Brockton Bay had one of the largest cape populations in the entire United States. That was a fact that was well known by everyone who inhabited the city because well, they had eyes. It was an odd week that the average civilian didn't see at least one cape at some point or another, be they a hero patrolling and trying to keep the peace, or a villain handling their own, less than legal affairs despite those heroes.
And yet, despite the sheer number of capes populating the city, conflicts between them weren't exactly common. Oh sure, there were periods where the various gangs around the city came into conflict, but they were few and far between and usually handled in just a few hours as things were either dealt with by the authorities or simply petered out on their own. Brockton Bay hadn't had an actual gang war since the Teeth were run out of the Bay before I and my father had even arrived.
Here recently however, things had been especially turbulent for the ABB. Before I joined, I could count the amount of times that the ABB actually got into a situation involving capes on two hands. Since then however, I had fought Glory Girl, repelled an incursion by the Empire in my father's stead, and right now said father was likely currently in a conflict with the Undersiders for another incident that they had caused. And that was all in the last two months.
And now I was heading to what was doubtlessly another issue that had been created by a superpowered individual. That explosion was large enough to be seen from dozens of blocks away and powerful enough to
feel from that distance as well. No man made explosives could do that or at least not any that could be smuggled into our territory without my or my father's knowing.
As I got closer to the source of the disturbance, my ears perked up at the distinctive pop-pop of an active gunfight along with the shouts and curses of men in conflict, several of them in eastern languages that I recognized. It seemed that I wasn't the first to investigate the disturbance.
I touched down on a rooftop, the wings that I had acquired fading back into mist as I observed the scene before me with quiet anger.
This was certainly the work of a cape, or at the very least their gang. Down below, the storehouse that we had been transferring our product to had been broken into, a massive hole the size of several cars having been blown into the side of the building. Around the makeshift entrance, several rundown and rust-covered vans were parked, their rear doors opened and facing toward the building and clearly awaiting the product that would fill them.
I could honestly care less about that however, as a much more prudent matter took my attention. The gunshots that I had been hearing had been coming from a firefight that was currently taking place just in front of the building. Several ABB members were currently engaged in a shootout with the clear perpetrators of this incident, the bright purple clothing that they were wearing, denoting their allegiances. It seemed that the Merchants had caught wind of what was in that building and wished to take it for themselves.
Several ABB and Merchants were lying on the ground from their respective sides of the battlefield, clutching newly made wounds or simply lying motionless. It was easily apparent to me that the number of my men that were still firing at the Merchants from behind their improvised cover had simply just been in the area when the attack had occurred. Several of them weren't even wearing our colors and they barely had a rifle or shotgun to spar between them, instead using the small arms that any smart Brocktonite would carry this late at night.
The Merchants, by contrast, had clearly been prepared for their attack. Though their weaponry may have been filthy and barely functional, they were still much larger than anything my men were carrying. Rifles, submachine guns, even an actual machine gun that was raining hell upon two or three of my men that were crouched behind the engine block of a truck. This was clearly no spur of the moment decision.
Already, the number of my men was dwindling. My fingernails bit into my palms painfully as I watched two more of them go down, clutching their chest and arm respectfully. The one who had taken a hit to the chest only struggled for a moment, grabbing at the growing stain on his shirt, before he went still, unconscious or dead.
It was as I watched his struggles cease that I decided I had waited more than long enough. If Skidmark or Squealer were indeed here, then so be it. I was not going to sit idly by and watch those I had sworn to lead be slaughtered like dogs.
As my power boiled inside of me like the rage filling my veins, I decided not to give the Merchants the courtesy of a warning for what I was about to do. They had clearly already decided that stealing the ABB's drugs was more important than their own lives if they were so willing to take those of the people I had been tasked with protecting. I would show them just how foolish their decision was.
Mist surrounded me as I let my power loose, changing my form even as I sprung from the roof with an enhanced leap and a growl. My face twisted and morphed into a snarling muzzle filled with razor-sharp teeth while at the same time golden fur sprouted along my shifting body, a thick hide coming into being and protecting me from any and all harm that may come my way.
I landed behind the line of Merchants on all fours, my massive paws slapping against the concrete with an almost silent this despite the height I had leapt from. I wasted zero time before leaving into their ranks. I refused to let any more of my men die tonight.
I reached them in an instant, and one was sent away with a single swipe of my massive paws. Ignoring the shouts of panic that emerged from around me as they realized a massive beast was suddenly in their midst, I turned and clamped my jaws onto the calf of another druggie. I grimaced at the foul taste that filled my mouth, before turning to fling him bodily at another of his fellows, sending them both sprawling to the ground with the snap of breaking limbs.
The others were finally wising up to what was occurring now and turned their attention away from the remnants of my men to instead begin shooting at me. Their bullets splashed harmlessly against my golden pelt as I sprinted forward, my muscled limbs eating the distance between us in mere moments as I literally bowled them over, sending them sprawling to the ground, unable to rise again as I continued forward.
I turned and skidded to a halt, my claws kicking up sparks below me as I slowed myself down and came to a stop just in front of one of my down men. He looked up at me in fear and I spared him a momentary glance before looking back to the rest of the Merchants who had finally realized that there was an enemy cape in their midst. They looked unsure of what to do about that fact, their limited brain capacity working to decide if they should shoot her or flee.
While their drug-addled minds worked, I looked down at the man I was standing over, although calling him a man would be stretching it. He was younger than me, around sixteen or seventeen judging by the slight pudge to his cheeks. I frowned.
"Go." My voice was little more than a rumbling snarl, this form not at all suited for speech. I licked my chops, running my tongue over razor-sharp teeth, before repeating my command. "Go," I repeated, slightly clearer this time, "Try to rouse the wounded and leave. I'll handle this." I repeated, turning away from him as the Merchants seemed to rally themselves behind one particularly courageous individual. I frowned, eyes locking on to the man who was hyping them up. He looked cleaner than the rest of them and was wielding a well-kept rifle with a purple cloth tied to the stock. An officer, perhaps? He would be dealt with first.
I looked back to the wounded man, my frown deepening as I noticed he hadn't moved at all, "Why are you still here?"
He flinched at the growling tone in my voice, "I-I can't. I caught a bullet to the leg." He whimpered, voice clouded with pain.
Looking down, I saw he was right. I hadn't noticed it before, but his leg was laying limb underneath him, leaking blood rather profusely through his pants. It wasn't enough to indicate a severed artery, but it was still enough that standing on the leg would probably be a bad idea. I growled lightly at the injury, before turning to one of the men still crouched behind cover.
"You." I called out to him, causing him to look my way in surprise, "You and all those who can, gather the wounded and flee. I will take care of the Merchants and buy you time, understand?"
"Y-yes, Yosei-sama!" He nodded frantically, "But are you sure you can handle them?"
I scoffed at his words, turning back towards the line of Merchants who were beginning to aim at us once more. I narrowed my eyes, "I'll be fine. Now do as I said and get out of here."
Without waiting for a response from the man, I moved, charging towards the Merchants and eliciting shouts of surprise from the more panic prone members of their ranks.
"Shoot her!" The man I had singled out earlier shouted as I rapidly approached. The rapport of gunfire that followed was so loud it was nearly deafening and I felt my ears flatten to protect my hearing but didn't stop moving, just letting the bullets impact my pelt to no effect as always. As their magazines ran dry and the panic began to truly set in, I reached them, slamming into the leader of the pack and sending him to the ground with broken limbs.
Without anyone to lead them, I easily ran through their ranks, mopping them up in short order. There were around twenty-five or so when I had started and within less than a minute, that was reduced to less than ten. They had no answer for my impervious hide nor my immense strength and size, and soon enough I was faced with less than three Merchants to deal with out of the two dozen I had begun with.
One of them went down with a slash of my claws across his chest, slicing through his shirt and sending him to the ground in agony. I turned to the next, this one a woman with particularly greasy black hair. She had more fight in her than most, actually trying to cut me with a knife as I reached her, but I ignored her even more easily than the earlier bullets, swiping out with a paw across her head and flinging her to the floor, unconscious.
As that one fell, I turned to the last member. He seemed more sober than the rest though that may have been the adrenaline. He stared at me in terror as I deliberately stalked towards him, moving like a predator approaching its wounded prey, and as I did so, his fear reached its peak.
"Fuck this!" He shouted, throwing his weapon to the ground before sprinting in the opposite direction. He nearly tripped over one of his fallen fellows, but managed to right himself before he was sent sprawling and continued on his way.
I debated following him for a moment, but didn't get a chance to decide as another, much more important threat suddenly made itself known.
"What the fuck is going on out there!?" A loud voice rang out from the hole in the wall, "Why are all you cunt-munching shitheads making so much goddamn noise!? Do you want the heroes down here because if they do, I'm going to shove my foot up every single one of your cockholes!"
I looked towards the voice to find a man making his way from inside of the building. He was caked in filth and wearing a ragged costume including a dirty cape and half of a filthy baklava that allowed his chapped lips and chin to be visible.
Ah, I should have guessed. It made sense that an outing this large would have Skidmark's hand behind it. Normal Merchants weren't stupid enough to try and attack the ABB directly.
He stopped as he stepped onto the street, looking at the scene before him with a surprised gaze. His eyes locked onto me, standing among the carnage, and narrowed in anger.
"Who the fuck are you?" He called out to me as he walked forward, "Did you do this to my men?"
Ah, so it seemed that the powers of observation weren't lost to someone like him. How surprising.
I glared at the man as he approached "I am Yosei, Daughter and Heir to Lung." I rumbled as I stared him down, "And you have made a grave mistake tonight. You should have stayed in your ramshackled hovels and never cared to so blatantly attack the ABB."
Skidmark scoffed at my threat, "Yeah sure. Whatever you say, bitch. Oi, babe! Stop snorting shit and get your fine ass out here! We've got a guest!" He called back into the building, never taking his beady eyes off of me.
After a long moment of nothing happening, there was a loud rumble, like a truck engine being started magnified by ten. My eyes locked onto the hole and widened in disbelief as what looked like a massive, makeshift tank rolled from inside of the building. The remnants of the wall crumbled around its armored hull as it rolled forth, slowly creeping out of the building and into the street on massive black wheels.
The thing was an eyesore to look at, made with a variety of different metals that had been crudely welded together in various places. The armor plating on it was made of thick iron that had been bent to allow a rather long barrel to stick through the body. The entire thing was sitting on what looked like a normal vehicle chassis, with the point of connection being crafted in such a way that made it clear that it was built to swivel around.
Sitting in the cockpit–more of a reinforced glass box really–was a grease and oil-covered woman with long blonde hair and no seemingly sense of shame given her choice in clothing.
Her eyes looked around at the downed men before locking onto me, "Skiddy, who the fuck is this!? She took out all our men!"
"I can fucking see that!" Skidmark shouted back, "And that's Lung's goddamn daughter! Don't know why she's a lion or some shit but you heard what she's been doing!? Fought that New Wave bitch, those Nazi fucks, and now she's picking a fight with us! Bitch is crazy!"
Squealer's eyes widened at his words before a gleeful look came to her face, "Well let's fuck her up! You know I've been dying to test this baby out!"
"You read my mind!" Skidmark laughed, a gross, creepy thing that made my skin crawl, "Hey, Yasay or whatever. We're gonna use you as a live fire test! Hope you don't mind!"
It seemed that diplomacy was lost on the Merchants. Here I was, standing amongst the unconscious bodies of two dozen of their men and didn't have a scratch on me, and they still wished to fight.
Well, I certainly wasn't dissatisfied with this outcome. I wasn't likely to listen to any of their pleas for mercy anyway.
Not wasting another moment, I ignored Skidmark as he went to say something else that was likely to be just as crass as usual as I rushed towards the two Merchants, taking them by surprise.
Deeming him the smaller threat, I ran past Skidmark, ignoring his shout of anger as I charged at the tank instead. If I could deal with their firepower early on, then this battle would be over before it start-!
My thoughts froze and my eyes widened as I was suddenly slowed by some unknown force. It was as if the very air was pushing against me, attempting to force me back against my will and adding so much resistance that I couldn't move more than a few more feet before stopping dead in my tracks
Skidmark's powers! I looked down to find that the ground below me had shifted into a deep purple, the Shaker's power taking hold and attempting to move me in the opposite direction I was trying to go.
"You thought I was a joke, didn't you bitch?" The man laughed from behind me, causing me to look back. He gave me a rot-toothed grin, keeping his hands attached to the ground, "You aren't Lung, and I didn't last this long against cock-gobblers like you by being weak! Babe, get this cunt!"
"With pleasure!" I turned forward to find that Squealer had maneuvered the barrel of the tank in my direction, leaving me staring down its length.
I barely got the chance to widen my eyes and turn to the side before it fired with a loud bang that left my ears ringing. A massive ball of near-molten iron shot from the barrel at speeds that I was unable to comprehend, slamming into my body and sending me flying away at incredible speeds. As I flew, I felt my ribs creak from the sheer force of the impact, moments before I slammed into a brick wall hard enough to break straight through it
Debris flew around my body as my furry form smashed into the ground, smacking against my fur with what felt like light taps compared to what I had just experienced. I groaned, curling in on myself slightly at the pain I was feeling. The Nemean Lion was famously weak to blunt force trauma, and that was translating perfectly to me right now. If that attack had been even a little stronger, I was sure my bones would be powder right now.
"How's that taste, bitch?" I just barely heard Squealer's shout of victory from behind the ringing in my ears, "That was over forty pounds of pure metal propelled at supersonic speeds straight to your fucking body! That's what you get for fucking with the us!"
"Good shit, babe! Now let's deal with the rest of these cunts and get out of here!"
"'Kay Skiddy!"
I growled at the words uttered by the gang leader, before shaking my head free of starts and rising to all four feet once more. My ribs screamed at me to stop but I ignored them, instead rushing out of the hole that I had made in the building and into the cool night beyond. My eyes locked onto my target and narrowed in rage.
Both Skidmark and Squealer had turned away from me and towards my still-fleeing men instead, no doubt believing me defeated and that they were free to do as they wished to my men. I would divest them of that belief.
My massive paws slammed into the concrete as I sprinted forward, a snarl on my face as I crossed the several meters between myself and the duo in mere seconds. Skidmark heard me approach and began to turn, but he wasn't able to do anything but widen his eyes as I was suddenly in her face, slashing out at his chest with my claws.
Blood flew in the air as my razor-sharp weapons cut through his costume and into his skin. He gave a shout of agony mixed with a healthy amount of expletives, staggering away and throwing his arm out in the same motion. Purple fields appeared on the ground in front of me but I was too close to him at this point, and they failed to push me away before I landed my next attack. Skidmark's stumbling retreat turned into a tumble as I scored a massive gash in his right thigh, cutting through skin and meat and stopping just before the bone.
"Skiddy!" Squealer shouted in horror as she saw what I had done.
"AHH! You stupid bitch!" Skidmark screamed in agony as his leg gave out beneath him, sending him to the ground. He turned towards the tank, eyes filled with rage as I approached his down form, "The fuck are you doing!? SHOOT her goddamnit!"
I turned my head at the whirring of motors, narrowing my eyes as the tank began to move its barrel in my direction again. Not giving her a chance to get a bead on me, I ran in a zig-zag pattern, making my movements intentionally difficult to follow as I rushed towards her at full speed.
"Stay still so I can shoot you, you bitch!" The woman shouted as she tried to follow me with the unwieldy weapon. As I had suspected, this vehicle wasn't meant for single combat against a cape of my size. It was likely meant to be a physical deterrent against vehicles and the larger capes in the bay or simply used as an overcomplicated breaching tool as they had shown with the storehouse.
Perhaps they expected my father to show up and were intending to use the tank as cover for a defensive retreat, firing and keeping him at bay while they retreated back into their territory or waited for the protectorate to handle his wrath. It was too bad for them that I showed up instead.
As I finally got close enough, I lept upwards and onto the rusted hull of the tank. Squealer screamed in surprise and fear as we were suddenly face to face, staring at one another from mere feet away and only separated by a thick layer of glass that she likely knew as well as I wouldn't stop me in the slightest. She reached down and to her right, likely to grab something to fend me off, but I wasn't here for her. Not yet at least.
Instead, I moved towards the main weapon, crouching over the massive barrel of the tank and rearing a paw back. With a grunt, I swung my claws down at the weapon, severing the rusted metal cleanly near the base and rendering it completely inoperable.
"NOO! YOU BITCH!" Squealer screamed in rage as I destroyed her work. I looked back at a metal click and found that she had opened her cockpit and was currently pointing a sawed-off shotgun at my face in a blind rage. The moment our eyes met, she pulled the trigger, sending a blast of molten lead straight into my face. I didn't make any attempt to dodge, instead just staring at the woman passively as the bullets scattered along my invincible pelt.
That only seemed to make her even angrier, and her next scream was one of wordless rage as she shot me once more, the attack having the exact same effect as before. Squealer cursed and moved to reload her weapon but I didn't give her the chance. This had gone on for more than long enough.
I bounded forward towards her, rearing a paw back and swinging it forward. I kept my claws sheathed as I aimed for the Tinker's head with the massive limb and as I connected, a meaty thump emanated from the point of contact. Squealer's head jerked to the side and her eyes rolled into her head before she slumped forward, her shotgun falling from her limp fingers as she was sent into the land of dreams.
Making sure that she was actually unconscious, I turned away from the woman to survey the battlefield. It seemed that my men had finally managed to escape as they were no longer anywhere in sight. Neither were the dead, as a matter of fact. They must have taken them as well, to get them help or simply to remove evidence, I didn't know.
In fact, the only one who was still present was Skidmark who had maneuvered himself up against a car and was currently attempting to stand up on his bad leg. That wouldn't do.
In one mighty leap, I jumped on top of Skidmark, ignoring his shout of pain and anger as I sent him to the ground, placing both of my paws on his arms to prevent him from moving his hands.
He glared up at me, his eyes filled with rage as his chapped lips spewed a colorful variety of hateful curses and slurs my way, squirming and writhing in an attempt to free himself. It was extremely annoying and, feeling more than a little vindictive after everything he had done, I decided to ensure that even if he somehow managed to get free, his powers would be all but useless to him.
His bones shattered easily as I purposefully put more weight on them, snapping like twigs underneath my heavy paws. He let out a shrill scream and his cursing became even more intense and vitriolic as he let his hate for my actions and myself be known, causing a small amount of satisfaction to leak past my anger for him.
That didn't last long however, and soon my thoughts turned inwards as I stared at this disgusting insect, wondering what I should do with the man and his partner.
The Merchants were a blight on the city and everyone knew it. They were parasites, sucking the life out of the downtrodden and pushing them down a self-destructive path. The drugs they ran were regulated poorly and of even poorer quality, meant to be sold cheap and plentiful. Nobody would miss them.
Not to mention, they had already killed several of my men, even if just as a byproduct of their actions tonight, and clearly had no issue with ordering their men to take out the rest. What would stop them from simply coming back with some new contraption that Squealer managed to put together with rusted cogs and frayed wires? What would stop them from returning and killing even more of the people I was meant to protect?
The Merchants weren't the Empire. There would be no fear of reprisal if I were to destroy their leadership. Sure, the Protectorate may take some issue with it, but I sincerely doubted they would risk an open conflict with the ABB over
Skidmark and
Squealer of all people.
What, other than my admittedly loose morals, was stopping me from killing them right here and now and ridding us of the potential issues altogether?
The answer to my silent question came in the form of a voice from on high. Not a god or anything even slightly similar, but certainly someone who would make my decision that much easier to make.
"Yosei! Step away from Skidmark immediately!"
My gaze rose to the speaker of the command and I was met with an armored teenager on a hoverboard flying high in the night sky. Despite being silhouetted by moonlight and thus harder to see, he was extremely easy to identify from his glowing red armor and the futuristic pistol in his hand.
Kid Win, one of the many Wards that called the Bay their home. And where one Ward is, more are close behind. A cursory scan of the rooftops revealed nothing, no figures standing out in my vision nor my-wait.
I narrowed my eyes, focusing my gaze. There, in the shadow of an air conditioner, a figure cloaked in darkness was pointing some sort of weapon right at me. A small movement and a stray beam of moonlight caught their mask, revealing an expressionless silver face that glared back at me from underneath a hood. Shadow Stalker. It seemed my hunch was correct.
She would be an issue. Her powers would likely allow her bolts to completely ignore my impervious hide and strike at my insides directly. Of course, that was only if we actually fought.
"Step away from him! I won't ask again!" Kid Win's voice came from above once more, the false timbre of a child trying to be commanding. I glanced up at him, unable to read his features shadowed by his helmet, before slowly stepping off of Skidmark's broken arms.
He screamed in pain at the crunching of bones, "You cheap, cock-sucking whore! I swear to god I'm gonna shove my foot up your ass you stupid fucking-!"
A swift but deliberate strike of my paw across his face shut him up. His head lolled, a stream of blood escaping his mouth as he was forced into unconsciousness with a low moan of pain.
"Hey!" Kid Win shot down from the sky, coming to hover just a few feet off the ground between Skidmark and I as he pointed his pistol at me, "Back up! Now!"
There was a surprisingly little amount of fear in his voice despite the way that he glanced towards the carnage I had wrought on the Merchant's ranks. Out of respect, and because there was no reason not to at this point, I followed his command, stepping off of Skidmark's broken limbs and away from the downed cape.
Almost immediately, he dropped down to kneel behind Skidmark, reaching a hand into the utility belt at his waist and retrieving a long roll of gauze that he began using to staunch the still-bleeding wound I had left in the man's thigh.
As he worked, I released my hold on my powers. As it stood, this current form was insufficient if I were to get into a conflict with these two. My feline form slipped away, leaving me bipedal once more. A light tiredness set into my limbs, an exhaustion born of my powers rather than the late hour, but I didn't let it show, instead staying calm and composed as I settled into a more diplomatic stance, resting my hands in front of me as I usually did.
"Kid Win." I greeted the teen amicably, "It is good to see that the heroes of this city can respond so fast to such an event. It hasn't even been more than twenty minutes by my reckoning, since this all began."
"Yeah well, we were already out and about. Yours isn't the only issue we've had to deal with tonight." he said quietly as he finished tying off the tourniquet and stood once more. I raised an intrigued eyebrow at his words but no explanation came.
As he stowed the gauze away, the space beside him warped in an unnatural way and suddenly another child appeared, this one much shorter and wearing a costume of swirling greens and whites. Vista. One of the more irritating members of their team simply due to the sheer havoc she could wreak on one's sense of the battlefield. Her appearance only solidified my earlier decision. Combined with Shadow Stalker's potential ability to break through my cloak, this had suddenly become a fight I would have had difficulty winning in my earlier form.
That being said, there was a possibility that, should we battle, this still might not go so well for me. Changing into such a powerful form without a potent threat to myself present had depleted a great deal of my mist and even the appearance of the Wards had not done much to replenish it. Unless something changed, I would be limited in the forms I could tap into unless the battle wore on for much longer than I would care for.
Diplomacy was key here it seemed. It would be best to comply to the best of my abilities for the moment.
As I thought to myself, Kid Win looked at his shorter compatriot and she answered his unasked question, "It's just her, no one else is around. Probably came as soon as she heard the explosion like we did and didn't have a chance to call for backup."
"She is partially correct." I suddenly spoke up, not content to be left out of a conversation pertaining to me, "Several of my men were wounded or killed in this skirmish. They have been removed from the battlefield so that we can properly identify them and their potential mourners." A bit of a white lie, but it wasn't like they would know.
Kid Win's shoulders stiffened slightly, and he tilted his head to the side as if he was listening to someone. Likely someone back at base telling him how to handle this situation.
"You aren't supposed to do that." He said after a moment. I narrowed my eyes at him but he continued, "But considering everything that's gone on tonight, we're going to give you a pass. Please vacate the area immediately and leave the Merchants to us."
His voice was slightly tense, unsure, as if he didn't know how to go about the task of speaking in such a commanding way. He clearly wasn't normally the leader when it came to outings like this.
"And if I don't?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. They tensed at my words, and I looked towards the tank that Squealer was slumped on top of, "These two are responsible for the deaths of several of my men. Leaving such a slight unpunished would make me a bad leader."
Kid Win didn't say anything for a moment, which I took to mean that he was once again listening to his little friend in his headset, "Because if you don't, we'll be forced to fight you. Right now, we've been given orders to allow you to leave without a fight but we have permission to engage if need be."
"Miss Militia and Velocity are currently heading this way as well." Vista piped up, staring at me challengingly, "I doubt you want to be here when they show up."
I huffed in amusement. Even the Nemean Lion would likely be enough to handle both of the individuals suggested and more heroes arriving would just increase my power even further, giving me more forms to choose from. There was no reason to antagonize the already on edge junior heroes.
I looked behind them as Skidmark groaned, feeling my distaste for the man swell once more, "Will you ensure they are properly contained? I do not wish to reenact this night because you failed to keep the two of them in the proper confinement."
"We aren't at liberty to discuss the containment procedures that we employ." Kid Win stated almost automatically, as if he had recited the words, "But with how they are now, I doubt we'll have any issue."
I stared at him for a long moment, judging the truthfulness of his statement. After a moment, I nodded, "Very well then. I leave them in your capable hands." I gave them a short bow, hiding my grimace of pain at the action before stepping back.
Mist seeped from my body as I rose to my full height, causing them to tense slightly, "Please enjoy the rest of your night, heroes. Farewell."
With that final goodbye, I allowed my transformation to take hold. Surging from the mist on powerful, flapping wings, I soared upwards and away from the area of conflict before the heroes had a chance to do much more than gasp in surprise at my abrupt exit.
It was unfortunate that I had to leave behind the stockpile held within that building, but it was lost to us the moment that the heroes found out about it. The loss wasn't a small one, but neither was it major. We would simply have to eat the hit to our stockpile and recoup the losses in whatever way we could.
As I flew away, my enhanced hearing just barely managed to catch the beginnings of a conversation on the wind.
"I think we could have taken her." The gruff, slightly edged voice could only belong to Shadow Stalker. It seemed that she was displeased with the way they had handled the situation. How unfortunate for her.
"Yeah, well I didn't want to find out and we had orders not to engage anyway. But hey, if you want to chase after her, be my guest. I'm sure your shadow form would stand up
great against whatever she did to Hookwolf." Vista's voice shot right back.
I was too far away to hear the cloaked girl's response, but I felt a small amount of amusement at the Shaker's words. It seemed like their earlier words to me might have held little truth to them. It was unlikely that either Miss Militia or Velocity were in the area at all.
Despite the lie, I didn't turn to go back and take care of the Merchants as I originally wanted to. They were in the hands of the heroes and fighting children in order to execute two drug addicts was not something I had any desire to do.
I'd had more than enough fighting for tonight.
~~~
My home was dark and completely silent as I walked in the front door. This late at night, even the staff had long since retired to their own homes and left a wonderfully clean, but slightly empty dwelling in their wake. I pulled my hood off of my head, having long since divested myself of my costume in favor of something more comfortable, before making my way to the kitchen.
It was well after four in the morning at this point so there was no reason to go to bed now unless I wished to sleep through the day. A cup of tea would revitalize me and help me stay awake long enough to get an early start on the day's work, at which point I was sure my body would realize I had no intention of sleeping any time soon and simply keep me awake as always.
It was almost certainly unhealthy, but some sacrifices had to be made.
As I watched the pot of water heat up atop the stove, I reached into a nearby cupboard to grab the things I needed to prepare my drink. As I gathered them and set them to the side, my thoughts strayed back to what had happened tonight.
Both Skidmark and Squealer were now in the hands of the authorities. Kid Win had mirrored my earlier thoughts when he had said they would likely stay that way as well. It was unlikely that any of their number would be coming to break them out unless they were hiding another, much more competent cape in their ranks who would be able to rally that admittedly large number of Merchants to attempt a jailbreak.
In other words, as it stood, the Merchants were akin to a chicken with its head cut off, floundering and running around without the knowledge that it was already dead.
Sure, some more enterprising individuals may attempt to rise up and take command of the remnants of the gang, but without a cape there was little chance that they would be successful. Say what you will about Skidmark and Squealer, but as foul-mouthed and wretched as they may be, their powers were not weak. They were just foolish in how they chose to employ them.
It seemed that was common in most capes apparently. There were a number of parahumans in the Bay who could be potent force multipliers if they simply applied themselves differently and yet they didn't. Truly a shame.
Once the dust settled and the Merchant's ashes cooled, the rest of the city would swoop in like carrions and claim whatever they could of the leftover territory, or the little they even had at least. The ABB was no exception to this, adding yet another fight we would have to fight on when we inevitably came into conflict with the people who wished to take a slice of the pie. Another conflict to join this upcoming war with the Empire.
I couldn't help but frown as I took the pot off of the heat to begin preparing my tea. I would never imagine going against my father's wishes, but a small part of me in the back of my mind was beginning to wonder if Hiashi might have been right.
I knew my father, and so I knew that even this wouldn't deter him from war with the Empire. That was just who he was at his core, never one to back down from a challenge, no matter how large and even despite the dangers to himself and those around him, if there was even the thinnest possibility that he may come out on top.
He may cherish me above all else and I him, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't lead the ABB to near-destruction to sate his desires. Were those same desires going to be the end of all that he had built, putting all of those that we were tasked with leading and protecting in danger?
Unbidden, my mind flashed back to the scene at the storehouse. My men, dead or dying in their defense of our territory. Shot dead in a minor scuffle against the Merchants of all people. The drug addicts could barely hold a gun, much less shoot straight half of the time. How would they have fared against the Empire? The Empire who had access to much better munitions and training?
I doubted I would have gotten there in time to save even as few as I had.
I shook my head, pushing the traitorous thoughts away. I wouldn't let what Hiashi had said get to me. I was my father's second-in-command as well as his daughter. That meant that it was my job to see his desires fulfilled despite my feelings in the matter.
If war with the Empire was truly inevitable, then I would do my best to make sure it ended as quickly as possible, with the least amount of damage incurred to our ranks and resources as I could manage. It was all I
could do at the moment.
I sighed, taking a sip of my tea, "This is going to be a mess. I can feel it."
Suddenly, the loud tap of a shoe deliberately being smacked against the tiled kitchen floor rang through the silent night. Startled by the noise, I whipped my head to the entrance of the kitchen, my powers jumping underneath my skin as I was met with a thin man dressed in a dark suit. Dark circles bulged underneath his eyes, indicating the near constant lack of sleep and yet his hair was as neat and orderly as it always was, even his thin beard trimmed to perfection.
His dead eyes stared at me silently and I placed a hand to my chest to calm my beating heart as I recognized him. "Lee. You startled me." I greeted the man, eying him warily, "You usually don't visit so late unless it's important. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
For a long moment, he just stared at me, fixing me with that eerie gaze of his that never seemed to brighten or change in any way, remaining the same dull, lifeless black that they always were.
And then he spoke, and I was just barely able to keep a hold of my cup at the words that came out of the normally silent man's mouth. It was nothing but four simple words, and yet they sent my head spinning and my heart racing with panic and fear all the same.
"Lung-sama has been captured."
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