Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 65

Power went out last night so this one's a little late. Hope you all enjoy!

~~~

Squall approached the cab with all the cockiness of someone who didn't realize they were in deep shit. He sauntered up to the van as the door opened and two disoriented volunteers crawled out on their hands and knees  freezing as they saw him. He said something to the , probably some quip or insult that he thought was clever, before forming another bubble in his palm.

Having seen what those things could do, Tammi put a stop to that immediately. She sent her grenades in separate directions, splitting them off and sending them towards two of the groups that had arrived with the cape while at the same time firing off a single shot at Squall to pull his attention away from the civvies and towards her instead.

The grenades exploded in twin plumes of mist that quickly grew large enough to pull the men within into its grasp. Tammi didn't know what was in those things  –  Nana's explanation hadn’t been helpful at all – but she knew that everyone inside that smoke was in for a nice long nap, which meant she could focus on Squall and the rest of his men in the meantime.

Squall, for his part, reacted to her appearance very calmly. Tammi half expected cursing and slurs like Skidmark might throw at her, but instead the man ducked into, dragging one of his men with him as he took potshots at Tammi in the air.

Tammi pivoted to avoid the bubbles but one of them burst in midair, nearly knocking her off of her longboard before she managed to get her bearings back.

‘So he can make them pop in the air too? Good to know.’ Tammi flew a bit higher in the air, circling around the van as she pulled more grenades out of her pocket.

“You guys should just go back home! Brockton Bay belongs to the ABB!” She called as she threw the grenades to either side of the truck, boxing them in. They spewed smoke like before, but a loud pop and a burst of air blew it away before it could do anything. Tammi scowled, bringing her board around for another pass, but Squall suddenly burst out from behind his cover.

The Fallen cape raised his hands, unleashing a wave of tiny bubbles into the air. There were so many of them that it was almost like a thick fog was spreading from his hands, completely obscuring him and his men with hundreds of thousands of little bubbles.

Tammi cursed, diving low towards one of ruined cars parked nearby as Squall's bubbles chased her down. She ducked behind it, slapping the door and holding her fingers there for a few seconds. The moment she felt the connected snap into place, she lifted it into the air, interposing it between herself and the bubbles.

She could feel the car vibrate as the bubbles hit its metal chassis but they were less powerful than the one he threw at the ground earlier. They shook the car but didn't blow it apart, and though she could hear metal pieces falling to the ground behind it, it managed to weather the storm.

The moment the shaking stopped, Tammi was back up in the air. Squall's men – the ones that were still conscious – had spread around the lot, taking cover separately so that she couldn't take them all out at once. Squall himself was gone. Tammi looked around for any sign of the masked man but he had disappeared, and she couldn't just sit around in the air like a jackass to look for him. She needed to get rid of his buddies.

Abandoning her search for Squall, Tammi focused on the men she could actually see. They were ducking behind cars, taking pot shots at her that were honestly coming a little bit too close for comfort. She rose a bit higher, pulling out a single grenade – her last one – and tossing it in the bed of the truck that two of them were hiding behind. They weren't able to get away as the smoke consumed them, sending them to the ground in a heap, and then Tammi only had four more to contend with.

Easier said than done. Tammi spiraled back down towards the ground, moving in unpredictable patterns to confuse her enemies. She sent the car that she had used to block Squall's barrage flying at a man ducking behind a van, crushing both the vehicles together and likely breaking more than a few bones, before turning and shooting at another one as he popped out of cover. He scurried back behind the car as her bullets pinged off his chassis, and Tammi took the time to use her power on another car as she looked for the rest of them.

Tammi froze at the sound of roaring engines, and her heart sank as two more trucks rolled into the lot. These ones were different, sturdier with extended beds, and each of the beds had a fucking machine gun attached to them that were being piloted by even more men. They swiveled around the parking lot, searching for Tammi, and the girl ducked back into cover as they saw her.

A hail of bullets slammed into the car she was hiding behind, cutting straight through it and continuing on to who knows where. Tammi was crouched behind the engine block which was the only reason she hadn't been turned into swiss cheese yet, but she knew that wouldn't last.

“Fucking cheap assholes. Who brings that kind of firepower to a charity event?” She cursed, flinching as a round pinged off the ground next to her.

Suddenly, a beam of bright red light screamed down from up above, catching every eye on the battlefield. It slammed into one of the machine guns and the man operating the weapon cried out as the metal turned into red-hot slag in his grip. The other gun met a similar fate, and Tammi watched as Kid Win swooped down from the sky on his board, aiming his futuristic pistols expertly.

Two more beams, these ones blue, split the sky, and a pair of men screamed as they were hit. They fell to the ground in convulsing fits as electricity arced over their clothes in thin bands.

Without pause, Kid Win turned and let off another shot at someone that Tammi couldn't see. The hit registered with another scream and a thud as the teen pivoted on his board, blasting away like he was some kind of action movie star getting paid way too much.

‘When did that nerdy Ward get so good?’ Tammi thought to herself as she gaped at the display, before shaking her head and bursting into action. Now that those machine guns were gone, the two of them should be able to sweep these assholes up without any issue.

Over the next few minutes, it was plain to see that Tammi and Kid Win made an oddly effective duo. With Tammi's ability to rip people's cover out from under them on a flyby and Kid Win’s lasers putting them down like they were in a hospice care center, the two of them were able to clear out the lot in barely any time at all.

Unfortunately – and to Tammi's great annoyance – Squall was nowhere to be found. She lost sight of him after he threw out that dumb bubble storm and he apparently thought that was his chance to run like a coward. Kid Win didn't see him leave and neither did she, so they had no clue where he even went

It was frustrating and it left a bad taste in Tammi's mouth to let him go, but she also knew that she couldn't do anything about it. She didn't have time to chase him down across the city. She had to get back to Yuko.

The men they did manage to catch were zip tied in front of the wreck of the truck while Tammi tried to see if they could salvage anything inside. Luckily, while some of the packages had been ruined and even more were damaged, the majority of them were in good shape. If they got another van over here, they could probably salvage most of them.

Relieved that they hadn't lost out on so many supplies, Tammi walked back to where Kid Win was reading the intruders their rights or whatever.

“Glad to see you managed to nut up and actually help.” She said, giving him a friendly punch in the shoulder, “That was some pretty good shooting out there. Where the hell did you learn how to shoot like that?”

Kid Win glanced at her and tapped his visor, “Predictive algorithm. Armsmaster was developing it for Leviathan, but it's useful in other places too.”

Hell yeah it was. Tammi could remember a time when Kid Win could barely shoot straight. That show he just out on was almost enough to make her think twice about starting shit with him. Almost.

Tammi turned to eye their prisoners, “So what should we do with you guys? I honestly think we should just kill you right now for the shit you pulled, but I don't think red rocket over here agrees.”

Kid Win’s lips twitched at the address before his face became serious, “If you can make sure they won't be bothered, I'll just call a transport and have them taken away. We still have  a few vans left and the roads over here aren't as bad as downtown.”

Tammi was almost disappointed that she couldn't give these guys what they deserved, but she expected it, “I'll let my guys know we'll have one coming through here. You better stay with them though, because if you guys get hit on the roads, you're on your own.”

“I'll keep that in mind, thank you.”

Tammi waved him off as she hopped on her board, “It's cool. Thanks for the help back there; those machine guns would've given me some trouble if you didn't take care of ‘em.”

She rose into the air, staring down at him and patting her coat where she put the cellphone, “I'll let Yosei know about the meeting, but you better tell your director that any funny business isn't gonna end well for you guys.”

Kid Win smirks sardonically,"Trust me, we know.”

Tammi held his eyes for a moment before nodding firmly, “Good. See you later, hero. And thanks again.”

~~~

Spook was sitting in the living room when Tammi got back home. The man was wearing his cloak and face covering, lounging on the couch in an easy-going manner. He glanced up at Tammi as she walked inside and she gave him a nod of greeting, shoving down the instinctual fear his presence always brought with it.

“Hey, Spook. What are you doing here? I thought you were out training the newbies.”

“We're taking a small break. Those two are a handful.” Spook sighed, “They're in their room now if you want to talk to them”

Tammi thought it was strange that siblings that old would be willing to share a room, but cluster triggers were strange in a lot of ways. Ava and Alex, or Glitz and Glam as they had dubbed themselves to everyone's chagrin, showed practically every sign imaginable of a  codependent relationship. And Tammi barely even knew what that word meant.

She snorted, “Yeah, no thanks. I'm just here to see Yuko. I had a bit of an issue during the handout today – got caught up with the Fallen. One of the Crowlies tried to jack out supplies and ran like a bitch when we fought back.”

“It sounds like your day has been much more eventful than my own.” Spook surmised, "Our leader in her office speaking with Faultline. Please tell her I said hello.“

So Faultline was here? Tammi was surprised the woman hadn't already skipped town. They'd been a big help when it came to keeping things under control in the city, but they all knew that it wasn't going to last long. The woman was a mercenary, and there wasn't a lot of business in Brockton Bay anymore.

Upstairs, Tammi knocked on Yuko's door gently before pushing it open as her girlfriend's voice permitted her entry.

Yuko was inside, wearing her costume including the mask and holding out a hand to the woman standing across from her desk, “Thank you for your service. I know our contract didn't specify that you had to help after Leviathan, but you did anyway and I'm very grateful for that.”

“You kept the money flowing so we had to earn it somehow.” Faultline said, giving her hand a firm shake before stepping back, “This has been a very interesting partnership, Yosei. I'll keep you in our books just in case.”

“I appreciate it.”

Faultline gave Tammi a nod of acknowledgement as she walked past. Tammi waited until the door closed behind her to move forward, stepping past the barrier of her girlfriend's desk and up to the woman herself.

As Yuko looked up at her, Tammi gave her girlfriend an amused smile, “What's with the mask? It's not like everyone doesn't know who you are at this point.”

Yuko reached up underneath her hair, unraveling the straps and pulling off her metal facade, “It's a formality, I suppose. If this is the last time she and I will see each other, then I'd rather give her a memorable impression to take with her.”

“So that's that, huh? They're gone?” 

“They are. According to Faultline, they already have a new base of operations set up in another city. She didn't specify which one, but I imagine it's far away from here.” Yuko looked up at Tammi, grey eyes lightening in her presence, “Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you'd still be handing out rations.”

Tammi sighed and leaned over, draping herself over Yuko's shoulders, “There were some issues. Things were going fine at first – I had to break up a few assholes who thought they deserved more but that's normal. Then one of the Fallen showed up and started shit.”

Tammi's tone was calm and she knew that was the only reason Yuko didn't freak out. She still twitched in her chair though, like she wanted to get up and examine Tammi to make sure she was alright.

“I see… And I assume that you didn't have any trouble taking care of it?” 

Yuko's tone was careful. She was trying not to sound worried. Or maybe angry. Either way, Tammi smiled at her concern, leaning down to plant a kiss on her cheek, “A little bit I managed. I couldn't get the Crowley, but the rest of those fuckers are on their way to whatever lockup he PRT even has right now so they're down some men at least.”

Yuko smiled at the kiss but frowned as Tammi's words registered. She gave her girlfriend a confused, “You took them to the PRT?”

Tammi shook her head, stepping around the desk to take the seat Faultline had vacated, “Nah, we had a visitor. Kid Win dropped by while I was guarding the shipment with a message.”

Yuko blinked, more surprised than angry that their territory had been intruded upon, “A message?”

“Apparently the director wants to discuss a treaty with the ABB.” Tammi revealed, making her eyes widened, “According to him, they've finally pulled their heads out of their asses and realized the ABB is making things better now, not worse. They want to discuss working together to save the city.”

“That's… unexpected.” Yuko's brows furrowed, a clear sign that she was thinking, “I never thought the PRT would entertain any kind of treaty with us, much less one that actually has us working together.”

“Yeah, me neither. I'm almost not sure I even believe it, but they've gotta know that messing with you is a bad idea at this point, right? I mean, the only one who's ever beaten you is fucking Alexandria.”

“And Bakuda.” Yuko said absently, half lost in thought. Tammi rolled her eyes.

“She doesn't count. My point is that I think this is probably a genuine offer. Or at least as genuine as you can get from the government.” Tammi reached into her coat and pulled out the phone, sliding it across the desk, "Anyway, Kid Win said that'd let you get in contact with them. Just dial the number in that when you wanna set up the meeting and don't you dare leave me out of it. “

Yuko studied the phone, “Interesting. If they are genuine, then this could speed things up considerably. The biggest flaw in my current plan happens to be a lack of manpower, and here they are dropping exactly what I need right into my lap.”

Tammi had no clue what plan she was talking about, but she had a suspicion. That look in her girlfriend's eye had been showing up a lot recently. Specifically when she was thinking about their snake problem.

“So you and Tattletale managed to figure something out?” Tammi asked hopefully, “A way to get Kon back?”

Yuko smiled at her excitement, “Yes, I believe we did. His power is, as Tattletale says, ‘a real pain in the ass to work around’, but it's not infallible. It just takes an equally convoluted solution, one that would require all of my attention which would have been a problem with how tenuous things are in the city at the moment.”

That was the best news Tammi had heard in weeks. A wide smile spread across her face at the thought of getting their friend back, one that Yuko returned.

The gang leader's gaze slid down to the phone, "If the PRT is really serious about this treaty then I should be able to shift some of the responsibility into them, at least for a little while. Long enough to deal with Coil. Then we’ll have Kon back, and then I am going on a nice, long vacation.”

Tammi watched Yuko's eyes close, as if she was imagining finally getting a day off after so long, “You deserve it after everything you've done. I just hope you aren't planning on leaving me behind while you're away.”

Yuko's eyes twinkled with affection as she gazed at Tammi, and the girl was momentarily taken aback by the sight, “It wouldn't be much of a vacation if you weren't there, Tammi.”

Tammi swallowed, her mouth going dry at the look in her girlfriend's eyes, “Well I guess we better go kick this guy's ass and get him back then.”