AN: Yes, I'm doing Ikki Tousen and I'm not ashamed :) To be honest, I didn't know much about Romance of the Three Kingdoms at first so the idea came to me when I started reading up on it. Dynasty Warriors and the 2010 Chinese drama were a particular inspiration.
So anyway, Bruce is very early in his career in this, aged 20 and rough around the edges. He and some other characters might come off as being a little OOC, so sorry about that. The setting is mostly based on the second season (Dragon's Destiny) but also draws elements from the other seasons and the three videogames.
My next two stories are almost done but I might be busy this coming week so I hopefully I'll be able to finish them by then.
Batman and all related characters and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. Batman is created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger.
Ikki Tousen/Battle Vixens is created by Yuji Shiozaki.
CHAPTER 01: The Sleeping Dragon's Pawn
"Heh, get a load of this freak."
"Thinks Halloween's come early."
They jeered and snickered with voices, that were laden with a mix of Chinese and American accents, echoing in a trash strewn alley.
Storm clouds overhead began to loom over the east end of Gotham City's Chinatown where the district's most feared street gang, the 'Ghost Dragons', were in the middle of shaking down one of their latest victims; This time being an elderly Chinese man who was being held with a knife to his neck. Being at their mercy, the poor man shivered in fear and was certain that they would've milked him for all he's worth and then leave him for dead. They would have, had HE not suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
Emerging from the darkness, the figure took slow intimidating steps towards them. A dark blue scalloped cape draped down his back and the long ears of his cowl pointed up like dangerous spikes, all while his sharp white eyes remained fixed on the gang before him.
Each member of the Ghost Dragons were dressed uniquely, like a menagerie of poster children for urban street wear; some with bandannas, others with face paint, some with piercings, others with tattoos and so on. But one common trait about them stood out to the vigilante: they were all quite young, probably still in high school.
Frankly, it made his blood boil. He had no sympathy for young punks who would throw away their futures for criminal lives.
In a ballsy move, one of the Ghost Dragons went right up to him with a metal baseball bat slung on his shoulders and an amused look.
" 'The hell are you supposed be? Huh?" he sneered.
Seeing the vigilante remain silent twisted the gang member's expression to anger and he swung the metal bat at him only for it to be caught in his gloved hands as he counterattacked with a few fist strikes to the gang member's head before twisting his arm to disarm him and hitting him with another flurry of strikes to send him to the ground. With fury still burning inside him, the vigilante wailed on him for good measure as the rest of the Ghost Dragons looked on in horror.
"Vengeance." Batman finally replied after he was done, a flash of lightning and thunder briefly illuminating his visage.
"Let's fuck this guy up!"
The rest of the gang charged and surrounded him, leaving behind the old man who quickly took advantage of being forgotten to scramble and run away.
Two of the Ghost Dragons were tossed away like rag-dolls before one of tried blindsiding Batman with a haymaker but the Bat intercepted his arm and retaliated by smashing his elbow against his ribs. A few of them tried to attack him all at once but Batman was able block and counter from his blind spots like he had a total read of the battlefield.
He wasn't always successful though, some managed to strike him with a few lucky hits; one in particular hit his head hard with a crowbar. Batman staggered, definitely seeing stars, but he didn't go down and recovered quickly enough to catch the crowbar as it was being swung at him again and yank it towards him along with the attacker, catching him by the throat before choke-slamming him to the ground.
Batman didn't have time to catch his breath as almost immediately a gunshot rang out. It was pure instinct that cause him to swerve himself out of the bullets path and lock his sights on the gang member who had a handgun held out.
In his state of panic, the gang members fired three more shots but Batman was able to dodge them all; bounding forward from side to side until he reached him, grabbed the hand holding the weapon and twisted it hard to the point where an audible pop can be heard.
The gunman screamed as he was mercilessly slammed against a nearby dumpster before Batman rained down a barrage of punches on him and then knocking him out with an overhead fist.
As this went on, two of the downed Ghost Dragons began to recover but instead of rejoining the fray, they were taken aback as a glowing light began to spread over them, making them look on in confusion.
"Yo, is it me? Or is he getting…brighter?" one of them asked.
Batman too ceased from his pummeling when he noticed the area becoming more illuminated. He looked around for the source of light, only to realize that it was coming from him!
His eyes widened as he raised his arm to his field of vision, seeing it slowly turn into an intense white as glowing particles began to float from his own body.
The Ghost Dragons who were still conscious found themselves rooted on the spot as the light coming from Batman grew blindly intense. Brighter, and brighter, until…
There was a sudden flash.
And then nothing.
It was silent with only the sound of distant thunder. The surviving Ghost Dragons, still wincing from the beating they received limped to the spot out of curiosity, to confirm what they saw wasn't some trick.
There wasn't a trace of Batman where he stood. He had completely vanished!
"What just happened?" was all one of them could ask.
First the smooth bristles of the calligraphy brush was dipped into the black ink stone, then it was placed gently against the surface of the paper before elegantly sliding downwards to make the first stroke.
It was quite a complicated character, fifteen strokes in total, and yet the person holding the brush glided her hand along the paper with practiced ease and her expression didn't seem to display any sign of concentrated effort. In fact, her expression didn't seem to show much emotion at all.
The small hand that held the brush belonged to a young girl who's short statured and petite frame gave her the appearance of an elementary school girl.
Sitting Seiza-style by a wooden short table, the girl had blue eyes, sea foam green hair tied into thin twin tails with two red beads on each and was wearing a typical sailor fuku uniform.
However, it was along the fourteenth stroke when her hand abruptly stopped in mid-stroke.
As a distant rumble of thunder followed afterwards, the brush remained still and created a growing black splotch on the paper that ruined the entire work. But the girl didn't seem perturbed. Instead, she directed her blank expression towards the window; gazing outside like something had just caught her attention and her gaze lingered while her mind sank deep in contemplation.
Outside the room, leaning against the wall by the sliding door, was a young woman also dressed in a school uniform with the addition of brown leather gloves. However, unlike the room's occupant, she was taller, standing at 5' 3", and had dark blue hair that was also styled in twin tails but were shorter, much thicker and were tied with two orange ribbons.
And of course the most notable difference was her much larger bust size, 87 cm E cup.
Her name was Bashoku Youjou, 1st year student at Seito Academy.
Bashoku looked up to see someone approaching her, another young woman but with long silver hair that reaches to her back. Curiously enough, despite showing no signs of impaired vision, her eyes appeared to be closed. Stranger still was that she was dressed differently from the other students: sporting a brown vest over a white shirt with a red bow tie, as well as a dark skirt with knee high black socks and brown loafers.
She too was quite well endowed chest-wise, 89 cm F cup.
Completing her odd appearance was the black scabbard katana she held to her side.
She was Shiryuu Chou'un, 2nd year student and one of Seito's top ranked warriors.
"How long has Koumei-sama been in there?" Shiryuu asked.
"Too long." Bashoku sighed. "I'm worried."
Her expression still retaining a mask of serenity, Shiryuu took her place against wall by the other side of the sliding door.
"I wouldn't. You know as well as I do that when she shuts herself in that room, it can only mean that she is planning something." she said calmly.
In contrast, Bashoku was anything but calm. In fact, she looked quite despondent.
"But this isn't like her." she said before turning toward her silver-haired comrade. "You've seen it, haven't you? She hasn't been acting herself lately. It feels like…she's so cold and distant. Even with Ryuubi-sama."
Shiryuu hummed in acknowledgment. It was pretty obvious that Koumei was, to put it in one way, 'extremely attached' to Gentoku. That the small girl seemed aloof towards their leader was indeed quite alarming.
Bashoku stared at her gloved hand, her voice and eyes quivering as she spoke.
"W-was it my fault? Did I make a mistake or offend her in some way? Because if I did, I'd…I'd…"
The blue-haired girl trailed off, choking back on a sob as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Despite Shiryuu's outward composure, she couldn't help but feel pity towards her comrade.
The jewel-like bead that all Toushis wore like earrings, their Magatamas, each contains the soul of a warrior from almost two thousand years ago in China. A soul that defined their namesake, their character and their fates.
In the Three Kingdoms period, Bashoku Youjou (Ma Su) committed a tactical blunder that had resulted in a devastating defeat for the Shu kingdom. This left his master, Shokatsuryou Koumei (Zhuge Liang) no choice but to have him executed to appease their people.
That stain on her soul has pervaded Bashoku all her life and had made her deathly afraid of failing or disappointing Koumei in any way.
"Relax." Shiryuu assured her. "It's more likely that she has a lot on her mind, considering the situation with Kyoshou and Nanyo."
Bashoku wiped her eyes and was about to respond when the sound of a sliding door caught both their attentions. In the middle of the two girls, the doorway to the private room had finally opened and out stepped Koumei, walking past them without a trace of emotion.
"We must leave now." the small girl simply said, without turning to address either of them.
Shiryuu and Bashoku momentary glanced at each other before quickly following after her. The silver-haired Toushi appeared as calm as ever, ready to follow Koumei's orders without question but Bashoku's mind was abuzz with confusion.
"Wait, Koumei-sama! W-where are we going?" Bashoku asked.
Koumei responded and said nothing further.
"Tokyo."
"Oi! Nani mono da!? Nande kita no!?"
The voice sounded muffled like it was traveling through a thick liquid, his vision blurred with spots, his mental faculties felt numb and his muscles felt like mush. It was pitiful but he found himself stumbling around like newborn lamb as he tried his hardest to focus on his surroundings.
It was dark with heavy clouds overhead but he was able to make out that he was in a school yard of some kind, but the school itself looked run down and damaged with graffiti sprayed all over.
The second thing he noticed was that he was surrounded and it wasn't by the Ghost Dragons.
They were all an assortment of Japanese young men wearing dark Gakuran uniforms, some of them partially unbuttoned and some fully unbuttoned. The sight of them confused him. Who were they? How did he get here? His mind couldn't process the answer. However, his observational prowess seemed to be intact because there was one thing about them that didn't escape his notice: they all each seemed to be wearing a single earring.
The design for all of them resembled a Magatama and they were all colored white except for three particular individuals whose were colored red. Those three were the ones standing closest to him.
"Wh-?" Batman croaked, mustering the strength to speak. "Wh-where is this place?"
He didn't actually intend to speak Japanese but it somehow came out that way. The man with dark buzz cut hair at the center of the trio took a drag from his cigarette.
"This is Tensuigun Private School, now Moutoku Sousou's turf. So unless you have a death wish, you will tell me who the hell you are!"
Batman slightly opened his mouth to speak but all he could manage was groan as he stumbled again to his knees. What happened to him? Why did he feel so weak?
"Hey, Bajun…"
Hearing his name being called, the man with the cigarette glanced to his left where the second member of the trio stood. This one was taller and lanky with long blonde swept hair and fiddled with his switchblade while occasionally licking against the flat of the blade in a casual manner.
"What do you think is up with this guy's costume?" he asked while waving his knife towards the intruder. "Is he's a cosplayer or something?"
The third in the trio guffawed loudly, a large bulky and rotund man with short hair that was styled with the top half dyed red and spiked up.
"Guwahaha! He must've been on the way to some otaku convention! Probably got high on some serious shit and wandered over here!"
The blonde grinned at his fat compatriot.
"I think you're on to something, Ryocho. What do you say we all have a little fun with this dude?"
Bajun took another drag from his cigarette before his lips curled into a laid back smile.
"Heh, fine by me. It's not like we have anything better to do around here."
Bajun, Ryocho and Inshou. The inheritors of the Chinese warriors, Ma Zun, Liang Xu and Yin Shang, were the three strongest Toushis of Tensuigun Private School. That was until Kyoshou Academy easily defeated them all and brought them under their thumb.
Inshou walked over Batman's right while Ryocho positioned himself at the vigilante's left. Immediately the two took turns kicking at him, each kick escalating in ferocity and soon the other students began to join in.
Batman could hear them around him giggling and chuckling in glee as they mercilessly rained down fists and stomped the soles of their shoes on him. He still couldn't will his body to move and could only limply raise his forearms up to defend himself.
After they were done, they held his torso up while restraining his arms. Fiddling wildly with his switchblade, Inshou walked in front of him as he licked his chops like a crazed dog.
"Now,…let's see what you look like under that mask."
Realizing their intention, a tremble of outrage surged through him and fueled his efforts to grit his teeth and struggle against the ones holding him. But alas, even that was for naught; his body still felt weak and unresponsive. Try as he might, he couldn't stop the blonde from clawing his fingers under his cowl and then yanking it all the way over his head.
"Hey! This guy's a Toushi!"
"A what?"
Along with the abrupt sensation of the cool air against his exposed face, he felt something distinctively dangling from his left earlobe and brushing against the back of his jaw. Was it an earring? When did that get there? HOW did it get there?
"Majika!?" Bajun exclaimed in delight. "Well, now things are getting interesting!"
Inshou backed away as Bajun stood in front of the unmasked vigilante before squatting down and peering at the Magatama, finding that it was green in color.
"Heh. He's an E-rank. No wonder he's so pathetic!" he chuckled.
"What's so interesting about an E-rank Toushi anyway?" asked Ryocho.
"Nothing. But what if he's from Nanyo or Seito? I bet Kyoshou Academy would be interested in keeping one of them as prisoner. Maybe Sousou-sama will even reward us!"
Already the wheels in Bajun's head began to turn with possibilities and he felt himself getting excited from the prospects. With his cigarette snuffed out on the ground, Bajun began to interrogate the intruder again.
"You. Where are you from!? Nanyo or Seito?" he grilled.
The vigilante only scowled at him.
"Still not talking, huh?"
Bajun snarled and reared his foot back to kick at his face.
"Maybe this'll make ya flap yer lips!"
It was within that one second when Batman made his move. From the wrists of his gauntlets, two nozzles extended and shot out a thick cloud of gas that surprised the students who held his arms and caused them to cough. That was enough for him to pull his arms out of their grip and catch Bajun foot just as it neared his face.
The trio's leader's eye popped in shock and before he could properly react, Batman twisted his foot savagely with an audible pop.
"AAARRGH!" Bajun cried out in pain.
Without giving him a chance to recover, Batman grabbed hold of his leg and shirt before mercilessly swinging him to crash his body against the Tensuigun Toushis behind him and then toss him away.
"I'm gonna slice 'n dice you up!" Inshou yelled as he leapt at Batman from behind.
But the Caped Crusader saw it coming and sidestepped the slashing knife. Inshou kept coming at him with more slashes only to see the costumed man dodge each one until he finally retaliated by grabbing his wrist before ramming his knee into his abdomen, causing the Toushi to cry out and drop his knife. Batman then delivered a savage headbutt, causing him to stagger back, and quickly followed it up with a hard overhead punch to the back of his head which sent his face crashing to the ground.
"OOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
A war cry howled from his left and he looked to see Ryocho charging towards him like rhino with an aura of energy surrounding him. Unknown to Batman, this aura stems from the warrior's soul within the Magatama; imbuing its wearer with that soul's battle spirit.
When the large man launched a fist forward, Batman ducked under it and surged forward while plowing his own fist, right into the big man's gut. Ryocho gasped loudly as drops of spittle flew out of his open mouth. The Dark Knight didn't let up and continued his assault: a blow to the sternum, a chop to the ribs, a hook to the head and so on. He then finally finished him off by ducking down and kicking his leg him to throw him off balance before surging upwards to deliver an uppercut to his jaw, surely cracking it.
As Ryocho fell over in heap, Batman turned his gaze towards Bajun and the remaining Tensuigun students while slipping his cowl back on, his angular white eyes sharpening into a narrow point.
"Fuck! Fuck!Fuck!" Bajun cursed in pain as he scooted back on his rump while nursing his foot.
He looked towards his subordinates and found them frozen on the spot with their eyes widened in fear.
"Don't just stand there! Get him!" he yelled at them.
The Tensuigun Toushis were first at a loss. This strange man before them had single-handedly defeated the three strongest warriors in their school, what hope did they have in besting him? Then they steeled themselves and figured they could overwhelm him with sheer numbers alone if they all rushed at him at once.
They'd be sadly mistaken.
Up atop of the roof of a nearby building, three girls stood by the edge overlooking the one-sided battle at the school grounds. The dark rainy clouds above them began to intensify and the winds picked up, causing their hairs to sway with the air currents.
Nearest to the edge was Shiryuu, who despite her eyes still appearing to be closed had her sights focused on the costumed warrior with her brows angled and one hand firmed gripped at her scabbard.
Furthest behind her was Bashoku who had changed out of her school uniform and was wearing a reddish brown sports bra and black hotpants with a brown belt, as well as brown fingerless gloves and brown bands around both her forearms.
And between them was Koumei who too had changed her attire from her school uniform but her appearance was much more striking. Her thin twin tails were now tied lower and were thicker with each having cross-wrappings of red ribbons over them and a hair tube at the base where the rest of her hair splayed out.
She wore a sort of red ceremonial robe with a white vest and white sleeves which she had a brown shawl with green trimmings draped over them. And held in one of her hands was a feathered fan, much like the one Zhuge Liang himself had carried.
"I must say, I'm impressed. I haven't seen such fighting prowess in so long." Shiryuu remarked.
"Chou'un…" Koumei addressed her from behind. "Do you understand what you must do?"
The silver-haired girl nodded silently but although her sagely visage remained, she couldn't help but feel conflicted. The stranger didn't really seem to know what was going on. He was suspicious for sure, especially with that getup, but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't find him intriguing.
When the last of the Tensuigun students fell, so did the first drop of rain. One by one dark wet spots began to appear over the dirt of the school grounds, blotting together in a slow cadence that steadily rose.
Bajun felt himself gripped in fear as Batman slowly walked towards him, methodically putting his steps over the unconscious bodies. With terrified wide eyes, he shuffled back as much as he could and tried talk his way out of this predicament.
"H-he-hey man, I-I was just joking. I didn't mean it. P-PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!"
He cried out as Batman gripped him by the collar of his uniform and effortlessly held him up, white eyes boring into him.
"I'll make this simple: I ask questions. You answer them. Do we have an understanding!?" Batman threatened.
The Toushi frantically nodded as far his neck would allow.
"Y-y-yes, whatever you say! I'll tell you what ever you want!"
"That's enough." came a calm voice a distance away.
Both Batman and Bajun looked towards the voice and the sight certainly took the Dark Knight aback. Standing in the rain was an attractive girl in a brown school uniform holding a sheathed katana to her side much like a samurai would.
With her eyes still closed, she seemed either oblivious or unbothered by her drenched state. Her long sliver locks plastered to the sides of her face and her skin rendered visible through the white portions of her uniform. But that wasn't all he could see; the brown vest had clung so much to her frame that not only were the roundness of her breasts made more conspicuous, but so were the nub like nipples at their peaks.
He couldn't help but question if she was even wearing a bra.
"Is the purpose behind that costume only a simple matter of intimidation?" Shiryuu asked while flicking her katana from its scabbard with her thumb. "Then I should warn you that such methods won't work on me."
Again, Batman continued to look at her with scrutiny. She appeared quite young but her speech had such an exaggerated philosophical bent that didn't seem fitting for her age.
"Who are you?" he asked.
Shiryuu slightly crouched into an Iaijutsu stance.
"Seito Academy second year student, Shiryuu Chou'un. And I've been ordered to spill your blood, it's nothing personal."
And with that, there was a flash of steel. His white eyes widened within that second and he jumped back just as the slash came at him, letting go of Bajun in the process. He owed his reaction time to all those years of martial arts training and pure instinct alone.
After Bajun fell to the ground, he yelped in fright and hobbled away as fast as he could. There was nothing Batman could do about him now as he had a new problem to deal with. He looked to his chest and sure enough, there was a gash over his bat emblem and a thin line of blood.
Whoever the girl is, she obviously wasn't playing around.
"I don't know what your deal is but if you insist in getting in my way, I won't hesitate to defend myself." Batman said as he got into his own stance.
As the silver-haired girl held her katana to her side, her lips surprisingly curled into slight smirk while uttering a humming chuckle.
"Fu fu. Your efforts would be commendable…and futile."
Shiryuu lunged and swung her sword at him again only this time, he deflected it by blocking with his gauntlets. She slashed at him again and again from both sides at different angles, each was blocked or deflected with clanging sounds and tiny splashes of water. He walked back as she advanced towards him, keeping the pressure on him. However, he was in actuality waiting for an opening and it came to him when she attempted a kendo-style overhead strike.
Batman caught the blade as it came down between the fin-blades of his gauntlet and forced it down while pivoting his body to strike Shiryuu's head with an elbow.
The girl staggered and he tried to catch her with an uppercut to her chin but Shiryuu recovered at that moment and tilted her head back as far she could to avoid his fist. But what she couldn't avoid were the fins of his gauntlet unintentionally tearing through her vest and shirt.
~RRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPPPPPPPPPP!~
Like paper, the front of her uniform was shredded in tatters and her unconfined breasts bounced about.
Shiryuu stepped a few feet back to recover, giving Batman full-view of her ample bosom being caressed by rain drops and only the shredded wet remains of her dress just was barely hiding her nipples.
It certainly gave him a slight pause as he didn't expect her clothes to be torn so easily. She also didn't seem bothered by her state, indicating that she either had no sense of modesty or she was too much of a fighter to care.
Any thoughts further than that was immediately forgotten as Shiryuu charged and slashed at him again. Batman swerved out of the way and then leaped back when she tried to follow it up with a kick. As he put some distance between them, he brandished a Batarang and flung it towards her.
Without a change in her expression, Shiryuu easily sliced the projectile in half but the split fragments ended up just slicing through the shoulder portions of her vest, causing the wet brown fabric to fall apart and expose more of her womanly form.
Again, he found himself bewildered by this phenomenon of her fragile clothing.
Realizing that his guard was down, Shiryuu rushed at him again with the intention of thrusting her blade and skewering him. She didn't expect him to stop the blade just inches from his body by catching it between his palms with a resounding clap.
Caught in surprise, she tried to wrench the blade away but his grip was like a vice and he twisted the blade, yanking it to his side before delivering a powerful kick to her stomach. She was struck with so much force that she let go of her sword and was sent flying back until she impacted against the school wall.
A pained gasp released from her lips and she almost slumped forward but held on to her footing. As her chest heaved in slow pants, she raised her head and revealed that her eyes had at last opened; cat-like, teal in color and wide in astonishment.
Much to her further surprise, Batman slowly approached her with katana in his hand before he simply dropped it at her feet.
"Feel free to pick it up." he said. "Unless you want a fair fight."
"Are you challenging my honor!?" Shiryuu barked at him.
Batman only stared at her like an immovable statue, making the silver-haired warrior feel her heart thump for a mere moment before composing herself.
He was obviously goading her in an attempt to perhaps gain an advantage over her and although she should be using every opportunity to fulfill her duty, she couldn't help but feel a thrill over matching her skills against his on a leveled playing field, to witness how skilled he truly was.
With her eyes remaining open, her voice and poise returned to being steadfast as she put up her arms in a fighting stance.
"Very well. I don't need a blade to make an example out of you."
He acknowledged her by getting into his own stance. The two warriors began to circle each other while the rain continued to pour on them, both locking their eyes on each other and gauging their movements until they finally made their move.
Meanwhile on top of the nearby building, Bashoku had been witnessing the ongoing fight in complete awe.
"I don't believe this." she gasped. "He's just as strong as Chou'un-san!"
"Bashoku…"
Koumei suddenly addressed her from behind and the blue-haired girl turned to her with tentative eyes.
As Shiryuu and Batman continued to exchange strikes and blocks, the white-haired Toushi felt her heart race and her cheeks burn. What was this rush of excitement and terror she felt?
In the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chou'un (Zhao Yun) was one of the most peerless warriors of Shu Han, renowned for being undefeated in battle.
And as his inheritor, Shiryuu had never felt her skills pushed so much to its limits, not even with Kan'u. Her intrigue for this masked man grew more and more. Who was he? Why did Koumei want him killed?
Her thoughts were shelved when suddenly a set of chains wrapped around Batman's arms and torso, catching them both by surprise. She then noticed, as the vigilante struggled against his binds, Bashoku landing behind him and pulling the chains to restrain him.
"I was handling it." Shiryuu said to her sternly.
"I'm only acting…(grunt)…on Koumei-sama's orders." Bashoku responded, fighting to keep a hold on him.
The silver-haired Toushi found herself frowning. Although she felt that it was a pity to do away with someone like him so soon, she was still loyal to a fault. Shiryuu then walked towards her fallen katana and picked it up.
"Then let's finish this quickly."
Seeing that the two girls were about to step up their game, Batman figured there was no point pussyfooting around and struggled harder against the chains. Bashoku herself began to struggle, feeling herself being dragged by him; as strong as she was, there was an obvious difference in weight and upper body strength between the two of them.
Grabbing hold of the chain, the Dark Knight yanked hard with his forearm to cause Bashoku to lose her balance and tumble towards him where he struck back by delivering a spinning kick to her back as she went past him.
The chains slacked and he was able to move freely just in time to dodge a slash from Shiryuu.
She kept coming at him with more slashes and he swerved and deflect each one until he found an opening and kneed her in the abdomen, then striking her chin before grabbing the bow tie of her uniform to yank her forward to headbutt her and then finally crouched to hit her with a leg sweep that knocked her to the ground.
He didn't have a chance to pause as Bashoku immediately rushed at him while armed with a tanto blade. Just like with Shiryuu, he was able to avoid her slashes before grabbing her wrist and twisting it to force her to let go of the weapon.
However, he didn't expect a small blade to suddenly jut out from her shoe, before catching him off-guard by kicking him under his ribs.
A hiss and a grunt spilled out from his lips before he let go and pushed her leg away. The blade didn't go very deep but she did managed to cut into him. Of course, it would take more than that to bring him down.
Bashoku tried to stab him again with another kick but this time, he grabbed he by the leg and punched at her jaw before spinning and throwing her off, causing her to scream as she crashed into Shiryuu.
Both girls were left in a heap, laid one on top of the other, panting slowly in exhaustion as the rain continued to soak them.
"Stay down." Batman told them without remorse.
"Bruce…"
Batman stiffened as he heard a soft voice behind him cutting through the rain. He forced himself not to react, not wanting to inadvertently reveal himself; After all, he had learned to disassociate himself from that name. Nevertheless, he slowly turned around, feeling his stomach tense in anticipation for who was this person who apparently knew his name.
What he didn't expect to see was a young girl, 4 foot 6 in height, with seafoam green hair garbed in ceremonial clothing and holding a feathered fan to her chest.
Koumei slowly walked towards him, the rain finally beginning to let up as she did. Despite her damped clothing, there was still a regal air about her. Her expression remained unreadable yet there was tiny spark in her eyes, something that betrayed a mixed feeling of anxiousness.
"I have finally found you. You are Bruce. Bruce Kyoui." was what she told him.
"Kyoui?" he wondered.
That name didn't escape Bashoku's notice and the girl's eyes widened in shock.
"K-Kyoui!?" she gasped.
The inheritor of Zhuge Liang finally stopped in front of the Dark Knight while looking up at him, his tall form easily dwarfing her height.
"From this day on, you will be my most valuable pawn." she said.
Batman's eyes narrowed at this.
"I am no one's pawn." he told her dismissively and moved to march past her.
Just as he stood a step, a strange feeling came over him. His mouth turned dry and both his lips and tongue felt numb. A tingling sensation washed over his extremities as he found it difficult to move his fingers. It was when he blinked away a double image and looked over to where Bashoku stabbed him, that he knew.
"The blade…it was poisoned?" he realized.
His vision blurred and rippled, he felt his muscles twitch and before long, the strength of his legs began to leave him, leaving him to fall to his knees.
"Damn…I was too careless! I fell for the oldest trick in the book!"
No amount of self-berating would do him any good as he felt the rest of his body grow numb and limp. His upper body leaned over and was about to fall when he felt something soft and warm crashing into him.
It was Koumei who, to the shock of Shiryuu and Bashoku, had rushed and caught him in an embrace; dropping her feathered fan in the process and resting his head upon her shoulders now that they were equal in height level.
And in that instant, Bruce found himself nonplussed when a glowing warmth surge over his body. It wasn't quite literal but more like a bittersweet feeling of being reunited with someone very close to him, even though he would swear that he had never seen this girl in his entire life. How was she making him feel this way? Was it an effect of the poison?
Koumei held the back of his head in fondness, as a mother would to a child, and Bruce felt a comfort he hadn't felt since before his parents were gunned down in that alley. A mix of feelings assaulted him: feelings of devotion and sorrowful regret. He didn't understand it, he couldn't understand it, but for some reason he felt that he had to protect this girl at all costs.
As his consciousness began to fade, he heard Koumei whisper something in his ear but at the time, he wasn't able to tell what it was.
Shiryuu and Bashoku finally picked themselves up and slowly approached to stand by Koumei and the mysterious costumed man. Bashoku was at first confused by the whole situation. It was her master who had ordered both her and Shiryuu to kill him and yet here she was holding him like a dear friend.
Confused at first until she heard that name.
"She called him Kyoui." Bashoku said. "As in…"
"Hakuyaku Kyoui." Shiryuu finished for her.
For Shiryuu, it all began to make sense now.
In was during Three Kingdoms period, after the death of Lord Ryuubi (Liu Bei) and during Zhuge Liang's northern campaigns.
Hakuyaku Kyoui (Jiang Wei) was a talented and strong warrior who fought on the side of the Wei kingdom. After seeing through one of Zhuge Liang's strategies, he devised a counter-plan and defeated Shiryuu's namesake, Zhao Yun, in battle. Impressed by his intelligence and feats, Zhuge Liang did everything in his power to make him join his side as his apprentice.
That explained why Koumei set this whole thing up, why Shiryuu felt that strong connection to him in battle.
"But why like this? Why now?" Bashoku asked.
Shiryuu could only glance towards Koumei, who still held on to the mystery man.
She wasn't the only one; for unknown to all of them, a pair of lime green eyes watched everything discreetly a distance away from an alley nestled between two buildings.
Those eyes belonged to a petite young girl with dark hair tied in twin tails with long bangs framing her face. Her visage not betraying a hint of emotion, she turned with a swish of her dark purple cloak as she vanished into the darkness.
"Grrr! This is totally pissing me off!"
Some would describe Chouhi Ekitoku as a rough, bullish kind of girl and she certainly looked the part too.
Ever much the tomboy, her hazelnut eyes complimented her short brown hair that was cut straight along her forehead yet fanned out in small spikes at the back of her ears and neck.
Despite her body's torso being slightly on the broader side, she still very much exhibited feminine curves especially with her round breasts; 86 cm E cup
And those breasts bounced as she paced furiously with agitation, threatening to trench the ground beneath her with each stomp of her feet. Indeed, despite being only a C-rank, her sheer might is renowned across Kanto, as well as her temper and impulsiveness.
Not surprising considering that her Magatama harbors the soul of her name sake, Zhang Fe: one of Lui Bei's most powerful generals and sworn brother.
It was morning hours at Seito Academy and neither the cool air nor the picturesque scenery of the mountains of western Tokyo were able to soothe her raging nerves.
"What was Koumei-san even thinking!? Bringing some guy here in Seito Academy!?" Chouhi ranted out.
"This is Koumei Shokatsuryou we're talking about."
The girl who stated this stood by the wooden-railed walkway that led to the dojo while holding a long metal pole weapon that had the bladed end wrapped in a purple cloth.
Like Ekitoku, she too wore an academy sailor fuku uniform but instead with the hem of her shirt cut all the way up to her chest, revealing her toned midriff and navel. Another difference were the pair of leg warmer socks she wore on her calves.
Her beauty was undeniable; Tall with tanned skin, blue eyes, luscious lips and long purple hair with thick bangs that covered her left eye and tied in a sort of ponytail behind her knees.
She too was well endowed with a pair of huge breasts. 94 cm H cup.
This was Kan'u Unchou, Seito Academy's third year student and its strongest Toushi.
And she was also the inheritor of one of the strongest warriors from China's Three Kingdoms period, immortalized as a God of War, Guan Yu.
"It's hard to say what's on her mind and Jousho-san did say that she can see into the future." Kan'u said before placing a curled finger to her chin. "But this is too strange. Even for her."
Shiryuu was also present in this exclusive meeting, positioned adjacent to Kan'u and leaning back against the wooden railings.
"Right now, Koumei-sama has confined herself in her quarters. Youjou-san is keeping watch right now." said the white-haired Toushi.
"She's been doing that a lot lately…" Kan'u mused to herself.
"Great, just great!"
Chouhi continued to rant before she turned and pointed at Shiryuu accusingly.
"Thanks to you guys, Kyosho Academy's probably gunning for us right now after what happen to Tensuigun!"
It made sense to assume that Kyosho would retaliate against Seito for attacking one the several schools under their control but Kan'u was quick to step in and squash that idea.
"Calm down, Chouhi." she said. "It wasn't us who defeated Tensuigun Private School. Besides, Moutoku Sousou is right now preoccupied with revenge against Nanyo."
Her blue eyes narrowed grimly.
"And even if he does attack us, we still have the Dragon Jade."
What Kan'u spoke of was an ancient artifact that had only been spoken about in rumors but never seen before…until when Shimei Ryomou had suddenly attacked them with the mystical object in hand. It was Shiryuu who had retrieved it after defeating her and another Toushi from Kyoshou.
The Dragon Jade was said to awaken and tame one's 'Inner Dragon' and change a Toushi's fate.
Gentoku Ryuubi, Sonsaku Hakufu and Moutoku Sousou; the leaders of the three major powers in the Kanto turf war. Those three individuals each possess a powerful dragon spirit within them. To tame their dragon and change their fate would tip the scales.
Simply put, it was their ace in the hole.
However Chouhi didn't look so sure, sporting a troubled expression.
"I dunno, Kan'u. I know about what Suikyou-sensei said and all but after the last time Gentoku's dragon got awakened, don't you think it's too risky? What if it doesn't work and she goes crazy again?"
Chouhi refered to when Shimei Ryomou invaded Seito. During that time, Ryomou had used the Dragon Jade to awaken Ryuubi's Dragon which put her in an uncontrollable violent state. It took days until she had reached the point of starvation before she was able to revert back to her old self again.
"Rather than rely on some rock, what our silly cry-baby leader needs to do is toughen up with some training so she can be a true warrior just like the original Gentoku Ryuubi!" Chouhi declared, pumping her fists with fire in her eyes.
The inheritor of Zhang Fe then palmed her head with a tired and exasperated face.
"Because heaven help us if that so called successor of hers decides to take over!"
"You mean Ryuuzen-san?" Shiryuu asked.
Now that Shiryuu had thought about it, the sudden appearance of Kyoui shouldn't be all that surprising. After all, there had been a surge of new students/Toushis joining Seito Academy recently.
Among them were Kanpei Teikoku and Koushi "Ato" Ryuuzen, the soul inheritor of Liu Shan, the son of Liu Bei.
Then again, she also understood Chouhi's distaste for Ryuuzen; considering that Lui Shan was a terrible leader and that his successor was an oddball with grandiose delusions of being a 'Hero of Justice'.
Nonetheless, the white-haired girl saw their growing student body to be a potential boon.
"Perhaps Seito Academy is enough to repel our enemy." Shiryuu suggested. "We have had promising new Toushis join our ranks this past month. As Koumei-sama's charge, maybe Kyoui could even aid us."
"Don't be ridiculous." Kan'u scoffed and then gripped her weapon tightly as if ready to use it.
"I don't care if the tactician trusts him. As Unchou Kan'u, I'd prefer to judge him for myself. Speaking of which, has he awakened yet, Chouhi?"
Ekitoku offhandedly pointed a thumb behind her.
"No idea but I've got Baldy and that scrawny new kid taking care of him. They should be bringing him over right about now."
"Hey, it's time to get up." a man's voice called out to him.
It was quite monotone, business-like with barely any emotion.
And then the next thing he felt was a heavy splash of cold water that jolted him back into full consciousness. Some of the liquid abruptly entered his windpipe and caused him to reflexively cough.
"Was the water really necessary, Kanshou-san?" he heard another voice, it sounded younger and softer like a small boy's.
He finally turned his head to see two individuals standing next to him.
The first one he saw was a tall young heavy-set man with a shaved bald head, eyes that were like thin lines, thick nose and thick lips. His clothing flowed over his frame and resembled a monk's robes and in his hand was a bucket. Presumably, he was the one who poured water on him.
The boy next to him was much shorter and looked like he was in middle school or even elementary. He had nervous dark eyes, black hair cut in a bowl style and wore a simple outfit consisting of a white shirt with brown pants.
"He'll be fine." the bald monk said in his usual monotone. "Look, he's awake already."
"Who are you people?" Bruce asked.
"My name Kouchuu Kanshou. Seito Academy 3rd year student."
After he introduced himself, his younger skittish companion bowed.
"O-Ohayou Gozaimasu. I'm Chintou. Chi-Chintou Genryo, a 1st year student."
Bruce didn't say anything further and regarded the two of them with a weird look. He found their names in particular to be strange. The language was definitely Japanese but those weren't your average run-of-the-mill Japanese names.
Thinking about it, he realized that he had heard similar names like those just recently: Moutoku Sousou, Bajun, Ryocho,…and then that white-haired girl…Shiryuu Chou'un.
They sounded unusual but there was also something familiar about them, he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
Seeing that the newcomer was not engaging with them, Chintou cleared his throat and attempted to converse with him again.
"Um, I must say, I'm glad to see another guy. Seito Academy is mostly comprised of girls and until now, Kanshou-san and I were the only males in this school."
Again, Bruce ignored him and sweeped his eyes around his surroundings.
He appeared to be inside some kind of jail cell with thick metal bars and a gate behind Kouchuu and Chintou.
Glancing at the two again, he noticed that they too have Magatamas fixed at their ears like an earring and that prompted him to touch against his own lobe to confirm that indeed, he has one of his own with no idea how it got there.
And that wasn't all. He also noticed that he was only clad in his underwear. It would appear that they had not only captured him but had unmasked him and confiscated his costume and utility belt.
"And I hear you're a formidable Toshi too!" Chintou continued to speak excitedly. "Kanshou-san is really strong too so it's great that we have at least two strong guys in our group."
"If you committed yourself to your training, you'd be just as strong." Kouchuu stated bluntly.
A man of few words, Kouchuu bears the soul of Huang Zhong who was a veteran general that served Liu Bei as one of his 'Five Tiger Generals'. He had originally resided in Tougenin temple along with Koumei until they were visited by Kan'u, Chouhi and Gentoku. It was a turbulent first impression but he soon ended up joining them.
Cintou spun his head towards his companion with a surprised grimace.
"Eh!? Not you too, Kanshou-san! I get enough that from Ekitoku-san. She keeps picking on me, calling me 'Shrimp' and saying that I'm scared of my own shadow!" Chintou whined.
Unlike Kouchuu, Chintou was a recent newcomer in Seito and also unlike him, he had absolutely no aptitude in fighting. That might have had something to do with the fact that his Magatama harbors the soul of Chen Deng who was only a minor character in 'The Romance of the Three Kingdoms'.
"You do scare easily." Kouchuu retorted.
"I do not! Well, maybe only sometimes like when-"
"Where's my suit?" Bruce suddenly spoke up.
The two boys were brought out of their banter and their attention were drawn back towards "the new guy" who looked none too pleased.
Wordlessly, Kouchuu walked out of the jail cell, dropped the bucket and then returned with a large plastic bag in his hand which he then tossed on to the floor next to Bruce.
"Here, you can wear these."
There was a sudden rush of movement before Kouchuu then found himself slammed back against the jail wall with Bruce roughly gripping his robes while snarling menacingly.
"I asked you a question. WHERE IS MY SUIT!?" he growled.
The situation caused Chintou to skitter back against the bars, quivering with wide eyes.
Kouchuu on the other hand, didn't seem to be fazed although Bruce could tell that his muscles were tightening. He felt a strong aura emanating from the monk and his instincts told him that this person was a lot tougher than he looked.
However, all the monk did was point towards the thrown bag on the floor and speak with his tone unchanged.
"Put those clothes on. The Generals are expecting you."
Bruce blinked and relaxed his grip.
"Generals?" he asked.
Chintou tentatively approached them, palms out in a calming gesture.
"H-he…he means Unchou-san and Ekitoku-san. They are Ryuubi-sama's most trusted council. I-It's best that you meet with them."
A few seconds ticked by as Bruce assessed the two males as well as his current predicament. He still didn't know what he had gotten himself into but he wasn't so keen on the idea of being lead around by these people. Finally, he made a decision and released Kanshou while backing away.
"Fine." he gruffly said.
He then picked up the bag and looked inside. There was a folded white short-sleeved shirt, simple brown pants and a pair of loafers.
"I'd like some privacy first." Bruce said before focusing a glare on Kouchuu. "If you don't mind."
The bald monk looked at him dumbly for a second before responding.
"Oh. Okay."
He then gestured for Chintou to follow him and they both walked out of the jail cell before shutting the door. The two Toushis then waited outside with their backs to the bars. It was about a minute later when Chintou began to feel a little antsy and leaned over to his senior.
"Why do think he wants privacy?" Chintou whispered. "I mean, he was already in his underwear. Could he be shy?"
"Dunno." Kanshou answered simply.
Another minute went by and then another. Kouchuu began to wonder why he was taking so long to change and then glanced back towards the bars.
"Hey, have you finishe-UWAAH!?" he suddenly exclaimed in surprise with a dropped jaw.
Hearing his senior uncharacteristically forget his stoic demeanor, Chintou looked back to find an empty jail cell.
"What? Where…? Where did he go!?" he asked in befuddlement.
Kanshou quickly opened the door and they both rushed inside to fan their sights around. Aside from an empty bag, there was nothing. No signs of escape. The only other opening was a small grilled window near the ceiling but even that was too small for a human.
"How could he disappear like that?" Chintou wondered.
Unbeknownst to them, Bruce was actually above them by the ceiling; holding himself in place by pushing his feet against the wall and his hands against the support joist.
After waiting for just the right time, Bruce quickly dropped down behind them, bolted out of the cell and shut the door as he did. By the time Kouchuu and Chintou spun around, he had already locked it with the heavy padlock that was hanging from the staple and then pocketed the key.
"Thanks for the outfit."
That was all Bruce said before he ran down the corridor, leaving the stunned duo behind.
"So, he has the spirit of Hakuyaku Kyoui within him." Kan'u mused as she paced about.
Both Shiryuu and Chouhi looked on in contemplative silence until their senior spoke up again.
"In the Three Kingdoms Era, it was Hakuyaku Kyoui who brought about the downfall of the Shu kingdom."
What she referred to was the period after Zhuge Liang/Koumei's death, when Jiang Wei sought to carry out his master's ambition by launching nine campaigns on the Central Plains of China. They were met with heavy losses and each failure drained Shu of its resources, leading to his terrible reputation and to the eventual fall of Shu.
It went without saying that a Toushi not only inherited that certain warrior's strength, but his fate as well. And that indicated that Kyoui might be destined to be Seito's downfall in this era.
"So he's a walking time bomb!? Then I say we kick him out or have him locked up forever!" Chouhi declared.
"I wouldn't be so hasty." Chou'un suddenly interjected.
Kan'u and Chouhi regarding their white-haired comrade questioningly, she wasn't usually the type to jump to someone's defense.
"You fought him, Shiryuu. What do you make of him?" Kan'u asked her.
"He's an incredible fighter." Shiryuu said. "Unlike any I have ever seen before. And I…"
Until then, Shiryuu's sagely visage didn't betray much emotions but that point, she uncharacteristically looked to the side with tinged cheeks.
"I think he's…kind of hot." she mumble that last part quietly.
Needless to say, both Kan'u and Chouhi looked at her with widened eyes, the latter putting her wrists to her hips while leaning towards her with a raised brow.
"You feeling okay, Shi-san? You're acting kinda loopy."
"Its alright, Citizens!"
"U-WEEII!?
Ekitoku exclaimed in surprise as someone just dropped down into a landing crouch next to her and then stood up.
The person was an attractive girl with honey brown eyes and hair that curled up at her shoulders. She appeared to be wearing a flowing brown cape that was attached to a black choker around her neck. At her legs were brown boots and around her hips were a short blue skirt with a brown belt. Her top consisted of a red blouse under an open sailor fuku shirt that was tied below her huge breasts.
90cm G cup.
"Because I am here!" she grinned while posing with a thrust out peace sign.
"A-Ato!? What are you doing here!?" Chouhi spluttered.
Kan'u and Shiryuu didn't appear to be surprised by her sudden appeared and that was probably because they figured that she must have jump off from the dojo's roof.
"Aren't you supposed to be guarding Gentoku?" Kan'u asked with a frown.
"That's what I came to talk to you guys about." Ato said with a dramatic point of her finger. "I was sharing some of my manga collection with Gentoku-Onee-sama…"
Considering the familial relationship between their predecessors, Ato had taken to calling Gentoku 'Onee-sama', especially after Gentoku had supported her and forgave her for all the trouble she had once caused. Since then, Ato had constantly vied for her attention as a little sister would, much to the chagrin of Kan'u.
"But then she starting complaining that it was too childish and predictable. How could anyone say that about dashing defenders of justice!? Anyway, she then found some boring looking fantasy book and I tried to tell there was better stuff to read but she said I was being too noisy so I went to get more magazines to prove I'm right and-"
"Get to the point!" Kan'u snapped at her.
Ato halted her rambling, took a deep breath and released it as her body sagged with weary dejection.
"I lost her." she admitted.
"WHAT!?" balked Chouhi.
"When I got back, she was just gone! And I looked everywhere but I couldn't find her."
"Baka!" Chouhi yelled as she bonked her on the head. "This is why I said we shouldn't leave these two alone!"
Kan'u gave a tired sigh. In her mind, she held herself from panicking and approached the situation as objectively as she could.
"She couldn't have gotten far." she told the remaining Toushis. "Let's spread out and look around the campus."
Shiryuu and Chouhi nodded in agreement with Ato following suit after rubbing her head.
The four of them split up and after Kan'u separated herself from the group she maintained and iron grip on her weapon and emotions but deep down, she couldn't help but feel her heart ache with worry.
"Gentoku…"
TBC