melted away into the darkness. Or rather, she tried to. Her powers made her stealthy, but she kept sticking to places that are too obvious, too hidden. Hanzo, even that freak Kotaro would never do something so amateurish. They understood the meaning of hiding in plain sight.

Not again. How do these things keep slipping up on me?

I shook my head, determined to keep my headspace in somewhere grounded. I'm not Lu Bu Fengxian, legendary Chinese warlord. The urge to run through everyone who looked at me wrong with a large spear is not me. I do not have a horse that's partially on fire. Lu Bu doesn't have a horse that's on fire.

"I'm a fresh trigger," I gasped out to no one in particular, "and I need help."

Funny how your mind remembers things. The PRT jingle for their Parahuman hotline just leaped into my head when I decided I wanted to think of something else.

Warm hands -Emma's hands, now much smaller than my own- still attempted to squeeze my hands.

"You'll be alright, Tay." She said while she reached for her spare cell phone hidden in special pocket in her jacket. "I'll call our dads, then the PR-"

"No!" I snapped, and regretted it once Emma jumped slightly. "Not my dad, Ems. Not now."

"Okay, Tay." Emma spoke softly and slowly, like she was trying to calm me down. Part of me felt offended by the implication, but I was more than aware of how I'd look to my best friend right now. Fresh triggers aren't known for being stable.

"I'll call my dad, will that be okay? Then the PRT and the police."

"I'm okay with your dad, not the PRT and police."

"Tay..."

"They'll tell!" I yelled out, before I snapped my mouth shut and prepared to speak again, this time deliberately and slowly. I could feel his rage attempt a takeover, before I forcibly forced it down. I resisted the urge to lash out at a brick wall, as I bore in mind the more I give in, the more things will go his way. I settled for grinding my teeth, before I calmed down enough to speak to Emma.

"Tell your dad, but inform him that if he calls the police or the PRT I'll disappear."

"Alright Tay," Emma tried to hug me like she used to, but found that my new waist was a lot more muscular than she was used to. "You just wait here, okay?

I nodded, and began to look around while Emma called her dad. More people were on the street, for it wasn't that late to begin with. Several guys-adults and stocky, ready for a scrap glanced in my direction but were careful to avoid looking directly at me when they felt our gazes meet. The shuffle they adopted as they walked spoke of experience in making flight or fight decisions, and despite my tattered clothes my height and mass made most predators think twice.

Or maybe it was the fiery aura that emitted from me as I stared down a few more groups of men who resembled the ABB I've just beaten down. I heard Emma finish her chat with her dad, but before she could speak a sweet aroma caught my attention. Incense, wine, roasted sweet meats. I casually walked towards the source, my steps now confident-my stride wide as I paid no heed to my tattered form of dress or the stares they attracted. I heard Emma call for me from behind, and I scooped her up by the waist before I began to sprint down the street.

"Tay!"

"Two blocks south of our old position. Tell your dad I'll be spending the night there!"

Emma didn't reply, instead she spent most of the minute I took to reach my destination screaming while I revelled in the feeling of freedom and power. I ran faster than most of the cars cruising on the road, and the wind roared in my ears while I dashed across the street. I felt my heart accelerate, but I didn't feel my muscles strain, or the barest hint of fatigue. Emma, all ninety five pounds of her felt as light as a notebook that was ripped in half.

"Tay," Emma breathed out hoarsely while I giggled when we reached the source. "Don't ever do that again, or I swear I'll ignore you forever."

I giggled again at her threat, before we both looked at the place I was drawn to. Red doors painted bright red behind a gateway that reminded me of a full moon, green tilted roofs that sloped downwards and Chinese dragon designs on top of the tiles. The air smelled of incense as smoke floated from the courtyard behind the walls and gates. A rectangular gilded sign, with golden characters painted on a black background hung above the moon gate. Right below it was a plain plastic sign that informed visitors of the nature of the place, but the English had long faded away. I snorted, before I swaggered towards the gate and pushed.

I heard something snap, and I realised I had just committed my first cape crime. Still, breaking and entering is rather minor, as far as cape crimes go. I proceeded into the courtyard, where I saw an altar full of food. Food which I smelled two blocks away, despite the fact they looked rather stale. Up close, they're a lot more unappetizing.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

We both turned towards the soft, accented male voice. An Asian man, about forty in a grey jacket and pants stood next to us with both his hands clasped together. He bowed forward slightly, and I noticed his bald patch on the top of his head and the strong smell of incense from his clothes. The temple keeper then.

"My friend's a fresh trigger," Emma said before I could reply, "and I think she was attracted by the smell of the food on that altar."

Good one, Emma. People are both a lot more jumpy and cautious around fresh triggers, so if he was about to call the police informing him about my fresh trigger would make him more sympathetic. Unless, he plans to sell us out just like the time-

I coughed into my hand to stop that line of thought, and both Emma and the temple keeper looked at me before I shrugged and smiled. The keeper returned the gesture, before he started to speak with Emma again.

"The offerings?" the temple keeper said, clearly baffled that anyone would barge into a temple at night over those. Up close, the platter of peaches, hunks of roasted pork and meat buns looked far from edible. The temple keeper shrugged, before he turned his gaze unto my clothes. I felt a bit uneasy at a grown man staring at me, as I shuffled my stance. The man immediately turned his eyes towards mine, with an apologetic smile.

"Apologies, Miss. You must had undergone a traumatic experience." An outstretched arm, pointed towards the interior of the temple. "If you do not mind, we have some proper food and even some clothes suitable for your size."

"You have clothes that fit women seven feet tall and built like a body-builder?" Emma said incredulously. "Seriously?"

"For men, and it's probably not in the usual style you're familiar with. It's made for a statue you see, but they fit people all the same. We even have instruction booklets, in English on how to use them to dress statues! You'd be surprised how many young people-"

"Thank you," I said to cut off his rant before he began. He kept his head bowed slightly as he led us into the temple, and I gave a slight glance to the idol worshipped here. Face painted red, with a poor imitation of his famous crescent blade held on his right hand while his left stroked that wax beard. I broke off from the group, and my hand reached for the shaft of that imitation pole-arm.

"Miss?! That's not the real deal. It's a fake!"

My arm touched the wax, and it became wood hardened to withstand blows from warriors worth their thousands. The clay painted grey and gold transformed, into steel forged in fires with techniques taught by Mystics who shunned mortal food and folly, but are drawn still to the affairs of those doomed to die. The crescent-moon blade transformed, into a tri-point spear head and a red tassel beneath the spearhead shook like the leaves of the willow as I shook it. I stared at the slack-jawed temple keeper with a satisfied grin, as I brandished my new weapon with one hand.

I looked at him and pointed at the once replica weapon. He nodded and raised both hands like he was handing it to me.

"A weapon deserves someone worthy of it, Miss."

It is not Sky Scorcher, and certainly not Mystic Piercer. But it'll have to do.

As the keeper resumed guiding Emma and me to our rooms, I realised I had allowed Lu Bu's memories to seep into me. But hearing the displacement of the wind as Shadow Stalker leaped in her shadow form onto the ledge behind that dragon on the rooftop had me focus on more important things, rather than how the memories of a long-dead Chinese warlord had gotten me a new weapon, food and some new clothes that fit.

/x/

Emma started when Shadow Stalker landed outside our window, her silhouette clearly visible through the drawn curtains over the circular window frames. My eyes narrowed, frustrated at yet another rookie mistake by her. It was like she was asking to be ran through the wall and windows, showing off like that. I tightened the black cloth belt that was tied around my crimson cotton pants and my red silk robe that had a phoenix design rising from the flame in bronze thread sewed into the back, before I turned to face her. It was important to let your spies know you're paying full attention to them.

"This temple's run by the ABB, the keeper ratted you out to them and the food's probably drugged."

"Straight to point I see," I said with approval while I popped another chive and pork dumpling into my mouth. "But while the chives are a tad over-preserved, they're not drugged."

I sighed internally as the shadow tensed visibly for a minute before she resumed her usual countenance. She'll find it difficult if she keeps this up. I grabbed my halberd, put on the leather boots that rested beside my table before I walked towards the door.

"Protect Emma," I said without turning back. Her growl was proof at least she was strong in spirit, even if she was obviously trying too hard.

"I'm not your dog, Lu Bu."

Using my cape name. She's got her game face on quickly.

"You're not, Shadow Stalker. You can be my bitch though, if you prefer it that way," I said as I gave her a backwards glance. "There's only one top dog in this pack."

Through the wall she went, but I was faster as I stepped in front of her as she emerged, the blade on my halberd pointed at her throat as lightning coursed through it. Her breathing was hard and ragged, and she had a bolt notched onto her crossbow ready and aimed at me.

My old instincts screamed at me, aghast that I was taunting an unstable cape while getting into a stand-off with her. Another part of me decided to test Shadow Stalker. If she wants to follow me, she needs to prove her worth.

"You almost left us to die, Shadow Stalker, and I didn't forget that. Just because you think I'm someone like you, doesn't mean I am."

I lowered my halberd, even as her crossbow remained pointed at my throat. She cocked her heads slightly to the left as she observed my actions, but her fingers remained firmly wrapped round the trigger. Was she doubting herself, or was she insulted at my actions?

"But I'll let you redeem yourself, by doing what a hero is supposed to do and protect Emma."

Her breathing hastened, but the gleeful glint in her eyes returned full force in response to my actions and the coldness of my tone. She's got issues, and I think I've just become one of them. The way she shivered slightly when I lowered my weapon in a display of my confidence seemed to affect her badly, but she needed to learn her place now, before she really threatens Emma.

"And what if something happens to your girlfriend?"

I leaned forwards, the lightning on the blade grew in intensity when I swung my halberd in one swift motion and halted the edge only an inch from her face. Arcs of lighting danced inches from her face, and I could see them reflected in her eyes.

"I'll look for you."

Her eyes widened behind her hockey mask, and I could almost visualise the scowl that her mask hid. But she nodded and even lowered her head slightly, a sign of submission from someone as instinctual as she has demonstrated herself to be. Just like how those wolves back in Xiliang behaved when they're finally tam- damn it. I rubbed the bridge of my nose to keep me grounded, and I smiled at Emma before I walked out of the door.

/x/

Emma and Shadow Stalker watched as Lu Bu walked out of the room, before Emma settled down on the old twin-bed located at the corner of the room. Shadow Stalker looked around the room, before she took a chair and placed it to face the room, her crossbow at the ready.

"So, Emma right?"

"Yeah?"

"Congratulations, you've hit the jackpot. In terms of a significant other who can watch out for you, a Brute who looks like she can go toe-to-toe with Lung and win in a one on one is pretty high up on the list."

"Zip it, Shadow Stalker. We're not gay, and even if we were it's none of your business."

Shadow Stalker's eyes were cold and calculative, as they studied Emma's expression while she kept her crossbow locked on the redhead's chest.

"Big talk from someone who was shaking with fear before her girlfriend triggered and went to town on a few ABB."

"Really, Sophia," Emma sneered while Shadow Stalker stiffened reflectively at someone calling her civilian ID whilst in costume. "Resorting to violence so quickly after you got dommed by Taylor? Are you trying to make yourself look more pathetic than you already are?"

"Words, words and more-"

"Sticks and stones, Sophia," Emma cut in. Her eyes stared directly into Shadow Stalker's own, while she pressed herself closer to the bolt. "Surely even you had enough book learnin'" Sophia snarled at Emma's mocking twang, "to have heard of that. I'd say learnt it, but that implies you've been to school."

Shadow Stalker pulled her crossbow away, before she struck Emma across the face with a backhand. The redhead pulled herself up from the bed, casually walked over to the dresser and checked out the small bruise next to her left cheek before she began to powder herself with some foundation. Shadow Stalker looked on with surprise, before curiosity got the better of her and she walked over to Emma.

"Why are you covering up the mark? Shouldn't you be keeping the evidence so that you can go running to your sugar mommy?"

"Bitch, please." Emma rolled her eyes as she snapped her makeup kit shut. "Unlike you, I can think far ahead and for others. If Taylor decides she doesn't need you after this, I know your name and I know your face. Do the math."

Shadow Stalker brandished her crossbow at Emma again, her eyes hard as she rested her finger against the trigger.

"If you even think of outing me-"

"And harm whatever helpless, blameless family even a meathead like you has? Please. I do not need to out you to ruin you, Sophia."

The cape stared at Emma, before she lowered her crossbow and stuck out a hand. Emma looked down on the outstretched hand, before she looked askance at Shadow Stalker.

"We aren't friends, Sophia. We're barely acquaintances."

"Maybe," Shadow Stalker said with a shrug. Emma's eyebrows arched at the glee evident in the cape's tone. "But I sure as hell hope to become friends with you."

"So you can suck up to Lu Bu? God, Sophia. Show some backbone."

"Anyone else, I'd turn them into a porcupine with my special hooked bolts. But you're just demonstrating the strength that convinced me you're worth my time. You see, you're strong. Not like Lu Bu or me, no. A different kind of strength, to cut down and put people down with words and innuendo. I like that, it's different."

Emma gave another look at Shadow Stalker's outstretched hand, shrugged and gave a limp shake before she sat on the bed and began to text on her phone. Shadow Stalker looked at her free hand, and gave a cold laugh.

"Done. Now guard the door, because I've got important matters to attend to."

/x/

Oni Lee adjusted his horned demon's mask as the thirty odd men he brought with him fanned throughout the main hall of the temple. Five teams of six, each armed with assorted firearms and large cleavers. The temple keeper had reported that the new cape was likely some kind of Brute, and possibly a grab-bag cape given by the powers she had shown. So far, she had transformed a wax statute's mock spear into the real deal or as real as the keeper Kwung was able to assert. The man wasn't an expert on ancient Chinese polearms. She was also able to push and break a locked door that had been locked in both the traditional way-a large wooden plank made of redwood seven inches thick across the doors- and three padlocks. One team of six men with handguns and cleavers were the first to enter the living quarters of the temple, where the keeper had helpfully housed them into his own bedroom that once belonged to him and his now departed wife. It was located just off the main temple compound next to the garden, and was perfect as a spot to box someone in.

"Sir, would this cape be of sufficient payment for this month? She has a girl with her, a pretty young thing with some clumps of hair missing."

Oni kept silent, as he pointedly ignored Kwung's eagerness to offset the money he owed for this month. The Oni doesn't collect protection money after all, for her appeared only when negotiations at payment have long failed and he was there to collect in other ways. One of the other ABB next to him shoved the eager keeper away, who laughed awkwardly before he slunk away from the impending violence. Oni's eyes swept the dimmed environs of the temple's great hall, where the statute of Guan Yu took centre stage. The tomato-red lights from the paper lanterns that hung behind each vermilion pillar mixed with the ever burning yellow smoke from the large joss-sticks to form a cloud of coloured smoke over the ceiling of the hall. It was a sight that Oni Lee found satisfying, for it complemented his powers well. Brutes were difficult to deal with, but Lung had other matters than to attend to recruiting a single Brute into the ABB.

The remaining twenty odd ABB busied themselves as they laid in wait in the corners of the hall, while Oni Lee waited for confirmation, of either their success or their failure.

Thump! Thump! Crack!

The earth shook, the air rippled as a roar blew out from within the temple interior followed by the ABB that went in as they shot back first through the air and into the walls and pillars of the great hall. The way the men were flung back into the hall aroused a panic among the ABB, and even Oni Lee felt disconcerted. The men had knocked over the incense tripods when they flew in, and now the existing clouds smoke had mixed with the mounds of ash to create an almost impenetrable fog that clung to the surface of the room. The remainder of the ABB who had not been reduced to a tangled mass of groaning limbs opened fire into the two doorways that led into the temple interior, while Oni Lee prepared a suicide vest filled with ball-bearings and nails. The guns soon silenced and a few of the ABB went forward to check, the surfaces of their blades gleamed as it reflected the red lights of the hall.

Then Oni Lee started as he felt some a clump of dirt drop onto his shoulders, before he turned up and saw the roof give way to a massive woman with long wavy hair wielding a fiery halberd falling upon them.

/x/

I do not know if it was Lu Bu's memories, my own intuition or simply an instinctual knowledge that someone like me dropping onto them like death from above was the best way to disorient the opposition. The heartbeats and breathing of the ABB sounded like drumbeats even when I was dispatching the ABB scout team, but the way Oni Lee's breathing and heartbeat remained constant throughout the whole time while his men went and unloaded into the temple interior told me there was something wrong with him.

If the enemy is at rest, weary him. And what better way then play on the primal fear of death from on high as I leaped from the garden interior and kicked in the roof before I landed spear first, like a hawk on a hare. Oni Lee's inability to be ruffled allowed me to spot him from the noise of the other ABB's panicked reaction, and I wasted no time following a piece of advice I've learned a long time ago after Mom brought me back from that yard sale.

When attacking, go for the king.

As my halberd found its prey and Oni was split in two, I huffed in frustration as I saw the bodies crumble into a mound of white ash. The wind around me shifted, and I sidestepped a lunge from Oni Lee and a few of his men who swung their cleavers against me. Out of instinct, my right hand rose to block a blade aimed at my side and marvelled as the flesh on my left forearm stopped steel cold in its tracks. I shoved him towards the altar's incense mound, and the ABB thug overturned the tripod and the burning joss sticks. Guan Yu's statue began to burn as the wax and very flammable cloth ignited, and the remaining ABB who had not decided to hightail it started screaming in languages some of which sounded vaguely familiar to me.

A loud pop, and I found myself pelted by a shower of heat, nails and ball-bearings. I breathed deeply, and drew on a source of power that I found within me before the air around me began to ripple. Two of Oni's clones and four of the remaining ABB closed in on me, before I swung my halberd in a wide swing which caught and bisected two of the ABB men and one Oni clone. The remaining three pulled back, before two clones appeared behind the retreating ABB and stabbed them in the back before shoving them forward. Their bodies bloated, before they burst into a shower of viscera and nails which I swept away with a fiery swing. The smell of seared flesh and cloth reminded me of the many occasions when fire was employed as a weapon, but I shut down that line of thought as Oni Lee appeared again. He dropped beneath a thrust I aimed at his chest, before he thrust upwards into my stomach with a combat knife. I felt a dull pain as I deflected the blade with my right kneecap, before I booted him and sent him flying.

Fierce as the fire.

I chased Oni as he went through the air, two raid strikes to my left and right dissecting yet more Oni clones. We found landfall in front of a burning pillar.

Swift as the wind.

Another trio of Oni's clones swarmed me, but I ignored their stabs aimed at my back while I squeezed the mask and eye-holes of the Oni I had in my hand. I felt a power build within me, ready to burst as the flurry of stabs by the clones grew. The blades found it hard to go beyond my skin, but the burning pain started to grow beyond an irritation.

Unmoveable as the Mountain.

The dam broke, as I roared and slammed Oni into the ground. A black-red shockwave burst forth from the epicentre of my attack and engulfed the clones who burst into more piles of ash. The original Oni laid unmoving on the concrete floor, his body twisted, his clothes burnt and torn by the force of my slam.

Silent as the fore-okay not really. But three out of four isn't too bad.

I put my head closer to him, in order to find out if there was still anything alive beneath the battered pile of flesh that was Oni Lee. A faint-very faint- heartbeat. I slung him over the shoulder, before I felt a movement to my left and swung my halberd towards the new threat.

"Easy, Lu Bu!" Shadow Stalker called out while my halberd went pass her shadow form harmlessly. Light blue mist followed where my spear had passed, and I smiled as I noticed the air considerably cooler where the mist was. I looked around for Emma, and growled at Shadow Stalker when I noticed my friend wasn't here.

"She's fine. Her dad found this place, and Emma's currently with him outside in his car. She's lucky the ABB's too running scared to have the mind to think of taking her or her dad hostage."

I nodded, and slung Oni Lee over my shoulder before I began to rush out of the hall was rapidly becoming more fire than room. Shadow Stalker followed beside me, her eyes focused on the battered form of the ABB cape.

"So, what you gonna do with the Oni's body? Dump him onto the street as a warning to the locals there's a new boss in town? Take him to the Protectorate for a reward?"

I stopped a few steps away from the gate that led from the temple courtyard to the street, as I looked at Shadow Stalker.

"The Protectorate rewards people," My voice was filled with disgust as I pointed to the cape on my shoulders, whose blood was turning my robe into a darker shade of red. "For bringing in half dead criminals?"

"Half dead?" Shadow Stalker blinked as she looked again at Oni before she turned back to me. "Pretty sure he's actually dead-dead. But yeah, Oni Lee's one of those capes who broke a hell lot of taboos and earned himself a rep as one of those capes that the Protectorate won't protest too much if he got offed.

I shook my head in disgust, and walked out of the gate past a distraught temple keeper who thought he was safely hidden in the shadow of an apartment block about fifteen feet away. I dumped limp form of Oni Lee onto the sidewalk, and scanned the road for any sign of Mr Barnes' car.

"Your girlfriend's dad drove her back, after I brought her out when the fighting got hectic and the place started burning down. Guess he wasn't keen on his daughter getting involved in a cape fight that involved arson."

Hmm, her voice sounded more bitter than usual when Shadow Stalker mentioned Emma's dad looking out for her.

"Emma's not my girlfriend, not that it'd stop you."

I started walking west across the road, as my ears picked up the sound of a very unusual motorcycle making its way towards the temple from the opposite direction. Either Armsmaster will get a prisoner, or a cadaver at the end of tonight. I was too exhausted mentally to care too much without letting more of Lu Bu's instincts take over. As I cleared the corner about fifty feet away from the temple, I stopped and stared at Shadow Stalker who still walked next to me.

"Go away."

"What?" Shadow Stalker demanded, "I didn't pass your little test?"

"You passed. I'm tired, and I'm done with cape bullshit for tonight. I want a quiet place, a bed and someplace to sort out my thoughts. I can't go home for my own reasons, so I don't need you lurking in my shadow right now."'

"You can crash at my place for the night. No one there will raise a stink I can't handle. It's not as fancy as the Asian place you just trashed, matter of fact its quite a dump. But you'll get a place to rest unmolested."

I swear Shadow Stalker was grinning madly as she lowered my opinion of her after she had just touched me with her generosity.

"Don't worry, Lu Bu. Even if something does happen, I won't tell Emma you cheated on her."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Shadow Stalker," I rolled my eyes. "I prefer you when you're all about dominating others and spouting pseudo-Darwinian philosophy."

Things thankfully remained quiet, as I followed Sophia home.