Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale

by Vergil Creiger

In which a simple delivery to Holfort goes horribly horribly wrong.

41. The Shura

By the time Leon encountered the Shura, the same Elder was in power who once forced Grandmaster Meio into a truce. The Shura Elder in power today - Zhen Yuan - was alive during their first meeting, as were a few others.

Reports vary on who threw the first punch.

Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl

Leon and Pietru pulled themselves from the wreckage of the ruined craft, coughing and hacking all the way. "Hoo boy! Even when I'm invincible, that is not fun!"

"Speak for yourself. I had a blast!" Pietru looked around curiously. "Where are we?"

They were surrounded on all sides by colossal trees, like the Amazon rainforest on growth hormones. All around them they could hear animals of all kinds, the bushes rustling with unseen wildlife.

"It looks like that jungle we passed through on the way to Nahul," guessed Leon. He glared at the treetops when he thought he saw movement, but the Shura watching them was so well concealed that even his supernatural senses couldn't perceive him. "I don't think Meio has any troops here. If you feel like resting then it's as good a place as PIETRU MOVE!"

He barely yanked her away before the huge red mushrooms exploded into spores; the deadly organisms surrounded them on all sides, and one by one they burst in a chain reaction. The wolfdog and the Elder Dragon fled through the trees, passing an enormous boar that choked and died on the toxic spores.

Finally they arrived at a rapidly moving river, pausing so Pietru could catch her breath. "How did you know they were poisonous? Was it like a Knower thing, or…"

"They were big, gross mushrooms in a rainforest," said Leon flatly. "I made a call."

Pietru tried to drink from the river, only to shriek and draw back as murderous snapping piranhas almost bit her face off. "Holy crap! Does everything in this place want to kill us?"

It was with great caution that they continued on their way. The jungle was filled with countless species, many of which would have had no place in such an ecosystem in Leon's old world; placid giraffes minced between the massive trees and chewed boredly at leaves above, and a few penguins lounged in a piranha-free pool, apparently having swum downriver from the snowfields around Nahul.

Leon marvelled at the bizarre sight; they passed many other, equally out of place animals - gorillas, wallabies, a moose, hippos, elephants, zebras and more - before arriving at a primitive village. Huts made of mud and branches nestled among the ancient roots, while wooden treehouses sat in the canopy far above. Intricate statues made of wood, mud and stone sat all about the settlement, offering small insight into the culture of whoever lived here.

Then the Shura appeared; giants twice the height of a normal human with golden bronze skin that bulged with rippling muscle. Men and women alike stood in their way, their black eyes turning red behind their shaggy black hair.

Pietru arched her back and hissed like a cat. "Huan," she whispered. "We should go. These guys are dangerous!"

A large boulder rolled down the bank to his left, but Leon just grew slightly larger and stopped it with one paw. "Really?"

"Curious…" The villagers parted as the newcomer stepped through. Her voice was sonorous but sensual; attractive yet commanding. "You are no mere pup. Tell me, what brings you to the land of the Shura?"

The woman was twice the height of the other Shura, and would have made Leon's father look like an infant. She was wearing an oddly modern red dress, and although it struggled to contain her enormous chest it displayed no cleavage at all. It was also very short; her bare legs were impossibly, gloriously long, and like the other Shura she was barefoot. A long black shawl was draped over her shoulders, its tasseled edges hanging to her knees, and on her hands were long red gloves.

She was the only Shura with her hair cut short, exposing her beautiful face, and was the only person with eyes that weren't red or black. Instead they were a pale blue that reminded him painfully of Livia.

Leon had to check. "Was that a rhetorical question or can you actually speak dog?"

"I actually speak dog," she said blithely. "None of these other children do though."

"Oh good," said Leon uneasily. The way the Shura were looking at him was making him very, very uncomfortable. "I… My name is Leon. I'm a… well, I don't really know what I am, but I identify as a wolfdog. This is Pietru: I call her that because she used to be a Versa Pietru, but these days she's a Toa Tesukatora."

"Hey," the Elder Dragon muttered nervously. "How're y'all doing?"

"Children!" The beautiful Shura raised her voice, making them both flinch. "The wolfdog tells me his name is Leon!"

"Hi, Leon," the Shura chorused dutifully.

"The cat with wings is called Pietru!"

"Hi, Pietru."

She gave them a beautiful smile; she looked so sweet, butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "It's very nice to meet you both. I am Yi Xu, the reigning Elder of the Shura Clan. And you're on my land." Her angelic smile turned into a savage grin, her huge mouth filled with enormous, sharp teeth. Her blue eyes turned blood red. "Get off my fucking property."

Leon grew to his maximum size, the transformation occurring within a split second; in the same amount of time the Elder went through a transformation of her own, the black shawl floating off her shoulders to transform into a mechanical suit that lifted her off her feet as it enveloped her in armour. It happened so fast that only Leon's unbelievable kinetic vision saw it happen.

They both disappeared, and for a moment there was stillness; then there was an explosion deeper in the jungle, then another and another as the two giants clashed.

Miles away in the Desert of Hungry Insects, the few survivors of the totalled Balrog ran screaming across the sand. They were being chased by flying, chittering bugs bigger than they were; they greedily devoured the terrified crewmen, and while a few Armours and Mecha survived they were quickly crushed by their leader. The Insect King looked to the jungle; it had evolved vision that could see magic, and the clash of apex predators attracted it like the flame attracted the moth.

Leon yelped as the Shura Elder opened fire, fleeing for his life as a path of destruction followed him through the jungle. She finally stopped as he abruptly shrank to the size of a regular dog, temporarily causing her to lose track of him. "You know I would've left if you'd asked, right?"

"Yeah, but then we wouldn't be able to fight!" Yi Xu laughed. "NOW FIGHT!"

The bizarre Armour clung to her arms and torso in a skintight material resembling woven metal, with an armoured exoskeleton protecting her back and purple lenses on her palms. Her legs were concealed by enormous thrusters that kept her constantly airborne, while she steered using metal wings whose undersides gleamed red. An enormous second pair of arms extended from her shoulders, each holding a colossal gun with a rotating barrel for rapid-firing high-yield shotgun grenades. Her head was concealed by a helmet that closed over her head like a pair of jaws, a golden crest decorating her forehead.

"Why do you even have that thing?" Leon complained, belly crawling across the floor like a loser to avoid being seen. "I thought all the super technology was uphill!"

"It is," she admitted cheerfully. "The Shura are mighty enough that technology can offer us very little we can't achieve with our own hands. I made this myself as a hobby- AHA!"

She had finally pinpointed his location, firing at him with one of huge guns; Leon barked, the sonic wave detonating the shell in midair. The wolfdog leapt through the smoke and fastened his jaws around her gunner-arm, using the weight of his enhanced size to drag her to the ground. Their momentum was arrested as her wings caught on the trees, giving her the chance to shoot at him with her second gun.

Leon rolled his weight to the side, dragging her out of the trees and causing her shots to go wide; they fired uselessly into the sky, creating an eye-aching light show of purple beams that Meio could see from his palace. A brief fall later and they crashed into the forest floor.

"Now now," the Elder teased. She didn't sound even remotely concerned. "Women don't like pushy men." She placed the palms of her real hands against his chest, the purple pads flashing as he was blown away; because he still had her gunner-arm between his teeth it was ripped off her body, and was still in his mouth as he crashed through a tree. The strange mech rose to its feet as the ancient tree toppled. "That arm is mine. I'm taking it back."

The severed limb dissolved into atoms, trickling out between his fangs and reconstituting as a new arm. Yi Xu tested the hand at the end as Leon's jaw dropped. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that you built this thing all by yourself?"

Yi Xu shrugged her mechanical shoulders casually. "I have a lot of free time." The draconic head cocked curiously. "Do you hear that?"

It was Leon, so obviously he had; a swarm of insects bigger than humans descended from the sky, their loud buzzing blending together into a menacing hum. Their bodies were essentially huge, circular mouths lined with teeth, held in the air by wings that were comically small in comparison. The wolfdog yelped as one of them took a bite out of his side. "Gah! What the-"

He took off running into the jungle, and Yi Xu followed as the insects gave chase.

"Why are they here?" Leon panicked. "I thought the insects never left the desert."

"They're probably stragglers," said the Elder offhandedly. "You most likely attracted them when you brought down that flying fortress. Thanks, by the way. I hated that thing."

Leon shot her a haggard look over his shoulder. "Why are you so calm? They're in your home!"

"Because I can do this." She stopped flying and turned to face their pursuers, raising one hand imperiously. "STOP!"

The insects froze, hovering obediently in place. Leon's ears flattered against his head as his jaw dropped. "How? How did… How?"

"This toy I'm piloting is called the Death Bringer," explained Yi Xu. "It was forged using thousands of kinds of alloys, but the primary ingredient was quality Insect Queen Metal that I personally retrieved from the Inner Desert." She reached out and crushed one of the insects in her hand, but its allies didn't react. "The insects devour various ores and use the continent's energy to reinforce their bodies, essentially becoming living ore refineries; by integrating these materials into the Death Bringer, I effectively made it into a pseudo Insect Queen. Add in their obsession with rank, and this baby lets me order them any way I please."

"Huh," said Leon, more than a little intimidated. His tail hung nervously between his legs. "That's… uh…"

A huge purple figure lunged out of nowhere, punching the Elder in the gut and sending her flying; the insects were immediately freed from her control, buzzing loyally about the newcomer's shoulders. The Death Bringer's helmet opened its jaws and retracted into its torso, allowing Yi Xu to expose her head and spit out a mouthful of blood. "Perfect: an Insect King. Just what my day needed."

The creature was as large as the Death Bringer, only ganglier; its body was made of an unsettling blend of metal and chitin coloured purple and black, with six long, insectoid legs. The upper four it used as arms, while six smaller, vestigial legs - for a total of twelve - protruded from a thorax like a gruesome human ribcage. Its head had only a single, glowing purple eye, while its mouth had sideways jaws lined with teeth that dripped with viscous saliva.

Leon barked, causing all the lesser insects to pop like zits. "Thank god. I am so damn sick of people ganging up on me." He grew to his maximum size as he turned back to the Insect King. "I thought these guys only had Queens-"

A pulse of purple light blasted from the Insect King's eye, blasting him miles across the jungle. Yi Xu flew back in and tackled the creature into the sky, leading to an intense midair struggle.

"Get off my fucking property," she spat, blasting the Insect King with her stun-palms at point blank range and sending it careening away from her. They both floated in the sky as they squared off, only for the purple monstrosity to be abruptly blown out of the sky.

"Surprise, motherfucker!" Leon snarled. He stood on an elevated patch of ground and began barking shockwaves at the Insect King, functionally acting as a living anti-air battery. The creature ducked and weaved around his blasts, eventually responding with an eruption of purple light from its sole eye.

Leon began to howl, the beam of light and the sonic cannon struggling against one another in the skies above the jungle.

The Shura Elder rolled her eyes. "Men," she snorted. "Always with the beam struggles."

Green energy blades erupted from her wrists, and with dazzling speed she cut the Insect King in half. With nothing left to stop it Leon's howl blasted a good portion of the chunks into space, while the rest rained down on the jungle below.

The wolfdog wagged his tail in greeting as the Death Bringer flew down to meet him. "Did that do it?"

"Probably not," grunted Yi Xu. "Insect Kings reproduce by mitosis; those pieces are probably growing into full fledged adults right now.

"Motherfu-"

Nine brand new Insect Kings dropped out of the sky; one of them split into two halves connected by disgusting strands of purple mucus, each of them quickly regenerating the missing parts of its body. Their numbers literally doubled by the minute.

"I have a plan," offered Yi Xu. "But I need you to hold them all in one place for a while. Can you do that?"

Leon huffed through his nose: the Shura Elder irked him, but he desperately didn't want Pietru getting caught by one of these things. "Fine. If I have too."

"There's a good boy." The Insect Kings spat spiked darts at the Death Bringer as it took to the sky, but the wolfdog jumped through the air and grabbed them between his teeth. He spat them back out like a shotgun, shredding any Insect Kings dumb enough to stand in front of him.

"Who wants some?"

It was upsetting how at ease Leon felt as they tried to kill him; Strobaya had given him a brutal beatdown and Rain Master had utterly outclassed him in speed and agility. It had bruised his ego to lose to such tiny opponents, but this? Surrounded on all sides by an infinite army of enemies? This was Leon's comfort zone.

Although he tried his best, the wolfdog still did enough damage to accidentally create a few more Insect Kings; by the time Yi Xu had finished her preparations they had piled onto him in a heap, looking like a spiny purple sea urchin as they bit bloody mouthfuls of his flesh.

"I'm all ready! Get the hell out of there!" Leon shrank himself down, ducking between the legs of a confused Insect King and sprinting to freedom; they tried to follow him, but Yi Xu put a stop to it. "FREEZE!"

For a split second they froze, and that was all she needed.

Two enormous guns that were each bigger than Leon in his maximum size had appeared in her hands; they glowed and crackled with crimson energy, while her wings glowed a matching red. "Death Bringer Main Cannons: Fire!"

The blasts of energy were awe inspiring, obliterating the Insect Kings completely. Not even dust remained.

"Whoo!" Yu Xi floated to the ground and deactivated the Death Bringer, which once more became a black shawl across her shoulders. "Feels good to get some exercise for once!"

Leon padded up to her; while the Shura's chest heaved from exertion, the wolfdog's breathing was calm and steady. "Since I helped you just now, will you believe me when I say that I mean no harm?"

"Oh, I believed that from the start!" Yi Xu scoffed. "After all, when we started fighting you avoided damaging our houses! No bad dog would do that!"

Leon stared at her in disbelief. "Then why the hell did you beat the crap out of me?"

"No reason." She patted him on the shoulder, almost flattening him. "C'mon! Let's go eat!"

The Shura Elder strode back to her village while Leon followed at his minimum size, barely coming halfway up her ankle. Pietru had been more less adopted by the Shura children at this point, and had melted into a purring puddle as they tickled her belly and chin. "I've changed my mind! These guys are okay!"

"Sellout!"

The Shura built a fire in the centre of the village as the sun began to set, dishing out food to their guests and to each other; while Leon obviously didn't need to eat, the tiny Elder Dragon descended ravenously on a leg of meat. "This is sooooo good!" Pietru gushed. "I haven't eaten since before I left the Blood Barrier!"

Leon watched her eat, laid out on his belly with his paws crossed. A few of the children giggled to themselves as they snuggled into his fur; they were the same size or smaller than a human of the same age, standing in stark contrast to the size and bulk of the adults. "Sorry," he said quietly. "I didn't think."

"It's fine," she chuckled, licking her chops cutely. "You don't eat, Moz doesn't eat, the axe doesn't eat; if anything I'm an outlier."

"Still, I shouldn't have forgotten about you. It won't happen again."

Pietru's draconic tail thumped against the ground behind her, and if she had lips she would have smiled. "Thanks, Huan."

For a while they sat in silence as she finished her meal; they graciously allowed the Shura to pet them as much as they liked, provided they didn't touch Leon's ears. "I have something else to apologise for. I'm sorry about dragging you into Nahul. And for making you raid that facility with me. And that whole deal with the flying fortress. That was stupid and reckless."

Pietru couldn't immediately see his point. "But you didn't have a choice. The axe and the Occuluncus…"

"Could have been rescued a million other ways," said Leon flatly. "You're not as tough as you used to be anymore, and I… I just put you in danger for no reason! You could have died when that ship went down!"

"There weren't a lot of options," she said soothingly. "You said it yourself, we needed to divert Nahul's attention."

"That would have never worked," sighed Leon bitterly. "I just… I just felt like I was the one who had to come up with a plan. Give us some direction. In the end I… I just settled on the first idea that came to me, even though there was no proof that the black hole gun or whatever it was could even operate outside the city. I put you at risk, and… and I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you. You've already died once, Pietru."

Pietru sat upright, curling her tail around her feet. "Out of everything you've fought so far, who was the strongest?"

The question threw Leon for a loop, but he answered honestly. "Gogmazios and the Fatalis, definitely." She gave him a blank look. "You know, the scary black dragon things."

"Right," she nodded. "And have you figured out where they came from?"

"I assumed based on its scent that Gogmazios was the second Warmother, and that it managed to evolve somehow." Leon cocked his head thoughtfully. "Do you think they can all do that?"

"Huan, I was the one who let it get away," said Pietru softly. "It was playing dead, and after you and Moz left with the bipeds it detached its tail and escaped. I chased after it, but… but I got distracted and went after Elodach instead. That's why it had time to evolve. That's why the dragon had a chance to corrupt me. That's why I died."

"Pietru, that wasn't your fault-"

"Did that line make you feel better when I said it a second ago?"

This made him pause. "No… No, I guess it didn't."

"I don't think making mistakes is unforgivable," said Pietru quietly. "But I also don't think that just forgiving yourself or coming to terms with them is the right answer; all we need to do is make sure we never make the same mistake twice. That's why you and I are going to make a promise."

Leon cocked his head cutely. "Okay…"

"You're going to promise me that you'll never run into a situation half-cocked again, and in exchange I promise to always double tap any eldritch abominations we may run into in the future. Sound good?"

Leon's tail began to slowly. "Yeah, okay. I promise. Thanks, Pietru."

"Anytime." She rubbed her face against his side, and he playfully returned the gesture. They were still horsing around when Yi Xu sat beside them; she had to force down the urge to pick them both up and cuddle them like teddies.

"Cats and dogs making friends," she chuckled, her sharp teeth tearing into a leg of meat and taking a scary bite out of the bone. "The world must be ending already."

"Actually I identify as a wolfdog."

"Does that mean I can identify as a Versa Pietru?"

"I don't see why not."

"Cool!"

"About that." The Elder sat aside her meal and gave the Elder Dragon a penetrating look. "What did you mean earlier? When you said she wasn't always a Toa Tesukatora?" Haltingly, they explained the existence of the Fatalis, the Black Blight and her brief stint as the Makili Pietru. "Don't you think that's a little odd?"

"Definitely!" Leon agreed. "We still have no idea why she-"

"That's not what I meant," interrupted Yi Xu. "Why do you call her Pietru? That's like calling a human Man and then continuing to call them that after they transform into a winged cat."

The Toa Tesukatora gave her an odd look. "I think that metaphor got away from you a little."

"She's right though," admitted Leon. "It was kinda lazy, as far as names go; we basically just came up with it off the top of our heads. Would you like a real name?"

He could tell from how her ears pricked up that she did. "Yeah, but… but… you've been calling me Pietru for a while now, and… a-and…"

Leon thought about it for a moment. "There used to be this book by a foreign author; the main character becomes the world's most powerful magician, while the second most important character becomes the world's strongest warrior."

The other two blinked, not entirely certain where he was going with this.

"The third most important character was called Prince Arutha, and compared to the other two he was just a normal dude. At one point he has to go undercover, so he takes the fake name of Arthur; the two names sound similar enough that he adapts to it easily, and if he accidentally reacts to his real name he can just say he heard it wrong."

The tiny Elder Dragon nodded slowly. "So… So you want to call me something that sounds similar to…"

"Why don't we go with Petra?" Leon suggested. "It sounds kinda like Pietru, so it should be easy to adapt to, and I think it sounds pretty!" His tail wagged anxiously. "Is… Is that okay?"

The Toa Tesukatora swallowed bashfully. "Yeah, I… that sounds nice."

"And you can start calling me Leon."

Her head shot up in alarm. "But… But you said you don't like being called by your real name! You said you didn't want people to know that you… that you were…"

"It's fine," said Leon quietly. "I want you to."

There was charged silence. "Okay," she said quietly. "Leon."

Huan and Pietru - or rather Leon and Petra - stared down at the ground in embarrassment, their tails wagging furiously. Yi Xu fought back a smile, ready to squeal from how adorable they were. Mercifully, she decided to change the subject.

"I noticed your eye colour," she said to Leon. "It reminds me of a Shura."

The wolfdog coughed awkwardly. "Thanks, I… they were black until a little while ago."

"Which is also a trait in common with Shura!" Yi Xu grinned. "I'm guessing from your body language and speech patterns that you used to be human; is it possible that you have a Shura ancestor?"

Leon and Petra cocked their heads as they seriously considered the idea. "Maybe," the wolfdog hedged. "No one is really sure why I turned out the way I did, and… and we recently discovered evidence that one of my ancestors may have been in the area. Maybe that's it?"

"Let me check something." The Shura Elder held up her right index finger, which briefly glowed crimson. "I'm getting fairy magic. Does that sound right?"

"Yep."

"And whoever did this to you knew nothing about dogs, correct?"

"Right again."

Yi Xu pursed her full lips in thought. "I have a theory, but… is it possible that you did something to impress this person? Something to influence how they see you in an overly positive way?"

Leon blinked. "I got my ass kicked, if that counts. Hell, the entire reason she transformed me was because I was so mangled there was literally no other method of saving my life."

"It doesn't matter whether you won, what matters is how you made the caster feel." Her blue eyes sparkled; clearly she had confidence in this theory. "The caster's lack of knowledge about dogs left holes in the spell; her perception of you - the fact that she saw you as heroic - filled in the gaps. Your body was enhanced by this perception… this Hero Factor… and because you possess the diluted blood of a Shura, that is what you became: a Shura, but in the form of a hound. As for why you can alter your size, why you heal so fast, why you possess the power of Needlessness… that is the Hero Factor, elevating you to your current might."

It was as good an explanation as any, but Leon was keenly aware that the theory required several assumptions to be true. "Of course, you're assuming that I have Shura ancestry. If I don't, then…"

Yi Xu smirked as though expecting this response. "The first time your eyes turned red felt weird, right? Like breathing manually."

"That is exactly what it felt like!" Leon blinked in surprise. "Holy crap! I'm descended from Shura!"

The Shura Elder lifted a massive tankard smelling of honey and raised it above her head. "HE'S ONE OF US!"

"ONE OF US!"

The entire village cheered; one child threw her arms around the wolfdog's neck, which he allowed. "Cousin!" she squealed.

"Now if we can only find out how I came back from the dead," said Petra dryly. "See how many mysteries we can solve before we get back to Holfort."

More children were piling on Leon by the second, which he tolerated with a hilariously flat expression. "So if you used to be a human…" said Yi Xu thoughtfully. "How are you handling that healing factor?"

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, recovering from horrific injuries, battling terrifying monsters with your bare teeth… a lot of humans would find it difficult to handle."

She had a point, actually. "I guess I never thought about it," shrugged Leon, the gesture causing the children to tumble giggling from his shoulders. "I guess after I realised that nothing could really hurt me, it just… stopped bothering me. I mean, no matter how bad it is, what's the point in worrying about an injury that's going to be healed by the time you notice it?"

"I have a theory about that." Leon was starting to believe her when she said she built the Death Bringer herself; the way Yi Xu constantly asked questions and made theories was definitely the mark of a scientist. "What if it wasn't just your body that was transformed? What if your soul has also been altered by its new container? It would account for your mental fortitude; maybe there are other signs you didn't notice?"

Something about the way she said it reminded him of the bizarre creatures that had attacked him near the domain of the Occuluncus. "There were these two creatures that attacked me after I arrived in Darhan," he said slowly. "They were probably stragglers from the Inner Desert. One of them used a weird mental attack on me, and it didn't-"

"Hold it!" Yi Xu said suddenly. "I just had an interesting thought!"

"R-Really?" Petra stammered. "I thought the soul thing was pretty interesting, actually."

"When your body was enhanced, did you notice any changes in your senses?"

"Well, yeah, they're all super sharp now, but-"

"If your organs are enhanced as well as your muscles, wouldn't that mean your brain would undergo the same boost in capabilities?" Her eyes were alight with excitement; they got the distinct feeling that this was the one ability Leon might have that she envied. "Your ability to absorb and retain information would be astounding! If the theory about your enhanced soul is correct, you may even retain this ability after you regain your human form!"

Leon's ear pricked up. "That… is a very interesting idea. I hadn't thought of that."

"Let's test it out!" She pointed to the Blue Dragon Scale on his chest. "Have you figured out how to use that yet?"

"Honestly, no," admitted the wolfdog. "I was under the impression it was just a key I could use to unlock the Fairy Gate in the Imperial Capital."

"There are four Dragon Scales in all," explained the Elder. "Each is of a different colour, and each can grant incredible powers if the right conditions are met. The wielder would need intense concentration, the intellect to fathom their mysteries and the wisdom with which to gain enlightenment of its ultimate potential." She paused to let the information sink in. "We may as well!"

As Yi Xu, Petra and even the surrounding Shura began to egg him on, Leon closed his eyes self-consciously. He focused his mind on the Scale attached to his chest, feeling the soothing coolness. He absentmindedly noticed that this sensation would have been a lot less welcome in the snowfields if he didn't have Silver's blessing.

An odd sensation emanated from the spot: it was like a stream of water was flowing through his body using the Blue Dragon Scale as an entry point. No… not just inside him, but outside as well. He could feel it all around him, like a slow tide.

A thin wall of water coalesced from the air, forming a large bubble around him; Petra scrambled away, hissing like a cat. "Do NOT get me wet, Leon!"

He opened his eyes to see Yi Xu scowling at him, as though dissatisfied. "You're interpreting the power of the Water Dragon too literally," she snorted dismissively. "Water doesn't just refer to liquids, or the chemical formula H2O; the power of water reflects what's in your heart. Be as water. Be calm. Serene. You are the mirror that reflects the universe. Now take that reflection and project it outside your body."

Then, all of a sudden… it clicked. Leon closed his eyes once more and entrusted his fate to the flow. As his mind cleared, he felt another sense awakening within him. Yi Xu smiled approvingly as the bubble of water evaporated, the power of the Blue Dragon Scale suddenly channeled into something far more spiritual. "Leon?" Petra asked nervously. "Are you okay?"

He could sense the flow of everything all around him: the flow of air, the flow of sound, the flow of power itself. Leon took those mixing streams and let them pass through him; it was like he had become one with the world. One with the flow of the world.

"Guys," he whispered. "I think I can-"

"There he is!" The shout popped his concentration like a soap bubble. "Kill the hellhound!"

"Goddamn it!" Leon cursed. "I was this close, guys! THIS FUCKING CLOSE!"

The Elder just laughed ironically. "Don't be so ungrateful; most people take decades of training, meditation, asceticism and enlightenment before they can achieve what you just did." The beautiful giant rose gracefully to her feet, turning to face invaders. "Greetings, my Zaterran brothers! To what do I owe the privilege?"

The Zaterrans were essentially lizardmen, with rough, scaly green hides and incredibly sharp claws. They were bipedal, with long, muscular tails and slitted yellow eyes over jaws bursting with sharp teeth. They were automatically the coolest people in Nahul by virtue of the fact that they were using dinosaurs as mounts: Leon spotted a brontosaurus, a tyrannosaurus, a triceratops and even a few pteranodons with riders wearing slick aviator goggles.

"Oh," he whispered. "That is so cool."

Petra gave his tail a judgmental look as it began to wag furiously. "You've met, fought and chatted with Elder Dragons. How is this different?"

"Shush. Don't ruin this for me."

The leader of the lizardmen had begun negotiating with the Elder; meanwhile the Shura and the Zaterrans had formed two battle lines and had started glaring at one another with thinly veiled hostility. "The treaty demands that you comply," he was saying. "You must either help us hunt down the beast or get out of our way. The honour of your people demands it."

"Funny," said Yi Xu, her eyes gleaming red; she exposed her terrifying teeth as she grinned menacingly at the much shorter lizard, who to his credit showed no fear. "I was under the impression that Meio demanded it, not our honour."

"If it's any help then I really don't mind," offered Leon. Yi Xu paused for a moment before turning to face him.

"Excuse me?"

"Really, I don't mind. I realise that you have a commitment to these people and I also realise that they're just trying to do their jobs. I won't even fight back, I promise."

"What's he saying?" The Zaterran looked between the Elder and the wolfdog with narrowed, suspicious eyes. "I don't speak dog."

Yi Xu looked at him, then at Leon, then back to him. "He says to knock yourselves out." She turned around and stomped back to the feast, apparently washing her hands of the whole affair. "C'mon, guys! Let's get baked!"

The Shura retreated, occasionally stopping to wave if they saw a Zaterran they knew; some of them tried to wave back, only to be glared at by their superiors. "Uh… okay then…"

Leon cocked his head cutely.

"I don't know about this, boss. He's a lot cuter in person."

"Thank you," said Leon, his tail wagging happily. "Rather than acting like that bruises my masculinity in some way, I'm going to accept that for the compliment it is!"

This only seemed to make the Zaterrans feel even guiltier. "We have a job to do," said the leader, even though he clearly didn't like saying it. "If we refuse to do this now, who knows what the Grandmaster will do to our mates and hatchlings in retribution. It's either us or him!"

The reptilian warriors let out a hearty battlecry, attacking the wolfdog with everything they had; their claws, weapons and fangs utterly failed to break Leon's skin. He wagged his tail patiently as they tuckered themselves out, nodding politely at the dinosaurs. "Fellas."

The enormous reptiles cowered pathetically; despite the efforts of their riders, none of them dared approach him.

"All of you, stand down." An enormous robot emerged from the trees, looking for all the world like a mechanical T-Rex. It had huge, clawed hands and spewed gouts of flame from its jaws. "I shall handle this one."

The Zaterrans got some distance as Leon sized up the new guy. "And you are?"

"Greetings, hound!" Clearly, this person couldn't understand a word he said. "I am Herzog Schlange, chief scientist under the command of Grandmaster Meio. You may rejoice, for you have impressed me with your abilities!"

Leon sniffed the air. "I don't smell anyone in the cockpit… is he piloting that thing from a distance?"

"This is Lago!" Schlange was saying. "It is my ultimate creation! And you-"

Leon smacked it with his paw, smashing it into the ground anticlimactically. "That sure would have been a great time for me to suddenly bring out a new ability," he remarked, thinking wistfully of the Blue Dragon Scale. "Damn."

"Lago! No!" Schlange screamed impotently into the microphone. "Do not think this victory will offer you any respite! Even now, Grandmaster Meio is aboard the Divine Punishment Satellite-"

Leon smacked the remains a second time, shutting him up for good. "Talkative motherfucker, aren't you?" He turned and padded back to the Shura, totally ignoring the Zaterrans. "Hey, do you know anything about the Divine Punishment Satellite?"

Yi Xu picked a scarily long piece of bone out from between her teeth. "It's just some toy that old fart on the hill likes to play with sometimes. Why?"

"I need to get to it," he explained. "Meio is there."

"I see." She shot the tiny Elder Dragon a sideways glance. "I can get you there, but… you might not be able to bring that friend of yours along for the ride."

Petra was getting her belly tickled by Shura child, and was purring like a furry little engine. "I'll talk to her." Leon sat himself down at Petra's side, waiting until he caught her eye. "I need a favour."

"Well that's an ominous way to start a conversation."

"Remember when you said you let that Warmother escape?" Leon reminded her. "Well, I may have done the same thing; the one that followed us through the Cullis Gate might still be alive. The cave collapsed on top of it, but you made me realise that it might have survived."

"Okay." Rather than blame him for this in any way, Petra just nodded. "What do you need?"

"I need you to tell the Shura everything they need to know about the UnFae; if the Warmother is still alive, it's going to hit the jungle first. I'm going after Meio."

The Toa Tesukatora sat upright. "You're going after- Leon, did you forget what happened last time?"

"Yeah, he almost killed us with the Divine Punishment Satellite; now he's on the Divine Punishment Satellite, so if I can get up there too he probably won't be able to shoot me with it."

"And how do you plan to get up there?"

"Easy!" Leon yelped as the Shura Elder picked him up like a kitten. "Imma throw him!"

The wolfdog did a massive double take. "Throw? Into orbit? If you miss, then-"

"I won't miss it!" Leon smelt her breath, suddenly realising that Yi Xu was very, very drunk. "Provided you don't struggle and throw off my aim!"

"Petra, help!"

"If you can't beat her then what hope do I have?"

"Prepare for launch, in ten… nine… eight…"

Boss: Death Bringer and the Insect King

Summary: this chapter is based off Stage 4 of the original Strider, which is set in the Amazon. The primary adversaries are actual Amazons, who I have obviously replaced with the Shura from Iron Ladies: the Shura are first introduced in Chapter 5 with Zhen Yuan, but are not properly explored until Chapter 96.

The Elder's origins are a little more complex: in the world of Iron Ladies, the Earth is the centre of an intergalactic empire known as Daxia. The rulers of Daxia are a council of AI based on brain scans of great intellectuals from history, and are referred to as Daxia's Elders. The most warlike of the Elders (the 4th) is sent to keep an eye on the protagonist, and her mind is placed in a Shura's body to follow him around in. While her true identity isn't revealed until Chapter 511, she is first introduced in Chapter 494.

Her mech, the Shura Death Bringer, is first introduced in Chapter 516, while the Insect King first appears in Chapter 551.

In regards to Petra's new name, this was actually in the planning for a while; Pietru was never really her name, and was really just a placeholder until they found something else to call her. I wanted to reveal it at the same time she called Leon by his real name, which in turn had to happen after Angie and Livia got the same privilege. You've probably figured this out by now, but the importance of names is a big theme in this story.

Fun Fact: Petra comes from the Greek word Petros, meaning Rock. It acts as an interesting bit of foreshadowing about her future.

The Zaterrans are the name for Reptile's species in Mortal Kombat One; in earlier games they were called Saurians, but I like this one better. Lago was the boss of this stage in Strider, and was part of a convoluted plot on Meio's part to make the Amazons worship him as a god.

I'm sure it made perfect sense at the time.

A final shoutout to Zkon, who was the first person to predict the plot point about the emotional consequences of Leon's healing factor and how it's weird that it hadn't come up yet. I love having smart readers.