Dragon's Progeny [Worm/ABB OC]

[Rotceh]

Good work i LOVE this fic

 

[Phraxius]

A satisfying (and delightfully ironic) end to Bakuda and a transition of leadership that immediately showcases why she's the best leader the ABB has ever had? Very nice.

It's going to be interesting to see the ripple effects of this.

Oh yeah, and Rune ran away from the E88 right before this all went down, no? I wonder how she's reacting to several days of radio silence from the protagonist.

At least 'I was dead, but I got better' is a pretty damn good excuse.

 

[Sadguychet]

"And your total comes out to 14.88." The cashier said happily, as if he hadn't charged Tammi nearly fifteen dollars for a fucking sandwich and nothing else.
Tammi sighed, reaching into her wallet to grab a five and ten dollar-bill. She put it on the counter, grabbing her sandwich in exchange, "Keep the change, I guess." She said, turning to leave with her meal.

"Have a lovely day, ma'am!" The cashier called after her.

Tammi held back the snort that wanted to come out of her mouth at his words, instead just waving her arm in a silent farewell to the surprisingly polite man. Have a lovely day. She hadn't had one of those all week, and she had a feeling that wasn't going to change any time soon.

She frowned as she got to the door of the shop, noticing that the Boardwalk had become quite a bit busier even though she had been in the store for less than ten minutes. That was just great. She should have come here earlier.

Making sure that all of her belongings were properly secured, Tammi stepped out of the shop and made her way into the crowd of meandering bodies, doing her best to not make eye contact with anybody as she did so. Thanks to all the shit that happened to the Merchants, the Enforcers had been particularly nasty lately and she definitely didn't look like she should be here. She'd rather not set them off if she could help it.

Journeying this far away from downtown was a bit risky but she had been craving this sandwich for some reason and decided that the journey was well worth the trouble. As long as she didn't take too long, she'd be back to the shelter in time to get her spot with more than enough time to spare.

Being homeless wasn't something that Tammi had ever thought she'd have to deal with but now that she had, she suddenly found herself much more sympathetic towards people who chose to join the Merchants. She was getting by well enough because she was a somewhat high-profile villain and as such, had managed to make quite a bit of money on the side that nobody in the Empire knew about. If she didn't have that, she could see how turning to pushing and using drugs would be a preferable alternative.

Still, even if she sympathized with them, trash was still trash, and the Merchants were the trashiest of them all. Tammi may be homeless now, but even if she didn't have money she'd die before becoming one of their whores or something disgusting like that.

Her face curling in disgust, Tammi purged the thought from her mind, instead preoccupying herself with finding somewhere to sit so she could eat her sandwich before the bread got soggy. After only a few seconds of searching, she managed to spot an empty bench overlooking the pier through the crowd and bee-lined towards it, pushing through the throng of people to reach it before someone else took it.

She made it to it in time and plopped herself down, sighing happily as the weight was taken off of her feet. As she settled in, she got stared at by people walking by as she took up practically half the bench with her backpack, but she didn't give a shit what they thought. She'd been for over two hours and this was her bench now, and would be until she decided to get up again.

She unwrapped her sandwich and bit into it, closing her eyes in bliss as garlic and oil slid over her tongue and coated her mouth in its delicious flavors. Oh yeah, this was definitely worth the hour-long walk.

As she ate, Tammi reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone, rolling her eyes as she turned it on and was immediately met with over a dozen messages from people she was almost certain she had blocked. Guess they really wanted her back if they changed their numbers just to get ahold of her.

Deciding that there was no harm in looking, she picked one of the message chains at random and opened it up, reading what they'd sent her. Threats from Alabaster and Krieg, some attempt to appeal to family by Purity which she probably could have predicted, and pleading by Ophelia to come back before her aunt did something crazy to try to get her back.

Tammi scoffed at the notion. Agnes probably didn't even know she was living in a homeless shelter now, much less which one she was at. The old bag could try and find her but with her power, she could be halfway across the state in just a few hours.

Tammi deleted her cousin's message, and then went through the rest of them and did the same, not even bothering to read what they said. They were probably all threats or some shit anyways.

As she deleted the last one, a bright white box lit up on her screen, causing her to scowl as she was met with a warning that her phone was dangerously low and would need to be charged soon.

She dismissed the alert angrily. That was just fucking great, there was no way any of the stores around here would let her sit in them and charge it. They were all tourist traps, they didn't like sit-ins and she wouldn't be surprised if she got the Enforcers called on her.

Hell, the only place that she could think of that had outlets and would let you sit and use them was that cafe she and Yuko always hung out at but that was at least ten miles away and in the other direction of downtown and she was not walking that far from her only place of shelter right now.

Yuko. The thought of her friend made Tammi frown slightly as she tossed her empty sandwich wrapper into a conveniently-placed trash can nearby. She hadn't heard from her best friend in way too long and even though her own state of affairs wasn't exactly the best, she couldn't help but start to worry about the other girl. They had been texting basically every day before this sudden lapse in contact, but she hadn't heard a single thing from the girl since before she abandoned the Empire. What was she up to? Was she okay?

Her frown deepening, she looked down at her phone, debating with herself as she took in the eight percent of charge the device had left.

'Screw it.' She decided as she pulled up her contacts to find Yuko's name, 'Not like I'll die if my phone does.'

As she pressed call and put the phone to her ear, Tammi wasn't really expecting much. She had been trying to get a hold of her friend for the last week and hadn't been able to. None of her texts had gone through and her calls didn't even connect, and she had a feeling today wouldn't be any different-

Tammi's thoughts halted as the call was picked up before the first ring could even finish, "Hello, Tammi." Yuko's soft voice came through her phone speaker, "I'm very sorry if I've missed any of your calls or texts. My phone was broken and I only just managed to replace it today."

Yuko's voice was like a soothing balm on Tammi's frazzled mental state, even moreso since she hadn't even truly been expecting to hear it. The worry for her friend that had been sitting in the back of her mind for the past week disappeared, replaced by an intense feeling of relief that filled her easily.

"Holy shit dude, I've been trying to call you for like a week!" A nearby person gave her a dirty look at her language but she didn't, ignoring them in favor of her best friend, "What happened to your phone? Is everything okay?"

"I'm alright, Tammi. Thank you for your concern." Despite her words, Tammi could hear something hidden in her friend's normally sincere tone that she was doing her best to hold back.

"You don't sound alright. What's going on, Yuko?" Tammi said, a bit of concern leaking into her voice.

There was a small pause after her blunt remark, "I… may have exaggerated a bit." Yuko admitted, "Truth be told, I received some horrible news recently and am having trouble coping with it. I believe I was on the verge of another panic attack the other day but of course, with my phone broken I simply had to deal with it."

Tammi sat up on the bench slightly, "Wait, really? Shit, I'm sorry to hear that. What got you so worked up?" She asked.

"It is a variety of things. Though the news definitely played a rather large factor in it." Yuko sighed, "Not to mention, on top of that, my workload has increased nearly threefold in the last two days alone. The combination of the lack of sleep and the stress of my occupation is not doing wonders for my mental health."

"You haven't been sleeping."

"Not much. Maybe two or three hours a night."

Tammi winced, knowing how hard Yuko already worked before the change, "Seriously? Is there nobody around to help you?"

"Even if there was, I likely wouldn't trust them to." Tammi could almost see Yuko shaking her head and heard the shuffling of papers in the background, "My job is extremely important. If someone else were able to do it, it wouldn't be nearly as required as it is."

"You want to talk about it? The bad news, I mean." Tammi asked, despite knowing what the answer would be. Yuko was oddly secretive when it came to certain things and she had a feeling this was one of those things.

She was proven right as Yuko immediately denied her help, "No. I appreciate it, Tammi, truly, but I think I need time to truly process things before I'm ready to talk about it. I hope you understand."

"Of course. I get it." Tammi said, understanding leaking into her voice, "If you ever do want to talk about it though, just give me a call. You're my best friend, dude. I don't want you feeling bad if I can do something to help, you know?"

"Thank you, Tammi. I'm very grateful to have someone like you in my corner." Tammi could hear Yuko's smile in her voice as she spoke, and it caused the blonde to smile as well, happy that she had cheered up her friend.

"Anyway, did you need something or would you just like to chat?" Yuko asked, her chair creaking in a way that Tammi assumed meant she was leaning back, "I'm not doing anything that requires a great deal of attention at the moment."

At Yuko's words, Tammi suddenly had an idea. She wasn't sure if it was a good one, but it was one that would get her out of that homeless shelter if it paid off.

She bit her lip, debating for a moment before deciding to just go for it, "I did need something, actually. If you don't mind, I mean."

"Of course I don't, Tammi." She could tell Yuko was smiling, "You're my friend. Ask away."

Tammi took a deep breath, gathering her courage, "Alright so uh, this is gonna sound super weird, especially since I haven't even really been to your house before but… You mind if I chill at your place for a few days? Maybe a week or two? I kinda got kicked out of mine and don't really have anywhere to stay."

There was a pause on the other end of the line as Yuko processed what she just said, before her voice came back, a small layer of anger underneath her polite tone, "Your parents kicked you out?"

"Well they didn't say they were kicking me out exactly but uh, there was a lot of shouting, screaming about responsibility and maybe about sending me to juvie too." Tammi sucked her teeth, "I miiiight have broken a lamp and maybe a really nice vase too before I left so I guess it was more me running away than being kicked out. Sorry."

"When did this happen?"

Tammi winced slightly, "A week ago? Give or take a few days."

"You've been on the street for a week!?" Yuko's polite voice gave way to one filled with horror which just made Tammi feel like shit.

Tammi tried her best to reassure the other girl, "Nah, I got a spot in the shelter downtown the first day so I've been mostly fine. I'd rather not stay there longer than I have to, though."

"Tammi, I'm so sorry. If I had known I would have done something right away. Of course you can stay with me."

Tammi smiled, a massive amount of relief filling her, "Seriously? Thank you so much, dude. I really appreciate it. I'll try to stay out of the way as much as possible and not overstay my welcome, I promise."

"Nonsense, I enjoy your company and would be more than happy to host you for however long as you'd like, Tammi." Yuko said and the sound of something moving in the background bled through the speaker, "There are several unused guest rooms in my house that I can get prepared for your arrival. Would you prefer the ground floor or the second floor?"

Tammi's mind stalled at her friend's words. Several unused rooms? Tammi had always suspected that Yuko had money given the clothes she wore or even the way she spoke, but she was thinking upper middle-class at best. If she was actually telling the truth, then Tammi had severely underestimated just how loaded her friend was.

"Uh… ground floor, I guess. I don't think I'm capable of using stairs when I first wake up." She said after a moment of thought.

"Wonderful, I'll tell someone to make sure it's clean for your arrival."

And she had servants too!? Holy shit, was she some sort of princess or something? Now Tammi couldn't wait to get over there and take a look at the house her friend lived in. It was probably absolutely massive.

Yuko spoke again, this time with much more hesitance in her voice, "Although…"

Tammi's smile fell at Yuko's tone, "What? Is there something wrong?"

"Possibly." Yuko said, "Before we do this, I need to speak with you about something. Something I've been meaning to speak with you about for while now."

Tammi's eyes widened slightly. A sentence like that could mean many things, but her mind automatically went to one. One that had been on her own practically all week after she was freed from the constraints that being in the Empire forced on her.

Her mouth felt dry as she spoke, "Yeah? What is it?"

"Not on the phone. It is something best explained in person. Do you know the fancy Italian restaurant off of Sixth and Cedar downtown?"

Tammi did. It had been a place she had been wanting to try with Yuko for a while now but had never asked. It was the kind of place that you didn't bring someone to unless you were with a party or had intentions. That made it off limits, Or at least it did while she was still in the Empire…

"Yeah, I know the place. Osteria-something, right?"

"That's the one. Would you like to have dinner there tonight? Say around…" Tammi could hear Yuko shuffling paper's in the background, "Eight? It would be my treat, of course."

Tammi's breath caught slightly, "Are you asking me out?" She asked before she could think. The moment the words were out of her mouth, she realized what she had said and immediately went into full-panic mode, trying to recover from her fuckup, "B-Because I wouldn't mind, you know. If that's even what you're asking, I mean."

What the fuck was she doing!?This wasn't some cheesy romance movie, people don't just ask that! They just kind of hope it silently until they get to the restaurant and are disappointed that they got their hopes up! She'd just primed herself for rejection and humiliation at the same time!

Fuck, she might have just screwed this all up. She hadn't wanted to let her feelings be known until she was sure that Yuko actually returned them! Spouting shit like that out of the blue was not the way to do it!

Yuko was silent for a long moment, only adding to Tammi's anxiety, before she finally spoke, "...That wasn't quite what I had in mind, no. The talk I had in mind was of a much different nature and certainly not so fanciful. I just felt it would be better received over your favorite meal. My apologies."

A knot of intense disappointment formed in Tammi's stomach, but she tried not to let it show in her voice, "Uh, right. Sorry I just thought… you know." She said after a moment, finding it oddly hard to speak all of the sudden.

"Of course, I understand. It's just… this is something that I probably should have told you quite a while ago. I would like to get it out of the way before you commit to living with me."

"Yeah. Yeah I get it, dude. Sorry for jumping the gun like that." Tammi said softly, cursing at herself in her head for being so hasty.

"It's completely fine, Tammi, really." Yuko's voice took on a different quality, much lighter and far less serious, "I will say, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to revisiting that subject after our talk. Should you still wish it after what I need to tell you."

Tammi blinked, barely believing what she had just heard, "...Really?"

Yuko giggled, the sound ringing in Tammi's ears like a soothing bell, "Of course. I'm rather fond of you, Tammi. You are probably the person I find myself looking forward to speaking to out of everyone I know." As Tammi was left stunned by Yuko's words, there was the sound of an opening door and a male voice saying something that Tammi couldn't understand, "Ah, I need to go now. I have a meeting I need to attend in a few minutes and need to get ready for it. I'll see you at eight?"

"Yeah." Tammi said, nodding her head automatically, "I'll be there."

"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing yo-"

Yuko was suddenly cut off in the middle of her sentence, breaking Tammi out of her daze, "Yuko? You there? Hello?"'

Nothing. Tammi pulled back her phone and was met with a completely black screen, and it only took her a second to realize that it had finally died on her, just barely lasting to the end of the conversation between herself and her friend.

Tammi stared at her now-dead phone for another moment before slowly putting it away. Afterwards, she just sat there for a few minutes, thinking about the conversation that had just ended. And what it meant for her and Yuko's relationship.

Tammi wasn't some stupid schoolgirl who had never had a crush before. She knew exactly how she felt about her friend, had for a while now actually, though she'd admit it took her an embarrassing amount of time to actually get there.

Even just a year ago, if someone had said that she would have developed a crush on another girl, much less an Asian girl, it would have sent Tammi spiraling into a raging denial that would probably have ended with a few thousand dollars in property damage at the very least. But that was a year ago when she still bought into everything that they were selling. Since then, Tammi had met Yuko and had had plenty of time to be introspective and more importantly, truthful to herself.

Tammi always knew in the back of her mind that the way that she interacted with Yuko was different. At first, she had just chalked it up to the fact that Yuko was pretty much the only friend she had, but there were only so many times that you could have your entire mood lifted by a single text from said 'friend' before you started to wonder if something else might be there.

Denial was the first reaction that she had to the realization of the depths of her feelings. She was still firmly in the Empire mindset, and although that mindset had been loosening more and more as the two of them hung out, she still maintained that she was completely straight. She'd had boyfriends before and even enjoyed the relationships for as long as they lasted. That meant she couldn't be a lesbian, right?

That defense fell apart extremely quickly as the two of them spent more and more time together, before eventually crumbling to dust completely after the trip to Boston. It had taken a little while, but she and Yuko had finally managed to get together so the girl could teach Tammi how to properly use the supplies that she had bought.

Since neither of their houses were available, they had rented out a room in a local store that was meant for board games and D&D and the like. They had set up there for a few hours as Yuko did her best to teach Tammi how to partake in one of her favorite hobbies.

Spending that much time with Yuko, just the two of them in that tiny room as she showed Tammi the basics of color theory and how to properly shade and all that jazz, had been extremely enlightening to her. As the hours went by, she found herself scooting closer to the girl to take a look at an example she was being shown and not moving back afterwards, instead remaining right there, their shoulders touching as Yuko practically gushed about art, ecstatic that Tammi was taking an interest in one of her own interests.

It was in that room, when Yuko had turned to her to answer a question and left their faces mere inches away from one another, that Tammi was forced to admit her feelings. A straight girl wouldn't have glanced down at her best friend's lips and wondered how said friend would have reacted if she leaned forward to close those last few inches. A straight girl wouldn't have spent the entire next day wondering how her best friend would have reacted if she had actually followed through on her fantasies and closed those last few inches between them, pressing their lips together in a decidedly not friendly kiss.

Faced with all of these facts, Tammi had to face the truth for what it was. She wasn't straight. Not only that, but she had feelings for her best friend. Her Asian best friend. While being a well known Empire cape.

That realization had led her to be much more careful with Yuko on the occasions that they spent time in person. She tried her best to ignore the things she was just now noticing, like how she had a tendency to close her eyes when she laughed too hard or the way that the other girl's touches seemed to linger just a bit too long on occasion and the hope that stirred within Tammi when they did. She ignored all of this and more, because she knew that she wasn't sneaky enough to hide a relationship from Kaiser and that being discovered would mean a beating at best and something happening to Yuko at worst.

…But now she wasn't in the Empire anymore. She didn't have to give a single shit what they thought or approved of. She was free of them. Free to do whatever the hell she wanted without them being able to do a damn thing about it.

Free to date the girl who, if she was reading the conversation right, might actually return her feelings.

Picking up her things, Tammi stood from the bench and began the long walk back to the homeless shelter. It was a little after five right now so she should have time to actually take a shower and make herself a little bit presentable for her date.

'Not a date, Tammi. Not officially.' She reminded herself as made her way back into the crowd, 'Yuko has something important she needs to tell you and you're gonna listen to what she has to say before trying shit.'

Her thoughts did absolutely nothing to bring down her mood however, and for the first time in days, Tammi found herself smiling as easily as she had before all this shit went down. She was glad that even when life had completely fallen apart, she at least had a best friend who was willing to assist her in her time of need and help her pick it all back up.

And maybe a bit more if she plays her cards right. Yuko said this talk might change her mind on wanting to date her but Tammi severely doubted it.

After all, it wasn't like Yuko's secret could be worse than her own.

---

Next five chapters available at Sadguychet | Patreon

 

[Izurukuma]

This chapter is cute really cute

 

[Soulcore]

You forgot to threadmark of the chapter but it was very very cute.

 

[CyrneIlysraa]

After all, it wasn't like Yuko's secret could be worse than her own.

Click to shrink...

this will be much fun to witness
tftc

 

[Sadguychet]

You forgot to threadmark of the chapter but it was very very cute.

Click to shrink...

Thanks for pointing that out. I forgot to do it on spacebattles as well lol, I guess I'm just not in it today

 

[Solare_The_Second]

Amazing chapter once more

 

[falsegod]

so fun, sad for dad-lung in birdcage but our mc is getting a posible wife

 

[Sadguychet]

Sitting in a booth in the back of the restaurant, I tried my best to keep myself from fidgeting too overtly as I awaited Tammi's arrival. I kept my fingers laced together, deliberately not looking towards the clock that was hung on the wall to my right.

This… might not have been a good idea.

"Excuse me ma'am." A voice came from my left. I turned to find a well-dressed waiter giving me an expectant look, "Would you like an appetizer while you wait for your companion? We have an excellent selection to choose from."

I gave him a smile, shaking my head, "Just water will be more than fine, thank you."

"Of course, ma'am. I'll be back in just a bit."

I stared after the man for a moment before returning my eyes to the table in front of me and turning my thoughts inward.

The last thing that I had suspected yesterday was a call from Tammi. I had been fully prepared to call the girl once I finished with my duties, and to have her call me herself was a bit of a surprise. Even more surprising was the subject of the call itself.

I could barely believe that Tammi had been kicked out of her home. Parents were supposed to care for their children above nearly all else. Barring the most extreme of crimes or actions, there was absolutely no reason for an adult to tell their child that they were unwelcome in their home. For them to kick out Tammi, a girl who, at least to my knowledge, was a completely normal teenager and threaten her with juvie was absolutely abhorrent.

I had half a mind to find out exactly who these people were and pay them a visit to find out what in the world they were thinking, preferably while in costume. Unfortunately, I had a feeling that Tammi would react to that rather poorly.

Almost as poorly as she might react to what was going to be revealed tonight.

Footsteps approaching me broke me out of my thoughts. I looked up, expecting to see the waiter having returned with my drink, only to be met with a very different sight.

Tammi gave me a slightly-nervous smile as she approached, along with a small wave, "Hey, Yuko. Sorry I'm late. I had a bit of trouble deciding what to wear."

I swallowed dryly as I took her in. Tammi had always been pretty, but tonight it was clear that she had deliberately stepped it up a notch. Her hair had been carefully brushed and hung in a draping curtain over her left shoulder and I could spot the barest hint of eyeshadow around her eyes that definitely hadn't been there ever before. I didn't even know she owned makeup.

"You're wearing a skirt." I said before I could think about it. Tammi's current outfit was pretty far removed from her usual attire, and to my knowledge she had never worn anything like it before. A denim skirt that hung around her knees and an open leather jacket that showed off her dark top.

The ensemble had a decidedly punk theme, yet somehow looked more refined on Tammi than it would on practically anyone else. It suited her perfectly

"Is it too much?" She asked, looking a bit embarrassed as she patted down her skirt, "I packed it without thinking when I left my parent's house and it's probably the nicest thing I've got right now. Figured a place like this would require at least a little dressing up."

I shook my head immediately, "No no, it looks nice. You look nice, Tammi."

It was too dark to tell, but I could swear that Tammi blushed at my compliment, "Thanks." she said softly as she sat down in the booth, "You look great too. I like what you've done with your hair."

I brought a hand up at her words, pushing the dangling black bangs out from in front of my left eye, "You think so? I thought it might be a bit too bold when it was suggested to me."

Tammi gave me a nod, smiling softly, "Yeah. It looks great on you. Adds a bit of flair and really accentuates your scar. I-In a good way, I mean. It's striking."

"Thank you, Tammi." I said, feeling a slight blush cross my cheeks.

I hadn't changed my hairstyle in years, always opting for the same straight and serious bob that I had maintained since I was thirteen. After all of the drastic changes that had happened in my life recently though, I felt that I was due one as well.

It had been a spur of the moment decision, but that single compliment made it more than worth it. I gave Tammi a smile as she grabbed her menu, looking through it eagerly, "Alright, so what do we have her-jeez!" I giggled as Tammi's eyes practically bulged out of her skull as she took in the prices on the menu. She looked up at me, "Dude, what the heck is with these prices? Forty dollars for a Rigatoni Martino? I can't afford this!"

"Which is why I said I'll be paying for it." I smiled gently at the blonde, "I told you. Tonight is my treat. I don't expect you to pay for it." Especially not with the talk that would take place afterwards.

This time, the blush that crossed Tammi's cheeks was plain as day as she returned my smile with one of her own, "Okay, Yuko. If you insist. Don't say I didn't warn you though. You know Italian is my favorite type of food."

I just giggled lightly as I picked up my own menu, doing my best to hide my anxiety as I gave her a soft smile, "That's why I picked it."

Hopefully the food would do its job of softening the blow of the revelation that was to come.

~~~

"Oh my god, that was so good."

I echoed Tammi's sentiment with a satisfied hum as I placed my own fork and knife on my plate, using a napkin to wipe my face free of the bolognese left on my lips. I wasn't the biggest fan of Italian, finding it a bit too oily and overly filling besides, but this was definitely a restaurant I was going to be patroning again. The meal was absolutely delicious.

But now it was over, and what I was about to do next loomed heavy over my head like a dark cloud. I temporarily debated ordering dessert as a way to postpone the impending talk, but that idea was quickly thrown out as I realized I was far too full to eat anything else. It seemed that it was time to get this over with.

"Tammi…" I spoke up, breaking her out of the food-induced haze of pure bliss. 'I think it's about time we have that talk."

She looked confused and slightly worried, before her eyes widened in understanding. "Oh yeah, that talk. Right, I almost forgot about that with all the fun we were having." Tammi chuckled lightly. I wished I could join her, but I couldn't bring myself to find any merriment in the current situation. She picked up on that, and her chuckles quickly faded into a frown and she became much more serious, sitting up in her chair, "So what's up. You got some bad news for me or something?"

"...I suppose you could say that." I nodded, "Truthfully it depends on your reaction to the news."

Tammi grinned, completely unworried, "Well you've done a fantastic job of buttering me up with this whole dinner date thing. So that's already a few points in your favor. Go ahead and let me hear it."

I couldn't help but wonder if she would say the same thing by the time this was all over. I closed my eyes, taking a moment to gather myself, before opening them once more.

"I suppose the easiest explanation begins with the reason for my near panic-attack last week." I said, lightly tapping my fingers on my thighs, "I received some extremely disheartening news that night and, combined with numerous other factors, caused the episode I told you about over the phone."

"You said you didn't want to talk about it." Tammi said, though her voice was curious instead of accusing.

"And I still don't. At least, not right now." I sighed, "Most of them are unimportant, or are a combination of several things that would require more explanation. The crux of the issue is that a little over a week ago, I lost my father, even though I wasn't aware of that fact."

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that dude." Tammi immediately said, her voice heavy with sympathy and compassion. Though I was glad to hear the concern, I immediately knew that she had misunderstood me.

"He's not dead." I clarified, causing her to blink "He's just… permanently indisposed. I doubt I'll ever see him again."

Tammi's face twisted in slight confusion, "Was he like, arrested or something? For how long? Fourty, fifty?"

"Indefinitely." I answered, causing her to whistle lightly.

"Damn. He must've done something bad, huh?" She said, before suddenly wincing, "Oh uh, sorry. That's probably super fucking insensitive of me, isn't it? Keep telling your story, I'll just shut up for now. "

I sighed lightly, "You are not wrong, unfortunately. For all that he was a fantastic parent towards me even in the unfortunate absence of my mother, my father was far from a good man. He committed innumerable actions that would see him put away for life had he been anyone else, but he somehow always managed to escape capture. Until now."

This was it, there was no going back now. I took a breath to steel myself for her reaction before continuing.

"Somehow, some way, my father was captured by the Protectorate." I said simply, causing Tammi to freeze, "They brought him in a little over a week ago and decided that for his crimes, he was to be sent to the Birdcage. The transport left last week, while I was indisposed and that revelation was what caused my panic attack."

"What?" Tammi was shocked, looking at me with wide eyes, "But there haven't been any big arrests recently. They haven't caught any villains that would be sent to the Birdcage except for…" She trailed off, her mind making the connection almost instantly. Her eyes grew even wider if that was possible, her face going slightly pale, and something horrible curled in my gut. "Wait, you mean your dad is… Lung?"

"He was." I confirmed with a quiet nod.

"And that means you're…." She stopped before she said it, as if she was afraid of the answer.

"Yes." I took a breath, before looking into Tammi's eyes with a serious gaze, "I am Yosei. Daughter of Lung, once-heir to the ABB, and as of this week, its new leader."

My proclamation was met with stunned silence. Tammi was completely frozen, just staring at me with wide eyes as she processed what I had just said. I did my best to continue to meet her gaze, but the silence quickly managed to get to me, and I looked away.

"I'm sure you know why I wanted to tell you this before you decided to move in with me." I said, looking down at my empty plate, "It wouldn't be fair to you if I suddenly sprung this on you while you were living with me and left you with nowhere to go. I understand if you-

Tammi stood from her booth abruptly, rattling the table and causing my words to die in my throat. I stared up at her and she looked back with an indecipherable expression, before turning away from the table, "I've got to go."

She left before I had a chance to respond, walking away from the booth and out of the restaurant at a brisk pace. The speed at which she left caught the attention of practically every patron within the restaurant, and as she rushed out of the door and into the night beyond, those eyes turned to me, both pity and silent condemnation present in the gazes of those seated around me.

None of them concerned me. I was far too busy dealing with the knot that had suddenly appeared inside of my throat as well as the clenching in my chest that came alongside it. My eyes stung as I turned my eyes to my empty plate, tears making themselves known behind my eyes with the realization that I just lost my best friend.

Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had known this was an inevitability. There was no way that even someone like Tammi would be willing to continue associating themselves with such a dangerous person. Much less the new leader of a gang like the ABB.

The clattering of plates on the table caused me to startle, and I looked up to find that the waiter had returned and was cleaning up the dishes that Tammi had left behind. He looked at me with a slight amount of pity, before turning his head to look in the direction she had fled.

"If you don't mind my input, I would go after her if I was you." He said, causing me to raise an eyebrow. He shrugged, grabbing Tammi's empty plate and glass and stacking them atop one another, "It's not really my business, but that look on her face wasn't exactly angry. She looked conflicted. I'd say you still have a chance."

I chuckled sadly, "I doubt it. What you just saw was the result of irreconcilable differences, I'm afraid. I doubt she'll want anything to do with me after tonight."

The waiter looked oddly skeptical, "That wasn't what it looked like to me. I might be watching too many romantic dramas, but that look on her face told me that she really didn't want to leave, but felt like she had to. I'd go see what that was about. Try to get that happy ending that none of us do."

He suddenly shrugged, lifting up the dishes that he had been gathering, "Or don't. I'm just a single waiter who barely makes minimum wage. What do I know?"

What indeed…? I stared at him for a moment, before looking in the direction Tammi had fled in. I bit my lip, warring with myself internally, before coming to a decision.

Though he had misread the situation completely, the waiter was right. There was no way I was going to just let Tammi leave like that before I had a chance to properly explain myself. If I did, there was every possibility that I would simply never see her again. I would lose her for real.

I stood, ignoring all of the eyes on me as I reached into my wallet and pulled out three hundred-dollar bills. I slapped them on the table, giving the waiter a nod. "Keep the change. For the advice." I said, turning away from the surprised man to make my way out of the restaurant.

The amount was likely well over the price of the meal but I was technically dine and dashing since my payment hadn't been processed in any formal capacity. Hopefully this would keep me from being banned from the restaurant or something similar as I would admit that this was a rather enjoyable experience.

Now all I had to do was ensure that I would be able to repeat it in the future.

~~~

Finding Tammi wasn't that difficult. At this time of night, there were only a few places she could go and more importantly, I knew her. After a revelation like that, she would want to be somewhere where she wouldn't be bothered so that she could clear her head.

The closed public park was the perfect place for such a thing. The fence was easy enough to bypass, more of a polite suggestion than anything that would keep any sufficiently motivated individual from entering, and finding Tammi was nearly as simple. The girl was standing right under a street lamp, leaning up against it and staring at the sky as her hands fiddled with her phone.

Her hair was in complete disarray from her sprint here, frizzy and windswept as opposed to the neat style that she had put it in for our talk

She didn't look at me as I approached her, but I could tell that she knew it was me by the way her shoulders tensed and her fingers stopped moving on her phone. My heart sank slightly as I saw that and I stopped a few feet away from her.

For a moment, I just sort of stood there, not really sure what to say. Tammi seemed to be the same, or maybe she was just ignoring me, I wasn't sure. The silence stretched and I berated myself for not coming up with a plan on how to talk about this on the way here.

Eventually, I decided to just come out and say what was in my heart. It wasn't like I could make things much worse anyway.

I followed Tammi's gaze up to the sky, taking in the few stars that were visible through the light pollution, and spoke, "...I'm sorry, Tammi, for concealing this from you for so long. Truly I am. I should have told you long ago."

There was a noise as she shifted against the pole, but she didn't speak. I took that as a sign that she was willing to hear me out and continued, "I've been wanting to tell you for a while now but I guess I was just too scared. You were pretty much the only escape that I had from all of the stress and doubt that came with my position. The only lifeline in an ocean of responsibilities that threatened to drown me at any moment."

The words were flowing easily now as I explained myself the best I could. I looked at my friend, my eyes misting slightly, "With you, I didn't have any expectations or responsibilities. I didn't have to put on this… front of stoicism and leadership that I do with my men, pretending that I'm this impenetrable figure who always knew what she was doing even when she was lost. With you, I could just be Yuko and forget the ABB altogether, at least for a little while. I didn't want to lose that."

Tammi didn't respond at first, just continuing to stare up at the stars above us. My heart sank as she ignored me, her intentions made plain as day. Clearly, my apology had been insufficient. I had screwed this all up.

And then, just as I thought all hope was lost, she spoke.

"How long has… this," She gestured vaguely, "been going on? Since before you met me?"

Hiding my happiness that she wasn't ignoring me, I shook my head, "I've only been Yosei for a short while, six months at most but…I've been a parahuman for years now. I haven't been active in the cape scene due to my father's wishes."

"A while now?"

I thought for a moment, "I believe I triggered when I was around seven."

Tammi's head snapped towards me, all anger gone from her posture as she stared at me in wide-eyed horror, "You triggered that young?" She said, her voice just above a whisper.

I nodded solemnly, "Yes. I triggered during Leviathan's attack on Kyushu when I was a child."

"When you were drowning in that hotspring?" She asked, her voice oddly soft.

I shook my head, "No. It was after that. My father and I were unable to escape before he began sinking the country and I-" I cut myself off as the repressed memories reared their head, the image of asymmetrical green eyes peeking through the torrential downpour appearing in my mind and causing my heartbeat to quicken immediately. I swallowed roughly, "I… don't want to get into it right now if that's alright. It's not a happy memory."

Tammi just nodded, an odd amount of understanding in her eyes, "I get it." She said softly, before a bit of anger returned into her posture, "What I don't get, is why you're only deciding to tell me this now?"

I licked my lips, unsure of how to put this, "Well, along with all of the other factors I mentioned… I suppose I didn't want to get you involved. I know how headstrong you are and I also know that you wouldn't be content to just sit by and not play an active role in things. I…"

I hesitated slightly at my next words, but decided to follow through. I had already bared my biggest secret, what was one more?

"I care for you, Tammi." I confessed, "You're one of the most important people in my life. I didn't want to lose you by dragging you into the danger that Yosei often finds herself in."

Tammi snorted, but it was a short, humorless thing, "Yeah well, fat chance of that." She muttered angrily, though somehow, I could tell that the anger wasn't directed at me.

Still, I was confused by what she had said, "What do you mean?" I asked, before my eyes narrowed and my tone dropped drastically, "Have my men been giving you issues?"

"No, nothing like that. It's just…" Tammi shook her head, an oddly agitated expression coming over her face before she huffed, "Look, my own personal shit isn't exactly as bad as yours, but my life isn't all peaches and cream either. Even before all the shit that went down with my parents."

She pushed off of the pole that she was leaning against, and my gaze followed her curiously as she made her way towards the bench that we were standing beside.

She reached out with a hand, running it along the back of the bench as a conflicted expression came to her face, "Honestly, I don't really have any right to be angry with you, and I'm not even sure that I am." Tammi said softly as she rubbed the cool metal, "I think I'm more angry with myself. You're not the only one who's been hiding shit she shouldn't have. You're just the one who actually decided to man up and be straight with everything…"

She sighed, before looking at me. I was surprised to see that there was little to no anger there, just wariness, "So I guess I should follow your lead, huh?"

I gave the girl a confused look, but before I was able to say anything, I was left frozen in surprise as the bench that she had been touching suddenly began to move. It raised upwards, beginning to float into the air at the apparent behest of the girl next to me in a very familiar way. This was…

"I'm Rune." Tammi confessed, gesturing to the floating bench as I stared at it in shock, "Or well, I was. I left all that behind a week ago. It's part of why I was kicked out of my house. My parents didn't want anything to do with me when I was a part of the Empire, and because I left like I did, they didn't want Kaiser knocking on their door demanding me back."

I stared at her as I registered what she said. Tammi stared at the bench under her control and my mind almost automatically interposed an image of the telekinetic cape over my best friend. Her build was the same, as was the shade of her hair, a golden blonde that gleamed even in the dim light we now found ourselves in.

My mind went back to the cape's voice and how oddly familiar it had been. At the time, I had just thought I frequented a place that Rune happened to as well, but that wasn't the case was it. The reason that Rune's voice had been so familiar to me wasn't just random coincidence, it was because it belonged to my best friend as well.

And with that realization, came another, much more concerning one.

"The trip to Boston..." I said slowly as I remembered that last encounter I had with the cape, the fear on her face as I held her in my grip, "I was the one who broke your arm, wasn't I?"

Tammi snorted, looking at me, "That's what you got out of this? Not that I was a neo-nazi until a week ago?" My face held no humor in it and she immediately sobered up, looking away again, "Yeah, you broke my arm, and I called you a… yeah."

The silence stretched, and Tammi took the time to lower the bench back down to the ground, placing it back in its proper place with a soft motion. There was a tight frown on her face

"Do you… share their beliefs, as well?" I couldn't help but ask.

Tammi was silent for a long moment, much longer than I had hoped she would be. Then finally, she spoke.

"I used to." She admitted, "When I first joined, I practically ate up everything they fed me, from the racism to the other bullshit propaganda. I really believed that whites were better than anyone else, that all other races were… violent savages or just stupider than we were."

"...Oh." What could I even say to that?

"But I don't think that anymore!" Tammi insisted, staring at me imploringly, "O-or at least I'm trying not to. I still sometimes find myself thinking all these horrible thoughts when I look at people who aren't white, but I'm trying my best to fix that."

I processed what she had said, or at least tried to. I was more than a little overwhelmed by this sudden turn of events. I had come prepared tonight to reveal my greatest secret and possibly lose a dear friend in the process, not… this.

"What made you change your mind?" I couldn't help but ask.

Tammi paused, before looking me right in the eyes, "You did."

She said it so bluntly that it took me aback, "What?"

"I said you did." Tammi repeated, continuing to look at me with that oddly soft gaze, "When we started hanging out, I thought you were just… one of the good ones, as horrible as that sounds. But then we spent more time together and that started to change. I finally found an actual friend whose opinion I could care about, and suddenly theirs didn't matter anymore."

"I started questioning things that I hadn't before. Like what made white people so much better than all those other races even though we were the ones hunting minorities in our territory for sport. What made us better when we do the exact same shit that the ABB does, or even the Merchants? The only difference with us is that we like to pretend we're better than them because we were born with lighter skin tones."

"The hypocrisy made me sick. Even more so because I was a part of it for so long and even though I'm not in the Empire anymore, all of their bullshit stuck. I saw a black guy helping a woman pick up her fallen groceries the other day, and the first thing I thought was that he was going to ask for a handout or something." Tammi spat angrily, clenching her fists, "I don't want to think like that anymore, and I'm trying not to, but it's hard."

Tammi shoved her hands into the pockets of her jacket, looking away again, "So yeah. You're not the only one with a secret, though I'm not really sure who's is worse anymore."

I was silent as I thought about what had been revealed to me, my mind whirling as the silence stretched between us. That my best friend and crush had been a racist neo-nazi who probably would have been more than fine participating in the persecution of minorities if she was asked. I had never in my life imagined that someone like Tammi would be capable of such a thing. Sure, I knew that the girl was rough around the edges, that was what endeared me to her in the first place, and I may have suspected that she was hiding a bit more than she let on but this? This was so far out of left field I could never have guessed it.

But… When compared to my own secret life, was it really any worse?

After only a moment of thought, I ultimately decided that it wasn't. It wasn't like I was free of sin given that I currently ran the largest and most dangerous Asian-only gang on the East coast and perhaps even the entire country. And though I myself had nothing against other races joining the ABB, I knew that not everyone shared my beliefs. (That didn't matter of course. My word was law just as my father's was, but the law rarely changed people's way of thinking.)

And that wasn't even considering what I had done for my father in my short span as an active cape. Even in the few short months that I had been a member of the ABB, more blood than I cared to think about soaked my hands and continued to do so. The indirect killings from our drugs alone had likely earned me a reserved spot in hell, and I had no intention of changing that part of our operations any time soon.

Compared to all that I had done and would doubtlessly continue to do, Tammi's actions were practically nothing.

Not to mention, apart from the comments that she had made about my father, which I truly believed were out of concern instead of prejudice, Tammi had shown zero bigotry to anybody, including myself, while I was around. That, alongside the fact that she was clearly aware that her previous way of thinking had been wrong, made her a step above her former compatriots in nearly every regard.

She was at least trying to change. Which was more than I could say about myself.

"Tammi." I spoke up, causing her to look at me. I stared into her eyes, my own searching "Do you hold a grudge towards me for what I did? For… breaking your arm and sending Hookwolf and Stormtiger to jail?"

Tammi immediately shook her head, "Of course not. We were enemies and you didn't know it was me. As for those two, I couldn't give a damn what happens to them. It wasn't like we were friends anyways. They just saw me as a flying taxi or a punching bag or some shit."

I nodded, filing that away for later, "...Are we still friends?"

Tammi gave me a confused look, "What?"

"Are we still friends?" I repeated, completely serious.

She was still confused, "Are you for real? I just told you I was an active member of a neo-nazi gang and you still want to be friends with me?"

"And I am the leader of a gang that is just as large and dangerous as that one. I have no intention of changing that either." I said in response, causing her to blink, "So I will ask again, are we friends?"

She stared at me, trying to decipher my words and their meaning before nodding slowly. "...I'd like to be." she said softly.

I nodded at her words, making my decision, "Well then, in that case…" I drew myself up, straightening noticeably and causing Tammi to raise an eyebrow, "I suppose I should inform you that the ABB is no longer limited to those of Asian descent. If it suits you, I would offer you a place with us. As Rune, or if you would like to retire from cape life, as Tammi."

Tammi stared at me for a long moment as the offer hung in the air, before a scowl crossed her face and she shook her head slowly, "Yeah, no. Don't talk like that. You sound too much like Yosei right now and I don't want to talk to her. I want to talk to Yuko."

Her words brought me up short, and Tammi waited patiently as I gathered myself, standing there silently as I did my best to get my thoughts in order.

Finally, I spoke, this time in my own voice instead of the polite, serious one I took on in my parahuman persona, "Tammi… if you would like to live with me, the offer is still open." I licked my dry lips, looking away from her, "You don't have to join the ABB if you don't want to, but I certainly wouldn't refuse you if you did. Just having my best friend around will be enough."

Tammi walked up to me, her shoes just visible in my peripheral vision as I stared at the ground, "That sounds great."

I was suddenly wrapped in a hug, the taller girl pulling me close and pressing me against her chest. I didn't resist, happily accepting the embrace and leaning into her. She rested her chin on top of my head, holding me tightly as if she was trying to ward off the cool night air around us, "I'm not sure about the whole, 'joining the ABB' thing but we can talk about that later if that's alright."

I nodded, enjoying the way her arms felt around me, "That's more than fine. I understand if you wouldn't want to join my gang so soon after leaving the Empire. Whatever your decision is, I'll support it."

I could feel her smile into my hair, "...I appreciate that, Yuko. More than I think you realize." She pulled away, looking down at me with a much more somber expression, "You realize the Empire is definitely going to come after me, right?" She asked softly.

My expressions hardened, "Let them try. I fought the heroes on their own terms and still came out on top. In terms of power, I am just as strong as my father was. If they must learn that the hard way, then so be it."

Tammi stared at me, blue eyes wide in surprise by my proclamation, before they softened, "You'd seriously fight them for me?"

"Without hesitation." I protected what was mine, be they friends or those I led. If the Empire wanted Tammi back, they would have to go through me first.

Tammi chuckled, "Well damn, you're making this a whole lot easier than I thought it would be."

Huh?

Before I could process her words, Tammi leaned down and pressed her lips against my own in a chaste kiss. It was a quick motion, and she only held her lips against my for the barest of moments before pulling back with a satisfied smile on her face, leaving me wondering what had just happened.

As she stepped away, I blinked slowly, bringing a hand up to my tingling lips as I felt my cheeks warm as I realized I had just been kissed. Tammi laughed at my actions, though there was a clear blush on her cheeks as well, "Oh yeah. Just the look on your face makes this whole night worth it."

I pouted slightly, though it was undercut by a smile that wanted to peek through, "I wasn't expecting it. We just got done talking about all that serious stuff and then you go and do that. How am I supposed to react?"

"Just like that." Tammi grinned, and I couldn't help but drop my pout and return it with one of my own, far too happy to keep up the expression, "Now how about we revisit that whole date idea that you promised me, yeah?" Tammi gave me a mischievous grin, holding out a hand, "Maybe ice cream? There's got to be a place open at ten, right?"

I giggled at her words, "I doubt it." I said, reaching out to grab her hand. As our fingers laced together, I couldn't keep the slightly giddy smile from my lips which still tingled with the remembrance of Tammi's own pressed against them.

I stepped towards her, moving her arm around my back so she was holding me around the waist and not bothering to hold back a grin at her slightly shocked expression, "But it couldn't hurt to check."

~~~ Elsewhere ~~~

Agnes Herren was a woman of staunch discipline and control above all else. Those two factors had gotten her far in the corporate world and with some luck, they would take her further still.

As she listened to the man on the other end of the phone prattle on however, she found that control slipping more and more.

"...And we managed to rescue both Brad and Felix from the clutches of the heroes but Ophelia still has no leads on Tammi's location. It's possible she has fled the state, though I'm not sure how she would manage such a feat." The man sighed, as if he was exhausted by the current state of affairs that were his fault to begin with, "Alongside Brad and Viktor's latest argument, tensions are at an all time high in-"

"Enough." The single word was more than enough to stop the self-important man's speech dead in its tracks, "You've prattled on long enough. I do not care about the state of affairs within your inner circle. The only thing that concerns me is the current state of my family, and it seems to me that you have little to inform me of in that regard."

"I apologize. I was just-"

"I wasn't finished speaking, boy." Agnes' voice was angry, silencing the man before he could even begin, "I have supplied the Empire with much in the last several years, Maxwell, but hear me and hear me well. If my niece is not back in the Empire before the end of the month, so help me god, I will cut every single bit of funding that I have supplied that little outfit of yours."

"Frau Herren, please don't be hasty!" The man practically pleaded, a far removal from his earlier decorum, "I promise you, we're trying all we can to locate her."

"Your promises aren't worth the spit you shine your shoes with, Maxwell," Agnes said derisively, "I'll be putting some of my own resources towards this little issue. The pair of them will be arriving in the Bay by the end of the month and I expect you to treat them just like you would myself, is that understood?"

"...Understood."

She could practically hear the boy gritting his teeth, clearly unhappy with her interference. Well tough shit. Her brother had already abandoned the clan thanks to his father's rule; she'd be damned if she lost her niece as well.

"Good. I expect to hear good news soon. Goodbye, Maxwell. Give Kaiden and her children my regards."

She hung up on him before he could respond to her not-so-subtle jab, and placed her phone back in its holder. She then reached across her desk to press a delicate finger to her intercom, a voice coming through a mere second later.

"How may I be of service, Frau Herren?"

"Hans, dial the Schmidt's handler. I have a job for them."

"At once, Frau Herren."

It was perhaps a bit overkill to send those two of all people to retrieve what amounted to a rebellious teenager, but Agnes was fed up with everything that had come out of Brockton Bay and that whole operation and she wanted this done quickly.

If that brat wanted to be just like her father and failed to see the possible future that she could have with the Empire, then Agnes would be forced to show her.

By the end of the month, she would have her niece returned to her and perhaps even the other one while she was at it, and then she'd wash her hands of the Empire and this country that she had so stupidly decided to move to.

The company wouldn't suffer from another relocation, and the Herren clan always were far more comfortable in the Fatherland anyway.

---

Next five chapters available at Sadguychet | Patreon

 

[XxhmsresouluteXx]

Is this an au thing? I thought the heerans were like klan or something not German.

 

[Kylia Quilor]

Yeah, I'm not sure how I feel about this depiction of the Herrens as like... higher tier than E88. Doesn't jive with what we know of them from Canon. and really recontextualizes a lot.

 

[Sadguychet]

Coil sat in silence at his desk, his hands steepled in front of him as he stared at the far wall, deep in thought about the recent developments in the city he hoped to one day rule.

Just a few short months ago, things had been going completely fine. His power and underground influence had been used to great effect, allowing him to move pieces on the board and witness the effects of his plays without anyone the wiser. This advantage had allowed him to prepare things to suit him, to set the stage just as it needed be for his eventual takeover.

In due time, the entire city would be under his control and completely oblivious to that fact.

Or at that was how it would be, if not for the thorn that had been lodged deeply in his side just a few months ago and thrown a wrench into all of his carefully laid plans.

Yosei was a variable that he could never have hoped to account for. Coil had no idea how he had never known that Lung had a daughter before the fact was made public, but it was a glaring oversight on his information network. And he hated nothing more than oversights in any of his operations.

As he gathered information on the woman to rectify this, he wasn't quite sure what he would find. At first, he had imagined that she would be like her father, powerful but lazy. He had been half right.

Unfortunately, it wasn't the half he wished for. Yosei was just as powerful as Lung, that much was easily apparent . Unlike her father however, she wasn't content to simply react to threats as they came along, languishing in her position until it was threatened. No, she had taken an active role in the ABB, cleaning up their operations and managing things from the top, becoming the boss in all but name, while at the same time holding a fierce loyalty to her father.

From what his informants had managed to gather the ABB had seen a nearly thirty percent increase in productivity in just the first few months she had been in charge.

Sp only was Yosei powerful, she was also an extremely competent leader. Her existence turned the ABB from a simple obstacle to be carefully played around, into an actual threat to his eventual rule over the city so long as she was at her father's side.

Coil would admit, he was at a loss for what to do for a long while. Careful poking and prodding had revealed little except for what he already knew, but there was one interesting tidbit of information that Coil believed might actually come in useful.

According to his sources, Yosei held her father in extremely high regard, placing his desires and commands above literally everything else. It was clear that he was the reason that she had taken up such a role in the ABB and perhaps if he was gone, she would lose the motivation needed to lead the gang and things would go back to normal.

It was a thin hope, truthfully, but it was also the only thing Coil had been in a position to do at the time. He couldn't simply just sit back and wait, watching as the ABB consolidated it's power and grew. He needed to strike as soon as possible to stop this before it got out of hand.

Convincing Emily and the other directors to send Lung to the Birdcage had been no easy feat. He had called in numerous favors and had likely put himself at odds with multiple people, but he imagined it would all be worth it. After all, without her father to lead her, Yosei would certainly be no threat.

Or so he had thought. To his horror and utter frustration, it seemed that Yosei was made of sterner stuff than he realized. Instead of crumbling underneath the pressure of leading the ABB, it seemed that her father's imprisonment had lit a fire under the woman and the ABB itself.

In the short amount of time since her father had been sent away, Yosei had underwent the arduous process of restructuring the entire gang and the way that it operated. With this restructuring, came a vast amount of scrutiny in basically every level of the gang.

Already, Coil had lost at least three moles to said scrutiny and had to pull out six more before they were caught as well. His play had been a complete and utter failure.

Any subsequent attempts to infiltrate the gang once again had quickly been sniffed out and taken care. Frustrated with the lack of progress, he had simulated an actual attack on the ABB itself, just to try and gain an idea as to the scope of Yosei's power.

It had been enlightening to say the least. If the attack on the Rig hadn't proved that Yosei was indeed Lung's daughter, then this certainly had.

The Undersiders and his newly hired Travelers put together did little to slow her down, much less stop her, and even when the Empire joined in, taking advantage of their biggest enemy's supposed preoccupation, Yosei and the ABB's pet demon had managed to hold their own quite well.

Not only that, but it seemed that she either had contacts in the Empire, or the few informants he had left in the ABB were in dire need of replacement. He wasn't sure exactly what kind of connection Rune had to the Asian gang, but the way she had defended their territory alongside Lung's heir had made it clear where her loyalties lied. And it certainly wasn't with Kaiser.

It had only taken a few hours of this simulation, during which the Protectorate from Boston was called in to assist with quelling Yosei's rage, before Coil had decided that he had seen more than enough and closed the timeline, musing on what he had witnessed and what it meant.

Overall, it was made abundantly clear that he couldn't touch the ABB right now. Not unless he wanted to arouse her suspicion or gain the ire of the city itself, villain population included. Any attempts at subterfuge were sussed out far too quickly, and even the more overt attempts would end in nothing but disaster. There was nothing he could do.

For now, he would have to leave the ABB be and focus on other, much more tangible pursuits.

Reaching down into the folds of his costume, Coil retrieved his phone, flipping it open and dialing a familiar number before holding it to his ear, waiting for an answer.

He didn't have to wait long of course, despite the early hour in the morning, she knew better than that.

On the third ring, the call was picked up, a carefully respectful voice undercut by a thin layer of annoyance coming through the speaker, "Yeah boss? What do you want?" Tattletale asked, her voice slightly gruff with sleep.

Coil raises an eyebrow at the teen's tone but decides to let it slide this time. He was always sure to give his Tattletale a bit more leash than his other subordinates. Just long enough to give her the illusion of freedom that she desired so much, but also short enough that a swift yank on said leash would bring her right back to him when she stepped out of line.

"Good morning, Sarah." Coil deliberately used the name he knew she loathed, "How is our newest recruit?"

"...She's doing fine." Tattletale answered, anger hidden in her tone, "She's a bit skittish, may be from an abusive household though I'm not sure, and she's still planning to sell us out to the boys in blue but I might be able to change that. Types like her tend to latch onto the first positive relationship that comes their way, so I'll see if I can't cozy up to her and convince her to stick around."

Coil nodded in satisfaction, "Good. Though, please ensure you don't get too close. I know how much the girl's situation may remind you of another that you keep close to your chest, but this is not the time to get distracted by ghosts from the past."

He continued before she could say anything in response, "Moving on, I have an assignment for your team. I'm going to need you to perform a high-profile heist on Brockton Bay Central Bank in a few days."

"What?" Tattletale was both confused and angered by this turn of events, "There's no way they'll agree to that! We both know that hitting a bank isn't worth the risk. We could make ten times as much going after one of the stashes the Merchants left behind. Not to mention, we might have another person to split the cut with if Skitter does decide to stick around!"

Coil frowned at her words, "You are hitting the bank because I am telling you to. I don't care about the money, that's none of my concern. I simply need a distraction from another one of my operations. And as for risk, the Protectorate will be out of town or husky on the afternoon you hit the bank, I'll make sure of it, so you'll only have the Wards to contend with. If you plan it correctly, and I know you can, I'm sure you will be able to deal with the children and escape unmolested." He said, deliberately playing to the teenager's ego with his last sentence.

Tattletale didn't say anything for a long moment, clearly mulling it over, "...I might be able to get them to agree. Alec might go for it. Rachel probably won't care as long as she gets a good cut. It's getting Brian to agree that's going to be an issue, and maybe the newbie too depending on how far she is willing to go to maintain her 'cover'."

"Try to convince them." Coil ordered, "If necessary, tell them I'll throw a little extra on top of what you can expect to take away."

Tattletale let out a low whistle, "Wow. You must really want this done, huh?" She said, her tone making it clear that she was trying to figure out exactly why that was.

Coil didn't say anything, continuing right past her words like they hadn't even registered, "Do your best to convince Skitter to come along as well. Her abilities will mesh well with the rest of the team and would be extremely useful to have on a heist like this."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Good. I'll contact you later with more details." He hung up without another word, ending the call right there.

He sighed, placing his phone back into the folds of his costume. Speaking with Tattletale was always a stressful affair, even over the phone. That power of hers was like a trip-wire, the smallest mistake setting off a chain reaction in her brain to lead her to a conclusion. He had to chose each word carefully lest she figure out what he was planning. He couldn't afford any screw ups. Not this time.

Reaching across his desk, Coil pressed on his intercom, "Mr. Pitters. Prepare the room for my pet's arrival. Ensure that you are well stocked just in case she turns out to be more resistant than we expected."

"Yes sir. I'll begin the preparations right away." The reply came promptly, causing Coil to smile. At least some of his men were competent.

He leaned back in his chair, glancing towards a closed file on his desk, the contents held within already more than familiar to him thanks to countless nights pouring over their every detail.

Soon, his pet would be in her rightful place by his side. And then everything would be much, much simpler.

---

Next five chapters available at Sadguychet | Patreon

 

[Robotic_angel]

Thanks for the chapter, I'm really looking forward to the next one. I wounder if Diana ends up with the Abb, as the safest option for her.

 

[Hudo]

really glad i stumbled upon this. great stuff!

 

[Sadguychet]

Six days later

My face was set in a mask of seriousness as I listened to Nana speak, an expression that was mirrored by the woman herself as she stood in front of my desk.

"...-and I've been working him over just as good as anyone else but he just isn't talking, Hime." Nana said, a small amount of frustration leaking into her voice as she spoke, "Either that old bastard is more resilient than we realized, or he just doesn't know a damn thing and was spouting bullshit about someone coming to kill him for talking."

My frown deepened at her words, "And what do you think? Would continuing his treatment provide any results or should we just give up our endeavors? I don't want to waste your time if you think you're trying to get blood from stone at this point."

Nana shook her head, "This is important. If there's any chance that Takao knows who put him on the job, then we need to know."

I nodded, leaning back in my chair, "And do you think he actually knows anything or was he simply, as you said, spouting bullshit?"

Nana clicked her tongue, "Hard to say. He's been squeaking like a mouse but it's mostly been things we already know. Kidnapping women he wasn't allowed to to put in his brothels, embezzling funds, selling out our people. Takao's been a naughty boy for sure, but I still don't know if he actually knows who he's been selling all that shit to."

That wasn't good. Takao was the lynchpin in all of this and literally our only lead at the moment. If he actually didn't know anything and was just bluffing, or was just unwilling to say anything even under the threat of torture then all of our leads dies with him. If he didn't talk, then we'd never know who was so interested in the ABB's internal operations.

The last thing we needed right now was an enemy in the shadows, poking and prodding at us in search of weaknesses in a time of such great reform. We needed to know who had been responsible for Takao's duplicity and why. It was much more difficult to fight an enemy whose face you didn't even know.

Nana was right, this wasn't something we could just give up on.

"Do what you must to get him to speak." I told the woman seriously, "If it doesn't work or is too much on him, then we can simply cut our losses. Any information he has, if any, is simply too valuable to lose. You have my full permission to use your own discretion from here on out, Nana."

It was a rare occasion that Nana was given leave to do whatever she wanted to her prisoners. The woman's normal methods could be constituted as cruel and unusual at the best of times. The things she would likely think up now that she wasn't held back by the normal conventions were horrifying to even consider, but now wasn't the time to be conservative. We needed results

Nana's resulting smile couldn't be called anything but chilling, "That right there is music to my ears, Hime. Give me a few days and I'll have him squealing like a pig in whatever key you want. I promise you that."

I held back the small shiver that was nearly produced at her words, "Right. Well, as always, I appreciate your efforts Nana. Please make sure to-"

Before I could say anything else, I was interrupted as the door to my office was opened unceremoniously. Both Nana and I looked over, surprised that someone had entered without giving any sort of warning or asking permission, though my surprised look faded into a smile at the person we were met with.

"Hey, Yuko, I've gotta ask you something." Tammi said as she came in. As always, Tammi had exactly zero cares to give as she practically barged into my office like she owned the place, not paying any mind to the fact that I was technically her leader now.

It hadn't been as much of a surprise as it probably should have when Tammi asked to join the ABB a single day after moving in with me. As unfortunate as it was, we both knew that it wasn't likely possible for her to return to a normal civilian life after all that she had done in and for the Empire. There was nothing saying that her former colleagues would follow the Unwritten Rules and leave her be, especially after she had so blatantly abandoned their cause. It only made sense that she would ally herself with the next largest gang in the city, barring the Protectorate.

The fact that her girlfriend was the current leader of said gang probably had something to do with it, but who could say?

Getting over her surprise, Nana turned towards the blonde, a smile slipping across her face, "Well look at what we have here." Nana's expression was like a cat eyeing its prey and I held in a sigh at what I knew was about to happen, "Hime's little girlfriend has come to visit? Don't you know that it's common courtesy to knock before you enter your leader's office? Even if she is your partner, what you just did was pretty rude, sweetheart."

Tammi crossed her arms, a scowl coming to her face at the woman's words and the sigh I was holding back came out full force, "And who the hell are you?" She demanded, not backing down an inch even when faced with Nana's intimidating demeanor, "I know she doesn't give a shit if I drop by unannounced, what I don't get is why I should care what you think."

Nana laughed at Tammi's words, surprising her, "Well aren't you just a treat? You've gone and snagged yourself a real spitfire here, Yuko!" Nana said, before the smile on her face turned slightly dangerous, "You should come visit me in my shop sometime, sweetie. There are a few things that I would love to show you."

Tammi's scowl returned and she went to respond, but I interrupted before this could get out of hand.

"That's enough," I said sternly, stopping her before she could form a rebuttal. Looking towards Nana, I continued, "I'll contact you in a few days to check on your progress, Nana. If anything pertinent comes up involving Takao, bring it to my attention immediately."

The woman saw the dismissal for what it was and pouted, "You really are no fun, you know that?" My stare didn't relent and her pout only deepened, "Fine fine, I got the memo. Have fun with your girlfriend, Hime. I'm off to have fun with our resident rat."

"Make sure to come by my shop again soon, alright? We still have to redo that tattoo on your back." She called back to me as she made her way to the door that Tammi had unceremoniously thrown open. Her face turned dark, "Months of work, completely ruined in a single second. I swear if that bitch wasn't already drooling at the walls and babbling like an idiot, I'd put her there myself. Ruined one of my best pieces and it was completely original so I don't even have stencils to remake it…"

She continued muttering obscenities towards the former Tinker as the door closed shut behind her, cutting her off. I gave it an amused look before turning my attention back to my girlfriend who looked completely befuddled by what she had just heard.

There was a moment of silence before she turned to me, surprise evident in her eyes, "You had tattoos?"


I giggled, surprised that that was what she singled out from everything that had just happened, "Yes, I did. A rather large one on my back that Nana took quite a bit of pride in, as I'm sure you can tell. She called it one of the finest works that she had ever produced."

"Was it?" Tammi asked as she stepped forward in front of my desk, sitting down in a chair.

I shrugged, "It was one of my own designs so I'm afraid my opinion would be biased in that regard. I quite liked it though. For the relatively small time I had it anyway. I can show you the design some time; I believe I still have it somewhere."

"Huh." She said, giving me an appraising look, "Y'know, now that we're basically all out in the open and junk, I'm just now realizing that I had you pegged completely wrong when we first started hanging out."

I raised a brow, "Is that so?"


She nodded seriously, "Yep. At first, I thought you were just some rich girl or something. Maybe your parents were really good lawyers or something and that was why you always had to leave in the middle of our hangouts. Y'know, to escape the hit men that were being sent after you."

"Lawyers?" I asked, amused by her words. She nodded seriously, though the glint in her eyes spoke otherwise.

"Yeah, lawyers. You wouldn't believe the amount of people that hate lawyers. Especially the really good ones. Figured that maybe your folks were on the 'right' side of the law and managed to make some enemies." Her face shifted in mock thought, "Though I guess being the daughter of a gang leader and a gang leader yourself isn't much better. Probably less hitmen though."

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know." I sighed, playing along, "I've only ever been the one set of parents, I'm afraid, and lawyering certainly isn't in our history."

"Yeah, I figured that. You can only have so much evil in your blood after all. StilI, I could get over the whole crime boss thing, but tattoos?" She shook her head, staring into my amused eyes with faux disappointment, "I can't believe I thought I knew you. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to forgive you for keeping something like this from me."

I gave her a sad look, thoroughly enjoying this now, "Is that so? And should I be expecting a heart-wrenching text sometime tonight proclaiming that the spark has died? I would like some forewarning so that I can make sure to keep my freezer stocked with ice cream for my inevitable heartbroken soap binge."

"Nah, I'm too lazy to break up with you. I mean, we just got together a few days ago and that was a whole thing. I'm not going through that again any time soon." She gave me a charming grin, "I guess you're stuck with me for now."

My lips twitched, "What a shame. However will I cope?"


"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're smart like that."

"I suppose you're right." I sighed at her words, before dropping the act and giving her a smile, "Now then, not that I'm unhappy to see you here, Tammi, far from it in fact, but might I ask why you've decided to pay me a visit so…" I looked back at the door which she had practically slammed open, "...abruptly?"

Catching my glance, Tammi actually had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at her actions, "Uh, sorry about that, I wasn't really thinking. I'm just starting to lose it because I've been so freaking bored these past few days. That's why I came up here in the first place."

I blinked, "Excuse me? You're bored?"

"I'm bored." Tammi nodded, "I've been a cape for years now and I'm not used to just sitting around like this, you know?"


"...Is that so?" I asked, somewhat confused, "I'm sorry, I thought your position in Kaiser's court was much like the one you currently have with the ABB. Was I mistaken?"


She nodded, "No, you're right, it was, but he also ran things a whole lot differently than you. The Empire has a ton more capes than you do and they used us a lot more, sending us out to check on shit or even just to patrol our territory. You haven't told me to do any of that yet so I've just been sitting on my ass so far and I'm getting antsy. I need something to do."

I was left momentarily stunned as I realized that she was right. I had been so caught up in managing the gang itself, that I had momentarily forgotten to utilize the resources that were now at my disposal.

Though, now that I thought about it, it made sense that I hadn't. Though our gangs were of similar size, the way that the Empire and the ABB operated couldn't be more different, and not just in our illicit activities. The Empire could field more than triple the amount of capes that we could at any given time and certainly weren't afraid to do so. Tammi had explained it to me that her job was akin to a courier or human transport, that she was always moving around their territory doing one thing or another at almost all times, and it seemed that the rest of the capes in the gang were like that as well, always having something to do to keep them busy.

The ABB, on the other hand, relied more on non-parahuman manpower. The way the gang was structured gave more authority to the individual members of the various branches of the organization. This was mostly out of necessity, as unlike the Empire, we simply couldn't afford to field a cape every single time there was an issue within our territory and instead left it to whoever was in charge of that area, usually an Officer.

This led to capes having a much more auxiliary role in the gang. I was a special case due to my status as heir to the gang, but both Lee and Bakuda were normally left to their own devices unless specifically called upon for a task. Bakuda used that time to tinker or try to fill my father's ear with nonsense, while Lee just disappeared until he was called upon.

I wasn't actually sure what Lee did in his spare time but given the nature of the man himself, I imagined it wasn't very exciting. The only thing I could be completely sure of was that he wasn't spending that time sleeping. Those bags under his eyes were practically etched in at this point.

My own position in the ABB was that of a manager, directing and overseeing things within the gang as I make sure things run smoothly and effectively. If there was an issue that required a cape to deal with it, I would either send Lee to deal with it or take care of it myself. Other than that, there was basically nothing for an Enforcer to do except wait.

But Tammi wasn't used to that and now that I actually thought about it, it wasn't exactly the most effective way of going about things. There were a lot of changes happening within the ABB; perhaps this could just be another.
"I'm sorry, Tammi. I never considered the fact that you might not be used to how things are run here." I finally said, giving my girlfriend an apologetic look, "Like you said, Enforcers in the ABB are used much differently than in the Empire. The position is more reactionary instead of proactive.
"That said, you're also right that you should have something to keep you occupied. Hmm… give me a moment."
I glanced down at my paperwork-covered desk as I tried to think of something that she could do that would keep her occupied and alleviate her boredom. As I did so, one sheet in particular caught my gaze and my eyes widened in remembrance of an issue I had completely forgotten about.

"You know what, I actually think I do have something for you to do." I said, as I moved some papers out of the way to get a better look at it, looking it over for a moment. Yes, this was perfect.

I looked up at Tammi who was giving me an eager look, "With all of the changes that our operations are undergoing, as well as the business with consolidating the territory that we gained from the Merchants, I have had my hands full and haven't quite been able to turn my attention to an issue that has popped up recently." I gave Tammi a small smile, "I was going to send Lee and a handful of men to deal with it later today if I couldn't get to it, but if you'd like, I can let you handle it instead."

Tammi gave me an eager look, "Let me hear it."

"For the past two days or so, I've been getting reports of an issue with one of the warehouses that we recently acquired from the Merchants leftover territory. It's a smaller warehouse that was probably used as housing, but we aren't sure yet." I explained, "My men say that nobody has been able to actually enter the building itself, though not for lack of trying. The way it was explained to me, it is as if there's an 'aura' of some sort that permeates the warehouse and the surrounding area, causing unease to anyone within a certain distance and only getting stronger the further into it you go."

She connected the dots quickly, "You think a cape set up over there?"

I nodded, "That's what I believe, yes. The aura they described is clearly some sort of Master effect, but it is localized entirely on that single warehouse and several meters outside of it. Clearly a parahuman at work.

"It's possible that it's a new trigger or it might even be a leftover member of the Merchants hoping to get their own fill of the scraps left by their former gang. Whatever the case, it is disrupting operations in the area and with things in such a tumultuous state, we need to know whether or not it is an actual threat to the ABB or not."

I lifted the paper up, revealing the report that one of my men had written out, "I was going to send a small taskforce to deal with the issue, but if you are really itching for something to do, I could give the assignment to you instead." I offered. Her mouth opened and I could immediately tell that she was going to agree, but before she could I held out the report to her, "Before you agree, read this over and tell me what you think."

She took it from me curiously, looking it over as she read the report. It contained a few key things such as the location of the warehouse and its proximity to our borders and possible civilians, but most importantly, it gave a detailed explanation on what exactly the aura did to one who entered it, courtesy of a particularly brave grunt who had already been commended for his admirable actions.

According to him, the effect was minimal if you were standing a good distance from the warehouse, akin to a minor amount of apprehension at best. That apprehension only grew more intense the close that one grew to the building. Mere shivers down the spine gradually grew into a feeling of being watched or even stalked, and if you actually made it to within a foot of the building, that feeling would have grown to a gut-curling fear akin to being stuck with a home-intruder in the dead of night.

The man who wrote the report hadn't actually had the ability to enter the warehouse, but I imagined that it only got worse from there.

Tammi read the report, taking in what was written, and frowned slightly.

"The cape, you think it's a Master?" she asked, putting the report back on my desk.

"That, or a Shaker of some sort." I nodded, "Though I find it unlikely that a Shaker would be able to keep their power active for this long. As you can see by the report, the effect hasn't dulled in the slightest since it began, remaining the same constant size and intensity. A Master with an area of effect power is most likely. Do you still want to take the assignment?"

Tammi nodded almost immediately, "Hell yeah, I'm gonna take it. This is exactly the kind of thing I was looking for. If causing fear is the only thing they can do, then I shouldn't have too much to worry about."


"Alright then, it's all yours. I'll be assigning someone to join you on your task though, just in case of any unforeseen complications." I thought for a moment, "Let's see… Kon has been complaining about a similar boredom to you since he no longer has his task with Takao to keep him busy. He'll be more than happy to assist."

"The guy with the sucker?" I nodded, "Alright, I don't mind. He's pretty cool."

That was probably a bit of an understatement on Tammi's part. Though they had only spoken a few times since Tammi joined the ABB, she and Kon had gotten along like a house on fire. Something about Tammi's general abrasive nature paired extremely well with Kon's laidback attitude, and once they had gotten past the initial distrust due to Tammi's background, it hadn't taken long for them to become something akin to friends.

Part of me felt I should worry how they might influence each other, but the larger part of me was happy that two of the people closest to me got along so well. I had been somewhat worried that Tammi would only have me as a friend due to her background and the distrustful nature of my men towards anybody non-Asian.

Though with the changes I was making, there was only so much longer that that could go on. Pride in one's heritage was all well and good, but I was not going to be the leader of an Asian supremacist gang for any longer than I had to.

As I mused to myself on the possible effects of the ABB's sudden loss of their Asian-only status, Tammi hopped to her feet, a not-so-small amount of eagerness in her posture at the idea of finally going back out onto the streets, "Alright, I'm gonna go get suited up. Is he gonna meet me here?"


I nodded, "Yes, I'll call him in a moment. He lives nearby so it shouldn't take him too long to get here."

"Cool. I'll try to be quick then." Just before she turned to leave, Tammi paused for a moment, catching my attention. As I turned to look up at her, she grinned and leaned across the desk towards me, puckering her lips. Catching her intentions, I leaned up and met her halfway, happily pressing my lips to her own. After a lingering moment, Tammi pulled back, smiling like an idiot.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that." She said as she settled back to her feet, grinning from ear-to-ear.

I giggled quietly at her words despite the blush that was doubtlessly covering my own cheeks, "Neither will I, I don't think. Though I'm certainly not going to complain about that fact."

"Heh, me neither." Tammi chuckled, still grinning like a loon, "We really need to go on another date soon. One without the heavy talks and mind-shattering revelations that basically ruined our last one."

I paused at that, thinking back to all of the work that I still needed to take care of. I doubted I'd be able to leave my office any time soon, "I'll see what I can do. I might be able to clear my schedule some time in the next week or so."

GIving me a grin, Tammi turned around and began heading towards the door, "I'll hold you to that, Yuko. I'll see you later."

"Oh, actually, one more thing before you leave, Tammi." I called out before she could actually leave the room. She paused at the door and looked back at me in slight confusion.

Despite the flush on my cheeks, I made sure that my face was as serious as possible as our eyes met, wanting to convey that I was speaking to her as her leader in this regard, and not just her girlfriend. She was surprised by my sudden shift in demeanor, but quickly gathered herself, sobering up quickly and gazing back just as seriously.

My lips twitched in slight approval at that, before I became serious once more, "Remember, your main goal is to figure out exactly what is going on down there. If you can manage to open a dialogue with whoever is responsible and negotiate, then you should prioritize that. If not, then just leave things alone and come back. The warehouse isn't important enough to start a fight over. Not right now."

Tammi gave me a solemn nod, "Got it. I'll keep the fighting to a minimum."

I returned her nod with one of my own, happy to see that she understood how serious this was, before my continence became much softer, "Wonderful. I'll contact Kon and have him ready to meet you outside for transport. Keep the flying to the minimum if you can. I doubt the Empire has figured out exactly where you've gone off to and there's no need to tip our hand this early."

"Honestly, they probably already have an idea." Tammi commented, "I wasn't exactly subtle with my friendship with you. My argument with my cousin probably made it to Kaiser by now, and there's no telling what Agnes knows."

"True enough. Even so, the element of surprise is not one I like to give away so easily. Let's try to keep it a secret at least until we get your new costume prepared if at all possible."

Tammi shrugged, "Makes sense, I guess. I'll do my best to keep it under wraps."

"Thank you, and good luck, Tammi. Call me if you run into anything the two of you cannot handle alone."

---

Next six chapters available to Patrons!

 

[Sadguychet]

"So yeah, Yosei is still doing damage control on everything Bakuda managed to do during her little three-day stint as leader. Because it's all tinkertech, we're probably going to have to call in outside help. With everything else going on though, it's going to take a while." Kon wrapped up as they pulled onto the street the warehouse was on.

Tammi processed his story she had just been told, "All of that, combined with what happened to Lung… She's really got her hands full, doesn't she?" she asked quietly.

Kon nodded, a slightly solemn look on his face, "She does, but she's handling it much better than I think anyone else would have. Despite everything that's happened, it's like that fire under her is only burning hotter and she hasn't slowed down at all since she took over."

Tammi thought back to how stressed Yuko had been even before she took over the ABB and frowned, "Hopefully she doesn't burn herself out taking on too much."

"Well that's why she's got us." Kon replied, "Yosei's workload honestly probably hasn't even increased that much from what it was before, but the emotional stress from everything that's been happening recently is probably taking a toll on her. She needs friends now more than ever."

He glanced over at her, grinning, "And her girlfriend, of course. You just being around is definitely helping her stay on top of things so keep doing what you're doing, yeah?"

Tammi smiled at the man's words, "That's the plan."

"Good to hear." Kon nodded as they turned onto an empty street surrounded by warehouses on all sides, "You know, I wasn't too sure about Yosei letting you of all people into the gang so easily, especially after we nearly went to war with the Empire, but I'm glad she did."

"Me too." Tammi nodded, before her expression became slightly thoughtful, "You know, it's funny, if you told me a year ago that the ABB and the Empire might have gone to war, I would have put my money on the Empire with no hesitation. Now though, even though Lung's gone, I'm not so sure."

"Yeah, we took a hit when he got shipped away, but since you joined up basically right after, it sort of evened out, didn't it?"

Tammi laughed out loud at his words, "You telling me I'm worth the same as Lung? That's fucking funny, dude. I know what my strengths are, and they definitely aren't on par with a man who can turn into a giant, fuck-off dragon with four arms."

"Eh, we'll see." Kon shrugged, "Your power might not be that strong, but it's all about how you use it. I'm sure you could be pretty strong if you put your mind to it."

Maybe. Tammi hadn't really had a chance to really use her powers when she was Rune. She was their only form of transport so too close to a fight was normally something she was told to avoid. Maybe now that she didn't have to worry about that, she could use her power to its full potential.

Whether or not that potential was anywhere near Lung, she doubted it. She could probably manage Glory Girl or Triumph though.

"And besides, depending on how this mission goes, we might manage to get another member of our little group." Kon continued, looking over at her, "Nice costume, by the way. Way better than your old one even if it's not as complex."

Tammi grinned, adjusting the bright red scarf wrapped around her face, "Thanks. I'm working on an actual costume but it's gonna take a while to finish so for now, this is me."

Tammi's 'costume' wasn't anywhere near what she had as Rune, being what basically amounted to a hoodie and a scarf to conceal her face. Yuko had found her some other bits and bobs as well, like a pair of fingerless gloves and a bulletproof vest to make the costume more practical, but it was still a far cry from what she was used to.

Tammi had never been an indie cape before joining the Empire. She had come into her scene with a professional costume made by Empire tailors and a name that she had picked out herself. That meant that this was the first time she had cobbled together a passable costume herself and she had to admit, it was somewhat satisfying. The whole costume had a sort of rustic feel to it and she kind of liked it. Especially the scarf. She couldn't wait to see how cool it looked when she was flying.

As for weapons, Yuko had told her to try not to advertise her former identity if she could help it, which meant she'd have to mix things up a bit and not just chuck whatever heavy shit she could find lying around. She had a few dozen ball bearings on her that she could use with her power, as well as a handgun that was sitting a bit uneasily in a holster on her hip.

Tammi was a bit unsure about the gun. She knew how to use one, having received basic firearms training from Victor, but she'd never actually had to use one on someone else and hopefully it would stay that way. Fighting with her power felt normal, using a gun felt… oddly personal.

Kon gave her an appraising look, "Well it looks good for a placeholder. Have you thought of a name yet?"

Tammi shook her head, "I've got a few but haven't really decided on one in particular. Got any suggestions?

"Hmm…" Kon made a thinking face, before a shit-eating grin spread across his lips, "How about Sabrina?"

Tammi's smile was immediately replaced by an angry scowl at her hated nickname, "No. And if I find out who came up with that name, I'm going to drop them from so high up, the splatter will reach the top of the Medhall building."

Kon snorted as the van came to a stop, "Good luck with that. That nickname has been around for years at this point, you'll never find who came up with it."

"Oh I'll find them. Trust me on that. And when I do, I'll make sure what I do to them gets on the trending page of PHO." Tammi said darkly as she got out of the van. They were surrounded by warehouses on all sides, but the one they pulled up in front looked especially run down, as if it hadn't been maintained in months if not years.

Tammi put her hands on her hips, looking around, "So this is the place?"

"Looks like it. Feels like it too." Kon said as he got out of the van as well.

Tammi stared at the warehouse with a small frown on her face. It looked completely normal, like any other rundown building that you could find in this part of the city, and if she didn't know any better, she would say that they had the wrong place.

There was something off though, a tingling in the back of her mind that told her that something wasn't quite right, unsettling her. That must've been the Master effect at work.

"So how should we do this?" She asked Kon as he walked up to her. "Do we just like, walk in? The effect is supposed to get worse the closer you get, right?"

Kon shrugged, not really sure himself, "I guess? It's not like we're going to be able to do much from here unless we want to just yell at whoever's causing this to try to get them to come out." He eyed the building for a moment, "Really should have brought a megaphone or something cause, gonna be honest, I'm not really looking forward to getting closer. Just standing here is enough to heebie my jeebies."

Tammi rolled her eyes, eying the building "That was so lame, dude. Don't ever say that again."

Kon grinned unrepentantly, "I just call it how I feel it."

"Well your feelings suck. Do better." Tammi said, "Now let's go see what's causing all of this. Ten bucks says it's actually a Tinker or something and our guesses were way off base."

"I'll take that bet."

Together, they began making their way towards the dilapidated building. As they approached the warehouse, the tingling in the back of Tammi's mind gradually increased, creeping from a general discomfort to actual fear that she couldn't quite place the origin of. It grew and grew, until it was actually a struggle to not simply turn around and head back towards the van instead of facing whatever might have been inside of that warehouse.

She wasn't going to turn back though. She had asked for this assignment and she'd be damned if she turned tail and ran before even stepping foot inside.

'It's just some stupid power fucking with my head. There's nothing to be scared of.' She told herself, rationalizing the feelings that she was feeling in hopes that it might help her get over them.

It did, though not much. She took a deep breath as they reached the door to the warehouse, her hands literally shaking from the fear that she was feeling. Kon looked over to her as he grabbed the handle, "You alright? Gonna be able to handle this?"

Despite his words, Tammi could tell that the fear was hitting him just as hard as it was hitting her. Sure was doing a good job of acting like he wasn't affected, but she could tell that he was just as scared as she was.

Still, the act did wonders in helping Tammi's own fear, and the blond nodded slowly despite the thumping of her heart ringing in her ears, "Yeah, let's do this."
Kon gave her a serious nod before throwing open the door in one quick motion. The inside of the warehouse was dark, the lights inside either just not functioning or turned off as the entire building was bathed in dark shadows, the only illumination coming from the windows high above the floor. Tammi shared a look with Kon, before hesitantly stepping inside, the man half a step behind her.

The moment that they cleared the threshold of the entrance, Tammi was struck by a fresh wave of terror, this one much, much stronger than anything she had felt previously. It caused her to freeze in place as her eyes went wide, her mind almost overcome by the emotion forcefully shoved into her brain as she trembled, rooted in place.

Beside her, Kon was clearly experiencing similar effects, his jaw clenched tightly around the wooden stick of his sucker to the point that he was in danger of snapping it in half. Somehow, managed to shrug it off much faster than Tammi did e and began moving again, jerkily taking another step inside as he looked around at the warehouse's interior.

Tammi was slower to follow his lead, having trouble moving past the fear that was keeping her stuck. She closed her eyes, reminding herself that this was just some messed up power and that there wasn't anything to be afraid of, and managed to follow her friend inside.

With some difficulty, both of them moved past the instinct to turn around and run in the opposite direction, pushing through the fear that they were feeling to continue into the warehouse, albeit much less confidently than before. The effect didn't seem to grow any more powerful than it already was as they moved, but that was a small mercy given the sheer potency that the effect already had.

Tammi shoved her hands in her pockets, placing her fingers against several of the ball bearings held inside of her jacket and tagging them as they slowly made their way inside of the dark warehouse. Her eyes darted every which way, scanning the darkness for any hint of movement that might be the one responsible for what was going on.

She couldn't see anyone yet, but there were signs that someone had definitely been there, and somewhat recently. Empty food boxes, chairs and a small table sitting in a corner surrounded by what looked like sleeping bags and blankets. It was clear that someone had made this place their home, and judging by the needles and discarded dime bags littering the ground alongside the rest of the garbage, it was clear who. Merchants.

Hopefully they weren't still here. Though given how hard it was for Tammi herself to keep from literally quivering in fear, she doubted any of the druggies were still around.

"Hello?" Tammi flinched as Kon called out into the darkness from right beside her. She shot him a glare for doing that without any warning, and he gave her an apologetic smile before yelling out again, "Hello? Is anyone there? We aren't here to fight! We're just here to find out what's going on with this warehouse!"

There wasn't a response, or at least not at first, but then suddenly a loud noise reverberated from out of the darkness. A bang, like someone knocking something over, followed by even more silence that left them more shaken than the noise had.

Tammi's jaw clenched with tension. The ball bearings came sliding out of her pockets, beginning to orbit her body in a tight ring as both she and Kon turned their attention towards where the noise had come from. Tammi couldn't see past the thick veil of shadows that practically covered the entire warehouse, but she could tell something was there. Some part of her could tell that she was being watched and she didn't like it one bit.

As Tammi mentally prepared herself for a fight, Kon managed to push past his fear and call out to the shadows where the noise had come from, "Hello? Please come out! We aren't here to fight you, we just want to talk! I swear!"

There was no answer and Tammi tensed even further, the orbit around her tightening with her anxiety, before suddenly, the fear that they had been feeling all but vanished as whatever power had been affecting them stopped doing that. The tension was still there, but the underlying terror that had followed them every step of their journey suddenly ceased to be, allowing them to breathe much more easily.

Before they could react to this sudden change in atmosphere, there was movement. Both Tammi and Kon's eyes snapped to the side as something shifted in the darkness to their left, before a massive figure slowly shambled out of the black, seemingly fading into being straight out of the shadows as it approached them.

Tammi could feel her eyes widen and her jaw go slack as more and more of the figure was revealed. Monstrous was the only way she could describe him. His skin was so pale that she could almost mistake him for Alabaster, and his face was so gaunt he looked starved. Jet black hair hung limply around his face and obscured his eyes and the majority of his nose underneath the tangled and poorly managed strands.

He wasn't wearing anything except for a pair of sweatpants that were at least two sizes too small for him, though that was understandable considering his size. He was easily over seven feet tall, even slumped over, and his arms practically dragged on the floor below him as he moved forward, long, clawed fingers gliding mere centimeters above the concrete. The slump was clearly natural as Tammi could see a hump on the man's back, like that one guy from that spartan movie Brad made her watch that one time.

To tie the image together, a massive tattoo in the shape of an upside down omega symbol was scrawled on his chest, the arms of the arch following the curve of his chest towards his protruding ribs, ending just below the first two, indicating what was obvious at a glance. This guy was a Case-53.

The moments that her eyes caught on him, the fear was back, though not quite as strong as before. The best that Tammi could equate it to was the feeling that she had felt back near the van, a feeling that something wasn't quite right, and her ball bearings began orbiting her just a bit faster as she eyed the man in front of them.

"Stop looking at me." Tammi flinched, jumping slightly the voice reverberated through the warehouse. The cape turned his head towards her, looking at her through his curtain of shaggy hair.

"Don't look directly at me." He repeated, his voice incredibly soft and extremely at odds with his appearance, "It only exacerbates the fear you're feeling. Keep your eyes off of me."

With some difficulty, Tammi followed his instructions, shifting her gaze over his right shoulder while making sure to keep sight of him in her peripherals. Almost immediately, the unease went away, disappearing just like it had when Kon had called out to him, and she sighed in silent relief.

While Tammi recovered from the experience, Kon managed to plaster a friendly smile on his face and speak, "Hello there. You must be the one responsible for all of this." He gestured around at the warehouse though Tammi noticed that just like her, he also didn't look fully away from the cape, "You've been scaring basically everyone who walks by this building, you know?"

The monster cape tilted his head slowly, "Is that so? I didn't realize that my power reached that far. It's an effect I'm not capable of turning off. I can only direct it or hold it back as I am doing now. I'm sorry if I caused any issues."

Tammi found her face twisting at his words. She couldn't imagine looking like that while also having a power that made people around you constantly on the verge of wetting themselves with fear. "Geez, I bet that fucking blows." She said quietly.

Kon was much more understanding of the man's plight, "I'm sorry to hear that." He said sincerely, "Thank you for dialing it down for us. Do you have a name?"

"Not one that I remember." He said in a matter-of-fact tone, "I just woke up one day and everything in my head was gone. I don't even remember what I looked like before." He tilted his head, as if thinking, "If you want to, you can call me Spook. It feels fitting."

Spook. He was right, that was extremely fitting. Tammi eyed the man warily or well, as best as she could without looking directly at him. She hadn't had much experience with Case-53's outside of the occasional run in with Faultline's crew, so she wasn't really sure how to handle this situation.

Kon noticed this and was more than happy to take the helm so to speak, "Alright then, Spook it is." He said happily, dispelling some of the tension that was present, "Now Spook, would you mind telling us what you're doing here? I haven't seen you around the Bay before. Are you from out of town?"

Spook shrugged, the gesture somewhat awkward with his long limbs, "Your guess is as good as mine. I only remember things as far back as a week and a half ago when I woke up."

"A week?" Tammi was slightly skeptical, "And you're telling me nobody's noticed you yet? That fear thing you're doing extends pretty damn far. Anyone walking on the other side of the street would have noticed it. How haven't the heroes paid you a visit yet?"

"This warehouse is pretty out of the way and in a pretty bad area besides that." Kon said before Spook could answer, "Nobody comes down here unless they have a reason to, so it's likely that he just hasn't been noticed. Have you been out of the warehouse much, Spook?"

Spook shook his head, "No. Not for long at least. The sun burns my skin like acid, and even moonlight is enough to make me itch. I haven't been able to go outside for more than a few minutes at most."

"So you've just been cooped up here for that long?" Tammi asked, wincing at the thought, "How haven't you gone nuts yet? Hell, what have you even been eating? All those food boxes look older than that." She nodded towards the pile of trash in the corner.

"I don't need to eat or sleep, or at least I haven't so far, so that isn't a concern. And as for boredom, I've been using this as a way to keep myself entertained and learn a little bit about things outside." Spook pulled a phone out of his pocket, showing it to them, "Apparently a rather large group of people were already inhabiting this warehouse before I arrived. I didn't know how to control my powers yet and they weren't as brave as you were. They ran away and haven't returned."

Tammi looked around at the warehouse, taking in the remnants of drug paraphernalia that were collecting dust all over the floor. "Were they Merchants?" She asked the obvious question.

Spook tilted his head, "Merchants? I've heard the term before but the context escapes me."

"They're a gang. Or well, were." Kon said, crossing his arms, "A pretty large group of mostly drug pushers and drug addicts. They liked to hide out in warehouses like this in groups before our leader defeated their's and sent them packing. What's left of them have been spreading around the area like rats but we've mostly cleared them out. We think."

"Your leader?" Spook asked, "You are a part of an organization?"

Tammi and Kon shared a look. 'Should we tell him?' Kon's mouthed to her, the words a bit hard to make out in the dark.

Tammi thought for a moment. This guy seemed friendly so far, but whether or not he would stay that way once he learned that they were a part of a gang as well was completely unknown.

'Up to you.' She mouthed back, before glancing towards Spook who was waiting patiently, 'I'll back you up if this goes wrong.'

Kon nodded, before turning his attention back to the Case-53 who was watching them curiously, "Yeah, we're both part of the ABB, another gang that holds territory over this part of the city. That's actually why we came here originally. When we took care of Skidmark and Squealer, we also took the territory that the Merchants held. This warehouse is part of that and your power was disrupting operations in the area so Yosei sent us to investigate."

"Yosei." Spook said the word like he was tasting it, "She's your leader?" Kon nodded, "I see. May I meet with her?"

Kon was shocked by the sudden question, but Tammi was immediately suspicious, "Why?" She asked.

Spook gave her a glance, and even though she wasn't looking directly at him, she could tell he had an amused grin on his face, "So that I can ask to join your organization, of course."

Both Kon and Tammi were completely shocked by Spook's words, and Tammi actually turned to stare directly at Spook, completely forgetting about the effects of his power in her shock. Spook was amused by their reactions, a small grin on his face that revealed a row of extremely sharp teeth.

Kon managed to recover first as Tammi hurriedly looked away again, "You do realize that we're not heroes, right? The ABB might be better than the Merchants and maybe even the Empire in some regards, but most of us aren't good people. We aren't going to force you to join, so why would you want to?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really have much interest in being a hero in the first place." Spook said matter-of-factly, "Maybe I was a selfish person before… this, I'm not sure, but the idea of helping people I don't even know doesn't exactly appeal to me."

"And as for being bad people," Spook hummed thoughtfully, "I very much doubt most people in the world are purely good. You may be part of a gang, but you have neither attacked me, nor threatened me despite having nearly every right to do so given the circumstances. Instead, you spoke to me as if I were just another person and tried to resolve things peacefully. That alone tells me that you are likely not bad people. I'll reserve my judgment of your leader for when I meet her. If you'll allow it, of course."

Tammi and Kon exchanged another look, a silent conversation occurring between them. Eventually, Kon grinned and Tammi shrugged, turning back to Spook, "Sure, why not. We were supposed to let her know what was happening anyway."

It may have been a trap, sure, but it wasn't like Yuko wouldn't be able to defend herself if things came to that. Her power was basically a built-in danger sense and she had them as well. There wasn't really much this guy could do against her even if he wanted to.

"We'll contact her and see if she'd be willing to meet us here. Do you mind waiting a little while for her to get here?" Kon asked as Tammi's ball bearings began sliding back into her pockets.

"I'm not going anywhere." Spook replied, a small amount of amusement in his voice.

Kon smiled happily, bringing a hand up to his vest, "Great. Now just give me a second to get a hold of… her…"

Tammi raised an eyebrow as Kon suddenly frowned, patting down his vest as if he was looking for something and couldn't find it. His hands moved down to his pants, patting his front pockets, then the back, before he cursed, "Ah, dammit. I forgot my phone in the van."

Tammi snorted, causing him to give her an annoyed look, "Sloppy, dude. You really shouldn't forget shit like that. It sets a bad example for the rest of us. You need to be a better role model for our potential recruit here." She nodded towards Spook.

"Yeah? Well I guess it's a good thing you remembered yours, then." Kon said happily, "Go ahead and call Yosei so we can tell her what we've got."

Tammi nodded, reaching down to grab her own phone which was… not strapped to her thigh where it should have been because she wasn't wearing her old costume. Shit.

"Shit." She said aloud, not bothering to look inside of her empty pants pockets for something that she knew wouldn't be there.

"You forgot yours too, didn't you?" Kon asked, smiling at her wryly. Tammi scowled.

"Shut up. I normally have it strapped to me because I fly so much but I left that with my costume. I must have left it in the van too because of that."

"Excuses, excuses. You know, Tammi, you should really be a better role model for our possible recruit here." Kon threw her words right back at her, causing her to flip him off. He grinned at the gesture, before turning back to Spook who was watching the whole exchange with amusement, "We'll be back in just a minute. Hang tight, alright?"

"I'm not going anywhere." Spook repeated, walking back into the shadows and disappearing from sight once again. Tammi looked around, trying to spot a single hint of that alabaster skin in the darkness and shivered when she couldn't.

"That's so fucking scary, dude." She said as she and Kon began making their way out of the warehouse and back to the van, "Someone that big shouldn't be able to just disappear because there are a few shadows around."

"No, they shouldn't." Kon agreed easily, "And someone shouldn't be able to control objects with their mind just because they touched them for a few seconds or turn into a giant wolf literally made of lightning just because some guy wrote about it and it got popular over a thousand years ago."

Tammi cracked a smile at his words, "True. I guess all powers vary in degree of bullshitery, huh?"

Kon nodded, "That's what the PRT's scale is actually for, I bet. To tell whoever's fighting a cape how much bullshit they should have to expect to put up with so they can be prepared."

"You might be onto something there." Tammi chuckled before a thought suddenly crossed her mind as they made it outside, "Huh. You know, I just realized something?"

Kon gave her a curious look, "Yeah? What's that?"

"This is probably the interaction with another cape that didn't end with me throwing a dumpster or something heavy at someone. I was fully expecting some sort of fight today."

Kon chuckled as they reached the van, "Yeah well, don't jinx it. There's still more than enough time for that. I don't know about you, but any exchange with a cape that doesn't end in a fight is a win in my book. Actually getting a new member from it? That's just the cherry on top."

"Heh, true enough, I guess."

This hadn't turned out how she had expected but it definitely cured her boredom. If this was how things were going to go normally in the ABB, then she could definitely get used to it.

---

Next six chapters are available at Sadguychet | Patreon