Cogito Ergo Lung
I think, therefore I am dragon
"
Yes... deal with me Lee."
I watched as the greatest threat to my life, empty and dismal as it was, abruptly relaxed and leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and waited.
"
Hmm..." He rumbled, sounding almost like a purr from a mechanical lion.
Lee stood warily, keeping himself between me and Lung.
And did nothing.
"
As I thought." Lung rumbled, "
Though it may take some effort to be certain."
I looked at Lee, at the man I crossed the line with and manipulated his brain, the line I swore to never cross, and frowned.
"Why aren't you doing anything?"
"
He is." Lung boomed quietly, which was somehow possible given his voice. "
That's why I'm so pleased."
---===---
<I don't understand.>
That's because you don't know him as I do.
This is
wonderful.
"
Before you did what you did Amelia, he would have lunged at me just like you hoped." I smiled, tilting my face so she was sure to see it. "
I've tested it, several times in fact, when he was really empty. No hesitation at all. At any act, at any order."
And he was empty, even at this moment, but he was thinking!
"
To be honest, I hadn't ever considered using love like that. As a weapon, as a tool..." My smile turned into a smirk. "
It must be a New Wave thing."
Her gaze had gone from confused, to thoughtful, to horrified.
"
He can't attack me, not without putting you at risk." I continued, my voice uncontrollably happy, at least to myself. "
He also can't teleport you, as he knows it will hurt you. When he recovers in the mornings he'd rather drive me across town than risk a single teleportation. And I'm just his friend."
I didn't mention that I could also tell that he was absolutely terrified she would take it all away from him after he teleported her away.
She didn't understand, she couldn't, so I'd have to explain it further.
<To me as well.>
"
Don't you see!" My voice was booming now, no longer was I keeping it in check. "
He's searching for an answer!"
She didn't get it, but she would. I had to test this.
And give her what she's due.
"
Lee. I will let Panacea go. This I swear." He didn't relax, he knew me well. "
If you can perform for five minutes. You know the one."
He did, even now, empty as he was. "You swear?"
I knew what to do. I closed my hand into a fist and extended my pinky.
"
指切拳万、嘘ついたら針千本呑ます" I intoned solemnly.
"Very well. I shall perform."
"
Good. Fetch my mask and our things."
---===---
As soon as Lee left the room, my gaze turned towards Panacea. I made sure my voice was under control once more.
She didn't mind, it gave her time to ruminate.
"
And now to give you the third thing: The answer. I've already given you the secret and will finish with the promise soon enough, but here is the answer. Are you prepared?"
I waited, my face as serious as it could be.
Finally she nodded.
"
They already know." My smile was a bitter thing. "
That is the answer."
I waited, and watched, and after a moment the words struck her soul.
"
'You lust for your sister. But do you know why?'," I intoned solemnly as her face crumbled. "
I asked you that, and now I have answered it."
"They already know?" Her voice was a quiet as ash.
"
Not the sexual part, that came up recently yes?" At her shaky nod I continued. "
No doubt after Dean's sticky fingers, and his graduation to what Americans dub 'second base'. Or was it third?" I shook my head, euphemisms in twelve different languages were a pain before you added the vast distance and variance of America into it, and I wasn't exactly a fan of baseball. "
But the rest, the love, the worship, that they already know."
"But that means-" she tried to get out.
"
That they want it, yes." I said seriously. "
And the proof is easy to confirm."
It was to me, but only thanks to Taylor.
<How?>
You went by their homes only the once, back when you were curious what bonafide Hero's homes would look like.
<I did, but they were normal houses. No secret passages, no special rooms, even the bugs were normal.>
That's because you weren't looking. You sought what was different, not where it was all placed.
"
You know how large her aura is correct? And that it can go through most walls?" When Panacea nodded I continued. "
Then get a measuring tape and measure how far her bed is from theirs."
I grinned as sinisterly as any villainous role I had been in. "
Then all you have to do is ask why your room isn't next to theirs. There is the spare yes, the one room that was converted into an office."
I heard the dolly cart squeak in the distance. Lee was returning.
"Carol... said she couldn't concentrate because of..." She trailed off, mind turning inward and eyes lost.
My smile faded and it returned to my serious look. "
That's all you have to do Amelia, just ask them."
---===---
Lee wheeled in the cart and took in the woman he now loved, sitting forlornly on her chair.
"What happened?"
I wanted to laugh and cheer and dance in joy at his initiative, but this was a warehouse I wanted to keep relatively intact.
Instead I shrugged carefully.
"
I have given Panacea nearly everything I have promised. That is all."
He nodded, then frowned.
"
And now," I boomed happily, clapping my hands together with the sound of a small caliber rifle, "
I shall explain to Panacea what it is we will be doing."
Despite her misery, I knew she was curious at what was on the cart.
"
You see, after the theatre I performed at and that Lee had practically lived his entire life in burned down, we found out that Lee had triggered and gained his Powers." My tone was fond, as it often was when I reminisced of the old times, even the bad parts. "
Naturally when the Manager found out, he was delighted. Two parahumans, oh the scenes he could stage."
I paused to take a careful sip of the water. My hands were warming it rapidly, but I was used to that.
"You were in theatre?" She asked, glancing at both Lee and myself.
"
Indeed, and just as I learned quickly my new roles after Triggering, so did Lee." I smiled. "
Lee was promoted from Emergency Replacement to a starring role, and our abilities were studied and utilized."
<So his Powers got him promoted?>
Only technically. The Emergency Replacement is usually the best actor in the group, and is often a retired veteran. They can perform any part, any role, in any show we had to offer, should any one of the regulars be unable to. Lee had held the spot since he was thirteen.
"
And one of the shows we learned to perform was a variation of an old, old tale. One that wasn't shown in modern times due to the dangers involved."
"The Ogre, the Princess, and the Ninja." Lee said quietly, already undressing.
"But it's just theatre..." Panacea trailed off as Lee took off his undershirt.
<Holy shit!>
Yes Taylor, I know, down girl.
I too studied the man, remembering his worship of the actor Bruce Lee, and his efforts to resemble his hero in both acting prowess, presence, and musculature. Pretty close, all things considered.
Thankfully the Taylor that was lobbed into my mind didn't overwrite my sexual orientation, or give me any sort of muscle fetish. I might never pull away from a mirror.
<Modesty becomes you.>
You probably could grind meat on his abs though.
<Stop it.>
You can grind concrete on mine.
<Stop it!>
Oh look, there go his pants.
<Shut up you!>
Panacea certainly noticed, no doubt her Powers impeded her ability to find most people attractive unless at a distance. But when Lee's new pants were pulled up she managed to regain her voice.
"...So how-"
"
Does theatre hurt people?" I finished, immensely amused at the antics of both the lady within and without. "
That is because certain forms of entertainment and exhibition are dangerous. Consider trapeze acts in the old circuses, they had nets for a reason. It was not just the acrobatics that enthralled, it was the brushes with death and pain. And in Japan there were often demonstrations of skill. Karateka often participated in naked blade captures," I lightly clapped my hands together slightly above my head. Lightly for me that is. "
A mistake from either man and the sword would cut off limbs, take out eyes, even cleave a man's head in half."
What the Taylor within me felt was mirrored on Panacea's face.
"
And in the theater we had the Ogre, the Princess and the Ninja." I concluded. "
The top two actors and a special guest, usually from the audience."
Lee's cloth kuroko mask was already on, and he was equipping the weapons of the role. I pretended to not notice the revolver he'd added.
"
That's you by the way." I pointed out to the bound girl as I strode forward and collected the three things I needed.
My blue Oni mask, my iron spiked club, and my tiger striped loincloth.
I held my iron painted mask carefully with both hands and smiled, reminiscing at how long it had been since the Red and Blue Oni had both been on the stage.
<That's huge.>
I'd grow into it.
<Not your regular mask though.>
I never wore my dragon mask in the theatre. That was my mask as a criminal. I've played the Ogre, the Oni, the Kui, several Xiāo, a half dozen different yāoguài and yāomó, the Christian Demons and Devils, even the Krampus once, but never the dragon. My theatre manager knew better than to risk breaking the illusion of civility.
<Like the unspoken rules in America?>
Something like that, though mostly Japanese pragmatism.
I placed the mask down on my chair with a quiet thunk, and reached for my loincloth.
My jeans I ignited as I turned away from Panacea to prevent giving her much of a show. As the ash fell away I unfurled the loincloth and examined it.
No wrinkles, good.
Made of Mineral Wool, PBI, and an outer layer of Modacrylic to make the dyeing of the tiger stripes really stand out, I could wear these in a moderate inferno without risk, barring literally growing too big for my britches. As I was smaller right now, the leather shoulder strap would keep things from falling off until I was larger and the strap popped off from the metal button.
"
In practice in the old days," I noted conversationally as I dressed, "
the Ogre's kanabō -his club- was hollow and made of painted bamboo. Still stung like a bitch when you got whacked with it though. When on the stage it was solid oak studded with iron, they'd smash things to demonstrate just how real it was."
Mine hadn't been bamboo, nor oak, nor even iron, which would be thematically accurate, but something sturdier and less likely to warp if I got excited and heated up or squeezed too hard.
Tungsten, and was taller than I was at the moment. Awkward at this size, though not from the weight.
"
The performance was in effect the ultimate demonstration of skill between an actor and his shadow." I said seriously as I picked up my large blue mask and looked at the notches in the leather straps. As I grew I'd tap the metal tab lightly and it's drop down to the next notch. "
They had to know each other perfectly, anticipate every move the other would use, as the Ogre and the ninja were roles created on the fly. Never the same way twice."
I slipped it on and just like that, my posture returned to the Ogre. My shoulders hunched, my head hung low, and I peered about, looking for my club.
---===---
Panacea watched and listened as a man became a monster. She couldn't describe it any other way, he just wasn't... a person anymore.
"
We could do ten minutes once, ten minutes of attacking and defending. At that point the practice stage was in ruins and we'd had to stop." His low rumbling breathing went lower and harsher, humanity slipping away. An Ogre's voice.
Good times those were. The crowds loved us.
The happy ogre's voice turned sad. "
And then we found out how his powers were grinding him away. I nearly killed him when he didn't dodge like he easily could have."
Sadness turned into despair. "And now he can barely do a single minute."
Despair became hunger. "
Are you ready brave Ninja and dear Princess?"
---===---
Panacea's chair was lifted delicately from behind and placed down in the back of the room, inches from the wall and the small nightlight to her left.
The torches dimmed somehow, bringing the gloom back to the room.
"Long ago," Lee began in English, voice sounding both older and mysterious. "An Ogre terrorized a Lord and all on his land. People and livestock were taken away into his pot to eat, and nothing the Lord had could stop him. Not his personal Samurai, not his army, not their spears and arrows, not even his thick stone walls could keep the Ogre from taking what he wanted, when he wanted."
"
And one day the Ogre spied the Princess and wanted her." Lung's voice was harsh, echoing, terrifying. "
And none could stop him when he came for her."
"Except..." Lee's voice came from somewhere to her right. "The Princess herself. She held a knife to her throat and threatened to kill herself."
"
The Ogre stopped." Lung rasped also from the right, harsh voice sounding perplexed. "
And for once he faced a problem he could not simply destroy with his iron club."
"The Princess was wise and kind." Lee continued. "And brokered a deal; If the Ogre would leave her father's land forever more, the Princess would be his."
"
The Ogre agreed." Lung sounded pleased. "
For there were always other lands to pillage, but not a beauty such as hers."
"The Lord despaired, but accepted the terms." Lee said, "And the bridal procession was under way, treating the sacrifice as a thing to celebrate, and it was, for no more would the Ogre ravage the land. The people cheered."
Lee's voice suddenly changed, becoming younger, yet quieter. "Except for one, the Princess's personal ninja. Assigned to her at an early age, he had protected her from the unseen machinations of the court, from the assassins she had never noticed, all without ever being seen, and they had never spoken. But that didn't matter, he would protect her."
"
Or die trying." The Ogre concluded, sounding amused. And hungry.
The torches flared up, making her blink back tears at the sudden brightness. And between the closing and opening of her eyes for a blink there was the ninja, the quiet clink of weapons and mail under loose flowing black, arms bare save for dark leather bracers, and he turned to kneel in front of her, his invisible gaze under the thin black cloth completely covering his face somehow beatific.
"My Lady, I have come for you." He said, sounding more animated than either voice he'd used before, more alive.
"I will protect you." He meant it, truly and absolutely.
It only made her guts churn all the more at what she'd done to him.
Her disgust ended with the sound of concrete breaking, as her head snapped up from looking at Lee to find that Lung had leapt across the room, turned, and crashed his back into the wall to stop. Uninjured, his burning eyes glowed from inside his blue Oni mask.
He was nine feet tall now, and the iron club fit his hand perfectly. Her mouth was suddenly dry and she could feel her scalp tighten instinctively from familiar primal terrors. But she couldn't step back and leave an aura, not this time.
He swung his club like it weighed nothing, the low whoosh sound it made reminded her of the time Vicky had swung a small I-beam with both hands, just to see if she could. She felt the warm wind hit her face despite being over thirty feet away.
"
Five minutes." The Ogre rumbled.
.
