AGITATION
"You, fucking, piece of shit. I am going to..." Snap hiss, whirr woon. With one circular movement the gun was cut in half, two more blurring motions and the other two weapons joined the same fate as the first.
"I gave you a chance. I will not give it again."
"Shit fuck!"
"Let's get out of here."
"Too late." Skye reached out with the Force and held the door closed as they desperately tried to leave. She activated her master's blade as well as she floated it out from under the counter. The one goon had seen enough, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed to the ground. With more focus she continued to hold the door as she held the veins in their necks closed. Thirty seconds later the three joined the first.
"Now what am I going to do?" She lifted one of them as she put her lightsabers away before pulling out the last of her zip ties. Once the three were secured she searched all their pockets and tossed the melted weapons into a paper bag with some ice. Steam hissed out as she moves the three to the side. She smiled as she counted out four hundred dollars. It was not much, but way more than an honest citizen would need to carry. There was also a note in one of their pockets to an address and a date for tomorrow. She would have to look up the kanji character later. Several of homeless men came in and she smiled as she looked up.
"Johnnie can you be so good to take these gentlemen down the street?"
"These hoodlums you mean. What they want now?"
"Probably protection money." Gray Pete surmised.
"Like trying to get lemon juice out of a turnip. Just not happening." Slow Nick said the strangest things. Skye marked that as something to look up later as well. She needed to know what a turnip was, and she was not about to ask. They each grabbed two lunch bags and Johnnie reached over the counter to the hidden bag of tobacco. It was not a good habit, but it allowed them something they did not get every day. At first, she saw no value in facilitating someone's unhealthy habit but seeing how this world was so dark and how it gave them just a sliver of hope was better than nothing.
Almost ran out of food and that is a good thing. Might have to think of getting more for tomorrow. I saw several new faces which was nice but sad as well, but it what Jedi are supposed to do. Lend out a helping hand when they have the means, and I did have it with all the drug money that I had recovered. Taking the two remaining meals I locked up and left. Spreading the Force well around me I feel that it has grown a bit calmer in this area and this feeling follows me all the way back to the warehouse. A couple of flicks of my hand and the door opens quietly.
Ayfour whistled out his greeting and tells me he was so bored. I felt for him, but I could not take him out unless I took the fighter and there was no reason for me to. Now if some army attacked then I could rationalize the use to clear the skies, but even then, the Force could be a better option. It was also my only way to leave this planet if I could even find what they did with the ship. That was going to be an issue and the Force was still warning me away from such an action.
Skye ate as she read through several of the new PHO posts. There was a rumor that Bakuda was in the area possibly hired by Lung. Several posts from her hitting the last of the Merchants, but other than that not much else. She had yet to post anything herself on PHO. She wanted to correct several things they were saying about her and her abilities. On the other hand, with what they were saying they had several conflicting write ups. They were sure I was a grab bag cape, but the Wards had marked only three power classes.
Her patrols into ABB territory north of the bridge revealed at least six locations that she could hit. She stopped a robbery from two ex-Merchants. She had a feeling she had them arrested several nights ago, but no matter the BBPD picked them up not long after the clerk called them. It was one of the things that had bothered her the first night she called in the place she had raided. The BBPD took forever to arrive and the PRT came later and then they brought in a large enough vehicle to haul the gang members away. This was on top of calling them four times.
Once she was back at the warehouse she meditated before sleeping for several hours. On her run in the morning, she scouted all her new targets and once over the bridge she found the warehouse Lung had called for a meeting. The roof was the most likely hiding place and it would offer the most directions of escape, if need be. She had no way to image someone growing bigger and stronger the longer you fought. Fighting Mush had taken less time than fighting one of the drug houses.
Ayfour helped me assemble the solar power generator. It was not that big and better once the snow and ice were gone. It would be a good back up once the power company figures out; I am not a paying customer. I had a gas generator, but it as loud enough to be heard outside. Once that was finished, I levitated him and some steel to weld into place to shore up the roof. I did not need it caving in any farther. It was only after that that I had forgotten to link up with Taylor on my run. She was a nice enough girl, but I was getting this impression that she was going to do something rash. With that in mind I became unsettled and used several hours of meditating to counter the feelings I had. The main thing I came away with is that somehow the meeting tonight and Taylor would mix and that would be a bad thing. It would prove she was a cape, but if Lung was there and if she only controlled bugs then it was not going to go well. Bugs don't do much against a pyrokinetic who grew bigger the longer the fight went on.
Wearing her full armor, she traveled from roof to roof or through darkened ally ways. Several times the Force tugged on her to do a minor interference with something or another. The most visual was me walking into a small store as a man held a gun to the clerk. I did not even need my lightsaber as he lost all bodily control. Jedi Armor was fine so long as you only used a headset, but once you put on a full helm it was fairly intimidating. By then we would be in battle with Sith or a Mandalorian battalion. Many a Jedi paid with their life by fighting either of the two without armor.
As I got closer to the meeting place, I could feel thousands of insects filling the air. Bats as well as they found this was a buffet they could not pass up. I reached one of the roofs that gave me a view below as I felt the swarm rush past where I could sense Taylor to be. The effect was startling. It happened nearly in slow motion as bugs crawled around corners and under objects at the same time flying insects rushed in carrying other insects. Pain and fear mixed in with the surprised reactions of the gang members. I felt several others come up behind me and some large beasts off to the sides. One was not quite there as it thinned the Force out or blocked it in some way.
The four felt wary, but more curious about what was happening below. An explosion set more things on fire and even one of his minions. With the Force I quickly pulled him back and snuffed out the flames. His second explosion had much more force. I felt one of the others get closer to me. She felt hyper curious and somehow the silent questions going through her mind were getting answered or causing her pain. It was an unknown, but the Force did not even tell me to be wary of them. Lung roared with frustration and a bit of pain. Loud for a human, but slowly he was changing.
His signature in the Force was mesmerizing as his head nearly glowed with a mixture of the dark side and the light. There was a part of him that was much darker than he wanted to be. I was not sure what it was, but it was concerning. I needed to ask my master about that, but I still did not know if he lived. The scales shined metallic as he grew after setting himself on fire. I could sense him searching out his attacker. I knew where she was and also the other girl was getting closer. Yes, she was a girl. Not a fighter. Nervous but confident seeing the fight below.
"You are not going to attack?"
"It is not my fight, and the Force is urging caution. Patience is called for. A Jedi does not attack they defend and protect."
"Well, the bug girl is going to get burned." I did not feel anything, but I pushed more awareness into the Force.
"You could do the same. You have friends."
"Ya, but if we fight. One of my friends will..." I jumped as I heard another roar one that was moving from the open area to land on the edge of the building near the same roof as the one Taylor was on. I landed just as Lung came over the edge. More beast now then human as his eyes burned as if they were on fire. Taylor shot some type of gas at the beast as he worked his way over the edge the second shot did much better, but the Force let me know she was out of options.
Muh... Motherfucker!" Lung screamed as he exploded in fire as Taylor ran. My hand went out and I pushed with the Force sending the flame sideways away from her. She still fell and slid into the rim of the roof. Another wave of fire which was even easier to redirect up wards.
"Cock Sucker, move give me something to aim for."
"Gladly." Skye vocalized as the snap hiss of her blade added to her droid altered voice. Lung wiped to center on the noise I made and exploded in flames. Had I been in just robes that attack would have sent me over the edge to get out of range. I held my saber forward with a Force generated shield to block most of it. My armors shield generator activated blocking the rest.
"Fuck you! I don't care how many of you there are. I fought and endbringer!" He suddenly grew even bigger, and I got a warning from the Force that he somehow knew there were more capes nearby. Scales clattered together as they grew out and fell into place. A large mass fell on top of him as he grew. The fire that bust out of him revealed a very twisted version of a giant dog. Another joined it as he knocked the first one away with a single punch.
"Move!" Using the Force to direct it at Taylor and the beasts. I burst into action slashing twice with my lightsabers across his armored chest. I spun as I stopped on the other side of the roof. He was still standing but his chest held two blackened lines from the solid hits. He turned to face me as the two dogs charged him and butted him off the roof of the building. A sharp whistle echoed over the buildings and the Sithspawn dogs dashed for another building before jumping halfway up to climb the rest of the way. Lung was not moving and thought I could feel he was still alive his head must have hit hard enough to be knocked out. The dogs did not vanish completely as they came flying back onto the roof as I reached Taylor to help her up.
"Thanks." Came a very muffled and scared response.
"You did well padawan." Confusion mixed in with her adrenaline high. Fear was slowly growing but a good fear one that you learn from. Not one that would cripple her.
There were two girls, two boys. They approached while the larger girl went to see if Lung was getting up. All three of her Sithspawn growling waiting to be given the command. Yet I felt no dark side from the beasts. The tallest of them was dress in all black with a helmet with a skull shadow painted on. He leaked black smoke that had nothing to do with fire or burning. The Force was warning me to be wary. The girl from before was feeling very excited and smug for some reason.
"You really saved us a lot of trouble," he told us. He reached out a hand towards Taylor, but she leaned away while feeling wary. He turned to me, and I gave him a small bow.
"I am pleased that this did not result in the loss of life." He withdrew his hand.
"When we got word Lung was aiming to come after us tonight, we were pretty freaked. We were arguing strategy for the better part of the day. We eventually decided, fuck it, we'd meet him halfway. Wing it. Not my usual way of doing things, but yeah." He sounded calm and confident, but under that calm was a lingering feeling of fear and a strong sense of relief.
"Wouldn't you know, his flunky Lee is there with a half dozen guys, but Lung and the rest of his gang are nowhere to be found," he laughed before continuing.
"Lee's no slouch in a fight, but there's a reason he's not leader of the ABB. He got spooked without his boss there and ran. I guess you're responsible for that?" There was an awkward pause as he expected Taylor to say something. She just remained quiet.
"Lung is still out. What did you do to him?" The larger girl with the plastic dog mask resting on top of her head.
"Pepper spray, wasp and bee stings, fire ants and spider bites. He's not holding up too well. Gonna feel a helluva lot worse tomorrow." The confident girl, no not confidence. She is gaining information in some way. The Force is confused to categorize it. Much like it was unsure of the dark smoke and how the dogs felt.
"Introductions. That's Tattletale. I'm Grue. The girl with the dogs-" he pointed to the other girl. "-We call her Bitch, her preference, but in the interests of being P.G., the good guys and media decided to call her Hellhound instead. Last and certainly least, we have Regent."
"Fuck you, Grue," Regent retorted, with a chuckle and a tone of voice that made it clear he wasn't really that offended. Skye found that to be a odd thing to say. Then she realized it was a negative but friendly comment. Another oddity.
I am Senior Jedi Padawan Skye Zassi Riflus, student of Jedi Master Edriagt Fuan'daemo. Your TV calls me Skye. Have you come up with a secret name yet?" Grue looked at Taylor expecting her to say something.
"Hey, you okay? You hurt? Is she hurt?" I shook my head no and did not speak to show I understood her shyness.
"The reason she's not introducing herself isn't because she's hurt," Tattletale told him.
"It's because she's shy." Tattletale turned as it looked like she was going to say something, but she stopped, as she looked in another direction her head. The smile she'd been wearing faded, "Heads up. We've gotta scram."
Bitch gave a few commands, and the dogs allowed the four to climb up in just moments, the three creatures of hers leaped to the alleys to either side of the building and onto the roof.
"Hey," Tattletale said as she settled herself behind Bitch.
"What's your name?"
"I don't… I haven't picked one yet."
"Well, Bug, Skye, a cape is gonna show up in less than a minute. You did us a solid by dealing with Lung, so take my advice. Someone from the Protectorate shows up, finds several bad guys duking it out, they're not going to let one walk away. You should get out of here." She flashed us a smile. Before the dogs suddenly jumped from the roof. In moments they were gone.