Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 55

The ropes dug into Tammi’s arms and wrists as the girl sat limp in her chair, staring at the grains in the hardwood at her feet. Her expression was blank, and her hair hung limply around her face as her shoulders sagged with the weight of the thoughts in her head.

In front of her, the root of her pain was not happy at all. As if anything else was new.

“That fool has well and truly messed up this time.” Agnes said, staring out into the growing darkness outside the apartment, “All of those resources and all of that manpower, and he has all but lost to an organization of savages half his size. Not only that, but he lost Ophelia as well. Why the Gesellschaft hasn't deposed him yet, I cannot fathom.”

Outside of tormenting Tammi, things weren't going well for Agnes. She hadn't been able to locate Tammi's cousin, Ophelia and she had been forced to watch as the Empire crumbled under the efforts of the ABB and, more importantly, Tammi's girlfriend.

She had been over the moon when she learned that Yuko was still alive. A bit less so when she heard that the other girl had started a literal war over her kidnapping and was systematically dismantling the Empire bit by bit. She absolutely loved the stress and anger it caused Agnes, but she couldn’t help but worry that Yuko was taking it a little bit too far. She was drawing too much attention, the same kind of attention that her dad did before he was put away.

If Yuko got sent to the Birdcage like Lung, then it wouldn’t matter if Tammi got away from Agnes or not. She barely had anything else in her life to live for. They might as well throw her in there as well.

Tammi flinched as a sharp click of a cane brought her out of her thoughts. Agnes was staring at her with a disapproving stare, “Were you listening to me, Tammi?”

Tammi gave the woman a dull look, “Take your best guess.”

Agnes let out a sharp sigh, “One day that mouth is going to get you in trouble, child.” She said, and Tammi barely resisted the urge to roll her eyes, “I’ll be leaving for a short while as something requires my attention. When I come back, we will be leaving this putrid city behind.”


Tammi’s eyes widened and her heartbeat quickened at the woman’s words. They were leaving? “What!? B-but what about Ophelia? I thought you wanted to rescue her!” She asked desperately.

“I can do that just as well outside the city as I can from within. There's no reason to stay here like this place becomes even more of a fetid pit.” Agnes walked to the couch, retrieving the cost that was lying folded upon its cushions, “Maybe once we're in more hospitable company, I'll be able to actually focus on more important matters like talking some sense into you and saving your cousin.”

She pulled on her coat and grabbed the umbrella sitting beside the couch. She spared one last glance at Tammi as she made her way to the door, “Enjoy the last view of this putrid city you'll ever have. By tomorrow, we'll be watching it burn from above.”

The electronic lock clicked shut as Agnes closed the door behind her and Tammi stared at the wall in front of her as she thought about what this all meant. If Agnes took her out of the city, then she was basically fucked. There was no way she'd be able to escape the woman's grasp in Germany or Italy or wherever the fuck she wanted to take her. She would be completely and utterly screwed.

If she wanted any hope of seeing Yuko again, of actually living her own life the way she wanted she had to get out of here before Agnes came back and took her away.

Agnes has never left Tammi alone in the apartment before today. She always left her with Dorothy or Geoff of both of them at the same time, knowing that there was no way in hell Tammi would be able escape under their watch.

But Dorothy and Geoff weren't here. Tammi wasn't sure where they were,but she knew for sure that they weren't in the apartment. If she wanted to get out of here, she wasn't going to get a better chance than right now.

The ropes around her hands were nearly tight enough to cut off their circulation when they had been put on, but Agnes hadn’t replaced them since then. With a couple dozen minutes of careful effort and a wound she was pretty sure was going to leave an ugly scar when this was all over, Tammi managed to wriggle the ropes until they were lose enough to actually touch the chair she was attached to. Half a second later, her powers went to work and she wasn’t nearly as immobile as she was before.

Of course, that didn’t mean shit if she couldn’t get out of these ropes; she wouldn’t even be able to get out of the room with her arms bound behind her back. Luckily, her aunt had enough breakable shit around here that finding something sharp enough to cut through them wasn’t an issue.

The glass shard of the vase carved into Tammi’s hand as she sheared away the last of the ropes keeping her tied to the chair. Putting the makeshift knife on the ground, she threw the ropes off of her and stood for the first time in over a week. Her legs wobbled underneath her as unused muscles were suddenly called into action but she didn’t let herself fall, soldiering through the discomfort as she walked in a small circle to get feeling back into her limbs.

She looked down at her arms, grimacing at the bloody and raw areas where the ropes had been pressed against her arms. She rubbed them tenderly, looking around the apartment. She needed to find a way out of here before Agnes got back.

The front door was obviously a no-go. Every worker in this place was under the woman's payroll and she doubted the woman would have gone far anyway. She glanced at the window, and then at the ropes laying on the ground nearby. That could work.

Tammi's power couldn't affect herself but anything that was attached to her was fair game. In the Empire, she has floated the idea to Kaiser once or twice but never really had the chance to put it into action. Today though, it looked like she had the perfect opportunity to try it out.

The pillows on the couch looked big enough to cover her body and give her some surface area to work with, she just needed a harness. Luckily, she hadn’t completely hacked the ropes to pieces and there were a few that were just long enough for what she needed.

A bit of jury rigging, and Tammi had herself a makeshift pillow harness, one in the front and one in the back. With this, she should be able to at least get up in the air while still being inconspicuous about it. She looked down, before calling on her powers to raise her up into the air.

The ropes pulled against her body as she was lifted upwards. It was an unsteady, wobbling float, but she was floating nonetheless. It was enough that if she wanted to, she could definitely jump out of that window and survive by floating to the next building over, which was exactly what she was going for. After she got out, she would still need to get out of Empire territory and either make her way

“See you later, you crazy bitch.” Tammi muttered as she walked over to the window, looking for a latch. It was raining outside, which would obviously suck, but it was better than being in here.

As she looked for a latch on the window that she could use to open it though, Tammi froze at the sound of the lock on the front door beeping before unlocking with a loud click that echoed through the apartment. Agnes was back.

‘Did she fucking forget something? Either way this works perfectly.’ Tammi thought, racing over to the shard of porcelain she dropped and grabbing it. She lifted into the air, taking up a position above the entrance hallway as the front door clicked open, ‘I’ll gut the bitch the moment she walks in the room. Even Dorothy and Geoff won't react in time to stop me.’

Hiding just out of sight, Tammi pressed herself against the wall and waited for her aunt to show herself. Her fingers clenched around the piece of broken case as footsteps drew closer, but she paused as she realized that it was missing the distinctive rapping of the woman's cane against the hardwood floor.

And as the figure came out of the hallway and into the living room proper, she realized that it wasn't her aunt at all. Unless Agnes had lost thirty years and taken up a job as a cape.

The purple costume and bright blonde hair tingled something in the back of Tammi's head as she watched the cape walk into the living room. She recognized her, it was Tattletale, one of the only high level Thinkers in the city and a member of the Undersiders, a gang of thieves. The question was, what was she doing here? In Agnes's apartment after the woman had already left?

Tammi watched from her place up above as the girl looked around the room, as if searching for something, before her eyes locked onto the chair that Tammi had been trapped in for over a week and she seemed to lose interest in everything else.

Did she know that Tammi had been here? Was she looking for her? Why? She hadn't had a run in with the Undersiders in months, even when she was a part of the Empire. What could they possibly want with her.

There was really only one way to find out.

“Guess Rune didn’t need rescuing after all.” She muttered, and Tammi's eyes narrowed as she lowered herself down behind the girl, “But if she got out of the tower without her dear prince, then where oh where could Rapunzel be now?”

She landed on the ground with a thud. Tattletale went to turn around, but Tammi stopped her by wrapping an arm around her waist and placing her blood-soaked share of glass against the girl's neck.

“Don't fucking move.” She hissed, “Don't even speak, I know you Thinkers can't keep your mouths shut but you fucking better or I'm giving you a new one.”

Tattletale was completely frozen as Tammi threatened her, not even breathing as the razor-sharp glass was pressed against her jugular. Their eyes met in the reflection of the window, and Tammi glared at the other girl as a slight smile spread across her face.

“So do you do this to the room service too, or am I just special?” She asked sarcastically, and Tammi's eyes narrowed as she pressed the glass harder against the girl's neck.

“What did I just say?” She hissed, “Cut the shit and tell me who sent you before I get impatient and start cutting.”

Tattletale winced, either at the mental image or the feeling of Tammi's blood dripping down her neck, “Not in the mood, huh? I guess that's understandable. Your girlfriend sent us.”

Tammi snorted, “Pull the other one. She wouldn't have anything to do with you assholes after the shit you pulled with the ABB. Who really sent you?”

Tattletale glanced down at the glass shard, “What? Do you think I'm here to kidnap you from your kidnapper just to bring you to another kidnapper? Look, I know it's unbelievable, but I'm telling the truth, and if you let me call the others in here, I can prove it.”

So she wasn't alone. Rune shook her head, “Why the fuck would I do that? Do you think I'm stupid or something?”

“Well, I have literally no other way to prove it to you so either you let me call them or we're gonna be here for a while.” Tattletale said, “You hold all the cards here, why not throw me a bone and see what comes out of it? It's not like you have many other options.”

Tammi scowled but conceded her point. If Tattletale was telling the truth, then she could be throwing away the best chance to get out of here without being caught again, “Fine. But if you try any funny business, I'm taking a dive out that window, and only one of us is packing a built-in parachute.”

Tattletale swallowed at her threat, “Duly noted.” She said weakly before taking a deep breath, “Hey guys! I could use some help in here!”

Her call was immediately followed by a parade of footsteps. Tammi turned herself and Tattletale towards the door, watching with narrowed eyes as a man in a leather jacket and a skull-themed bike helmet burst into the room. His fists were shrouded in a inky darkness, which faltered as he caught sight of Tammi and Tattletale.

Tattletale grinned weakly, “Glad you guys could join us. Care to take a guess who I found?”

Grue said something, but Tammi ignored him in favor of staring at the next person who walked in, clad in a black and grey costume and sporting a glaring red demon mask.

Tammi didn’t know Lee that well–honestly, she tried to avoid him any chance she could–but she knew that the man would never betray Yuko. Some sort of fucked up code or mental trauma made him honor bound to serve her literally until death. If he was with them, then Tattletale was telling the truth. Simple as that.

Tammi let the girl go unceremoniously, watching as she stumbled away clutching her throat, “Guess you were telling the truth.” She said, dropping the shard of glass on the carpet, “Sorry, I guess.”

Tattletale rubbed her neck and the red line that Tammi’s shard of glass had sliced into the skin. She winced, as Grue stepped forward, putting a hand on her shoulder that she shrugged off, “It's no trouble, but I'm definitely asking for extra after that.”

She cleared her throat, “Alright, now that I'm not in danger of an impromptu laryngectomy, lets get out of here before Agnes comes back with her psycho couple. I’ve got extraction waiting outside. We’ll get you back to Yosei and you two can hug off the trauma or whatever.”

“You aren’t going anywhere.” All eyes turned to the entrance to the apartment, and rage bubbled in Tammi’s stomach as she was met with the cold face of her aunt standing in the doorway, flanked by her aforementioned lackeys.

“Shit. I thought we had a few more minutes.” Tattletale muttered, taking a step back so she was behind the rest of the group.

Agnes’s face was a mask of cold anger as she stared at the supervillains invading her domicile. Both hands rested on her cane which she held in an iron grip, “Perhaps you would have, but I take more precautions than the people who you use to line your filthy pockets. I knew the moment my call to the receptionist downstairs didn’t go through that something was wrong. The people my company employs know better than to let a phone ring.”

“I never expected this though.” Agnes stared past Tammi and at the two Undersiders as well as the demon that had accompanied them, “You used to rub shoulders with much more suitable company, yet all I see here today are the lowest dregs of society. Thieves and murderers; are those the types of people you call allies these days?”

“Better us than the people you like to rub shoulders with.” Tattletale said, “When’s the last time you had a conversation with someone who wasn’t a white supremacist? You know, apart from the niece that you literally kidnapped and held hostage.”

“I have connections with more people than you could even hope to fathom, child.” Agnes responded, “A company like mine doesn’t grow to the size that it has by limiting yourself to those who follow your ideals.”

“Oh, so you’re a poser? Guess you and Kaiser have more in common than I thought.”

“Enough!” Agnes’s cane rapped heavily on the floor underneath her as Tattletale’s comment did its work of getting underneath her skin, “You don’t have even the slightest clue as to what you are talking about. You are vermin, crawling through alleys and dirty streets, ignorant to the things that go on in the world above you.”

“She has a better idea than I did when I joined.” Tammi spat, “You people filled my head with so much shit I didn’t know right from left and the moment I tried to leave to get my head screwed back on straight, you fucking kidnap me!”

“It was for your own good, believe me, child. That woman was steering you down a dangerous path.” She let out a put-upon sigh, “But she is just a symptom. This entire city is rotten. A horrible, filthy place with filthy ideas that do nothing but infect the impressionable youth of the city, just as they have infected you, Tammi.”

“Damn, she’s a real piece of work, huh?” Tattletale muttered as Tammi’s fists clenched. She stepped forward, glaring daggers at her aunt who stared back as if she had done nothing wrong, “You should have just stayed away, then! Nobody asked you to come back to Brocton Bay! Nobody wanted you to come back either!”

“How could I stay away?” Agnes asked rhetorically, taking a step forward, “Don’t forget, you are the one who came to me, all those years ago. Did you think that I would let you go just because you became a bit disillusioned with the organization that you practically begged me to help you join? I don’t let go of what is mine, child. You should know that by now.”

Agnes’s words rang like a bell in Tammi’s mind, and a week and a half’s worth of rage came bursting to life as she finally snapped.

“I don’t belong to anybody! Especially not you, you psychopathic BITCH!” She screamed, and her power lit up like a flare in the back of her head. One of the couches nearby lifted into the air and was launched across the room, over two hundred pounds of leather and hardwood shooting like a rocket as it aimed straight for her aunt’s fragile, old body.

A hand grabbed Agnes’s shoulder, shoving her out of the way as Dorothy took her place instead. The couch slammed into the woman and launched her backwards with the sounds of cracking wood and bones. It lodged itself in the hallway, preventing anybody from getting through.

While Tammi grit her teeth as she realized she had missed her aunt, Tattletale studied the piece of furniture that had just blocked their only exit, “It was a good attempt and she definitely would have deserved it if you got her, but you do realize we don’t have a way to get out of here now, right?”

In response, another couch lifted into the air. This one shot towards the massive line of windows nearby, smashing through it and sending glass raining down onto the unsuspecting streets below. Wind whistled and rain pelted the wooden floor through the hole that Tammi had just created, but the couch remained completely steady even in the downpour.

It floated closer to the apartment, coming to a stop just in front of the broken window, and Grue gave it an incredulous look, “You can’t be serious.”

But Tammi was. She stomped towards the couch, putting one hand on the window frame to keep herself steady as she looked down at the couch and the impossible drop below it, “Stay if you want but I’m getting the fuck out of this place. I’m so fucking sick of this goddamn apartment that if I spend another second here, I’m going to puke.”

Tattletale and Grue shared a hesitant look with one another before the former shrugged and followed the girl towards the window. Left with no other choice, Grue sighed and followed as well, only to pause as he realized the other member of their party hadn’t moved at all during the exchange.

“Aren’t you coming with us?” Grue asked, and the other two turned to find Oni Lee standing still as a statue, staring at the couch blocking the entrance. The man was still as a statue, his eyes glued to something that Grue couldn’t discern.

“I will remain behind and distract them.” Lee said, his voice just one octave short of monotone, “Do not concern yourselves with me. Return her to safety.”

“If you stay back here, you’re gonna die.” Tammi said, staring at him.

The demon didn’t move, “My task here today is to make sure that you are returned to Yosei-sama in one piece. If I am fated to die performing said task, then so be it.”

“Leave the man to his martyrdom.” Tattletale grabbed Grue’s arm and pulled him towards the window, “It would take too long to convince him anyway. Let’s get out of here before something else goes wrong.”

As if the world wanted to spite her, the moment that she finished her sentence, the couch blocking the doorway exploded outwards in a shower of wood chips and tattered leather. When the debris cleared, Dorothy and Geoff were the only ones standing in the hallway, staring at them all with an eerie gaze as Agnes disappeared to who knows where.

“Leaving so soon? But we haven’t even passed out the party favors yet.” She tittered, taking a step forward alongside her husband as she drew a long, slender stiletto from under her cloak, “Tammi, you are making a big mistake, dear. Come back and I am sure Agnes will be much more lenient after we have taken care of this trash.”

“You will not get past me.” Oni Lee said ominously as he retrieved his own knife.

Dorothy spared him a glance, looking distinctly unimpressed, but that changed as the man in front of her crumbled to ash and a knife slid across her face, just barely missing her throat as she leaned back out of instinct.

Geoff’s body split apart at the seams as the man burst into fog, and the teens backed away as a monstrous noise emerged from inside the veil of white.

“And that's our cue to leave.” Tattletale said, grabbing Grue’s hand and following Tammi as she stepped out of the window. Freezing rain and wind pelted them as they climbed into the platform beside the other teen, and the couch bent underneath them but didn't sway.

Grue swallowed harshly as he glanced down at the street dozens of feet below, “Holy hell that's high…” He muttered, and Tammi rolled her eyes as she began to lower them down.

As they got a few floors down, a booming explosion blew out the windows of the apartment they had just been inside. Grue and Tattletale flinched as glass rained down on them but Tammi just glared up at the window, “Hope he kills that bitch. Wish I did…”

They made it to the ground and Tattletale took the lead, bringing them into a long alley near the hotel. Inside, three other Undersiders were waiting. Tammi didn’t know much about this group, but she did recognize most of the capes standing around, all except for the tall skinny one in the bug costume. She could make some estimated guesses though, recalling what her girlfriend had said about some chick named Skitter who controlled bugs. The one responsible for putting her dad away.

The one in the theater mask, Regent or something, pushed off of the wall and walked towards them languidly, “So you got her? Guess we didn't need to come after all. We're still getting paid though, right!”

“Yes, Regent, you're still getting paid.” Tattletale said as she jogged past him, “Now come on! Mount up! We need to get out of here before they follow us.”

“Who's they?” Skitter asked as Bitch commanded her monstrous dogs to bend down so they could all climb on.

“Night and Fog. They're fighting Oni Lee right now but we don't know how long that will last.” Tattletale said as one of the dogs knelt down in front of her. She pulled herself up with a grunt, before leaning down and holding a hand out to Tammi, “Hop up. We need to get moving.”

Tammi reached up, wincing as Tattletale’s hand wrapped around her rope burns. She was pulled onto the dog, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist to keep her steady.

“Here.” Tattletale held out a domino mask which Rune took and out on her face. The girl winked, “We're gonna be out in the open so unless you want your face plastered on every news station like your girlfriend, you better cover up.”

As Tammi put on the mask, Tattletale turned back to the rest of her team, “Alright! Standard procedure today, folks.” She called as another explosion sounded from high above them, “Split up and make yourselves scarce. I'll take Rune back home and meet you all back at our place. Grue, give us a smoke screen.”

Moments later, Tammi and Tattletale burst through the massive cloud of disorienting black smoke, racing through the busy streets of Brockton Bay at a dizzying pace. Tammi clutched Tattletale's waist with bruising strength, determined not to fall off of the beast moving underneath her.

“You good back there?” The supervillain called back as she led them through the city, “I know the ride can be bumpy but just hang on tight, it's a short ride.”

As they left Agnes’s apartment behind, Tammi turned to look at it, peering up at the room she had been held in high above the smoke that Grue had spread around the area. The room was completely dark and it looked like the explosions had stopped. Tammi hoped that meant that Lee had won and not that he had been killed. She also hoped that Agnes had been caught in the crossfire but honestly, she had a feeling that was too much to ask.

Turning forward, Tammmi tightened her hold on Tattletale’s body. Rain pelted them as they traveled, made even harsher by the speeds at which they were moving. Tammi squinted through the squall, raising her voice to be heard over the wind, “So why did Yosei send you? Why didn't she come rescue me herself?”

Throughout her captivity, Tammi had been awaiting the moment that Yuko would bust down that door, wrapped in the guise of some mythical creature or maybe just as herself. The Undersiders of all people showing up to rescue her wasn't on her bingo card. Especially not at the behest of Yuko of all people.

Tattletale laughed at her question, “Well, apart from the fact that she'd probably have reduced everyone in that building to a nice red smear, she's kind of preoccupied keeping the rest of the Empire off our backs while we save you!”

Tammi’s eyes widened, “She’s fighting Kaiser!?”


“Him and the rest of his court!” Tattletale yelled back, “She was the distraction for us. That’s the only reason we were able to get in there without immediately getting sussed out and tracked down. With any luck, after today, we won’t have to deal with the Empire anymore. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Tammi didn’t respond. She was too busy imagining what could go wrong for her girlfriend. Kaiser alone was an extremely powerful cape, but if she was fighting everyone else too, what chance did she have? Hookwolf, Stormtiger, Purity, even Alabaster! Yuko was strong, there was no doubt about that, but nobody would ever call any of the capes in the Empire weak. Except maybe for her when she was a part of it.

Tattletale noticed her silence and glanced back at her, “Hey, I know what you’re thinking and stop it. She’s gonna be fine. She’s like five times scarier than Lung and ten times as powerful. Last I checked, she was doing a pretty damn good job so I don’t see why that would change now.”

She turned forward, spurring the beast faster with a sharp motion, “Besides, we have a deal and from what I heard, she’s the type to keep her promises. And I promised to get you home so don’t try to do anything stupid like going to help her or something.”

Tammi wasn’t sure she could even if she wanted to. Now that she was mostly out of danger, the mindless exhaustion that she had been enduring over the past week was finally catching up to her. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead to Tattletale’s back as her eyelids grew heavy and her limbs grew weak.

Home. That sounded nice right now.