Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 51

This is a repost of chapter 47 that has been updated and modified to fit the current continuity. You can read it if you'd like, but it's not strictly necessary if you read the old version as the plot beats are the same.

~~~

The light from Lisa's laptop burned brightly in her eyes as she sat at her computer, once again in her element as she typed on the keyboard at a rapid pace. She had well over a dozen tabs open that she opened and closed seemingly at a whim, and her fan was blaring right beside her desk, blocking out all outside distractions and cooling her off which was desperately needed

It had been a while since she had used her powers this thoroughly, and the splitting headache told her that she'd be laying in her bed with the lights off for the next few hours, but it was all for a good cause. A very good cause.

She would gladly deal with it if it meant that she could go from unwillingly taking orders from Coil, to taking them from Yosei instead. Their relationship might be a tentative ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’ sort of thing, but there was nothing saying that it couldn't evolve. With the way things were going, the ABB was going to be the one on top in Brockton Bay, and Lisa would like to stay on their good side if she could help it.

Lisa wasn't sure that she'd ever seen a gang so large be defeated so thoroughly. It was absolute chaos in Brockton Bay as the ABB and the Empire fought it out in the streets, and nearly every exchange ended with the former coming out on top. It had only been a few days, and already it was clear who the winner was going to be.

Though it wasn't just thanks to the little skirmishes that they were having every five minutes. Yosei was doing an excellent job of using the resources at her disposal to wreak absolute havoc, namely her pet demon and the bombs left behind by Bakuda.

She must have had people inside of the Empire or maybe one of her seemingly endless powers have her insight into their operations, because every single one of the targets Lee had hit so far had been right on the money. Money laundering fronts, underground caches, recruitment hubs, all sorts of dirty laundry related to the Empire had been aired with every subsequent strike. Combined that with the constant forays Yosei was making into the Empire's territory herself, and they weren't having a good week at all so far.

Really, this entire conflict was just an eye opener to how absolutely insane Oni Lee's powers were. If Lung had used the man half as well as Yosei was when he was in power… well he'd probably still be in power. Oni Lee's powers had been speculated but not widely known before the war, but after everything was said and done, Lisa was sure that he would go up a rating or two in a couple categories.

“It's a good thing Lung was so lazy.” Lisa muttered as she switched tabs, “If anyone else had an immortal suicide bomber who can apparently cross the city in a flat minute, they'd be on top of the world. The fact that he can duplicate Tinkertech too is just the cherry on top…”

Really it was a good thing that Yosei jumped the shark when it came to Bakuda. If the ABB had access to someone who could make more Tinkertech bombs on top of someone who could deliver said bombs anywhere in the city, then the Empire wouldn't be the only ones having a bad time.

And man, were they having a really bad time. Lisa wasn’t sure what Kaiser was thinking when he sent five of his best buddies to go try and take out the woman who just casually replicated her dear old dad’s feat on the heroes’ own turf, but she was sure that the PRT was just loving their new macabre lawn decorations and that lovely little pile of wet flesh that used to be everyone’s favorite advertisement for power-based dermatology.

Alabaster’s death had been a fun little surprise to come across while Lisa was intermittently browsing PHO in between research and sleep. In only a couple of hours after the news hit the web, the forums were already blowing up with speculations and accusations about who done it. Lisa had been there just in time to witness the ban hammer come down on a few more outspoken individuals who weren’t all that happy with his timely demise, and she wished more than anything that she had time to kick back and do a little trolling just to stir the pot in the way that only she could. But alas… 

Anyway, with the imprisonment of a half-dozen superpowered nazis and Alabaster’s death, the Empire was down more capes than most small gangs even had. If this was going to be a war of attrition, then the ABB had already won.

Not for Yosei, though. She had made it plainly clear that until she got Rune back, the war wasn't over. Even if every piece of the Empire was destroyed by ABB forces, she wouldn't be satisfied until her girlfriend was set free.

And since Kaiser didn't know where Rune was and wasn't very liable to give out that little piece of info, that was probably what was going to happen. Well, unless Lisa managed to complete the mission she had been given which, duh, of course she would. A couple nights with a bottle of pain meds and a migraine that wouldn’t go away, and she was already pretty much done.

Finding Agnes was admittedly easier said than done, but by cross referencing sightings of Night and Fog as well as searching through the public property listings to find properties the woman’s company or even the woman herself owned, she’d managed to somewhat figure it out. At the very least, she’d managed to narrow her search to three possible locations.

The first was a four star hotel on the edge of town near Captain's Hill. Nice and safe away from all the chaos. A good place to hide out but probably not a place you'd want to stay more than a week or two. Someone like the CEO of her own successful company would probably want a more permanent place to stay, especially if she didn’t know how long she’d be in the city in the first place. 

That brought her to the second location, a cozy little house in the same general area that was listed as owned by the Herren family. There was a lot of construction there a few months ago but interestingly, nothing was listed on the public records. Not even a mention of it ever happening. Curious.

“Underground bunker maybe?” Lisa mused as she stared at the property on the map. That was the only reason she could see for the construction to be kept secret. Someone didn't want whatever was being built to be found for whatever reason. Good for keeping someone prisoner but kind of obvious to anyone who knew what to look for.

Putting it out of her mind for now, Lisa turned to the last possible hideout for the errant Nazi matriarch. A large, luxury apartment complex downtown. Being near Brockton Bay’s business hub, it was extremely expensive and even Lisa herself could only afford to stay there for a few months if she exhausted all of her savings. For the woman who owned the company who owned the building though, it wouldn’t cost a dime. Not to mention, with luxury services and privacy so good it was listed in the perks of the place, it would be a great place to hide out with a hostage while you wait for a certain shitstorm to blow over.

Not to mention, for someone who’s probably used to living in the lap of luxury, Lisa bet Agnes was not too fond of giving it up, even for a few weeks. If she was stubborn enough to keep ahold of Rune even with all of this going on around her, then there was no way she’d settle for a lower level of comfort than she was used to.

Deciding that she had found enough, Lisa typed out her findings in a nice and long document, pictures included, before sending them to the email Yosei had given her. Closing the dozens of tabs that she had been searching through, Lisa then grabbed her phone and dialed the woman herself.

“Tattletale.” Yosei’s calm voice came through the speaker, “ I assume you have something for me?”

Lisa smirked, “Check your inbox. I've sent you everything I managed to find.”

There was a lull as Yosei checked her computer or phone for the email Lisa had sent. As she looked, Lisa reached over and grabbed the bottle of tylenol on her desk, popping a few pills to hopefully alleviate the raging Thinker headache she had gotten from using her powers so much through the last couple of hours.

“You do excellent work, Tattletale. It would have taken my people weeks to get this information.” Yosei praised, and Lisa was only slightly surprised to find that it was genuine. “I would like to ask, in your personal opinion, which one of these locations do you think is the most probable?”

Tattletale thought for a moment, “Honestly? Probably the apartment. The hotel is too far away and the house with the possible bunker is too obvious. From what you told me about this woman, she’s got classic narcissistic tendencies. Probably wants a view overlooking everything so she can feel like she’s on top.”

Yosei was silent for a long moment as she digested Lisa’s words, “I see… If that’s the case, then I have another proposition for you.”

Lisa made an interested noise, already having a feeling she knew where this was going. “Oh?” 

“I would like to enlist your group’s assistance in retrieving Rune from that woman’s clutches.” Yosei said plainly, “I am already in the midst of planning a strike upon the Empire that will likely see their entire territory racing to defend themselves. That should be an adequate enough distraction for you to find and rescue her.”

“And why do you think we’re up to the task? I know you already have Faultline’s little clique on retainer. Why not just ask them to do it?” Lisa probed.

“Faultline’s group is contracted to defend my territory in the event of a retaliatory strike by the Empire. They have been doing an admirable job, but I’m afraid that their skill sets do not lend well to subterfuge or hit and run tactics.”

“And we do?”

“You’re still alive after stealing from my father.” Was all Yosei said in response and Lisa laughed dryly.

“I guess that’s true. But I hope you don’t think I’m doing this out of charity. Me, and especially the rest of the team, don’t work for free.”

“Money is no object, I can assure you of that.”

Lisa smirked as she realized the amount of leverage she had here. Yosei really wanted Rune back. There probably wasn’t anything she couldn’t ask for at this point. And she knew just how to use that.

“Good to know, but I had something else in mind…”

~~~

A few minutes of negotiating later, Lisa walked into the loft with a raging headache that even the ludicrous amount of tylenol in her system was doing absolutely nothing to fix and a smile that stretched from ear to ear.

She walked right past Alec who was sitting on the couch and unplugged the TV. The blaring noises of whatever video game had caught his attention this week cut off as the screen lost power and he let out a loud groan as Lisa held her hand up to her mouth so her voice would carry through the building.

“Team meeting! Get your butts in here! We’ve got another job!”

“You just lost me that game, you know?” Alec groaned, tossing his controller on the floor. LIsa gave him a look that told him just how much she cared about his video game, before her smile returned as Brian walked out of the kitchen with a mildly curious expression. A few seconds later, Taylor appeared from somewhere down the hall, looking extremely nervous.

A cursory examination of the brunette revealed her thoughts. She was nervous because she was wondering if she was about to be asked to go on another big job like the heist again. She was starting to feel like she was in over her head in this whole situation and was looking for a way out.

Lisa wished she could tell her that she was in over her head the moment she decided to put on that costume. She had been dragged way too deep into their little game to turn back now.

‘Well, that might not be true.’ She thought to herself as her friends settled in around her, ‘I may have just found a way out for all of us.’

“What is it, Lisa?” Brian asked, “Did the boss give us another assignment?”

Lisa looked around, noticing something off. “Where’s Rachel? I heard her earlier.”

Taylor pointed at the door, “She left an hour ago. Said something about checking up on some dogs she found. She didn’t say when she’d be back.” 

Lisa rolled her eyes, “Of course. Well we’ll just have to fill her in later, I guess. Not like she’d turn this down anyway.”

“Turn what down? Do we have another job?” Taylor asked.

“Sure do.” Lisa nodded, “Though this is a bit different from what we’ve been doing lately. More of a return to form in a way.” In the sense that they were going to be stealing something. Lisa was pretty sure they’d never kidnapped anyone before. Though this would technically be reverse kidnapping, wouldn’t it?

As Lisa debated on the differences between kidnapping and rescuing the kidnappee, Brian spoke up, “I thought we weren’t taking anymore jobs until this all blows over? We don’t want any heat from the Empire or the ABB because we got in their way.”

“And the boss apparently agrees with you. That’s why he wants us to help bring this little scuffle to a close.” Lisa lied easily, “He doesn’t think the two biggest gangs in the city hashing it out in the streets is very good for business. They’re disrupting his operations and he’d rather end it sooner rather than later.”

Alec snorted, “At the rate it's going, it’s definitely gonna be sooner. The ABB is eating them alive out there. Alabaster bit the big one and I bet the tin man’s not happy about that.”

“True, but eventually they’re gonna wisen up to Oni Lee’s tricks and actually start fighting back. And then things are going to get much worse and much, much louder.” Lisa said, “But if Rune gets back with the ABB, there’s a chance that Yosei will call this whole shindig off and we’ll have peace again. At least for a couple weeks.”

Taylor spoke up, looking confused, “You said that Kaiser doesn’t have Rune. How is he supposed to give her back if he doesn’t have her in the first place?”

Lisa smiled easily, “Well that’s where we come in. I’ve been doing a little research and I’m pretty sure I know where she’s being kept and by who. The only tricky part is getting in there without having the heroes crawling up our asses, but with how busy they’ve been, I’m sure that window will be wide open for a while.”

They didn’t look very reassured, and Lisa sighed.  “Look, it’s gonna be easy. Just like all the jobs before everything went crazy. We get in, get Rune, get out, then we lay low for a little while and wait for this whole thing to blow over. Done.”

“You make it sound simple, but the Empire’s on high alert out there. There’s no way we’re going to be able to sneak into their territory and nab someone from under their noses. One wrong move and we’ll have to deal with Hookwolf or someone else.” Brian argued, crossing his arms over his chest, “I don’t like it. Too many things could go wrong.”

“It would be.” Lisa agreed, “But we aren’t going to be in the Empire’s territory, or at least not where the fighting is taking place. Our target’s downtown, near Medhall. The most we should have to deal with is some bodyguards. All non-powered.”

That reassured them somewhat, and Alec raised his hand. Lisa sighed, “What, Alec?”

“How much are we getting paid for this?”

Of course that was all he cared about. Lisa wasn’t sure what she expected, “Double our standard. Extra if we get in and out without being followed.”

At her words, pretty much all of their hesitancy broke. Even Taylor looked slightly enthused at the prospect of so much money, despite still somehow being under the illusion that she wouldn’t be able to keep it once she turned them all in. Lisa really needed to have a talk with her.

The only one who still looked unsure was Brian, who was mostly annoyed. Which was understandable. Coil usually gave his orders through her and then she discussed it with Brian before telling the rest of the team. He was a bit peeved that she went over his head this time, but he didn't suspect that the mission hadn't actually come from Coil, which was good.

She'd feel bad for lying to him later, but she was sure he'd forgive her when Coil was out of the picture and she was able to get him what the man had been dangling in front of his face for so long. As for the rest of them…  Well, it shouldn't be too hard to keep everyone satisfied once she got a hold of Coil’s accounts.