Furor 3.08

I finished up my paperwork for the day, then left my office to check on how the people in the dockyard were doing. I briefly thought back to before this mess happened, back when we were just normal dockworkers before Taylor was on the run, and before the Merchants had torn this place up trying to, apparently, steal my technology. The place was barely recognizable now, with bunkers and workshops dotting the place in strategic locations and a fortified wall surrounding the yard, a chorus of metal on metal and the heat of furnaces came from the still-in-construction command center and supply depot. It was an adjustment for the workers and an adjustment for our neighbors-more than once we'd been approached with noise complaints, but it was a sign of the transformation of the Dock Workers Association from a dying enterprise to a decently well off force for good in the city. If something like this had happened a few months ago, before the mess with Taylor, it'd have been a dream come true.

I knew that my contractors weren't in today, they'd had that meeting with the district attorney, but… I found a certain newer worker, a young woman, who was a touch twitchy and kept stealing glances at the SCVs, but considering her history I suppose that was understandable.

Everything seemed fine in the yard, and with nothing else needing my immediate attention, I headed over to the main workshop. I think I could get the powered armor ready for testing with a bit of tweaking and maybe get some work done on a little something I had been cooking up to show Empire Eighty-eight my displeasure at what they had done to my family and what they were trying to do to it still.

The workshop was emptier than it had been when we first built it. Where before it'd been a wide area filled with tools and workstations, it was now mostly open. My contract with Dragon had been finalized and the first payment on my end was next week, so we were prepping the main workshop to be converted into a small scale factory for mass production of powered armor. Once I'd gotten the prototype done, that was. That didn't stop us from having the pieces of a chassis of something special here until we needed the space, nor from having the prototype powered armor on a frame nearby. A bulky thing with thick armor and an opaque dome protecting the pilot's head… In truth, my own personal armor was more sophisticated than this, but the Terran Marine armor was stronger and more durable. Less practical for… casual… crime fighting and less maneuverable, but I had the feeling that if the conflict between my daughter and the Empire didn't end soon it would erupt into all-out war, and if this armor was out there it would help the Raiders and I end this whole mess.

Not to mention that, between the durability of Neo-Steel and the environmental protection the armor provided, we could sell the surplus for dozens of times the cost to make it and they'd still sell like hotcakes to every emergency service in the country.

It was almost done, really. I just needed to make a few last minute adjustments to some of the servos and double check that the emergency escape mechanisms worked-I'd hate to have to cut someone out of one of these things. It was a personal modification to the design over what my power told me was the pure Terran Original. From what I'd put together, Terran Medics actually would cut wounded Marines out of the armor if they had to, it was cheaper that way, but as much of a shithole as Brockton Bay was it wasn't bad enough that I'd put cost over the safety of the people working with me.

I was only one in the workshop when I arrived and so just went to work. Just as I got to it, my communicator went off. The beep was a higher tone than the normal one, meaning it was a private channel, and that meant that it was- "Taylor?" I answered.

"Yeah," she replied, "I just… felt like I needed to talk to you. I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No," I said, "I'm just doing a bit of tinkering."

"Same here," she replied, "just a little something I've been putting off."

"Please don't tell me it's ultralisks."

"...How much do you know about the zerg?"

"More than I ever wanted to," I replied.

"Well, it's not ultralisks. I don't even have larva yet," she laughed and I was suddenly glad that I was alone in here. Explaining that my daughter was cooking up alien bug monsters… yeah, that would be awkward.

I heard a slurping sound from Taylor's end. Considering her new dietary habits and manner of recreation, I was somewhat concerned. "Taylor," I asked, "what are you drinking?"

"Antifreeze," she answered matter of factly. I was silent for a moment. "Dad?"

"...Why?"

"Uh… this is probably going to sound silly, but… I had a weird dream the other night." She paused. "I was cold, and it felt like someone was poking holes in me. They were talking about something, but all I could hear was the word 'some' and a conversation about getting something neutered. Then I got a lot colder and woke up with the strange feeling that I needed to be a bit more proactive in building my toxin resistance." I heard another slurp. "It's not that bad, actually."

"You're gonna be the death of me, Kiddo."

"Sorry."

"It's alright," I said, "but you're okay otherwise?"

"Yeah," she said. I heard a disturbance of some kind, "um, Tattletale is here, and it feels important. Can you hold on for a second?"

"Yes." It was at that moment that my communicator let out another, deeper beep. "Actually, I'm getting another call."

"Oh, okay. So we'll talk some more in a little bit?"

"Sounds good. I love you."

"Love you too, Dad." she hung up, and I switched calls.

"Boss man here," I answered with my civilian call sign.

"There's a situation down at the gate," Kurt's voice said through the device's speaker. "I think it needs your attention"

"What's going on?" I asked back.

"I don't think you'll believe me until you see it yourself."

"Alright, I'll be down in a second." I ended the call and made my way to the gate while trying not to imagine the worst case scenario.

The first thing I noticed, when I got to the already opened gate, was the leering, fanged mouth on the demonic visage that hid Oni Lee's face. Then I noticed that he was holding a white flag and wasn't… visibly armed. In fact, he wasn't visibly dressed-other than his mask, he was only wearing boxer shorts and boots. It was bizarre, but I guess someone with his reputation needed to be extra thorough when proving that they came in peace. He saw me and motioned for me to come closer.

"Message," he said, "from Lung to Bastion." He held out a folded piece of paper. After a moment, I took the note and the other man turned around, crumbling to ash moments later. I read the note.

"Somer's Rock, 8:00 P.M. Bring any associates," I said aloud, "and there's an address that I'm assuming is for Somer's Rock." I looked to Kurt. "How would you like to test drive the powered armor tonight?"

Long Live Empress Taylor

Gearshift stopped the transport-an unarmed military-style personnel carrier, albeit one modified with Terran-based armor and disguised as a moving van-about a block from the bar and we piled out and walked the rest of the way. Uber and Leet, just a few hours into their career as legitimate heroes, led the way as they'd been here a few times before. They were dressed in custom modified Raider uniforms, their ghost masks replaced with helmets they claimed were modeled on someone named Captain Falcon but in colors that matched the Raiders' equipment. I'd asked and they'd just said something about Leet getting an 'F-Zero' vibe from something that was apparently meant to be his tech combined with mine. Next was Gearshift, dressed in a mechanic's jumpsuit-reinforced with a ballistic weave-and a mask, with built in rectangular welding goggles, that covered the top half of her face. Her blonde hair was in a pixie cut, completing her transformation. I followed behind her, in my normal sleek powered armor, and my Lieutenant held up the rear, doing admirably in the bulkier but more powerful model he was currently piloting.

Somer's Rock was a nondescript hole in the wall with rusted bars in the windows, the same as most of the other buildings on this street. If it wasn't for the deaf family that owned and ran it, going back generations I was told, it would be utterly unremarkable. My Lieutenant had a bit of trouble getting through the door, but he managed to get in without causing damage to the building. Other than the young woman and the twin men behind the bar, there were four people in the bar, arranged around a clustered group of tables. Sitting on a chair that barely held his massive muscular form was Lung, his dragon's mask askew, so as to show his mouth. He was drinking vodka from a bottle as we entered, rather than any stereotypically "Asian" beverage. Standing behind the tattooed man were Oni Lee and a woman wearing a metal mask, with a gas mask filter, who I recognized from my research into the local villains as Bakuda. She was relatively new in town, it's only been a few months at most since Lung recruited her, and she was completely apparently a mad-bomber style Tinker. Sitting in the chair across from Lung was a bone-thin man in an all-concealing, skin-tight black bodysuit. He turned to face me and I saw the image of a cobra in white upon his face.

"You invited a hero, Lung?" The man said, "I'm quite certain that that's against the rules."

"He's involved," the muscle-bound brute replied, "and I'd kindly suggest that you hold your tongue unless you want me to rip it from your fucking mouth."

"Apologies," the man said, he stood and came over to us. He extended his hand to shake. "Coil."

I hesitated for just a moment in taking his hand, then answered "Bastion. This is my Lieutenant," I said with a gesture to Kurt's powered armored form, "You probably already know about Uber and Leet."

"I'd wondered where they'd disappeared off to," the snake-faced man said.

"Yeah, we're legit now," Uber interjected. "Paid off some fines, talked to some lawyer's, worked something out at the DA's office. As of today, it's all official."

Leet grumbled something about an "arm and a leg". I'd been informed that a lot of those fines had come out of his tinkering budget.

"Is that Squealer!?" shouted the woman behind Lung.

"It's Gearshift now," the Raider's latest Tinker replied.

"Leaving your boyfriend for the guy who crippled him and put him in prison?" the other woman mock-asked, "that's cold." I could practically taste the rage Gearshift was directing to Bakuda.

"Excuse me," came a new voice in a tone dripping with sarcasm, "you're blocking the door." Coil returned to his seat and my team and I cleared the door for the new arrivals. Entering behind the skull-helmed young man and the purple-clad villainess I'd encountered in the cemetery came a young man in an effeminate but regal outfit and a Venetian mask, who I assumed to have made the comment, and a girl with a fur collar and a plastic dog mask. Grue looked at the masked boy in what I assumed to be a glare. Finally came my daughter, clad in only the scales I'd forced myself to accept were her only costume and-

"What the hell!?" I shouted, looking Taylor in the eye.

I'd startled her and she stumbled back. "You had to have known," she said, "besides, it's not like anyone can see anything."

"Not that," I said, and pointed to the bandaged stump where her right hand was supposed to be. "When were you planning to tell me that you'd lost your hand?"

"Oh," she said in a completely flat tone. "Completely honest I kind of forgot about it." I wanted to question how someone could forget that they lost a hand, but… "It doesn't hurt and it's gonna grow back, so really there's nothing to worry about."

"How?"

"It got caught inside Hookwolf while the rest of the team and I were robbing him," she answered matter of factly, "but he's in jail and I'm not so who got the last laugh?"

I exhaled and tried to calm down, just in time for more people to come in. Dressed in an odd outfit that couldn't decide if it was a dress or riot gear was a woman with a long black ponytail, accompanied by an obese, pale man with bits of spiraled shell stuck upon his skin, an orange boy with red hair and a tail wearing only shorts, both with matching "U" tattoos signifying that they were case 53s-the Boy's above his heart, the man's on his arm-as well as a girl in a green robe and striped mask and a girl in red and black with a gas mask. I recognized the leader as Faultline, but I'd admit that I'd lost interest in her group when I'd learned they were mercenaries who often operated outside of the city and didn't investigate further, preferring to prioritize the major gangs.

The ponytailed woman looked over all of the people who were standing, then looked at Tattletale in what I could tell even through her mask was a sneer. She began walking around the standing crowd to the group of tables. I noticed Tattletale tap Taylor on the shoulder and whisper something in her ear. I noticed her slip a bill into Taylor's good hand.

"Hey, Newter," Taylor said, "will five bucks buy a kiss?"

"...Yeah," the now named Newter said, "but it'll have to wait unti-" The orange boy was cut off when Taylor grabbed him by the wrist, swung him around, and open mouth kissed him right in the middle of the bar. The boy yelped, causing his employer to turn back and attracting the attention of the other gathered villains. I saw Grue palm his helmet when he thought no one was looking. Then Taylor released the young man, handed him the bill, stepped away, licked her lips, and then started licking her palm she'd held him with. The young man blinked. "What just happened?" he asked in a confused tone.

"I'dunnah, purple-ferret-man," Taylor said in a daze, "but-my hand'z goon! Gun. Gone, that za'one" Taylor was staring at the hand that she hadn't lost.

"Whoa, Newter, your spit must be some good shit," said the renaissance dressed boy-Regent. "I've seen her drink a gallon of LSD-like a literal gallon out of a milk jug-like it was nothing. Then chase it with a brick of hash and a tablespoon of raw heroin. Still, like it's nothing." The young man seemed so utterly serious. "And then wash it down with an entire bottle of whatever liquor she had on hand. Still, like it was nothing. Then she ate the bottle. Like, mild hallucinations at the absolute worst."

"The Merchants were so pis… piz… mad the day I stole that stuff," Taylor let out. Then she giggled, and then she noticed Gearshift. "Speaking of… sorry about throwin' that dumpster at you."

"Apology accepted," Gearshift said with a gulp. I noticed that she was inching away from the table and the still crowded entrance of the bar.

I sighed. "I'm standing in a bar full of supervillains and reformed supervillains. My fifteen-year-old daughter is naked in public, and she just kissed a boy who as far as I know she just met tonight. She is currently higher than a kite and has apparently picked up one hell of a substance abuse habit. Normally I'd have flown into a murderous rage right now, but after the last few months..."

"It's okay da'," Taylor said in a slur, "I only like him for his secreesh… sectrios… juices."

The young man, Newter, immediately placed himself behind the rest of his team. Apparently, he thought I was about to give him the shotgun speech.

I turned and with a sigh took a seat at the side of the collected tables so that I could see both Coil and Lung. Faultline took a seat one away from Lung, while the rest of her crew took to a booth behind her. The Undersiders, with Tattletale leading Taylor by the hand, took a booth opposite Faultline's group.

"Not you," Lung suddenly declared when Grue tried to take the seat next to Coil. He pointed past the helmeted young man towards my daughter. "Empress."

"I'm not the leader," Taylor said back from where she was sitting… with no trace of daze or slur. Tattletale smiled in Faultline's direction. "Grue is," Taylor continued.

"And Grue and the rest of the little shits would be dead if you had not interfered in my vengeance," Lung replied, "and I burned down the loft they hid in that night-they moved in with you, didn't they?" Lung didn't wait for confirmation, "You didn't join them, they joined you." Strangely, the girl in the dog mask, Bitch, nodded in apparent agreement. Lung finished the vodka he had and moved his mask back into place. "And they're only alive because you're more interesting than killing them is, how can you say that he's still the leader?"

"I think the fact that she defers to my authority despite what you say is proof enough," Grue interrupted.

"I wasn't talking to you," Lung said dismissively.

"He's right though," Taylor said in a display of loyalty, "I'm not the leader because I respect Grue and his authority, because he is still the leader, not me. Even if I wanted to be in charge, I'd probably just fuck it up, I've only been at the villain game for a few weeks."

"And a whelp is still a dragon," Lung said. "I know your kind, Empress. It's right there in your name. You won't be satisfied with a subordinate role forever." Lung looked directly at Taylor, ignoring everyone else who was present, and finished. "Skip the bullshit and take your place at the front now."

Taylor did not reply. She turned from Lung to the deaf waitress, who apparently was not aware of the tense discussion around her, and Taylor wrote something on the notepad the waitress handed to her. Only then did she say "You might be right," she said without looking at Lung, "But right now I'm happy where I am and I don't like you disrespecting my friend and teammate."

"I hope we're not interrupting anything," came a new voice, and several people turned to the door. I turned to look as well and saw a team dressed in various variations of red and black. A masked young man in a top hat, a girl with a sun motif, a heavily armored figure with a square mask, and what seemed to be a giant humanoid octopus in a black robe with a red mask, proportioned for a human, over its head but not obscuring its face.

"You weren't invited," Lung said after a moment.

"I invited them," Coil interjected. "The Travelers are a nomadic group who came into town just a few days ago. I figured it was only fair to let them know it was happening."

Lung looked at Coil in silence, then simply turned to face forward. With apparently no further objection, Grue took his seat. The masked young man with the Travelers took the seat on the other side of Coil. After a few moments of silence, where the waitress took orders and brought drinks-from the corner of my eye I saw Taylor lifting her teacup with a hand that wasn't there, without even seeming to realize she was doing it, and I smiled-Lung spoke up. "Now unless another uninvited guest decides to come in, that should be everyone..." I couldn't help but feel like there was a threat in that sentence. "I have called this meeting," the man said, "because I'm feeling generous. Thus, I think it's only fair to make sure that everyone knows that Kaiser has lost his fucking mind and the Protectorate is too busy hiding from a young girl or else cleaning up after her messes to do anything about it."

"Are you going to tell us something that we don't already know?" Grue asked. His tone was certainly professional, but something about his phrasing led me to believe that he was a bit put out at having been treated so dismissively earlier.

"I do have to agree with the young man," Coil added, "it's quite apparent that Kaiser has become obsessed with destroying Empress, but how is that anyone else's problem? I mean, she's certainly got the situation in hand." Trickster laughed at the perceived joke. He must have seen Taylor's bandages.

"You've certainly seen it, Bastion" Lung said without looking in my direction. "Every bit of Empire territory near the docks has seen increased activity." I'd seen it, yes, but… "The rumor on the street is that Kaiser has stopped selling guns, but guns are still coming into the city."

"We've seen increased Empire activity outside of their turf," Faultline added, "and we did see Night and Fog a few nights ago..."

"And my own sources say they've vanished from Boston," Coil continued, "and if they're back here in the Bay, that would mean that Purity-"

"Is working directly under the Kaiser once more," Lung said with a tone that indicated his displeasure at having been interrupted. Bakuda glanced between Faultline and Coil in what I assumed was a look of pity. "And if Purity and her old team are once more active within the Empire, then the bastards are preparing for war, and if you think he's going to stop with five children..."

There was a long moment when no one responded. "Okay," Trickster said, "I think that just maybe we came to this city at the wrong time." The young man stood up, his team following suit, and left without another word. From the corner of my eye, I caught Tattletale frown and then whisper something to Taylor.

"So, what is it that you want to do about it?" Grue asked.

"Nothing. If Kaiser dares to attack my borders I will fight him and I will win. Otherwise, I'll simply enjoy the carnage from afar." Lung said bluntly. "I'm more interested in what everyone else is going to do."

"We're mercenaries," Faultline answered. "We do what we're paid to do, and if no one is willing to pay we'll just hole up and wait it out. We only came to this meeting because Lung's messenger said there might be a job for us." She turned to the Undersiders. "And honestly I'm not buying that Kaiser will come after all of us when he's just gunning for one girl… Sorry kids, unless you can pay our fee you're on your own." Faultline didn't sound particularly apologetic.

"I suppose that I'll deploy my resources and protect my assets," Coil added, "but I doubt I'll employ my forces against the Empire directly. At least," he continued, "until I see evidence that Lung is right about the Empire escalating beyond his grudge with the Undersiders."

Everyone was looking at me and my group now. I thought about it. I wanted to come out and say that I'd have Taylor's back… but if the PRT had proof that I had contact with Taylor or direct knowledge that I'd aided or abetted a villain or "villain..." They might start treating me like just another gang leader, and that could jeopardize the situation I was in with the city and Guild and prevent me from helping Taylor in the future. I wanted to think that she was a big girl who could hold her own against Kaiser and his band of bastards… But she'd already lost a hand to one of them. What if she loses something more important next time? What if she's wrong about it growing back?

"I'm a hero," I said after a moment. "I can't be seen helping or working with villains. Even coming to this meeting is a huge risk." I sighed. "I'm sorry to say that I can't openly contribute to any war effort." 'not that it's going stop me from helping my daughter under the table or stomping Kaiser's ass as part of my "normal heroics" if I get the chance' I thought. Taylor was psychic and sitting next to a girl who can either read minds or easily fake it. One of them had to have picked up on my thoughts or at least caught my hidden meaning.

"Damn," Bakuda interjected. "The big bad Nazis are out for your mutant blood, and not even your daddy is going to help you." She looked right at Taylor as she said it. "That's gotta hurt."

For a brief moment, Taylor's eyes flashed with blue and purple light, causing the mad bomber to back up, but no one else seemed to have noticed. Whatever Taylor was going to say was cut off, however, by Lung speaking up once more. "There is… something that could be done. A bit of assistance I can offer. Protection. Training."

"Really now?" Grue asked.

"Not to you," Lung said dismissively. "Empress, you have… potential."

"Potential?" Taylor answered with apparent non-interest.

"You were able to keep up with my power for a good long while," Lung began, "and to be honest our battle was quite enjoyable-despite your… obvious lack of combat experience." I was beginning to get uncomfortable. "I let you live, those weeks ago, because seeing what you'll become is more interesting than spilling your blood." My fist clenched.

"Oh… Is this the 'join me and together we'll rule the Galaxy as blah blah and yadda' speech?" Taylor seemed so bored. "Are you going to use some metaphor involving some legend about a carp swimming upstream as part of your pitch?"

"No-"

"Besides, even if I wanted to 'trade up,' " Taylor said with one handed air quotes, "I'm not Asian. You can't tell anymore, thanks to the scales and armor that adorn my beautiful new body, but I'm as white as it gets. I'd never fit in."

"There's a legend in Vietnam, albeit a recent one," Lung began, "that involves a fire-breathing dragon. Leaving behind the cultural appropriation and fruit origin aspects of the legend, the important part is that once the dragon was slain the soldiers who did so ate it's flesh and gained a portion of its strength. I turn into a fiery dragon and you went from a twig to an Amazon after eating my flesh. That would be enough if I didn't suspect that there was more to it."

Taylor looked down at her own body, then looked back up. "You're laying the flattery on a bit thick. I bulked up, but I'm far from an Amazon." She started picking at her fangs with a claw. "By the way, a piece of one of your scales has been stuck in my teeth ever since." A lot of people were starting to look at Taylor like she was insane. To be fair, I was still coming to terms with her apparent lack of a cannibalism taboo myself, even knowing it was a zerg-influenced aspect of her power. "I fail to see how that changes anything, no matter what else you think there is 'to it.' "

"Why do you consume the flesh and blood of your enemies?" Lung asked. "The Dallon girl won't shut up about you drinking her blood and the rumor is that Hookwolf is missing a chunk of his arm following the thrashing you gave him."

"Are you going somewhere with this?" Grue interrupted.

"Answer the question, Empress" Lung said, ignoring Grue.

"It's part of my power," Taylor said. "When I eat something, I gain its properties."

"Or in other words," Lund finished, "My flesh is now part of you-meaning that part of you is Asian."

"You're stretching," Taylor replied. "Look, you see something in me you like and want to help? That's fine." She finished her tea, "but I'm not going to leave my friends. I told you, I'm happy where I am."

"And I don't appreciate you trying to poach one of my teammates," Grue said. "It's very unprofessional. As is not reprimanding your minion for speaking out of turn." Grue pointed to Bakuda, who in turn seemed to glare at him.

"You can't have Empress," Bitch said, speaking for the first time since the Undersiders arrived, "she's ours."

"If that offer of help was genuine," Grue continued as though Bitch hadn't interrupted him, "then you'll give it on our terms or not at all."

"Or I could just kill you all now for your insolence," Lung said a heated tone. Bakuda took a step away from the table.

"And break neutrality at a meeting you called yourself?" Grue replied, "are you prepared for the fall out of that?"

"He has a point," Coil said deliberately, "I'd have thought you would have thought of the rules before you went wagging your tongue, after your threat to mine earlier."

"And you're outnumbered," Faultline picked up. "Even discounting people without weapons or powers they can use in a fight right now, that's still eleven on three." She sounded angry. It made sense, she was a mercenary, they needed rules like the ones here to have any sense of legitimacy.

"Eleven on one," Tattletale corrected. "Lee and Bakuda aren't armed. In a fight on Lung's scale, they're dead weight."

"We've fought you before," Grue continued, "we only had trouble the last time because you got lucky. Every other time we fought, we either came out on top or got away unscathed."

"Unlike you," Taylor added, "I don't get weaker when the fight's over. I'm a great deal stronger now than I was at the end of our last fight, while you'd be starting from your base and scaling up to my level, and I do not appreciate you threatening or disrespecting my friends."

"And if you somehow managed to hurt her," I interjected, "I'd kill you and have your corpse stuffed to use a prop to demonstrate what happens to people who hurt my family." I hadn't planned for Kurt to slam an armored fist into an armored palm, but it punctuated my statement perfectly.

Everyone turned to look at me. "Are you sure you're a hero, Daddy-Empress?" Regent asked. "Because that sounded like something a villain would say."

"So, Lung" Tattletale picked up, "what would bruise your ego more? Starting shit at a meeting you called and getting your ass beat, or backing off when everyone points out that you've stepped out of line?"

Lung let out a deep, rumbling laugh. "You've all certainly got balls," he said. "There's still business to attend to" he continued in a deadly serious tone, "but it can wait until the dust settles. Lee, Bakuda, we're leaving." Lung stood and made for the door. "My offer still stands, Empress: Protection and training, for you and you alone, if you're willing to admit the folly you've made here today." And with that, the tattooed man left, his minions in tow.

Shortly after, drinks were paid for and people left. Soon it was just my group and the Undersiders. "About earlier," I began-"

"I caught what you meant," Taylor interrupted. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Standing up to Lung like that," I shook my head, "you're going to give your old man a heart attack."

"If you need a transplant, I've got an extra." I laughed at her joke, and she continued "honestly, Tattletale figured Lung was gonna try something like that, from the way the invitation he sent us was worded."

"So we rehearsed a couple of responses ahead of time, for what we thought he might try," Tattletale picked up, "though we did get thrown for a loop a few times."

"That bit at the end was complete improve," Regent added. "I don't know about anyone else, but I wasn't really expecting everyone to turn on Lung the second he got mad." Tattletale gave a noncommittal sound at that.

"But yeah," she continued, "in hindsight, this whole meeting was a pretense using Kaiser's hateboner as an excuse. Lung wants to know what Empress is going to turn into-I think he wants to fight her again-and this whole meeting was an attempt to learn more about her and either get her under his thumb so he can shape her growth..."

"...Or piss us off enough that we start shit and I have to fight every other villain in town at once and adapt to it," Taylor finished. "Which I think is why he let Bakuda run her mouth. Kind of backfired on him there at the end."

I made a mental note to prepare for a fight with Lung once the Empire had been dealt with. If that son of a bitch was going to obsess over Taylor like that.

"But it's getting late, and we've got more to discuss amongst ourselves," Grue said, "Empress, I know you'd probably like more time with your dad but..."

"I understand," Taylor replied, "I'll call you in a bit Dad."

I nodded and the Undersiders left.

"So," Gearshift said after remaining silent the entire meeting, "your kid's a drug addicted cannibal, and the two most dangerous people in town are obsessed with her?"

I sighed, "it's a long story."