Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 47

Very small grammar and structural edits have been made to this chapter. It reads pretty much the same as before.

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The war with the Empire had been progressing much more smoothly than ever I had anticipated. Between Bakuda’s remaining bombs, Lee's proclivity for using said bombs, and the tactical minds that had surrounded myself with, the Empire had been on the back foot for the entirety of the three days this conflict had lasted thus-far.

Add in to the fact that the man himself was down several super-powered members, and the playing field had become even more uneven than it already was. The statues that had once been his former subordinates had been taken into the custody of the Protectorate so on top of fighting me, he also had to deal with trying to get them free before they were shipped off elsewhere, thus splitting his attention between two fronts.

I was confident that if I could manage to keep this up, him and his empire would either fall, or the man himself would be forced to bend the knee to me. Either would suffice for either served their purpose of leading me to my true goal, finding Tammi and getting her home safely. Compared to that, little else mattered.

Which was why one would find it strange to see me sequestering myself away in some little no-name cafe, sitting in a booth and cradling a steaming cup of coffee. The cafe was almost completely empty, with only two other patrons inside, both of them being men of mine in disguise. I myself was maskless, as had become more and more common these days.

Another cup of coffee sat across from me, awaiting the arrival of the person who was my reason for being here in the first place. I glanced down at my phone, taking in the time. A little past three. They were late.

I frowned. I was beginning to regret my decision to come here but I would wait just a little longer. Just in case.

I took a sip of my coffee, my mind going back to the email that had spurred my decision to reveal myself like this in the first place. The message had been completely anonymous, yet both its contents and the fact that someone had managed to find my personal email gave credit to its realness.

The message itself had been deliberately cryptic and almost… smug, as if the person on the other end was relishing in the fact that they knew something that I didn't. It said very much and very little all at once, and yet it had its intended effect of piquing my interest and so here I was now, waiting for the sender to show up.

And it seemed I wouldn't have to wait much longer. The cafe door suddenly opened, and my eyes sharpened as I watched the hooded figure walk inside, a casual air to their stride. They were wearing nondescript clothing, hiding their features yet not drawing eyes towards them. And then they turned towards me, and that was when I saw the domino mask covering their face. This must've been who had called me here to meet.

As if they had read my thoughts, the cape made their way over to me, an easy smirk on their face as they slid into the booth right across from me.

“You're not an easy person to get a hold of, you know?” She said in a vaguely familiar voice as she settled in, “I've been trying to get into contact with you since our little get together a couple days ago. I would have given you my cars there, but you apparently didn't feel like sticking around after the show you put on for all of us.”

Her words, combined with her blonde hair that I could just barely see peeking out from underneath her hood, instantly cues me in on the cape identity. 

“Tattletale.” I frowned lightly as she gave me a nod, “I never expected for a member of the Undersiders to willingly appear before me, much less actually ask to meet with me.”

She shrugged, unconcerned, “Well it's a crazy world we live in. I expected you to bring more than two men. You know one of them's dozing off, right? Coffee makes him drowsy.”

I looked over to find that she was right. The man furthest from me was staring at the paper in front of him with lidded eyes, one hand propping up his chin.

“Anyway, I figured you've got your hands too full to worry about little old me.” Tattletale continued, “You've been putting in quite a bit of work on the Empire, practically three steps ahead of them the whole way. No need to blow it just to take care of smoke thieves, right? Why don't we just let bygones be bygones?”

She smiled at me encouragingly and I stared at her stoically, “That depends on what you have to say. I've taken a great risk stepping away from things to come out here, but your email painted a very compelling picture. I hope that you will make it worth my while.”

“Oh, it's worth your while. As a matter of fact, it's worth everyone's while.” Tattletale smirked, “I've got some juicy information on the Empire's plans with your little fan. Or I guess I should say their lack of plan.”

I stared at her, “Care to explain?”

She didn't answer my question immediately, and I watched with slight irritation as Tattletale reached over towards the small pitcher of sugar on the edge of the table and began pouring it into her coffee.

“Did you know places like this hardly ever wash these little pitchers?” She asked, making me blink at the sudden non-sequitur. She grinned, “When it gets empty, they just put more sugar in just like all of us. Most people don't notice and barely anybody would care if they did, but thanks to my power, I do. It was plain as day from the moment I walked in the door.”

Mentally lamenting about parahuman need for dramatics, I mentally urged her to get to the point as she put the pitcher away. Instead of doing anything of the sort however, she reached over and grabbed the cream as well, making my eye twitch. 

She looked down at the flavor she had picked, and her face wrinkled, “Vanilla? How basic can you be?”

“Quit stalling, Tattletale.” I finally spoke, sick of her theatrics, “Get to the point before I lose my patience with this meeting.”

“Alright, alright, no need to get your panties in a twist.” Tattletale out the cream down without putting any in her coffee, sliding it out of the way. She turned back towards me, and for the first time during this entire conversation, she looked serious.

“You're being played.” She said seriously, and I was taken aback at the sudden shift in tone.

“Excuse me?” 

“Think about it, don't you find it weird that Kaiser managed to set up that many men with that many weapons during your little soat with Night? That kind of stuff takes a few days worth of setup, and the Empire doesn't operate that openly downtown, do they?”

Her words were leading and I immediately made the connection she was trying to form, “What are you saying? If the Empire isn't responsible for my near death, then who?”

Tattletale's smirk was back in an instant, “I'd be more than happy to tell you, in return for some… assurances.”

“Assurances?”

Tattletale leaned back, an easy-going smirk appearing on her face. She exuded the easy confidence of one who knew they held all the cards and were more than willing to stack the deck in their favor.

“You're a woman of your word, right?” She asked, “The whole honorable noble shtick, that's what you've been going for. That's your persona, the thing that makes you different from Lung or Skidmark. I wanna know if that's true, or if you're going to have dozy over there follow me home and put two in the back of my head after you get what you want.”

I frowned deeply, “I do not give my word lightly. If I make a promise, then I assure you, I will keep it.”

Her smirk widened, “Great. Then I want your guarantee that the ABB will leave the Undersiders alone from here on out. I don't want to live my life looking over my shoulder in case you decide to finally get revenge for what happened to Lung. Which, by the way, was more the heroe's fault than ours. We would have just laid low until his little rampage was over, but they're the ones who packed him up and shipped him off.”

“With the help of Skitter, if I recall correctly.”

“Who wasn't even a member at the time.” Tattletale shot right back. “We recruited her a while after that little scuffle, and most of what she did was self defense anyway. Armsmaster was the one who really took your dear old dad down.”

My lips thinned but I didn't refute her point. She may have been lying, but something told me she wasn't. And either way, it didn't really matter in the first place.

Truthfully, I had completely forgotten about the Undersiders in the chaos of everything that has been occurring over the past few months. From the troubles that naturally came with running a gang, dealing with traitors in my ranks, and now this situation with Tammi, it was all too much and the Undersiders had just… fallen to the wayside. They were unimportant in the face of ensuring my father's legacy was secure and Tammi was safe.

Letting Tattletale know that would remove any leverage I had however, so I schooled my features as best I could do the Thinker couldn't gain any insight to my thoughts.

“If your information is truly accurate and everything that you claim it to be, then I give my word that I will not seek the Undersiders out in the future. Provided of course, that you extend the same courtesy to me.”

Tattletale stared at me, “That's the best I'm going to get, isn't it?” I nodded and she sighed, “Well lucky for me, it's accurate. I'm not stupid enough to meet you like this just to lie to your face. Not to mention, you aren't the only one getting something out of this.”

I tilted my head, “What do you mean?”

“Let's just say I have some issues with the person behind the shot. Issues that I’d like to take out behind the barn, if you get my meaning.”

Now I was even more intrigued, “Well if you provide me with their name, I might be able to see to it that you get that chance”

Tattletale chuckled mirthlessly, “I'll hold you to that. But do me a favor and leave my name out of it until you actually have the guy. There's a reason I haven't taken care of him myself.”

“Again, you have my word.”

“The word of the woman herself… I wonder how many people can say they've gotten something like that.” She mused out loud, taking a sip of her coffee. She closed her eyes, savoring the flavour or preparing herself for the reveal, I wasn't sure. 

“Coil. That's who you're looking for. He's the one who put a bullet in your gut and pinned the blame on the Empire.” Tattletale said, putting her cup down.

Coil. The name rang in my head. He was the same man responsible for the traitors in my ranks, for Tadao's duplicity and the dozens of sleepless nights I had to endure as a result. He was behind this as well? Just how deep did this man's connections run? What else could he possibly be behind? The more I discovered about this man, the more dubious I became.

Tattletale noticed my pause, “You know about him, huh? Guess I shouldn't be surprised. With all those feelers he’s constantly putting out he was bound to get caught eventually.”

“Why would he do this?” I asked, “What did he have to gain?”

“Complete control over the city’s underworld? That'd be my first guess.” Tattletale said plainly, “He probably didn't set up the attack, even I don't see how he could do that, but he definitely took advantage of it. He saw an opportunity and played everyone so that he came out on top. Now the two biggest players in the city are fighting it out on the streets and he's sitting comfy in his little hidey hole, waiting to swoop in and deal with whoever's left.”

She shrugged, “At last that's what I'd do if I had his resources, and I like to think I’d know what's best.”

Tattletale’s earlier words rang true. I had been played. I had been played for a fool and, in my anger at who I believed responsible, had blindly entered into a conflict while another, more sinister worked in the background against us both. 

It was a startling revelation, but ultimately one that didn't change anything, at least not right now. Even if Coil had helped spark my conflict with the Empire, the main reason for it still remained. They still had Tammi and the war would continue until they didn't. It was as simple as that.

“This information is certainly interesting.”  I said as I took a sip of my cold beverage, “But ultimately useless to me at the moment. Coil or no Coil, the Empire overstepped when they decided Rune was property to be stolen and that is why this conflict continues. Once I have her back, then perhaps I may set my sights on Coil.”

Even as I spoke I was filled with a deep sense of exhaustion. It felt as if recently my life had been one neverending conflict after another and though it was true that I had been the one to seek out this particular battle, I had been hoping it would be a short affair. That I would deal with the Empire and things would be back to how they had been. And yet here was yet another enemy, another inevitable conflict that I would have to partake in. When would it end, I wondered.

Oblivious to my inner thoughts Tattletale spoke again, “Well if that true, then I might have another piece of information that might interest you. One that had to do with the fate of our favorite ex-nazi.”.

Her words caught my attention and she noticed that, “Yeah, I had a feeling you would want to hear this. See, the thing is, your little casus belli with the Empire is built on false pretenses. Kaiser doesn't actually know where Rune is. Not a clue.”

My eyes widened, “What?”

She looked excited at the prospect of revealing this, like a child finally getting to tell a secret they'd been holding onto for far too long, “Yep. Whoever kidnapped Rune didn't let him in on the plan and now he's floundering trying to find her.  Lucky for you, whoever took her is still in the city as far as I can tell.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Because Night and Fog are still in the city and as far as I can tell, they're answering to this mysterious person instead of Kaiser. That's why your people have reported seeing them. They usually disappear after they're done with whatever they're sent to do, or at least that's what my research has gathered about how they usually operate in Europe.”

At her words, my mind immediately went to the one woman who Tammi had been more concerned about than even Kaiser. It had to be her. There was nobody else that could possibly have both the desire and the means to drag her back into the life she no longer wanted.

The question was, why was she still in the city? If she had Tammi, there was no reason for Night and Fog to still be active, and yet as Tattletale had just said, my people had reported coming into contact with them multiple times over the last few days. Why were they…

My eyes widened minutely as the answer came to me. Othala. Of course! If the woman was willing to resort to such measures to get Tammi back, why wouldn't she do the same for the other one?

If Agnes was truly the one who had Tammi, that made things much simpler, and much more complicated at the same time. Before, I was intent on destroying the Empire so thoroughly that Kaiser would have no choice but to yield to my demands and release her. Now though all I had to do to get her back was find Agnes and by extension, where she was keeping my girlfriend.

It was a task that was easier said than done, especially since my knowledge of Agnes Herren was limited to what Tammi had told me. Luckily, a solution for that very problem was sitting in front of me right now.

“Tattletale.” I stared into the girl's eyes, “I have a proposition for you.”

Tattletale raised an eyebrow, before leaning forward eagerly, “Oh, that's interesting. Alright, I'm listening.”

The Empire would still fall, just as I had planned. But perhaps when it did, Tammi could be there alongside me to witness it.