order of the shadows au :^) or project or deity or all three!
“|Soon, Master Zed. Soon…|”
I have talked about this before, but I’m sure it’s in a place far away and buried so it can’t hurt to say it all again.
The lure of a power that can exact his revenge, or a new place to belong are strong themes in Yi AUs, and it’s no different here. If Yi were approached during his isolation period with an invitation to join Zed’s order then he might accept without thinking it through.
Yi is a magical prodigy, and as such is inclined to learn magical based techniques quickly. However, Yi would take offence to having a Master after his own father, meaning that while he would be a gifted shadow ninja, he would still be defiant.
As he grew calmer over time though, his ambitions would shift. Internalising his anger and turning into a want to progress would leave Zed with a formidable enemy from within his own ranks.
He would yes-man at Zed’s feet if he were so able to gain the man’s trust, with ‘|Lord Zed this|’ and ‘|Master Zed that|’ being a strict part of his vocabulary, but it would all be a front for something more sinister.
His goal, whether successful, ongoing, or unsuccessful, would be to learn as much as he could from Zed, and then with powers of the Shadow and Wuju combined he would usurp him from his position as leader.
Failing that, he might eventually just go rogue and leave the Order with his new found knoweldge, which I feel as if few could oppose him in such an act bar Zed himself.
Is he the Starscream to Zed’s Megatron? We just don’t know.
“This UNIT is built with combat specifications… but with my TRACE: LOST, I sometimes must wonder if those echoes I hear… mean something more.”
PROJECT: Yi is not a happy camper.
His body was basically torn to shreds by a mine he stepped on, assumedly during some war that I at least Imagine was some sort of civil war Piltover Vs Zaun that then drew in the surrounding powers.
He would have died if not for his augmentation, but he certainly wasn’t informed of the extent he would be augmented.
Because his initiation into the PROJECT was interrupted, as seen in PROJECT: OVERDRIVE, this is why he is subsequently corrupted. The intent of his transformation was to simply harness his Wuju prowess in mechanical form without any of his emotional baggage.
He considers himself somewhat neutral in the conflict between factions of the PROJECT verse, helping or hindering whoever he can attach himself to at the time.
However, because of his protocols he is conditioned to eradicate those who are considered ‘radicals’ and will do so without prejudice. In other words he lets his inner code dictate his moral one.
Only when he uses his technique the Highlander, a technique he developed himself specifically for the memory of his kin, does he gain any human clarity of mind. It is because of this association, and also because of the zen focus he finds himself in during it. This clarity disappears after the technique is done however.
Thinks Zed is kinda a dickhead for attacking him and the crew like two seconds after he woke up from being literally born again.
“I ask not that you believe, just that you listen to my voice on the wind. I am only trying to help you…”
I always imagine Yi when he is in a god-like figure AU to not have always been a god, but to have ascended to godhood by some means.
Like, for example, there is an implication in Wuju myth that Wuju Masters are akin to demi-spirits/gods, but in this case the myths might be real.
His anger from the destruction of his people might be the catalyst to what propels Yi into the ranks of the Celestial, though his sphere of influence might not be in anger.
He would instead be a wandering Celestial, perhaps like Bard but actually on the mortal plane. He would seek to end predations of the weak by physically existing in the world, and as such would keep the balance of the universe in a micro level way as opposed to Bard’s macro level effect.
He would be very often associated with weapons, and if he existed long enough past the time of his village slaughter he may come to be known as the Celestial of weaponry or blacksmiths. Not necessarily the violent use for a weapon, but just the conceptual idea of weaponry.
He really just wants to help people, for he was once a mortal man who knows the mortal feeling of hurt.
… though maybe he also doesn’t wish for another mortal to ascend to his level in order to be able to challenge his power, and that is why he helps out. He is not exactly a jealous Celestial, but he takes pride in the fact his semi mortal form was able to obtain such power.
