Silkworm
Dad and I had made a bit of a scene in the front lobby of the hospital when he arrived. He was just shy of frantic with a desperate look in his eyes, disheveled clothes and car keys still in hand when he had hugged me. It had been the terrified kind of hug, where you feel like if you let them go, they'll sink into the ground right underneath your nose. I hugged back just as hard.
We had our problems. We weren't perfect. But even with all my screwups I knew he loved me and that was all that mattered in the end.
Things were going to get ugly soon, I felt. I was going to be prepared for it.
Dad cried, holding on to me.
I didn't.
We didn't say much to each other afterwards on the way home, but for once it wasn't because we were failing at talking to each other. Companionable silence was actually a thing and it wasn't bad having one with my father. No questions, no accusations. My scarf went uncommented on. It might have been because he didn't want to push me for details on nearly getting killed but it was nice.
I took the time to organize my thoughts. I needed more bugs, that was a given. Hiding them wouldn't be too difficult with the abandoned home close by, I just needed to be careful with moving them in large numbers. I could feel through them. Hear through them, see through them. And bugs were everywhere.
I said I was going to find Coil. I meant it.
Taking him down was probably something I couldn't do alone, not if he had access to more walking bombers and there were rumors on PHO about his private army. My costume could take a bit of punishment but stopping just one bullet had pretty much KO'd my hand. Bugs were the only thing I had. I wasn't particularly stealthy, or durable and was sorely lacking in information.
So I'd get help. And I'd get creative.
I cleaned up Bao's scarf best I could and put Peter's sweater in the wash after carefully checking the tags. The last thing I wanted to do was return it to him two sizes too small. I took a shower and put on some lounging around the house sweats. I tried to act normal, or as normal as I could get, pulling out a movie for us to watch. I then proceeded to burn the popcorn but at least it was still edible and giggled through Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
If it hadn't been for the 'check up' looks Dad sent me from time to time, it was almost like nothing had happened.
As the sun set, I retreated to my room and pulled out another set of clothes. I was aiming for a better impression this time or at least a more serious one. Green turtleneck shirt and khaki pants that hid how skinny my legs were and the pair of nice shoes that didn't give me blisters if I wore them for too long. I fished out the black under suit from my costume and put it on for 'just in case.' I didn't think I would need it, or hoped I wouldn't need it, but it was still night time in gang territory. I checked myself in the bathroom mirror to make sure none of the armored ridges were standing out under my clothes.
I wanted this to be given every ounce of attention it deserved. Sweat pants and a hoodie didn't do that. Maybe Snake got back from the hospital and was already giving a report, but maybe she wasn't. I wasn't going to be left out.
I hesitated over the question of 'mask or no mask' but in the end decided to leave it where it was. I didn't have any way to carry it on me unless I took my backpack and without the armor panels my black bodysuit wasn't particularly incriminating. The mask much less so. Were anonymous capes even allowed to approach Lung in the heart of her territory? Snake would vouch for me if she was there. Oni Lee knew 'Hachi' was associated with Lung but relying on him to identify me as friendly I was less than enthused about.
No, I joined as Taylor and got bombed as Taylor. Adding my cape identity now would just complicate things. I slung my scarf on and went back downstairs. Dad was pouring himself juice in the kitchen.
"I'm going out," I said clearly.
He turned around and his eyebrows jumped. "For a job interview?"
That was one way of putting it, I thought.
"I need to talk to some people about," I waved a hand in the air vaguely. "Today."
"That's the job for the police," Dad said like I knew he would.
"Or the Protectorate?" I accused as I tried and failed to keep the bitterness out of my voice. Too little, too late. "They've been handling the city real well until now, right?"
Dad's shoulders slumped. He searched for words. "Taylor…"
"My friends are going to be targets, Dad," My own shoulders hunched in response. They already were targets. "I need to do this." I hesitated and swallowed around the lump building in my throat. "Please."
"I love you, you know that, kiddo?" He said with a quirky little sad smile. "I'll make dinner."
"I'll eat it," I promised. The kitchen door swinging shut behind me, I headed for the Docks.
I was doing that a lot lately.
At night, Lisa's aptly named 'Dragon City' felt different.
The barricade of cars were right where they had always been, but as I approached, one of the car's headlights snapped on, glaring. I froze. Intellectually, I knew that without sunlight recognizing people got a bit difficult but I instantly felt unwelcome until the lights turned back off.
"Duibuqi!" A man's voice called from inside the car and I blinked spots from my eyes as I hurried past.
The streets were emptier to the point where I wondered if the 'unofficial' curfew for the outskirts was official here. Only a few people were out sweeping store fronts or smoking at street corners. Those I drew close to made a point of nodding at me for some reason, stopping everything. Lights were on within apartment homes making the sides of buildings look like they had bulbous symmetrical rows of eyes with faint sounds of conversation drifting from open windows.
It felt like I was walking through a whispering city, not yet asleep but shut in and cautious.
The dragon murals snaking up the side of buildings marking the end of the public center were dark shadows in the low light. I reached out to the insects around me. Moths, some cockroaches, chirping crickets and mosquitoes and used them to feel my way around. With them I followed familiar turns, sidewalks that I tasted before, roads with this particular pattern of nigh microscopic cracks and wafting smells in the air.
Like before with Snake, the sudden gap of insects after walking through a block of abandoned buildings told me I'd arrived.
The back door Snake had taken me through didn't have guards this time and the door itself was locked. I felt a trickle of trepidation and circled around the building.
It had a parking lot in front with the closed doors of what had once been a warehouse's garage for trucks. Expensive cars were parked there, imports and luxury in blacks, silvers and reds and at some point in time on the far side, a basketball hoop had been installed. A large group of youths were playing or watching others play.
Seeing faces I recognized as I walked closer was one massive shot of relief straight into my veins. Shinta, the one who went to my school with the dragon tattoo was there and dressed up in a nice sweater and jeans shouting from the sidelines with a bottle of water in his hands. Min was there too on the bench next to him with a knee drawn up under her chin and looking a bit uncomfortable. Her hair was done up in a bun that had waves of her hair spilling out of it.
Other kids that wore the dragon symbol were there.
There were a few unfamiliar youths with them, dress jackets off and sleeves rolled up as they fought over the basketball with the locals. There was one girl who was clearly someone's little princess in a very nice, form fitting pink dress and expensive looking purse on the sidelines, eyes darting from one boy to the other.
Bao stood out. Gone was the camo jacket and I couldn't say I missed it. He was wearing a red silk shirt with the golden button ties, much like I remember Lung wearing once, just in a masculine style with no sleeves and a white sash. His arms had sinuous tattoos on them, inked in such a way that made the muscles stand out. His face still had some bruising and the cut on his eyebrow was still scabbed over but the fact that he got those injuries defending me at school was one hell of an airbrush.
We had our matching scarves.
Stupid hormones.
He caught sight of me and called a frantic time out. I got a hold of myself as he jogged over with the ball, an uncertain smile already blooming on his face.
"Hey."
"Hey." I said awkwardly. I nodded my head at him. "What's the occasion?"
"Oh," he said and looked down at himself like he didn't realize he had gotten out of bed and put this stuff on. "Uh. Lung has guests? And their kids," he waved back at the group milling around. Some of them were flapping their shirts to cool off. "Entertaining them? We were going to head downtown after the game, got a reservation someplace."He eyed my blouse and smiled brilliantly. "Want to come with?"
I was no where near dressed well enough for that. I was staring at tailored suits, expensive purses, phones and wristwatches. Silk, cashmere and leather while I was in cotton and khaki. I didn't look like a shell shocked bum anymore but I was already going to stand out in the predominantly Asian crowd and had nothing to compensate for it. But more importantly I had something I really needed to do first.
"I'd like to, really I would, but I have to tell Lung something."
"I can tell her," Bao volunteered quickly.
I shook my head. "I'm sorry but this is really important."
He frowned. "How important?"
I looked him dead in the eye. "Did you hear about the explosion?" He nodded. "That was Snake's house."
At first his eyes widened, then his face just completely shut down. I don't mean shut down like the way my father shuts down, listless and lacking motivation. I mean shut down as in every trace of humanity briefly vanished. He was a statue and his eyes were cold.
It startled me.
"Attack on ABB," he said quietly. "Who?"
Amy, Peter, Snake and me," I said a bit shakily. My Bao came back as he looked over me with worry. "Amy got it," I put a hand on my upper arm where the healed over burn was.
Bao nodded once, sharply and turned his head. "Takeo!"
The Japanese member of Bao's group jogged over, blazer slung over his shoulder. He mock scowled at me. "Oh, you wear his scarf but not my handkerchief. I see how it is."
I grimaced in embarrassment.
"Hey, I need you to - " I heard Bao say before he dipped his voice below my range of hearing.
Takeo quickly sobered as he listened. "Ah." He drew out the 'a' sound like Lung had done once. He put on his blazer and straightened his collar and checked the tuck on his shirt. He eyed my clothes and nodded. "Okay. We go in. We wait." He stressed. "People there are important and we don't want to offend."
A bubble of apprehension swelled in my gut. "What kind of guests does Lung have?"
"Some from other gangs out of town." Bao admitted uneasily. "The other side of ABB." His uncertain smile was back.
In the words of Yuka Kato, psychopaths, murderers, rapists and all of the above. A slight shiver went down my spine as I realized just what kind of 'Dragon's Lair' I was about to walk into but at the same time there was also the cold practicality of it. Terrible people, yes.
People I wouldn't mind aiming at Coil.
"I'm going." I said. Bao stopped me, and carefully unhooked my scarf and tossed it over his shoulder. He took of his better looking one and replaced it.
"Perfect," he smiled.
My face heated up and I started walking so he wouldn't see it turn red.
I followed Takeo to a third side of the building, double doors that he pushed open and revealed a corridor with the guards I was expecting. A burly man with cornrows frowned at us as he stepped in our way but Takeo reached into his pocket and pulled out his handkerchief.
"We won't cause trouble," he said with his head bowed.
We were let pass.
"What does the dragon mean?" I asked out of the corner of my mouth as we walked.
"In our group, our rank is highest. We can say things and people listen. Lung picked us."
"And you can give that to someone else?"
Takeo glanced at me. "She didn't say no."
He opened the next set of doors and the bottom of my stomach dropped out.
I had watched those scenes in movies, spy movies were fond of it especially, about high class society and the gatherings they had with wine or champagne, tables of food and double edged words. Well dressed people with well done hair exchanging pleasantries, sipping champagnes with a knife or gun just within reach. That was what I was looking at with a little twist.
There were two tables with hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, cheese and chocolate fondue at the opposite sides of the room and round tables with seating by them leaving the center of the large room free for guests to mingle. White leather couches were arranged in L shapes to fit the corners with glass tables on crystal animal figurines in front of them. A white tiger, a red crane, a black turtle and blue dragon. Soft music was playing from somewhere in the back in smoky lighting and I knew without the shadow of a doubt that every single person in here had wallets and purses full of blood money.
There were a few insects in the room, moths up by the lights and sneaky mosquitoes and I immediately grabbed them all. What I was going to do with them unmasked I wasn't sure and the closed doors and windows cut down my options for getting more inside. Still, I took a more confident step and slipped into the moths to help get my bearings.
Lung was relatively nearby which should make the 'getting in, getting out' plan feasible.
I didn't get very far into the room before trouble found me.
We passed a small group of men and I got the wrong kind of attention. A man barked something at me and I took a step away in spite of myself. Gold capped some of his teeth and his suit was worn sloppily without a tie and an open collar showing leathery skin marked with the ink-stained edges of tattoos. He had a dog-headed lapel pin along with his buddies. Shapes poked through their jackets that I was sure marked guns. My pulse jumped.
Which was silly. Everyone in this room was dangerous.
"I - "
Takeo stepped in front of me smoothly and bent very low at the waist. He spoke quickly with a tense note. Covering for me, I thought.
The man ignored him, looking me over in a way that made my blood chill and images of Emma come to mind. He told the man at his right something, laughing and stepped forward.
"Do you not see the dragon on that scarf Akashi?" A woman's voice slithered, playful. "This one is mine." It took me a few moments to pinpoint the woman's voice as actually belonging to Lung. It was softer but it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up at the implicit threat laced within it.
Everyone else caught it. The man's face morphed to a fearful scowl and he retreated. Takeo bowed lower, if that was even possible. "Lung-sama! Moushi-!"
She cut him off flatly and I think I heard 'Bao' in there. She was wearing an elaborate red dress decorated with, what else? A curling gold dragon, almost ceremonial while still allowing for freedom of movement. In the low light, the dragon mask was dark and angry, lighting up piecemeal like a moon going through its cycles every time her flame circled.
Takeo bowed again and gave me an unreadable glance before being dismissed to a dark corner.
I really wanted him to stay.
Lung put a hand on my shoulder. It was uncomfortably warm and was a very firm grip. I wasn't going anywhere she didn't want me to.
"You are interrupting." She said it like she was commenting on an unpleasant downturn in the weather.
"I know and I'm sorry, but it's important," spilled out of my mouth like I was trying to avoid getting grounded. I cringed after, biting my lip and tried not to look directly at her and instead scanned the room.
Concealed weapons, in some cases overt like brass knuckles or a sheathed knife, and just the general demeanor of the 'guests' made me feel like we were wading through a pit of vipers. Wearing my armored under suit might have just been the best decision I made in my life. Some of the eyes on us were greedy in more than one way, taking note of the gold dragon on my scarf and Lung's hand on my shoulder. Some dismissed me in favor of Lung herself, breaking off their conversations to nod in acknowledgment. Then there were those that were calculating and cold. I could see them factoring me in to whatever plans they had and my stomach sank.
A man stopped us by the tables, slicked back brown hair and charming smile with a small partially-masked Asian woman on his arm. He held out his hand for me to shake and I took it mechanically. He wasn't shy about letting me know he had a firm grip. He didn't give a name, but he also didn't ask for mine, which was no small relief.
I positioned a moth above his table. I didn't have enough insects to 'tag' everyone but surveillance? That I could do.
"You really should visit us in New York," he addressed Lung. Casual and friendly. They knew each other.
New York City was under the purview of Legend, one of the strongest capes in the world. Even under the Triumvirate, I guess a crime free city was a pipe dream.
"This city might implode without me," Lung responded dryly. "Give me a few months, hmm?"
He gave me another look. "Protege?"
Lung patted my shoulder. "Of a sort," she said noncommittally. "Excuse us for a few minutes?"
He let us go with a gentlemanly bow. I waited until I was sure we were out of earshot to repeat, "Of a sort?"
Lung gave an amused 'hn' sound. "Would you rather I said yes?" That led to an influx of panic and I was sure I was making a reasonable 'deer-in-headlights' impression given her little laugh. "Hachi, you would not want me to have said no."
Not comforting.
"For you to come to me like this," she thought out loud. "Coil."
"Yes." My stomach squirmed but I held my head high. I wasn't going to wait who knows how long for the official channels to deal with Coil. The number of villains with kill orders on their heads that were still walking around was depressing to think about, always has been and there was no doubt in my mind that Coil deserved one. I wasn't going to wait for it to be given the green light.
I wanted him gone.
"Tell me after," Lung ordered. "In the mean time, you will stand with my lieutenants and not interfere. Understand?"
I swallowed hard and nodded.
Oni Lee and Kali stood out in costume, surrounded by empty space that no one wanted to be in. I had a feeling that was the point.
Lee's body suit was pitch black this time much like the image of a Japanese ninja save for the belt stuffed with weapons. Grenades, pistols, knives. His mask was red and green, an angry warped face with tusk like teeth and thick, flame like eyebrows. Kali was almost casually dressed without her iconic slivers of metal-studded costume piece, instead wearing a business suit like quite a few of the other women present. Just her mask and a floating, spinning circle of needles at least a foot long as a backdrop.
Oni Lee watched me walk up silently as Kali snorted.
"What the fuck do you do?"
I floundered. Shit. I had not planned for this and it showed. "I control bugs?" It was as much a question as it was a statement. She was asking about my power wasn't she? I didn't just give myself away for no reason at all, right?
"Really." She was unimpressed.
"Bees, Black Widows, Brown Recluses, Scorpions," I countered acidly.
"Shit, you had me at bees." She had a harsh, barking laugh and I felt it was much like her. Harsh and barking. "Hate the fuckers."
"Allergic?" What was I doing? Stop needling the murderer, Hebert.
She gave me a look that might have been patronizingly amused but with the mask all I could see was the half displaying anguished despair. "Don't bet on me choking before I skewer you."
At some point, Oni Lee had stopped watching me and went back to watching Lung move around the room. Unsure of what else to do, I did the same.
It was like watching the workings of a decadent court.
The room was separated into groups but they were fluid. As I watched, I thought I could pick out reliably who knew who and what kind of relationship they had. Maybe. A lot of people just seemed very polite in speaking with one another and I wasn't sure if that was a cultural thing or just not wanting to cause trouble. The signs were mostly small things, emotions overflowing a little. Just enough to singe.
I wished Lisa was here.
I put my own observational skills, honed from months of watching my back and other students, to use. The most overt were that woman with the peacock fan on the east side and the man sitting at a south table pouring tea studiously ignoring each other and making it obvious they were doing it, 'incidentally' meeting each other's eyes then looking away.
"Rivals in the drug trade," Kali said. I glanced at her and she nodded towards the people I'd been watching. "That's going to get messy." She pointed out another, subtly with a tilt of her head. "Special guests from Korea, yeah? Triad pushed out by the CUI."
I clasped my hands together briefly, squeezing my fingers and making sure I wasn't shaking or giving myself away at all before letting them fall back my sides. They were among the best dressed. Impeccable suits, neatly pressed and expensive looking, bodyguards in the wings. Triad, okay. Cool.
God.
More people of interest for surveillance moths.
A sudden commotion at the back of the room jumpstarted my heart. The room quieted, which made the scuffle's volume grow. Men came in dragging a couple I guesstimated to be in their thirties. The woman was gagged and held back, the man was deposited into the suddenly clear center of the room. He staggered to his feet.
"Ibuchi Kazuo," Lung said in a loud, clear voice, grandstanding. She gave a little mocking bow. "Nice of you to join us."
Grins and smirks broke out in the crowd. I bit my tongue.
Ibuchi squared his shoulders and seemed to shut the rest of the room out, focusing in on Lung. He spoke in what I assumed was Japanese, sounded familiar, quick and militant.
"You stand accused of treason, Kazuo." she hissed in turn. "You remember Go." She pointed out a slightly heavy set young man that shrunk at the sudden attention. A pinprick of light flared into existence diagonal from his head, then faded. I remembered that name. "You thought he wouldn't notice, hmm? That I wouldn't notice." Smoke literally curled from the mouth of the dragon mask."No one steals from me."
It struck me then like a bolt of lightning. She was going to kill him.
Ibuchi blanched. His face turned a pasty, blotchy white and his eyes darted around the room. The woman started crying around the gag cloth, tears running down her ruddy cheeks but he didn't look at her.
Lung took a measured step forward. "Tell me why. Tell me you did it for a reason other than money?"
He tried. Even if I couldn't understand a single word he was saying, the stuttering, stopping and eventual defeated silence told me everything I needed to know.
Lung was quiet for a moment. "...I see."
In a burst of movement fueled by desperation, Ibuchi lunged at the nearest gang member, grappling him for the gun hooked in the man's belt. He pulled it free, the gang member let him with hands held up in grinning surrender. He aimed it at Lung who let out a disbelieving, "Shenme?"
She tilted her head and chuckled. "What do you think that will do," She spread her arms out wide. "To me?" Despite her words, I could see that she was a little taller than before, anticipating it.
He shifted the gun as he swallowed hard. He aimed it wildly, at anyone who looked like they were too close. I followed the pistol with more than my own eyes. Jam the barrel? I thought briefly. Moths were fragile, didn't have enough for that. I had a handful of biters and being peppered with mosquitos wasn't going to get a desperate man to lay down his weapon.
Think, think.
Moths over his eyes?
"Don't be stupid," Kali murmured, under her breath. "Don't fucking shoot."
He pointed the gun back at Lung and backed up a step. Then his aim slid to her right. Finding myself staring down the barrel of a pistol as he spat in Japanese, I felt a lot of my sympathy for him fade away. My face was unprotected. I didn't even tense, right at that point of tired, stunned terror that I just couldn't react to anything.
Kali's metal stopped moving, vibrating with tension to the point they sang. Oni Lee stared, silent.
"Ah," Lung said. "That was a mistake."
Ibuchi snarled, a trapped animal. The gun went off.
I flinched and felt warm, wet splatter on my face. There was a discordant clang, short and sharp. I pried my eyes open. Kali's metal needles floated around me like a cocoon, wary. The second gun shot was slightly muffled in Lung's chest cavity, close range but it was already too late. A flaming hand clamped onto Ibuchi's throat and he immediately began to scream. They stayed like that, locked in what could be a dance, Lung's other hand gripping the pistol on top of Ibuchi's fingers. The captive woman was crying hard, straining against the men holding her back, yelling what might have been 'Kazuo.'
I could tell when the flames got through the skin because Ibuchi's voice died. The sounds he made were rasping gurgles but he continued screaming.
Lung let him drop. He curled on the floor, hands going up to his throat, shaking and pulling back before touching anything. The burn was almost neat, a circle into the vocal chords. Ibuchi rattled and I realized he was suffocating.
No one moved to help him.
I took one step forward. The metal moved with me, guarding. Lung scoffed as she dismissed her victim, a wet 'hn' that told of the bullet she had lodged in her lungs somewhere. Her right shoulder was torn messily. There was warm blood on my face.
That was the only step I took.
I clutched at my scarf and its glinting gold dragon. I stood there in sick, terrified gratitude.
I watched Ibuchi die.
I would like to think that I didn't know what to think as I heard his rattling attempts to breathe strain, then slow and stop. I was still standing there with red fabric in my fingers and a step closer to Lung than I wanted to be. I had fled myself a bit and could vaguely see the rest of the room from differing viewpoints like I had security cameras stuffed in my head. Some people were grimacing, others were placid. The man with slicked-back hair and the masked woman had a curious little smile.
Takeo looked grim. In the entire room, there was very little sympathy.
It wasn't a conscious action, maybe my control had slipped, but one of the larger moths, gray with dark eye spots on its wings, fluttered down and settled on Ibuchi's forehead.
I knew he was gone when I shifted my attention to the moth. Blood vessels on the head were close to the surface and as light as their footprints were, insects could feel a pulse through them. No movement. It had landed on a dead thing.
I knew exactly what to think. This shouldn't have happened.
I didn't know him. I didn't like him. He had shot at me. Bile crept up the back of my throat when I realized I was on the path to rationalizing this away. I felt like I was warring between abject disgust, moral outrage and my own selfish relief that the bullet hadn't found its target. Everything positive about the ABB that I felt, everything I believed withered in shame.
This was what it was at its core, wasn't it? I was an idiot.
Lung shifted and a mosquito resting on a man's shirt collar picked out her bright colors and the dark contrast of her masked face. She noticed the moth. She took purposeful steps forward, away from me and towards the captive woman.
"Himiko," she purred. "Did you know of this?"
The woman shook her head frantically, hard enough to shake strands of hair loose and tears were still damp on her cheeks.
Lung let out a light, airy laugh and turned to me. "Believe her?"
"Yes," I said immediately. My voice came out hard. This was just like the first night I had met her, giving me the chance to decide someone else's fate. Then I had been mostly confused. Now there were connotations to it I dreaded.
Lung waited and I realized what she wanted with a sinking feeling. There were dozens of eyes on me. "He wasn't surprised," I continued and it was true. Himiko had been frantic, confused and had to be restrained, likely she resisted but Ibuchi didn't even look at her for comfort or reassurance or anything. "She was."
"She has her own crimes," Lung commented idly. "But betraying me on the orders of another, not like you, Himiko." Lung reached out and the woman flung herself as far back as she could. Not far enough. The men held her still. Lung traced parts of Himiko's face like her fingertips were kisses. "Eyes, ears, lips, nose, hands. Pick one."
Eyes, ears, lips, nose, hands. I had heard that before from my former best friend, Emma, tracing her face dully as she told me what had happened to her over a year ago. Recently, I realized. Was this why I didn't want to confront Lung with it? Because I was afraid that it was not only true, but that Lung herself was responsible?
Himiko shakily held out her hand, fingers splayed and Lung nodded. "Something small," she told the men holding the woman. And then just before they dragged her out, "And Himiko. Next time, I choose."
And just like that, the fun was over.
In the wake of it all, conversation started to pick up again. This was something these people had seen many times, maybe even did it themselves wherever they came from, and it was nothing special. There was too much noise for me to pick up any individual conversations. Everything was a mass of painful vibrations and it was too much to hope for that anyone would be condemning Lung for it.
The dragon masked woman herself glided over the hardwood floor back towards me, pausing slightly by Ibuchi's body. I let the dark eye spots on the moth's wings stare at her. I was struck by the morbid thought then that burn wounds didn't bleed and so wouldn't ruin her floor. "Akashi," she called. "Remove this."
The man with the dog headed lapel pin scowled nastily, but he moved to obey. The moth's natural instincts carried it up to the ceiling when its perch was moved. Lung snagged a napkin from one of the tables and spat into it. A bloody glob and a bullet. Her shoulder was healing over steadily, visibly knitting together underneath the gash in her dress.
She fingered the tear in the silk and sighed in disappointment. "Something is always happening to my clothes," she groused. She glanced around the room and crumpled the napkin in her hand. She picked up another. "Walk with me."
A familiar command. I did not want to. She slowed in her approach of the far doors, looking over her shoulder at me. My moths and bugs around the room had the unnerving effect of making me feel paranoid. I was looking at everyone as best I could through multifaceted eyes and in turn, there was always someone looking at 'me.' I felt trapped.
I took slow steps after her.
Guards opened the doors for us to reveal the straight back corridor I had been in before. I grabbed every bug I could sense in the building, not enough, and moved them through the ventilation, the pipes and gaps in the walls. I didn't have any plans for what to do with them yet but just having them lessened a tiny bit of my anxiety. If push came to shove, I had some ideas. Getting past the outer defense of fire would be an issue, but once there suffocation was an ironic possibility.
I didn't like thinking like that.
Lung still had the metal spike holding up her hair and in spite of everything else, still barefoot. "You handled yourself well," she said. It was not what I wanted to hear. She held out the extra napkin. "Your face?"
Shit.
I grabbed it refusing to feel thankful and wiped my face of her blood the best I could without a mirror. I carefully didn't think about what I must have looked like back there in the room with all of the other drug lords and gang leaders. I had honestly forgotten about the blood on my face, how fucked up was that?
"What was that about?" I asked harshly. Like her, I crumpled my napkin in my palm. "What the fuck was that?"
"Himiko is a weasel," Lung replied mildly as we walked. "Chafing under rules. And Kazuo," she gave me a short look. In the small openings in her mask, I could see her brown eyes and the whites around the irises were replaced with angry red. Her voice was even. "Fools and traitors. I tolerate neither."
"You didn't have to kill him," I replied, letting heat leak into my reply.
Lung patted me on the head. I was too angry to flinch away. "You are correct. I did not have to."
"Then why?"
She didn't answer immediately because we had reached our destination. She pushed open the dark wood door and inside was a personal room, like the office I had first met her in the last time I was in the Dragon's Lair.
The rice paper mats covered the wood flooring and a large pair of windows on the far wall. This part of the warehouse building expanded a little further than I thought it did as there was a narrow walkway passing in front of those windows but behind the sliding rice paper doors and walls in front of them. The right side of the room was dominated by an inked black and white painting of a large tree in bloom. The petals on the wind stood out, colored a light purple.
Like the office, this room had a low table with cushions but this time was only set for two. Candles lit in the corners had severely melted down wax. There were others rooms joining this one behind closed doors. Was this where Lung lived?
The door swung shut behind me and Lung finally answered the question.
"Fear."
I opened my mouth angrily but she disappeared behind a door and I wasn't about to follow her around the place. I gritted my teeth.
I wasn't trying to start a fight no matter how I felt because that would be the epitome of moronic but I was not feeling charitable right now. That and a little desperate. What was I going to do? There was still the option of going to the Protectorate. If I could find where Coil's base of operations was with my bugs or otherwise then maybe the heroes could just hit him hard where it hurt.
Then it was just a matter of whack-a-mole every time he popped up and flushing him out of any hiding spaces.
The PRT being compromised made up a large part of my reticence but I could get Miss Militia, and Dauntless seemed like he could be open to an independent op. The guy was rumored to be on the fast track to being considered one of the strongest capes in the world because of his ability to add power to objects like his spear. If we could cut the head off the snake, or at least severely inconvenience it…
I really hoped Lisa would be okay. It was a terrible thing to think, but I could really use information right now.
Lung resurfaced after several minutes in another outfit, a dress like robe with the sash around her waist. Black this time, silver flowers.
"Fear?" I accused.
"Sit," she invited me as she settled down on a cushion. When I didn't move, she repeated herself with a guttural undertone. "Sit."
I wasn't suicidal. I sat.
"What do you think of fear?" She asked and laid her palms on the table. "What use is it?"
"It turns people against you," I spat. "It only lasts until they aren't afraid anymore." It was strange saying this. I feared Emma once. "It can be fought against."
"Like the fear of a rabid dog," Lung said. "It barks and snarls but you don't know when it will bite. It breeds anger and resentment. If you have support, the fear breaks, yes. It's a common fear. Fear of the unknown leaves the possibility of what if?"
Suddenly, her flames roared to life and leapt for me. I choked, scrambling backwards and called upon every goddamn insect I had. Before they could even make headway, the flames winked out.
"The fear of fire is different," Lung said softly. "It's primal, instinctive. You know fire will burn you each and every time. That first night I saw you, did you fear me?"
We both knew the answer to that question. I didn't say it.
"There is no 'what if.' I have fought to ensure those here have that fear of me. Kazuo hid his actions with a desperate paranoia and you could see it, once before me he knew. There is only what will happen and once touched by that fear," her customary single flame turned blue. "It never leaves you."
"Then why bother?" I asked. "With the patrols and the other kids and the city, why bother doing anything positive at all?"
Lung leaned back. "Fear is only half of the equation. It's a disease that breeds and diseases erode. Loyalty is a merciless thing. For every person in ABB kept in line by fear, there are two or three that have ABB to thank. Fear can be fought against, you said." She spread her hands. "Why would they want to?"
"Was anything you told me about adding good true?" I said bitterly, betrayed. I felt like the most gullible idiot in the world.
"I bear a responsibility," Lung said. "To those I displaced. But if you are asking if I lied about my motives, then yes." She admitted baldly. "I did. Does it change what I accomplished?"
"Yes, damn it!"
I had the feeling she was smiling indulgently at me. "How?"
"It's all fake!" Like the Boardwalk with its pretty trappings and the sign on the ferry booth promising 'soon' when the mayor himself had no intention of ever letting it run again and the school saying they would keep an eye out for bullying. I hated lies. "It doesn't mean anything to you at all!"
"It's real to them," Lung said. That almost blew the wind out of my sails. I could try to turn to the more decent members of ABB, Min or Bao or Peter, but they each had their own reasons for being part of this gang, didn't they? Fear wasn't it. If I was going to strike out on my own, it was going to be on my own.
This was...this was fucked up.
"Speaking of loyalty," she mused. "Where is Snake?"
"Last I saw, with Amy," I responded sullenly. Lung didn't know it, but just like that my determination had come roaring back. Amy wasn't ABB for this very reason and if Snake didn't even check in then maybe there really was something to the 'adoption' I'd heard about. I didn't need ABB.
Lung hummed. "What happened?"
I briefly entertained the thought of not telling her, but that was petty. I'd been prepared to point terrible people at Coil before. This one just happened to turn into a dragon. "There was a girl we were helping. Coil was keeping her working for him under threat of death. Implanted bombs. Turns out, Coil wanted her to come to us. He detonated the girl while she was standing by Amy and Peter." I said it all quickly and in monotone, determined not to get caught up in my roiling feelings right now.
Lung was quiet for a long time. I waited, unsure. Eventually, she spoke.
"The actions of a dead man." She seethed and up close I could see her nails sharpening. "I have been too lenient, allowing slights like this. No more." She stood up and walked to the double windows past the walkway. I could hear her just breathe for a few moments. "I understand what Snake saw. I don't have your loyalty," she noted.
No, you don't.
"However, you told me that Coil is not someone you want in your city."
"That isn't my price," I said sharply.
Lung looked back at me impassively. "Of course not," she agreed. "You live on the docks."
My stomach threatened to reject its contents as I considered what that might mean. My thoughts drifted from my fledgling friendships at school to the fact that ABB knew about Danny Hebert.
"Your point?"
"No point," Lung said casually. "Just an observation." I almost laughed at how insincere that was. I probably would have if I didn't feel like a trapped animal, the rabid dog Lung was taming. Barking and snarling but if, when, I was going to bite? I didn't know. "It is time for this city," she gestured expansively. "To become my city. It would be best if you cooperate as I am genuinely a little fond of you."
I eyed her warily. "What are you saying?"
"You wear Bao's scarf, I see," she said like a blade on silk. "I will see Parian makes you a few." Parian. Another reminder of how bad Lung's gang could be. "In the mean time, it's best we return to the others, hmm? "I expect to see you at dinner." She drifted clawed fingers through my hair as she walked past me and I sat there frozen, reeling. I was being drafted. "Welcome to the ABB, Hachi."
I could hear her smile.
"Enjoy the party."