The thing about Velocity zipping around kicking ass was that it messed with my power. I couldn't get a lock on his position, so I couldn't exclude him from the group of people I was trying to freeze. Maybe it was his powers messing with mine, maybe it was just the sheer speed he was going at, but I couldn't just freeze a hero along with the criminals. So I sighed and headed back to the stairs.

I was not going to be a helpless bystander.

My feet at street level, I reached behind me and grabbed my baton. Standard police equipment I got in a vaguely shady store at my dad's recommendation. My other hand zipped open the pouch tied to my belt. It was full of zip-ties, easy to access.

A thug was running away from the scene, heading towards me. I saw Velocity pause just a second, locking eyes with me. Then he was on the move again, leaving him to me. I hid the baton behind me. The guy, I'd wager chinese, tried to feint past me. I swung my weapon in a wide arc, catching him full on the nose. Bullseye. He fell down with a scream, clutching his face. With a practiced movement, I drew a pepper spray and gave him a fully deserved dose of pain. Then I hit him again, to quiet him down, and zipped his hands together. I didn't want to lose any more time on him, so I didn't restraint his legs.

Well, it wasn't like he was going anywhere in this state. And I didn't want to get kicked in the face.

The rest of the gangbangers fell with similar ease. I started with the ones Velocity had incapacitated, needing to make my point clear a fair number of times. Namely, they were going to jail whether they wanted to or not, so they should just stop struggling. The average intelligence of a gang member must be pretty low, because they just didn't seem to get that into their heads. I did my civic duty and used my baton to help hammer it in. I worked from the outside in, trusting the sanctioned hero to cover my back. More than once, I heard somebody behind me get a beating. The reason why I worked from the farthest ones to the ones closer to Lung was twofold. To keep anybody from running and to delay having to deal with the ones Lung had burned.

I decided I hated the smell.

I also did not want to be close to where sleeping dragons laid. Not that I didn't trust Armsmaster's work. I just didn't want to accidentally poke a dragon.

I was gingerly restraining a man with a face covered in shiny burns when I heard the sound. It was a very subtle sound and I only recognized it because I'd been exposed to it before. It almost sounded like one of those new washing machines running in the background. Ours was old and made a racket I could hear from my room, occasionally jumping and hitting the wall. This sounded like every cylinder was a well-oiled piece of cutting edge technology, synchronized to the picosecond. I suppose it was, in a way. But I wouldn't exactly call Armsmaster's motorcycle a laundromat….

I stood up and, rather uselessly, dusted myself down. There was garbage and soot sticking to my pants. I'd just captured Lung… Lung! But still the prospect of talking to Armsmaster in this state made me feel self-conscious.

And as certain as a clock, the leader of the local Protectorate pulled into the street on his signature motorcycle. As he dismounted, he assessed the scene with a single look. Without pausing to even look into our direction, he strode up to Lung and jabbed the but of his Halberd into him. There was the snap-hiss of something mechanical moving and he stepped back, visibly relaxed compared to before.

Well, that had been pretty rude. On the other hand, fire-breathing dragon, so it evened out.

Seemingly satisfied with the way Lung was sedated, Armsmaster strode back towards us. "Reinforcements will be here soon. Velocity, " he addressed the speedster catching his breath by my side, "check the perimeter. Don't let anyone escape."

"Sir." Velocity snapped a twitchy salute and was gone in a red blur.

Armsmaster turned to me then. "Arrest. Would you mind if we spoke somewhere a little more quiet?" He gestured covertly at the gangsters tied up on the ground.

"Not at all." I didn't fancy these guys listening in either.

We moved a little further up the street before stopping. Far away enough that we couldn't be overheard but close enough to keep an eye on the big prize of the night. "First of all," started Armsmaster, "I'd like to commend you on the excellent job you did tonight. " Oh, damn, now I was blushing. I really hoped his sensors couldn't detect that. "But we'll get to that later. What happened here?"

Right, statement first. "Well, I was just following a pair of ABB members, normal night, see if they did something illegal or led me to a bigger group." Did you know you can't arrest obvious gang members if they aren't actually committing a crime? "And I hit jackpot. Huge meeting, at least twenty guys and more joining by the minute. I hid, waited and five minutes later, give or take, Lung steps out from that house." I pointed to a tea shop, now with its windows blackened. Probably an ABB front, now that I had time to think about it. "He started a speech, rallying the troops. I was too far away to hear what he was saying exactly, so I got closer. Lung's talking about 'the kids', and how they should just shoot, no hesitation. Killing children..." I scowled. "Well, that's when I stepped in. The gang was all there so I froze them all in one go. Then I called you guys and waited."

Armsmaster nodded. "I see. These kids... did Lung used any other term? Say anything else about them?"

"Called one of them the little bitch, or something like that. Nothing that jumped out to me. Is something the matter?" I questioned.

The Tinker rubbed his chin. "It's not Lung's M.O. to go around killing children. Or teens. There must have been a reason. He would have to be angry. Personally offended, maybe. Have you heard anything recently?" He asked me.

"Hm..." Armsmaster made sense. Lung wasn't known for mindless slaughter. Or slaughter at all. And against kids, that's what it would be, a slaughter. Big, dangerous fights, occasional executions, posturing? That kind of thing you heard about the leader of the ABB. Lung was the kind of parahuman that mainly showed up to intimidate. Him and twenty plus armed men? I had no idea of what would warrant that beyond a full blown fight with the Empire. To top it all, I was pretty new at the scene. I didn't have contacts or anything like that. Finally I shrugged. "Nothing. I don't know. Maybe he was talking about the Empire, using a codename? This is a hell of a force..."

We both took a moment to stare at the beaten and swearing gangsters on the ground. "We'll interrogate them, find out what was really going on tonight." Said Armsmaster. "In the meanwhile, how do you want to be associated with this? It was a joint operation, but taking in Lung is a whole new level from what you've been doing. It will call a lot of attention to you. And the ABB has a new member, a dangerous Tinker. We can omit your name, if you want."

"Oh yeah, her." I grimaced. Bakuda was dangerous alright. Specializing in bombs, with a terrorist streak on top, of all things. She'd been confirmed as a new member a week ago or so and I'd looked her up. I could believe the Cornwell Bomber being one vengeful bitch. I resisted the urge to rub my temples on frustration. "Fuck. Wouldn't matter. I was pretty loud about who I was. There's no way you could hide my involvement anyway." I waved my hand at the tenements and shops surrounding us. It might look like we were alone, but we were really not. And I didn't really want to get my accomplishments covered up, if I had to be perfectly honest. "Might as well get the good publicity with the bad. Don't hold back on my account."

I had made Lung's capture possible. I had fought gangsters and saved kids. I had been a part of this. I wouldn't have managed it alone, sure, but I had been fucking instrumental.

"Very well." Armsmaster assented. "Just remember the Wards are always an option and that we are available if you ever need anything." I had made my position on the matter quite clear the last time I had spoken to a sanctioned hero. Thanks but no thanks, I flew solo. "If that's everything, then we would appreciate if you passed by the PRT offices Downtown sometime this week for an official statement."

And suddenly official businesses reminded me of something very important. Something I could barely believe I was about to forget. "Speaking of which, how high is Lung's bounty anyway? I could make do with an actual bullet proof vest." I tapped my chest. Tonight had been cutting it rather close for my comfort.

I felt like Armsmaster was struggling not to retort inappropriately. "Bounties can only be paid after the subject in question has been tried and safely delivered to a holding facility." For Lung, I would wager the Birdcage. "You'll be able to check on the specifics with the PRT when you make your statement."

"Sure!" I thanked him cheerfully. The PRT handled any bounties related to parahumans. And you had quite a few, with the way a cape was an individual, an icon. Mom and Dad can't offer money to make a whole gang pay for shooting their little kid, but they can offer money for taking down the one cape that did it.

Either way, my future seemed far richer than it had this morning.

I tipped my cap in way of farewell and left. Inside I still felt either like squealing in glee or like piss myself in relief. My first cape capture, yay! Lung hadn't cooked me alive, yippee-yay!