Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 66

The sun was setting in the sky as Tammi, Spook, and I reached the location chosen for the meeting. My lips quivered in bemusement as I recognized the place to be the same park that I fought Night in all those days ago, and I couldn't help but wonder if it had been deliberately chosen.

The place had somewhat withstood Leviathan's attack, mostly due to the majority of it being flat ground and thus, much sturdier than the rest of the city. There was still debris lying about, though an area had been deliberately cleared out for us to land.

As I stepped off of the platform and onto solid ground, I held a hand out, helping Spook and then my girlfriend to the ground beside me before looking around

Though the park had mostly suffered through Leviathan's waves, the effects were still obviously seen. The once lush landscape had been almost completely emptied of the trees and benches that had originally survived the duel between Night and myself and in their place, several PRT vans had been parked in the grass. The agents who arrived in them were scattered around strategically, keeping the area secure. A large tent was set up in the middle of the Rea, guarded by a single, glowing individual and a large mech that stared off into the distance in silent vigil.

“I suppose that's where we're meant to go.” Spook said and I nodded, already stepping in that direction.

Our arrival had been noticed of course. Activity seemed to come to a halt around us as the agents noticed the supervillain in their midst, and though we were expected, there was a sense of surprise that seemed to pass through the area. Even as they went back to what they were doing, eyes followed us along our path, with a few people being much more blatant about it than others.

“There aren't any capes.” Tammi said in my ear, taking note of something that I had noticed as well. Not only that  but even though there were a few heavily armed individuals lingering near the tent, almost every single trooper around the area was lightly armed, with only the bare essentials needed to ward off an attack in the unlikely event that one should come. In fact, apart from the obvious standing just outside the tent, there wasn’t a heavy weapon between them.

It didn't take a genius to realize what was going on. The heroes must have figured out how my power worked. Or at the very least, they must've had some inkling as to how I gained my strength and chose to limit my sources of power. A smart decision, but ultimately useless thanks to Spook.

We reached the entrance to the tent and were met by the only hero in sight. Dauntless was standing in silent vigil beside Dragon's mech, one hand holding his lance and the other at his side, as if he was a soldier on guard duty. His grip on his weapon tightened as we approached, and it was blatantly clear from the angry set in his shoulders that he was not happy to see us.

‘Understandable, given what happened last time we were face to face.’ I gave the man a small nod of acknowledgement, “Good evening, Dauntless. It is good to see that Leviathan did not deprive Brockton Bay of your prowess as well.”

The man twitched, before speaking in a strangled tone, “The Director is waiting for you inside.”

Not in the mood for pleasantries, I suppose. I gave him a faint not, stepping past him to enter the tent, but a glowing lance was suddenly thrust in front of me, barring my entry.

Glancing over at him smoothly, I found Dauntless’s mask staring at me with an anger that few others could express, “If you cause trouble, I will be the first to put you down.” He spoke in a voice strangled with anger. 

Tammi bristled behind me but I held a hand up to forestall any outburst, “I'll keep that in mind. Now may I?”

He held my gaze for another long moment before moving his weapon out of the way, resting it on the ground with a heavy sound and allowing us to step through and into the tent.

The room beyond seemed to be a simple mockup of a conference room, though much more urban and consisting of a simple foldout table and chairs instead of the usual office variety. At its head, hooked up to some sort of machine and looking much worse for wear than I could ever remember seeing, was the current director of the PRT ENE, Emily Piggot.

Recent events had clearly taken their toll on her. The portly woman did not look good at all. Her face was sallow and slicked with sweat. Deep bags were set above her cheeks, seemingly etched there through dozens of sleepless nights, but despite her exhaustion, her bloodshot eyes were sharp as she regarded my group

“Yosei.” The woman's voice was colder than the most frigid ice, “I'm surprised that you actually have the gall to show up after everything you did.”

The words made it clear that Piggot was not having this meeting out of her own desire. She did not like me and the feeling was mostly mutual. But greater differences had been set aside for situations far less drastic than our own, and I had a feeling that she of all people would be pragmatic enough to understand that.

“I'm not the type of person to ignore such an invitation, Director.” I said, slowly looking around the room at those gathered. There were two PRT agents flanking Piggot much like my own contingent,but they were the only ones present. Not a single member of the Protectorate was actually present other than Dauntless, “I must admit though, I was expecting a more lovely reception than this.”

“Why? So you'd have more people to feed off of in case things don't go your way?” Piggot asked sharply, causing me to slowly look her way. Her eyes bore into mine, and there was a slight smirk in her voice as she spoke, “You’ve given us more than enough evidence to draw from to prove that would be a bad idea. You didn't think your power would stay secret forever, did you?”

So I was right. It seemed they had sussed out the particulars of my ability. I didn’t let my surprise show on my face, keeping a cool expression, “Perhaps not. But I’m hoping that my invitation here was not a facade meant to mask some sort of trap. Things in the city aren’t exactly calm at the moment, as I’m sure you know. I don’t think even more destruction within the PRT would help things in that regard.”

Piggot’s eyes narrowed, “You’re pretty cocky.”

I simply shrugged, “I have yet to be beaten by anyone in this city, fair fight or otherwise, and I very much doubt that will ever change.”

Tammi snorted at my side but managed to rein in her amusement as I gave the director a flat grin, “But I digress. I was under the impression that I was brought here to discuss a productive solution to the issues plaguing our fair city. If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to begin. My time is precious, after all.”

“I'm sure.” Piggot said flatly, “You've been so busy in fact, that I honestly thought about requesting a Kill Order just for you for killing Kaiser, Hookwolf, Purity and who knows who else, but I doubt anything would come from that.”

A daunting prospect, but not unsurprising, “Then why am I here?”

“Because I’m not an idiot.” The woman’s eyes narrowed, “I can see where things are going. I’m on a fast track to be reassigned or forcibly retired and my city is going to be written off as just another Madison or Ellisburg. I’ll be damned if a city I run turns out like that, so I’m using the resources at my disposal to deal with the issues at hand.”

“Said resources being me?” I asked, slightly amused at the idea, “And what might those issues be? I’m afraid I’m rather behind on things outside of my own territory so you’ll have to catch me up to speed.”

“How fortunate for you.” Piggot sneered, “While your little slice of the city might be all peachy keen, the rest of us aren’t so lucky. The Fallen are becoming more and more of a problem every day. They’re pouring in from outside the city and they have a suspicious amount of firepower at their disposal, something that we don’t have the capacity to deal with at the moment. Add into that the returning “Merchants” and whoever else decides they want to try their hands at being a warlord in a rundown city and we’re so stretched then we can barely see the other side.”

And that wasn’t even mentioning whatever Coil was getting up to directly under their noses. I had no doubt that a man like him was doing everything he could to play the chaos to his favor. He probably had a hand in just about every single problem that my unlikely allies were currently facing, though even I couldn't possibly know how far his reach currently extended.

I didn’t voice my thoughts, keeping them under wraps for now as I leaned forward, “Hmm… The Fallen have recently been a problem in my territory as well.” I said, thinking of Squall and his failed raid. Since then, the Fallen had been deliberately probing our defenses and conducting small raids on unimportant storehouses. It was almost as if they were deliberately trying to provoke us.

“Have you managed to secure help from the rest of your organization?” I asked despite already knowing the answer.

Piggot didn’t speak for a long moment, staring at me with beady blue eyes, “Do you realize that your little war with Kaiser did almost as much damage as Leviathan did?” 

I started at the question and the woman smiled grimly, “No, I guess you wouldn’t. Capes like you never seem to see the bigger picture. Well let me spell it out for you. While you were going around the city, destroying small businesses and turning buildings to ash just because they happened to contain some trace of the Empire, you caused almost two-hundred million dollars worth of damage. Leviathan’s waves washed away half the city, but you certainly left your mark on the other half. The only reason the PRT haven’t completely pulled out of the city is because an Endbringer died here, but their little planned monument to humanity’s resolve is looking more and more like a money sink and there’s only so much leeway that hope can buy.”

Piggot leaned forward. Her seat creaked with movement as she placed her stubby arms on the table, giving me a severe look, “I’ll speak frankly. I think that you are ten times worse than Lung ever was. He was a thug and a wannabe warlord, but he didn’t go swinging his proverbial dick around and cause dozens of deaths and multi-million dollar catastrophes over a girl like some hormonal teenager, and if I had it my way, you would be right there beside him in the Birdcage. Unfortunately, I doubt you’d be staying there very long even if we did manage to lock you up, so if I’m going to be stuck with you alongside all of my other problems… Well, given the way you talk, I assume you’ve heard the phrase ‘better the devil you know’?”

I stared at her in the wake of her speech, before speaking slowly, “And I am the devil in this scenario?”

Piggot just stared back, “I’d say that giving a fourteen year old girl night terrors of her team being ripped apart by a giant fox monster is a pretty devilish thing to do, wouldn’t you?”

“...Fair enough.” I acquiesced. Perhaps I had taken things a little far in my illusion, but I wouldn't regret what I did. It was better than the alternative, after all.

“Very well, Director.” I schooled, returning Piggot’s gaze smoothly, “What exactly are the terms of this alliance that you seek and more importantly, what is my incentive for agreeing to them? From where I stand, I have everything to lose and nothing to gain in this little deal of ours. My people are safe, and the Fallen are not enough of an issue that I would need to request outside help. Why should I ally with you when things are going just fine for me?”

The agents at Piggot’s side bristled at my words but Piggot was unaffected. She gave me a cool look, “Your incentive is the fact that if you don’t, you’ll be left ruling over a broken city with more and more of your ‘people’ leaving for greener pastures every single day. If the PRT pulls out of Brockton Bay, it won’t be long before other companies will as well, and when the supplies start to run dry, then you’re going to have a real problem on your hands. If you ally with us, then we can put some of our resources into actually fixing the city instead of just defending it. You can either rule over the rubble, or help us fix the mess that you had a hand in creating.”

“It sounds to me like you just want to replace your own manpower with mine.” I noted, “Something that would ultimately leave my territory defenseless to the enemies you want so desperately to drive out.”

“We’re willing to lend some of our own capes to defend your side of the city in case of an attack, but you’d need to open the proverbial gates and stop driving us away at every turn.” Piggot replied, and I could hardly stop the grin from forming on my face as she suggested exactly what I was after in the first place.

I made a show of thinking about it, acting as if I was weighing the pros and cons of what she was suggesting when in reality, I had long since made my decision. After a moment, I spoke, “I suppose I have no choice but to agree, do I? You’ve crafted a wonderful ultimatum just for me. I should feel honored. I’ll agree to a temporary alliance… but I do have some conditions.”

With the alliance secured, the two of us hashed things out from there. I had to admit, despite being a former soldier, the Director was a very shrewd business woman. She had her goals in mind and she was not willing to move the posts in any way, shape or form. Compromises were made, bargains were dismissed out of hand, and by the end of it, I walked out of the tent satisfied, but much more wary of the woman still sitting inside.

“That was super boring.” Tammi complained as we lifted into the air, heading home once more, “I was expecting yelling and threats or something, not a boardroom meeting.”

I glanced at her, amused by her complaints, “Perhaps, but it was necessary. Now that we’ve secured help in defending our territory, I can turn my focus in other directions. I’ll have to appoint someone as an intermediary between us, but as long as the PRT is keeping an eye on things, I’ll be able to deal with Coil without worrying about things back home.”

“And you think she’ll really allow you to keep ruling over your territory after everything is said and done?” Spook asked.

“She won’t have a choice.” I said confidently, "The Protectorate won’t risk valuable capes trying to take me down and though Alexandria may have bested me before, I doubt it would be such an easy fight if I am in my right mind. The resources they’d have to commit to dismantling the ABB itself goes without saying. It’s simply not worth it.”

I looked over the destroyed city, my city, and imagined it returned to its former glory. Before Leviathan. Before my war with the Empire, “Brockton Bay belongs to the ABB, and once the Fallen and Coil are dealt with, Piggot will realize that.”