Dragon's Progeny: Chapter 70

It took less than fifteen minutes for Tammi to fly to where the Empire was last seen but by the time, things had seemingly already wrapped up. The PRT was there, vans flashing bright blue lights to warn everyone around of their presence and telling them to stay away, and they had cordoned off the area with a few agents holding weapons that Tammi knew from experience were scarier than they looked.

“Looks like the fun’s already over.” Glam commented as they flew above the barricade. Several men in Empire colors were being ushered into the back of a van while even more were waiting their turn nearby, sprayed down with containment foam that the PRT agents were dissolving as they needed to move them.

“Looks like it.” Tammi frowned. She would have said she was surprising the PRT had managed to quell a disturbance in such a short amount of time but they had been pretty effective so far and it was clear they had help. The asphalt around the area was cracked, with huge chunks missing from the road and even the sidewalk, creating potholes that would probably be a bitch and a half to clean up. They weren’t natural either, extremely smooth yet too large to be created with anything mechanical in any reasonable amount of time. There was some power fuckery at work here.

The agents nearby barely glanced at them as Tammi set them down. She walked up to the least busy looking one and tapped him on the shoulder, getting his attention, “Hey, who's in charge here?”

He glanced back at her, pausing as he saw the three obvious capes in ABB colors standing in his midst, and took a second to respond, glancing between Tammi and the teenage capes lingering behind her.

Glitz snapped her fingers, frowning underneath her smooth black helmet, “Today please? We've got other shit to do besides stand around here with our dicks in our hands.”

Tammi glared at the girl but the words did their job and got the man moving. He pointed them in the direction of a trooper in almost identical armor standing beside one of the vans, hidden from their view as they came in.

He was talking to a cape that Tammi didn't recognize, or at least she was pretty sure he was a cape and not just some random homeless dude. He was wearing a mismatched costume consisting of a trench, some thick gloves that didn't fit him at all, and a bandanna that obscured his face but left his straw-colored hair exposed. He must've been the one responsible for all the damage. He probably wasn't a Nazi at least.

The man was talking to the captain, gesturing as they approached, but as he looked past the man and saw them approaching, all of his enthusiasm was snuffed out and he seemed to shrink in on himself. Noticing the change, the captain turned and saw them as well.

“Ah. It's you.” he said, not unkindly as he stepped past the unknown cape,“I guess Yosei heard about this and called you in?”

Tammi nodded, “Yeah, that about sums it up. We didn't expect you to already be done dealing with it by the time we showed up though.”

“I'm ashamed to say, we didn't really have a chance to do much.” The captain nodded to the new guy, “Thanks to this guy, it was pretty much already over by the time we showed up. 

Tammi turned to him and he glanced away, seeming shy. She squinted, “I've never seen you before. Who are you?”

“I'm… Golem.” The man–no, boy, said in a deep and utterly fake tone. It was clearly meant to mask his real voice but it didn't really do a good job of that and just made him sound kinda stupid. Tammi gave him like five conversations tops before he decided to cut that shit out.

“Well thanks for taking care of the trash, Golem.” She patted him on the shoulder just hard enough to make him flinch, looking him in the eye, “Just a word of advice though. Give the ABB a heads up before you start doing shit on our turf. We have an agreement with the heroes but this is still our territory. We run things here, got it?”

Tammi didn't want to lay it on too thick since this guy was clearly shaking in his boots at their mere presence, but it had to be said. She didn't want him messing with the wrong people and getting killed for it. For some reason he reminded her of someone, but she'd be damned if she knew who.

The cape swallowed and nodded, and Tammi turned to the captain next, “So where's the leader? If there isn't a cape with them, guys usually have someone they answer to.”

The captain rubbed his chin, “I'm not sure; none of them really stuck out to any of us. There's a group of them over there if you want to question them. Just keep your hands off them.”

“Sure thing.”

“So we came out here for no reason, then?” Glam groaned as they made their way to the group.

“Maybe. We won't know until we talk to these guys and figure out what the fuck their plan was. If they even had one.”

Glitz strayed close to her brother, whispering in a voice that wasn't quiet in the slightest, “I think she just wants to reminisce about the good old days with a couple of her buddies.”

“Should we give her some privacy?”

“Nah. If they're gonna start comparing slurs, I wanna watch. Nobody gets more creative with insults than a racist trying not to be racist.”

“You just want to update your vocabulary.”

“And?”

Tammi ignored the insults as she approached the group of foamed up skinheads. They were quiet which was a bit strange in her experience, staring at her as she approached. Usually they didn't know how to shut up once they were caught. On the rare occasion that she found herself tied up beside them, she could always count on a headache because they just didn't know how to shut the fuck up and accept that the fight was over.

Another thing that was strange was their appearance. Built and… oddly military. Now, the Empire didn't really discriminate when it came to recruitment, apart from the obvious, but it wasn't really common to see many ex-military guys in their ranks. They were rare and definitely carried a certain look about them that made it easy to pick out at a glance.

These guys, every single one of them, carried that same look. And that set off alarm bells in Tammi's head.

She stared at one guy with a dollar-coin sized scar in his cheek and looked around, furrowing her brow as she scanned the buildings around them. Something was up with this situation.

She turned to the twins who had somehow transitioned into arguing with each other in the infinitesimal amount of time she had looked away from them and whistled to get their attention, “Hey, hop back on the platform. We're leaving.”

Glitz turned to her, tilting her helmeted head in confusion, “Aww, you're already done talking to your buddies? I missed all the slurs!”

Tammi sighed but was stopped from responding by commotion at the edge of the barricade. The group turned in unison to watch as the agents stationed at the front tried and failed to stop a van from cruising right through, pushing their own vehicles out of the way to make way for even more cars to rush through.

The leading van swerved and came to a stop with its back to them. Tammi saw what was coming next before it happened and grabbed the twins by the arms, running in the opposite direction as the backs of the van burst open and several armored men stepped out.

She dove behind a car, dragging the two with her as a bright wall of fucking lasers screamed overhead, filling the air with light and noise as the pet agents were gunned down in broad daylight. Their armor didn't stand a chance against whatever weaponry those guys were using and Tammi watched as the captain who had been speaking to them just a few moments ago went down with two holes burned in the front of his armor.

“Shit! What the fuck!?” Glitz flinched as a laser screamed by her head, ducking deeper into cover, “What's going on!?”

“Ambush! Or a trap, whatever the fuck you call it!” Tammi shouted back, looking around. The van they were hiding behind would stand a chance against those lasers; they'd cut through it like fuckin tissue paper. They needed to move.

As Tammi looked for more appropriate cover, the ground below them suddenly rumbled like it was in an earthquake before erupting upwards. Two massive stone hands burst from underneath the ground, palms flat and facing towards the lasers, blocking them.

“Come on!” Tammi and the group looked over to find Golem from before shouting at them. He was positioned in the front of a building and his arms were sunk into the ground, merging with it to create their cover, “They're breaking through! Hurry!”

Glitz and Glam moved before Tammi did, either trusting the cape or more likely just wanting to get to better cover. Seeing no other choice, Tammi followed after them.

The building was some kinda office, abandoned after Leviathan's attack. Water damage was visible on the floor and even some of the walls, at least until Golem used his power to seal off the windows, shielding them from both lasers and light.

Glam raised a hand, creating a sparkler of white that let them all see and Tammi sat back against a wall, pulling out her phone as the others convened in front of her.

“Who the hell are those guys?” Glitz asked as lasers padded angrily against the stone limbs blocking the doorway.

“Coil's mercenaries.” Tammi grunted, tapping angrily at her screen as she tried to navigate her contacts with the adrenaline rushing through her body, “Nobody else in the city has that kind of tech unless they're from outside.”

“That snake dude? He's still around?”

“Hell yeah he's still around. He's our biggest problem right now.” Tammi pulled her phone to her ear, listening to the dial tone ring… and ring… and ring.

“Sorry I can't come to the phone right now. If your call is important, please feel free to leave a message.”

Tammi ended the call at the tone that came through the line, hanging up and immediately dialing again, “Come on babe, pick up.”

Yuko almost always answered her phone when she called. Tammi could count on one hand the amount of times she hadn't been able to get through to her and none of them were good. That, combined with the lasers still firing outside, planted a seed of worry in her gut for her girlfriend's current status.

The call picked up again, same result. Straight to voicemail. Tammi debated trying for a third time, but she knew it'd be pointless. Unless her phone was literally destroyed, Yuko wouldn't let a call drop twice. 

The seed in her gut grew, but she knew there was nothing she could do about it right now except get her team to safety and hope that things were alright back home.

“So what's the plan?” Glitz asked as Tammi put her phone away and stood. The girl's arms were crossed, one finger tapping on her bicep with anxiety. She probably wasn't used to being in situations like this.

“Not much of a plan.” Tammi grunted, “We need to get the fuck out of here before those guys decide to stop messing around and bring the whole building down on us.”

Tammi wasn't even sure they had the ability to do that but she also didn't think she'd get shot again with lasers today so she wasn't going to take any chances. This building probably wasn't that sturdy in the first place.

“We're not fighting them?” Glam asked. Tammi shook her head.

“There's too many of them. You guys hit hard but if one of you go down, we’re fucked. We need to find an open avenue to retreat.”

“This office has multiple floors. We could probably get to the roof.” Golem offered. He had stopped disguising his voice, letting the natural tones flow through, and as they flowed into Tammi's ears, she froze, slowly turning her head to stare at him with wide eyes.

Golem didn't notice her staring as he turned around, pointing, “Even with all the water damage, it shouldn't be hard to find the stairs. Let's go further in and get away from these windows.” 

Glitz and Glam glanced at Tammi and shrugged, following after him and bringing the light with them. Being suddenly plunged into darkness spurred the girl into movement and she quickly headed after them, saving the revelation and the conversation that would no doubt ensue for when they were out of danger. 

{— Five minutes earlier —}

Sleep was something that had come to cherish since I started leading the ABB. I didn’t need much of it thanks to my power, but I was still human and a chance to recharge undisturbed was great if appreciated.

So with that being said, one could understand my annoyance as my nap was once again interrupted, not by the ringing of a phone, but by a loud pop in the distance, almost akin to a firecracker.

My sleepy mind bid me to ignore it and snuggle deeper into my pillow and I did not argue, burying my head into the feathery softness as I let myself fall into the warm embrace of dreams. My eyes still felt heavy, and I could tell that I had only dozed off for a few minutes since I called Tammy, a concept that was supported by the burgeoning headache that was beginning to form in the front of my skull. I needed at least another hour if I wanted to be refreshed.  

Unfortunately, sleep would continue to elude me. Another noise rang in my ears, making me furrow my brows in irritation and confusion. Another pop, much closer than the last and accompanied by a minor tremor that I could feel even in my bed. The sound was familiar yet I couldn't quite place it through the haze of sleep, at least not until the smell of smoke whispered its way into my nostrils.

My eyes snapped open and I jolted up in my bed, fully alert in a single moment as adrenaline rushed through my system and banished any thoughts of sleep just in time for a powerful explosion to shake my home on its foundations, knocking decorations from my walls and me from my bed. 

I landed in an undignified heap, groping blindly through the darkness, dazed and confused. What was going on? Were we under attack!? The thoughts whirled on my head alongside a healthy amount of panic as I crawled towards my bedroom door, guided only by the thin stream of light leaking underneath from the hallway beyond.

I gingerly touched the handle. It wasn't hot, meaning that there was likely no open flame on the other side. I wrenched it open and was met with a face-full of black smoke that choked my lungs and made me feel backwards, covering my mouth out of reflex. My eyes watered but I bore with it, stepping into the hall with narrowed eyes.

The entire upper floor of my home was filled with cloying black smoke. There wasn't a flame in sight but I could smell the wood and plaster burning in the smoke and feel the heat in the air. The blaze was present, just not here.

With this much smoke, it must have been large; I could barely even see two feet in front of me. A fire of this magnitude took time to form and wasn't usually accompanied by explosions powerful enough to knock people out of bed. At least not naturally.

An attack then. My men were already gone having long since vacated the upper floor so I could nap without being disturbed so hopefully they were safe, but I couldn't dwell on them at the moment. I had to find these attackers and deal with them. The smoke was coming from down the hall, so I headed in that direction, hoping to find the source.

Unfortunately, my journey lasted only a scant few steps before it was cut painfully short as something wet brushed against my side through the smoke, grazing against my clothes barely long enough for me to register it was even there, before burying with the force of a small hand grenade.

Something in my upper right side gave a resounding and extremely painful crack at the wave of pressure that washed over me and I wasn't even able to vocalize my agony before I was flung into and through a nearby window like I had been shot out of a cannon. 

Shards of glass and the tattered remnants of my shirt joined me as I flailed through the air and then crashed straight down, slamming through the glass roof of my greenhouse. Tiny pieces of twinkling glass scraped my skin bloody as I landed hard in a patch of flowers that had been carefully grown for years and I reflexively curled in on myself, protecting my head from the sharp rain of shards 

My ears were ringing like bells as I got to my hands and knees and every breath I took was accompanied by a sharp spike of pain right below my right armpit. A shard of glass had made it's home in my side and was pulling against the skin, causing a small river of blood to trail down my ribs.

I pulled it out with painstaking care as I slowly got to my feet, gazing around to get and get my bearings. Smoke was drifting down from up above and the world was dyed bright orange from the fire blazing on the upper floors of my home. Now that I was outside, I could hear shouting coming from somewhere around the front, likely my men engaging whoever was responsible for this attack.

A soft clap, almost silent underneath the chaos around me, caused me to turn away from my home and across the street. 

Another pair of eyes met my own, belonging to a woman sitting in the cab of a truck across the street. Bright-eyed and clad in a silver mask, her eyes bored into my own as she slowly drew her hands apart, and a bubble of distorted and fluctuating energy suddenly burst into existence around her vehicle.

My power surged as she smirked nastily, a herald of what was about to happen. A burly man stood from his crouch in the bed of the truck, angling a large machine-gun in my direction as he took aim.

I didn't even think about my next action; I didn't have time to. I simply grabbed the first form available to me and forced the change as the trigger was pulled. An impossible number of bullets ripped through my greenhouse and my mist and even my body itself, embedding shards of molten metal into the wall behind me as I surged upwards on a wave of displaced air, trailing chilling fog behind me as I rose high above my burning home.

The hail of bullets followed after my ethereal form but could not strike me simply passing through me as I focused on the truck and inhaled a breath of ghostly air and let it loose alongside all of my anger.

The shrill cream that exited my lips displaced the very air around me and slammed into the truck, shattering windows and bursting the occupants’ eardrums as surely as if they had tried to use a sewing needle as a cotton swab. The hail of bullets came to an abrupt halt as the gunner stopped firing his weapon in favor of clamping his and jerking in agonizing pain, falling over the back of the truck to escape my scream.

The people in the cab were no better off, forced to face the brunt of my rage. The bubble surrounding the truck wavered and then burst completely as ju screams magnified, fueled by my form and the righteous anger that these fools had dared to attack me in my very own home.

My scream was interrupted by another explosion, this time right beside my head. Unlike the bullets, the wave of air pressure that passed over the ghostly form actually managed to hurt me, rippling through my very essence in a manner that was both disturbing, and extremely painful.

I came to on the ground, curled into a ball and once again human. I made to rise but a boot on my chest and a hand in my face stopped me in my tracks. A bubble of oscillating energy was being held mere inches from my nose and I looked past it to find a dark-haired man in a domino mask smirking at me with crooked teeth.

“Do me a favor and sit right there won't ya?” He said in a thick, country accent, “We've got a lot to talk about, you and me.”