Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 36

It was shocking sometimes how quickly a situation could so drastically change. One moment you’re holding all the cards and completely secure in your own safety, and the next you had a hole in your stomach and were bleeding all over your favorite shirt.

I looked down at myself, dazedly taking in the bright red stain that was quickly spreading all over my front. My mind struggled to make the connection of what had just occurred, and when it did, only a single thought came to mind.

‘Well, that’s unfortunate.’

Another shot rang out, just like the one that had come before, but I barely even registered it as the pain finally kicked in. It spread throughout my entire body in an instant, radiating outwards from the point of injury, and I was shocked at just how much it hurt.

I’d never been shot before, but I had heard the experience could be excruciating. The tales did little justice to the actual experience. It was a sharp and yet somehow dull agony that pulsed throughout my entire body with every quickening beat of my heart, and I suddenly found it hard to breathe, much less actually think.

The pain was more than I had felt in my entire life. Bakuda's bomb had been painful but that had been an instant experience, a flash of agony before oblivion. This was lingering, and much, much worse for it.

I barely registered the feeling of my legs falling out from underneath me and sending me straight to the ground, but the pain that resulted from the action let me know what happened very quickly. I instinctively tried to transform, to use my power to get rid of this all-consuming agony at least for a little while, but I couldn’t even manage that. My thoughts were like sand, falling through my mental fingers like a sieve, and I was completely unable to focus enough to actually enact a transformation.

Black spots danced in my vision as I laid on the grass, before my vision was partially obscuring the horrified face of Laserdream as the girl hovered over me in apparent worry. More shots rang out and I could see a blue dome shield snap into place behind the teen, trapping us all in a glowing dome that protected us from the incoming fire.

“What’s…?” The words wouldn’t come out, stuck in my throat no matter how hard I tried to force them. I could taste blood in my spit and instinctively knew that wasn’t good.

“Shit, Vicky!” Laserdream looked up at her cousin with a panicked expression on her face. Her lips moved as she said something, but I could no longer hear her over the ringing in my ears. I brought a hand to my abdomen, trying to put some pressure on my wound but I wasn’t sure if I succeeded.

As the spots in my vision began to grow and I suddenly found it increasingly hard to keep my eyes open, my mind went to Tammi and what Night had said in the garage. If all of this truly was in pursuit of getting her back with Agnes, then she was probably in danger as well right now.

I put all of my focus into reaching towards my pocket for my phone, fighting against the fatigue and pain that were trying to send me into oblivion. She didn’t know what was happening right now. I needed to warn her. I couldn’t let anything happen to her, not after I promised to keep her safe from them.

My arm fell limp as my strength left me, and I gritted my teeth as I tried to raise it again, fighting against the blood loss even as the world spun around me. I needed to warn her!

I needed… to…

‘Tammi...’

~~~

Vicky paced impatiently along the edge of her cousin's shield, full of nervous energy.

She ignored the shots coming from the building across from the park. Bullets pinged off of Eric's shield and cracks periodically spread from the points of impact, but they were quickly repaired as he used his power to fix the damage before it became too much.

She wasn't worried any of them would get through. Eric’s shields were strong enough that even someone like Purity would have trouble getting through them when they were layered together like this. Unfortunately, doing that took all of Eric's concentration meaning they couldn't move. They were stuck here.

“Vicky, pacing like that isn't going to do anything.” Crystal chided as she watched her cousin pace. Though she didn't let it show, Crystal was just as nervous as Vicky was. The amount of bullets being fired towards them was frightening, and she was extremely grateful that Eric had managed to put the shield in place in time.

“I know! But it's not like I can do anything else! You know how I am, Crystal, I don't like standing around doing nothing!” Vicky clenched her fists, sighing harshly, before looking at her cousin, “How's she doing?”

The she in question didn't look good at all. Yosei was laying on Crystal's lap, one hand over her abdomen where she had been shot. The woman looked completely out of it, pale and clammy, and her eyes hadn't opened since she had fallen. Only the shaky rising and falling of her chest gave any indication she was still alive.

Though with how much blood she was losing, Vicky wasn’t sure how long it would stay that way. There was a literal pool of the stuff on the front of her shirt, and Vicky was pretty sure she could see some leaking out of her mouth.

Crystal grimaced, “Not good. I think she's going into shock. That bullet must have hit somewhere pretty important with how fast she dropped.” She looked up at Vicky, a confused look on her face, “Shouldn't she have used her power to fix the damage already?”

“I don't know if that's how it works, but she's probably too out of it to try. We need to get her to a hospital before she bleeds out. There's one nearby that I could fly her to.”

“Yeah, go right ahead. In the meantime, I'll sit right here and keep these guys from killing me and Crystal.” Eric said sarcastically. He was sitting on the ground near his sister, his hands held out as he maintained the shield around them, “You won't make it three feet before your shield breaks and then you're screwed.”

“I know! I just… Ugh!” Vicky threw her hands up, beginning to stomp around the edge of the shield once again. Crystal watched her cousin pace with a sympathetic expression on her face.

“Do we know when our reinforcements are going to get here?”

“They should have already been here! Something must be holding them up.”

“Something worse than this?” Crystal flinched as a shot hit the shield right beside her, making a loud noise. “The whole city probably knows what's going on right now! What could be keeping them away?”

“I don't know, Crystal! I'm just making guesses!”

“Well maybe you could try calling them!?” Eric yelled, getting sick of the arguing, “My shields can’t last forever, you know!”

Slightly embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of it first, Vicky quickly pulled out her phone, dialing her boyfriend’s number. If Dean was flying he might not hear it go off in his armor, but Vicky had a gut feeling that that wouldn’t be an issue.

She was proven right as her call was quickly picked up “Hey, Vicky, I was just about to call you… What’s that sound?”

Vicky smiled at the sound of his voice despite the situation, “Gunshots probably. Things got out of hand with Yosei and we’re kind of up shit creek here without a paddle. Where are those reinforcements?”

Vicky could hear chatter in the background, multiple people talking over each other loudly enough that she could hear it through the speaker. She could make out Missy’s voice as well as Dennis’. Was he still on the Rig?

Dean’s voice became panicked, “What? Are you guys alright? Is anybody hurt?”

“None of us got hit, but I can’t say the same for Yosei. She took one in the stomach and she doesn’t look good right now.” Vicky looked at the buildings where the shots were coming from. She couldn’t see anybody from this far away but she caught a flash of red inside one of the windows, “I think the Empire was trying to assassinate her or something. They shot at Oni Lee too but he disappeared somewhere.”

“Oni Lee’s there too? Shit, I’m so sorry, Vicky. We were about to make our way over but right before we could leave, something went wrong with the Rig’s defenses. The entire building is locked down, some kind of malfunction in the sensors or something. Armsmaster and Dragon are working on it, but they said it’ll probably be an hour before we’re able to get out!”

“An hour?” Vicky cursed. There was no way that Eric would be able to last that long and these guys weren't showing any indication of letting up any time soon. His reserves would run out and the shield would break way before then.

What kind of plan was this anyway? Apart from those first few shots, these guys were just shooting at them indiscriminately. What if one of them actually managed to get through the shield and hit one of them? The Empire had to know the shit storm they'd kick up if they accidentally killed Vicky or one of her cousins. It'd be like Fleur but ten times worse.

Maybe they were just trying to wear down the shield to get at Yosei. She was clearly their target, would they let Vicky and her family go if they gave her up?

One glance at the dying woman on the ground made Vicky immediately discard that idea. Yosei may have been a gang boss and probably the worst thing to happen to the city since her dad came around, but Vicky wasn't just going to consign her to death like that. She was a hero, not a murderer.

Which meant that she'd have to find a way to save them all. And since the PRT was apparently out of the equation…

“Dean, I'll call you back.”

“Alright, Vicky. I’ll see what I can do to get some help to you guys. Miss Militia and Triumph are on patrol right now but it might take a while for them to get to you guys.”

“Every little bit helps. I’ll call you back after this is all over. Stay safe.”

“You too, Vicky.”

Vicky hung up and immediately dialed another number in her contacts. She might not be happy that Vicky was calling her while she was at work, but the teen had a feeling that she would get over it. A moment after the call went through, it was picked up and her mom’s irate voice came through, “Vicky? What have I told you about calling me while I’m at work? This had better be an emergency.”

“I’m sorry but it definitely is an emergency, mom! Me, Crystal, and Eric are trapped in the park by the mall being shot at by a ton of Empire members! We could really use some help right now!”

“What!? Are you alright!?”

“Eric managed to put up a shield before any of us got hit, but that's not gonna last forever! These guys don't look like they're letting you anytime soon and if they get reinforcements from a cape, we're gonna be in serious trouble!”

She could hear her mom say something to someone in the background, “You three are alone? Where's the PRT?”

“Trapped on the Rig, apparently. Dean said something went wrong with their defenses and the whole place is locked down.”

“And none of them were on patrol?”

“Nobody near us.”

Her mom cursed, saying several colorful words under her breath that Vicky was pretty sure she wasn't supposed to hear. “Alright, I'm on my way, honey. I’ll call Sarah and see if she can't get there faster. Do you think you can get somewhere safe in the meantime?”

Vicky looked at the shield around them, “Uh, we’re probably as safe as we’re gonna get right now.”

“That’ll have to work. I'll be there as fast as I can. I love you.”

“Love you too, mom.” Vicky hung up, relieved that they weren’t completely alone in this. She turned towards Crystal and Eric, “Alright, so the PRT is out. Something messed up on the Rig and they’re stuck there. But mom and Sarah are on the way. Probably Uncle Neil too.”

They sighed in relief, “Oh thank god. I’m not sure how much longer I’m gonna be able to hold this if they keep this up.” Looking closely, Vicky noticed for the first time that Eric didn’t look as good as she thought. His face was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He was clearly struggling to keep his power up under all the firepower.

“Where are they getting all of this ammo, anyways?” Crystal asked, “They’ve fired at least a few hundred rounds by now which is way more than anyone carries on them. Do they have a storehouse somewhere around here to resupply?”

Vicky had no idea. The Empire definitely operated more down here than any other gang, but it would be pretty hard to keep a building full of weapons completely secret with the amount of police who normally patrolled this far downtown.

Her thoughts were interrupted as a thud came from inside the shield, and everyone present tensed as Oni Lee suddenly manifested inside of their defenses. The man apparently hadn’t just abandoned them, though judging by the way his costume was splattered in blood and the knife in his hand was coated in even more, Vicky wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

He didn’t even bother to clean the blood off his knife as he sheathed it in his bandolier, making his way towards Yosei and Crystal, and Vicky tensed as he approached her cousin, rising off of the ground in preparation to rush him and break every bone in his body if he tried anything.

He ignored both her and Crystal as he knelt down in front of the pair. He scanned his boss silently, before removing a glove and bringing a hand up to the woman’s neck, checking her pulse.

“She is dying.” Everyone present was surprised to hear the man speak, and even more shocked at the anger in his voice. He turned to look at them all, “She needs medical attention this instant.”

“Yeah well, we can't give it to her.” Vicky said a bit callously, "We only know basic first aid and that's not gonna help a gut shot. She needs a hospital, but we can’t get her to one without getting shot ourselves. We’ve got some people on the way to help us, but I’m not sure she’s gonna last that long.”

Oni didn’t say anything for a long moment, turning back towards his leader. Vicky didn’t know what was going on behind that mask and the man’s body didn’t give her any hints as to what he was feeling. He was like a statue, even the breaths he was taking barely moving his shoulders.

Eventually, he seemed to come to some sort of decision, turning back towards Vicky and speaking in his usual monotone, “I’ll deal with the Empire, get their eyes off of you. Once I’ve distracted them, you will get Yosei-sama to safety.”

Vicky’s eyes widened, “Uh, no? If you try to fight them all at once, you’re just going to get shot. There’s got to be at least two dozen of them and they’re all cooped up in those buildings. Even you won’t get out without getting hit.”

That wasn’t even mentioning the fact that there was probably a cape with them overseeing things. Vicky was betting Victor. He was the only one she could think of who would actually be able to hit both Yosei and Lee from that far away.

Oni Lee ignored her and stood, “Irrelevant. I’ve already taken their measure. I will be fine. Yosei-sama’s safety is the priority. Be ready to retreat on my signal.”

Vicky watched as he walked to the edge of the shield, facing the buildings they were being shot at from, “Wait, what’s the signal?”

Instead of answering, Oni Lee collapsed into a pile of ash, probably not having waited for Vicky to even finish her question. Vicky stared after him for a moment, before mentally shrugging and deciding that the homicidal suicide bomber probably knew best in this instance. If he thought he could handle it, she wasn’t going to stop him. Not like she really cared if he couldn’t.

She turned towards her cousins who still looked a little unnerved by Lee’s presence, “Get ready you two, the moment we see an opening, we’re making a break for it.”

“Wait, seriously?” Crystal gave her a shocked look, “You’re actually trusting him? Shouldn’t we just wait here for mom and Aunt Carol?”

Vicky bit her lip, mentally tracking the distance from her mom’s firm to the park they were in. Her mom wasn’t the fastest flyer and it would take her around fifteen minutes at top speed to get to where they were. She didn’t know where Aunt Sarah was but it could easily take her just as long if not longer. They didn’t have that kind of time.

Making a decision, Vicky shook her head, “It’ll take them a while to get here and the Empire might be waiting for one of their capes too. If someone like Crusader or Purity shows up, we’re screwed.” Vicky glanced down, “And besides, Yosei doesn’t look like she has that long left.”

Eric scowled, “I vote we just leave her. She’d just slow her down, and she tried to kill me.”

Crystal looked conflicted, as if she was actually debating it. Vicky understood where she was coming from but denied the idea anyway, “That’s what she would do, and we’re supposed to be better than them. We aren’t leaving her.”

Letting Oni Lee run off to his death was one thing, but actively allowing Yosei to die when she could have stopped it was another thing entirely. Vicky was a hero, and hero’s saved people.

Even if she’d rather not.