Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 42

Dean made his way towards the Wards room, flanked on either side by his friends and colleagues, Missy and Dennis. The three of them had been called into work on their respective days off, and some of them were less happy about it than others.

“Why do they want us here this early on a Sunday?” Dennis groaned, loping along like he was still half asleep, “I had stuff to do today!”

“What, like sleep?” Missy asked sarcastically, much more energetic than the redhead despite the early hour.

“Exactly! I'm a growing boy! I need my beauty sleep.”

“No amount of sleep is going to help that.” She shuddered theatrically, and Dean smiled at the playful amusement filling both of his friends even as Dennis made a hurt face, putting a hand on his chest.

“Your words are cutting, young lady. Why, I'm not sure how I'll ever be able to go on with this gaping hole in my chest!”

“Call me young lady again and that's not gonna be the only gaping hole you'll have to deal with.”

“... I'll take that into consideration.” Dennis said simply, and Dean chuckled at the twinge of fear that slipped into his emotions. Missy could be pretty scary sometimes.

The three of them entered the large open room to find the other Wards had already arrived. All of the were there: Carlos, Chris, Sophia, and even the new guy, Andrew. Sophia was sulking on the couch as usual, texting someone with harsh taps on her phone, while Chris was tinkering with something on the other couch, as far away from the irate athlete as physically possible.

Carlos and Andrew were standing a few feet away, engaged in some kind of conversation, though calling it engaging might have been a stretch judging by the look on Carlos’s face.

He looked over as they entered and his mood immediately brightened as he saw the three of them.

“Nice of you guys to finally show up.” He called out to them, stepping around Andrew who lit up with slight annoyance at being brushed off, “Hey Dean, do you have any idea what this is about?”

“I know about as much as you do. I was just told we have a meeting.” Dean shrugged as he walked up, “It must be important if they need us all to be here, though.”

“Or they just want to waste our time with some stupid meeting or some shit.” Sophia grumbled nearby. Her emotions were turbulent, annoyance and anger filling her with equal measure.

“What? Did you have something better to do?” Andrew asked jokingly, not noticing the landmine he was about to step on, and Dean winced as he noticed Stalker's emotions spike in a bad way.

“I always have better shit to do than be here.” She spat, causing him to flinch, “The only reason I'm even fucking here is because I was already on base. I wouldn’t have shown up otherwise.”

“Okay, okay!” Andrew stepped back from the irate girl, “Jeez! I was just asking a question. Don't have to bite my head off.”

“It was a stupid fucking question.”

“Alright, that's enough.” Carlos stepped between the two of them before things could escalate like they always did when it came to Sophia, “Someone should be coming by soon to tell us all what's going on so try to keep your cool for at least a few minutes, alright Sophia?”

“Tch, whatever.” Sophia, leaned back on the couch, settling down, and that was when the door to the room opened again.

“Everyone sit down.” Armsmaster said as he walked inside, clad in his brightly lit armor as always, “I don't have much time so this will need to be quick.”

As they all got settled, Dean was the first to speak up, asking what was on all of their minds, “So what's going on? Why did you need us all to meet here at once?”

Armsmaster looked to him, “There’s quite a bit of information that I don't have time to go into right now, but rest assured you will be briefed in full over the next few days.” He looked over all of them with a stern gaze, “To put it broadly, there has been a lot of movement in ABB territory over the last two days. More movement than we've seen in several months, in fact. They're gearing up for something big, and we believe we might have an idea of what it is, and how to prepare for it.”

We? Dean watched as Armsmaster turned towards the large television behind him, holding a hand up to his helmet, “Dragon, put the video on screen, please.”

“Right away, Colin.” An electronic voice emerged from the speakers around the room, startling a few of them. Armsmaster looked at them all as the screen behind him lit up.

It was a camera feed of a hospital room, taken in the first person. Dean recognized Rory's golden armor off to the side, and realized that they were currently looking through Miss Militia's body camera. A young Asian woman was lying on the bed, staring down at her cellphone.

“Is that…?”

Armsmaster nodded, “This is Yosei. Due to the circumstances of the incident two days ago, her civilian identity is technically public, though not widely publicized. This is the recording of the conversation between her, Miss Militia, and Triumph shortly after she was hospitalized.

Together, they all watched the video play out. They watched as the arguably the most powerful cape in the city spoke with their mentors in a polite and almost genial tone, and practically threatened them to their face with horrific reprisals all in one conversation.

By the end of the video, they were all silent as they digested what they had just seen, before that silence was broken by Dennis in his usual fashion.

“What was that?” Dennis laughed, though his emotions tingled with nervousness, “The name of the Empire Eighty-Eight will be synonymous with ruin? Why does she talk like she's in Shakespeare? Does she think it's cool or is that just how she actually talks?”

His unserious words worked perfectly to cut some of the tension that had come from the video they had all just watched. It even got a chuckle out of Missy of all people, though Dean could tell it was just a gut reaction to his words.

“It's likely part of her persona. Yosei seems to prefer to portray herself as noble or at least well-spoken. It's not dissimilar to the persona Marquis utilized before he was sent to the Birdcage.”

Better than how Lung acted, Dean supposed, before asking the question on everyone's mind. “So who was she talking about? Who did the Empire take?”

Armsmaster turned back to the television, “Dragon.”

“Displaying now.”

The screen shifted, a new image popping up in place of the body cam footage. It was a still image. A blurry picture of a cape dressed in bright red, riding through the air on a skateboard without wheels.

This wasn't a cape that Dean had ever seen before. They looked new, with a clearly self-made costume that was basically just a hoodie and a scarf, but for some reason he felt like that probably wasn't true.

Armsmaster gestured at the screen, “This is a cape that has recently allied themselves with Yosei. Whether they are a part of the ABB is uncertain, but they definitely have some sort of friendly relationship. And that is the problem.”

Several other images appeared, one after the other like a slideshow, and everyone present watched as the cape on the board was blindsided by some sort of cloud and fell off of their platform, disappearing from sight over a building.

“All indications point to this being the person Yosei was talking about.” Armsmaster turned back to them as the slideshow replayed from the beginning, “The cloud that attacked them was from a cape with known allegiances to the Empire, Fog. His partner, Night, was the one who engaged Yosei in the park.”

“So the Empire's got two more capes?” Dennis groaned, “Great. Like they didn't already have enough of an advantage over everyone else.”

“Isn't it just one? Purity isn't with them anymore.” Chris said and Missy rolled her eyes.

“Yeah right. We all know she'll come crawling back the moment Kaiser asks her to. Nobody's buying this good girl act.”

Dean spoke up before they got too off topic “So who is this and why does the Empire care enough about them to kidnap them?” He asked, nodding to the slideshow.

“There aren't currently any definitive answers to their identity,” Dragon's voice came through the speakers once more, “But there are several theories. The most pervasive one, and the one that Colin and I agree is most likely, is that this cape is Rune, rebranded after joining the ABB.”

Shock filled the faces of everyone present, and Armsmaster nodded, “Their powers match up and so does the way they use them. We have prior reports of this same figure being seen flying around on a dumpster lid just like she did. “

He looked at them all, his face set in a stoney mask, “We aren't sure how she managed to ally herself with Yosei, but if this is Rune, then the Empire isn't going to just hand her over and Yosei knows that.” He said gravely, “Given what she told Miss Militia and Triumph, she is willing and more importantly ready to take her back by force. I don't think I need to tell you what that means.”

No he didn't. All of them could read between the lines and get what was going on. Yosei had stormed the Rig all by herself to get her dad back, and she didn't seem like the type to make empty threats. If the Empire didn't hand over her friend, then Yosei was fully prepared to start a gang war to get her back by force.

Armsmaster's tone was severe, “Dragon has agreed to send us a few drones as a precautionary measure. Hopefully, if the situation does escalate, we should be able to contain it relatively quickly.”

“They're set to arrive tomorrow afternoon.” Dragon said, “These models are sturdier than my normal drones, but they also burn through fuel twice as fast. They'll have to refuel during the journey.”

Adrew suddenly spoke up, confusion written all over his face, “So wait, if we're getting outside help, why don't we just go knock on Yosei's door and deal with her? We already know what she looks like and who she is, why don't we go get her and nip this in the bud right here?”

Sophia snorted derisively nearby, “Because that went so well last time, didn't it? I know you're new, but it shouldn't be hard to get that capturing that bitch would be nothing but bad news. If we even could.”

Any other day, Dean would be shocked to hear Sophia practically admit that she wouldn't be able to beat someone in a one-on-one fight, but given the subject matter, all he could do was nod grimly alongside the rest of the room.

“Yosei's power is still mostly unknown to us. The amount of forms and separate abilities she has shown already would make it extremely difficult, if not downright impossible, to properly contain her. Until we know more about her, we won't be able to keep her locked up.”

“We could just knock her out. Put her down the ol’ k-hole or whatever they call it.” Dennis suggested.

Dragon immediately shot down that idea, “It likely wouldn't work. While she was unconscious, Panacea induced her with enough general sedatives to keep her out for several hours. She was awake within forty-five minutes. Giving her enough drugs to keep her under while still remaining under a lethal dose would be a matter of trial and error. Too much could go wrong.”

“And even if we could, the Chief Director has decided to take a reactionary approach when it comes to Yosei.” Armsmaster said, “The incident on the Rig spooked quite a few people and she doesn't want to stir the pot anymore on our side. We'll be keeping an eye on things and seeing how they play out. If things grow too unstable, then we'll step in.”

“Fuckin’ pussies.” Sophia muttered under her breath. Dean watched Carlos give her a look that she pretended not to notice, before turning his attention back to Armsmaster as the man turned off the television behind him.

“We’ll be playing defensive for the time being, but we can't let our guard down. Everyone needs to be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Patrols will be doubled but no less than three of you are allowed to be on patrol at one time unless you are accompanied by a Protectorate member. Absolutely no solo patrols. Anyone found breaking these rules will be put on console duty for the next four months.”

“What!?” Sophia nearly shot out of her seat at that, “That's bullshit! Nothing's happened yet, why do we need a babysitter just because that bitch made a few threats!?”

“Threats she is more than capable of backing up.” Armsmaster said, and Sophia went to argue, before he held a hand up, stopping her before she could even start, “This is non-negotiable. Yosei had already shown that she is just as dangerous as Lung, if not more, and there is no telling what she might be willing to do in order to get her friend back. You will patrol together or you will not patrol at all, is that clear?”

Sophia grit her teeth, and Dean eyed her as her emotions practically bubbled with barely-suppressed rage, like a wild dog on the verge of losing its mind to rabies, already frothing at the mouth and a moment away from snapping.

“Fine.” She bit out, and nobody in the room was fooled for a second into believing she meant it.

It was apparently good enough for Armsmaster though, as the man moved on without comment. He looked towards them all, meeting their eyes one by one, “I’ll email each of you a more complete copy of the briefing. For now, make sure you're ready to go at a moment's notice. There's no telling what the coming week might look like.”

With his final piece said, Armsmaster left without another word. There was no need to waste valuable time saying goodbye, after all. Or at least, Dean was pretty sure that was something he'd say.

The moment the man was out of the room, Sophia left too. She didn't say a word to any of them as she leapt off the couch and stomped out the door, and Dean was sure that if it didn't close automatically, she would have slammed it like a child throwing a tantrum.

As the door closed behind her, Carlos stood as well, “I should probably get going. There's a family thing I have to attend later this morning so I better go get ready. I'll see you guys later.”

They bid him farewell and only moments after he disappeared, Chris stood and retreated towards his workshop without a word. Dean watched him go, wondering if his abrupt exit was because of his Tinker quirks, or something else. Judging by the veritable corona of nervous energy that surrounded him, Dean knew which one he'd bet on.

Though it wasn't like he was faring much better. Dean couldn't see himself with his power but if he could, he'd imagine it'd be quite the sight.

Left in the awkward silence of their companion's exits, the remaining Wards looked at one another, none of them really sure what to say, before just like always, Dennis came to the rescue.

“Well that was fun, wasn't it? I don't know about you guys, but I love hearing about the impending possible destruction of our way of life before I have breakfast. I'm getting hungry though, so why don't we fix that.” He gave them all a grin, “I'm gonna go grab a couple pizzas. Do you guys eat olives or nah?”

“Really Dennis? Now?” Despite his words, Dean was a little bit relieved that the other teen was still in the mood to crack jokes and so was everyone else. The tension in the room noticeably decreased the moment the redhead opened his mouth, a welcome change to what it had been previously.

Dennis shrugged, unconcerned, “Look, we're probably gonna be up to our ears in Asian and Neo-nazi gangbangers soon and I have a feeling that's gonna be as fun as it sounds so I'm gonna spend the time I have left inhaling as much artery clogging cheesy goodness that I can. Now answer the question, olives or no olives?”

Dean thought over everything he had said, and couldn't find any fault in his words. If they were going to have to deal with Yosei and the Empire, why not have a bit of fun while they still could?

“...No olives, and I’ll spot you ten bucks if you get a large order of garlic bread.”

“Is there even a place that's open this early?” Missy asked, looking hungry at the prospect of the greasy italian dish.

“Don't worry, I know a guy.”