Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 38

Tammi groaned groggily as she woke up, her head lolling slightly as she struggled to escape the clutches of the deep sleep she had found herself in.

As she raised her head back up, she winced. Her neck was fucking killing her. So was her back. What the hell had she done last night?

As she slowly became more and more awake, it became apparent that her neck and back weren't the only things that hurt, and as the other aches made themselves known, she groaned, bringing a hand up to rub her face, or at least she tried to. Her arms barely moved at all, constricted by something wrapped tightly around them, and this, combined with a creeping feeling that something was wrong, caused her eyes to snap open.

She was in an unfamiliar apartment. An expensive one too, like, the type of place you'd see on brochures for a resort kind of expensive. It was also completely unfamiliar and definitely not anywhere she had ever been before in her life.

The chair she was tied to was also pretty nice, though she couldn't really recognize that through the panic welling up inside of her.

“What the fuck!?” She looked down at her bound arms, taking in the thick ropes wrapping around her forearms, legs, and body, as her heart began to speed up. Panicking, she pulled on them, trying to break free, but she couldn’t even move the chair, much less the actual ropes themselves. They had been tied so tightly that she couldn’t budge them an inch, and the effort made her wince as the ropes dug into the meat of her arms.

After a bit of futile struggling, Tammi gave up on trying to break free. The ropes were too thick and too new for her to break. She was doing nothing but hurting herself.

Settling into the chair as she tried her best to calm down, Tammi shuffled through her memories as she tried to remember what had even brought her here in the first place, and eventually she did. She remembered going to help her girlfriend, getting intercepted by someone she had hoped she’d never see again and most importantly, getting her ass kicked soundly by him.

Her powers were practically useless against a Breaker like Fog. It was like all of the worst parts of fighting that bitch Shadow Stalker ramped up to eleven. She was literally fighting smoke and when she had quickly figured that out, she had turned to running away. She hadn’t gotten far.

She wasn’t sure exactly what had happened, but the last thing she remembered was falling off of her board towards the unforgiving concrete below, which probably explained the pain she was in. She had been pretty high up.

Now that the mystery of how she had gotten into this situation was solved, Tammi turned to the more concerning problem. Namely, who the hell had been the one to take her? Geoff said he was working for her aunt but Kaiser was the leader of the Empire and he also wanted her back. Was it him who had fucking kidnapped her like some divorced dad and tied her up like a soon-to-be rape victim?

Actually, scratch that, she didn’t really want to find out. She’d rather get the fuck out of here before they came back and saw she was awake.

Tammi looked around for something that she could use to get out of this situation and undo the ropes that were keeping her strapped to the chair. Eventually, her eyes locked onto a knife block sitting on the counter in the large, open kitchen nearby. It was far away, and high enough that she wouldn't be able to even reach it as long as she was strapped to the chair. Unless…

Tammi looked down at the chair and maneuvered her wrists underneath the ropes. They had tied her up in a way that kept her hands away from the arms of the chair, probably to keep her from doing what she was about to do, but with a bit of struggling and pain, she managed to bend her fingers enough that she could actually touch the wooden arm of the chair.

It was a painful position, but she didn’t need to hold it for long. A few seconds of constant contact, and she could feel the chair come under her control. Smiling victoriously, she shifted as much as she could in her binds, getting into a more comfortable position, before beginning to raise herself up into the air on her new throne.

Or at least she tried to. Just like when she had tried to break out of the ropes, the chair barely even moved a few inches, and Tammi’s heart sank as her power failed to make it move any further. Bending forward as much as she could, Tammi strained her eyes to try and look at the legs of the chair, hoping what she suspected wasn’t true.

Unfortunately, her suspicions were right. The chair was bolted to the ground. Either whoever was using this apartment did this sort of fucked up thing often, or they had specifically done that to prevent her from using her powers. Either way, she was fucked.

“God-fucking-dammit!” Tammi cursed, relinquishing her hold on the chair and letting it fall back down to the ground. She looked around, trying to at least figure out where the apartment she was in actually was. Could she make enough noise to try and get someone to come rescue her?

A single glance at the room around her immediately deflated that thought. One of the walls of the apartment was all window, allowing her a full view of the normally-breathtaking skyline of Brockton Bay. She was high up, at least five or six stories, considering that she could easily see over most of the buildings around them, and while she couldn’t see the street, it didn’t take a genius to know that she was currently somewhere downtown given the view she currently had.

Which meant that no matter how loud she screamed, nobody was going to hear her. Not to mention, apartments like this were usually soundproofed as a standard so she couldn’t even scream to any neighbors who might be listening.

Tammi bit her lip, wondering how the hell she was going to get out of this situation. She wasn’t sure how long she had been unconscious and there wasn’t a clock in the room to tell the time, but she was sure that she only had a few minutes before her captor returned. Whoever they were.

As if God himself had heard her and decided to give her a big fat middle finger, the door to the apartment took that exact moment to open up, and a chillingly familiar voice sounded out from the entrance. Accented and oh-so-careful, as if the owner had years of practice hiding what they were really thinking.

“It would be in your best interest not to attempt to escape again, Tammi. I ordered Geoff and Dorothy not to permanently damage you, but even my patience has its limits, as you well know.”

Tammi slowly turned her head towards the door, a knot forming in her throat as she was met with a familiar married couple, and the one person she had hoped to never see again.

Despite her apparent age, Agnes Herren would be considered an extremely beautiful woman by most people’s standards. With healthy skin and a full head of white hair set in an elegant bob that framed her face, as well as a pair of blue eyes that were sharper and more vibrant than most of the people who could hope to call themselves members of the Empire. Alongside her expensive yet tasteful fur coat and general air of causal superiority, it wasn’t any wonder why most people hated her from the moment they met her.

And just as Tammi had expected, she also had that damn cane in her hand. The constant tapping of its metal ferrule against the wooden floor caused Tammi to grit her teeth angrily at the feelings the sound evoked. She knew the woman didn’t need it, she was barely over thirty after all, and yet her mind burned with the memories of that tapping echoing through the room any time the woman visited, bringing with her some of the worst memories of the teen’s life.

Glaring up at the woman as she approached, flanked by both Dorothy and Geoff, Tammi didn’t bother to hide her disdain, “I’m so happy that you don’t want me hurt. Why don’t you come over here so I can show you just how fucking thankful I am.”

Agnes didn’t respond to her threat in the slightest, striding forward as if she hadn’t even heard her in the first place. That only made Tammi even angrier, and she gritted her teeth, “Why are you even here!? Why the fuck couldn’t you just leave me alone!?”

Agnes raised an eyebrow, finally responding to her words, “Believe me, Tammi, this putrid city is the last place that I wish to be at the moment. Unfortunately, some things simply cannot be left to chance, so I have come to oversee the operation myself.”

Tammi jerked in her bindings as the woman grew closer, stopping just in front of the chair she was strapped to. The couple flanking her stayed back, silently watching the proceedings with a vague interest that Tammi knew was fake, “Operation? So what? You came all the way to a city you hate just to get little old me? Should I be flattered or something?”

“Watch your tone, child.” Agnes said severely, her hands tightening on her cane, “I have already had my patience tested quite enough since I arrived and you would be wise not to do so any further.”

Tammi laughed meanly, “Bitch, you’ve got me tied up like a sex-trafficker’s wet dream! I don’t give a FUCK how ‘tested’ your patience has been!” She snarled, lashing out at the woman as best as she could.

Agnes looked wholly unimpressed with the display, “I wouldn’t have to take such precautions if you had some sense about you.”

“Yeah well, if I had sense, I wouldn’t have joined your little Nazi program to begin with. Guess we’re both shit out of luck there.”

Agnes sighed in disappointment, and Tammi just wanted to rip her throat out with her teeth, “It’s very unfortunate that things have turned out this way. I had thought that you would be better than my brother. You were doing so well just a few months ago. You had a promising future ahead of you, if one that was held back by an incompetent leader, and had you stayed on that track, I would have likely been welcoming you into the Herren clan personally in just a few short years.”

She tapped her fingers along the knob of her cane, staring down at Tammi with a thoughtful expression, “Which begs the question. What exactly is to blame for such a sudden and drastic shift in loyalties and belief? Why have you turned your back on our people, Tammi?”

“What, are you gonna try and ‘fix’ me or something? Get to the root of the issue like some kind of leather couch therapist?” Tammi spat, “You already know why. You fucking attacked her in her civilian identity after all! Fucking surprising since you always talked about how Kaiser was an idiot for the shit he pulled with that New Wave bitch, and here you are doing the exact same shit.”

Agnes’ lips thinned at the accusation, “That was a simple coincidence. I was not aware that your ‘friend’ was Yosei, though it does explain quite a few things. You were so easily corrupted by the lesser race, twisted by her words and ideals until you failed to see the true nature of her and her people. It only stands to reason that the one who had caused the Empire so much trouble would be the root of the problem.”

She stared Tammi down, “Am I right in my assumptions? Was she the one to pull you away from the path I gave you and into that world of ‘culture’ and ‘acceptance’ that so many seem to fall into these days?” Agnes shook her head, “I thought you’d be smarter than to fall for their tricks, Tammi. The masses of this country fail to see what is happening right in front of their eyes, but you were always an intelligent girl.”

“Yuko didn’t do a damn thing! I joined the ABB because she treats me more like an actual person than anyone in your cause.” Tammi hissed.

Agnes gave her an unimpressed look, “And is that why you decided to betray our people? Because your feelings were hurt?”

“My feelings have nothing to do with it, you sociopathic bitch!” Tammi’s scream echoed in the apartment, the blonde unable to take it anymore, ”It shouldn't be hard to treat somebody like a fucking person! Yuko didn't ask for shit from me except to be her friend and I fucking love her for it!”

That finally seemed to make her aunt show some sort of emotion other than disapproval. Agnes’ face shifted in shock, “Excuse me?”

“Are you really that surprised? Ever since I joined the Empire, my life's been nothing but shit! With you breathing down my neck every waking moment and Kaiser treating me like a goddamn human taxi, is it really that surprising that I might become a little skeptical of your dogmatic BS and start fact checking some shit?”

Tammi grinned darkly, “Mom and dad always said I was a rebellious spirit. Guess they were right. At least now I can skip that whole lesbian phase in college, though. Yuko makes me feel ten times better than any boyfriend I’ve had in my life just by being around me.”

She laughed as a thought occurred to her, “You know, you should rebrand the Empire as a reverse conversion camp! I don’t think the thought of being with another girl ever even crossed my mind before I joined the Hitler Youth Group! Is that why you wanted me to join up so badly? Did you get nostalgic about the old days and want to live them vicariously through me? Sorry, I didn’t mean to fuck up your plans so badly by getting with an Asian chick. I’ll make sure she’s Swedish next time. Or at least Italian.”

Tammi had ample time to see what was coming, and even then she wasn’t prepared for it. The golden knob of her aunt’s cane was one that she had been acquainted with since she reconnected with the woman against her parents’ wishes. It was hard, durable, and perfect for ‘smacking some sense’ into rebellious teenagers. She’d never been hit so hard before though. Either her words had struck a chord in the woman, or she decided that Tammi was finally old enough for some actual punishment. Iron filled her mouth from somewhere she couldn’t figure out, and her teeth felt oddly loose all of the sudden. That probably wasn’t good. She was pretty sure Yuko didn’t give her employees dental.

Shaking her head, Tammi spat out the coppery liquid that had filled her mouth, letting a glob of blood plop down onto the floor. She licked her teeth, making sure that she wasn’t actually missing any, before giving her aunt a pained smile, “Sorry, did I strike a nerve?”

Being the disciplined woman that she was, very little anger showed on Agnes’ face. Tammi could tell that she had gotten to her though. It was in her eyes, those calculating orbs had been set alight with an icy fire that revealed just how angry the woman actually was.

“Impudent child! Everything I have done has been for your benefit! For all of our benefits! It’s a shame that you cannot see that.” Pulling a handkerchief out of her coat to wipe off her cane, Agnes placed it back on the floor with a deliberate tap, “This woman has poisoned you, just as I thought. I just didn’t realize that it had been so… thorough.”

“Yeah, well get used to it, bitch. I'm a dyke and proud of it.” Tammi’s jaw was really starting to hurt, but she didn’t let it show on her face, “And by the end of the week, my girlfriend is going to find out where I am and swoop in to rescue me and you’ll be more fucked than those Nazi officers after Hitler killed himself. Hopefully you’ll go out the same way too, save us all the trouble.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Tammi.” Tammi paused as Dorothy finally spoke for the first time since they had entered the room. She turned to her, confused as she was met with the woman’s amused gaze.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Tammi asked, not liking the look on her face.

“Oh nothing, It just seems that Kaiser took our little bout as a chance to reestablish control over the city. It was a surprising move from the man, but one I can certainly commend.” Dorothy smiled lightly, and Tammi’s heart sank, “It was a well-placed shot, really. The liver is the perfect target if you want to maximize suffering while also ensuring that your target doesn’t survive. I personally would have chosen a larger bullet, but from the amount of blood she lost and how quickly she fell unconscious, I’d say it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. She would have bled out all the same.”

While Tammi processed the horrific news, Agnes scoffed, “Please, Kaiser had nothing to do with that attack. That boy is far too reactive to set up such a well-executed plan on such short notice. Someone else is responsible for that attack.”

“You think someone else is responsible for the attack?” Geoff raised an eyebrow, “Who else could possibly hope to gain from it?”

“I don't know, and I don't care enough to figure it out. We are here for two reasons and one of them has already been taken care of. I couldn't stomach staying in this city any longer than I have to.”

“It does have a certain stench about it, doesn't it?” disgustingly liberal. I certainly wouldn't raise a family here.” Dorothy sniffed, before looking at Agnes, “Still, would you like us to inform Maxwell about a possible usurper in his little court?”

“Don't bother. It's far too late for him to make anything of his crumbling empire. Then direct interference from the Gesellshaft would have difficulty salvaging this sinking ship.” Agnes made a noise of derision, “The Empire slipped from grace the moment the Allfather died. It's a shame the higher ups failed to see that and decided to humor his brat of a son.”

She shook her head, “The only silver lining to this whole debacle is that Iron Rain never had the chance to take up her father's position. I couldn't imagine the state the Empire might be in today if she had become its leader. Maxwell may be a brat, but at least he has a modicum of critical thinking skills unlike his sister.”

Tammi flinched as the woman pointedly tapped her cane against the floor, “Now then. I have one more issue I need to take care of before we leave, but rest assured, by the end of the week, we’ll be back in the Fatherland where we belong and all of this nonsense will be behind us. Geoff, come with me. Dorothy, I trust you can keep an eye on her in my absence?”

Dorothy smiled as her husband followed the woman out of the room, “I’ll watch her like a hawk, Agnes. She won’t be going anywhere any time soon.”

“See to it that she doesn’t. I will return shortly.”

The door to the apartment shut with a soft click and tumble of an electronic locking mechanism. Tammi stared after her aunt woodenly, before slowly turning to Dorothy who was standing just a few feet away.

The woman watched her with dead eyes, and while any other day Tammi would be extremely unnerved by such a gaze, she couldn’t find it in her to feel fear with the sheer amount of worry that was encompassing her. Her girlfriend had been hurt, badly according to the woman across from her.

And as that information settled in her mind, so did several other unsettling facts. Namely, the fact that Yuko’s powers didn’t heal her like Lung’s did. Sure, according to her, she healed faster than most other people, but it took hours to heal some of the bigger stuff, and a bullet to the liver was definitely something that her power wouldn’t be able to take care of on its own, at least not without transforming. But if she was unconscious, she couldn’t transform. Couldn’t heal.

Meaning that if Dorothy had been telling the truth, then Yuko might be dead right now.

Tammi took a shuddering breath as the possibility set in, before her attention was taken as Dorothy suddenly moved, breaking her stillness and stepping towards Tammi.

“I’m sure that it seems like Agnes doesn’t care for you, Tammi.” The woman said in a soft tone meant for comforting children. Tammi eyed her, all of her previous confidence and composure falling through her fingers at the news about her girlfriend, “I can promise you though, that when we are away from this city and in more preferable company, you’ll see that she’s doing this for you. And when you do, things will get better and you’ll forget all about that woman who got your mind all twisted up.”

Dorothy smiled sweetly, and Tammi felt bile rise in her throat at the sight, “Nothing can replace family, after all.”