Depravity 1.2:

10:00 PM.

On a Monday.

"That's a terrible plan." Mac opposed.

"How is that a terrible plan? We meet him in the middle and he has no way to surprise us." Dennis refuted.

Mac shook his head. "I don't know Dennis. You're talking about meeting a transforming, powerful, fire blasting, dragon man in the middle."

Dennis crossed his arms. "Oh, come on, you can't actually believe that dumb rumor passed by supervillain that he can turn into a dragon?"

"He can already spew fire. What more proof do we need!?"

Dennis shook his head "look Mac, I know it's not exactly a great plan...but it's the best plan we got. It's either that or we wait for them to come to us and let them ambush us!"

"Or we could leave!" Dee suggested, "maybe, instead of fighting the giant dragon man that wants to kill us, we could just go! Hm? Any of you ever think of that?"

"No you stupid bitch! We can't do that!" Mac insulted. "He'll find us. He has one of the biggest groups in Brockton Bay! Which is why we need to set a trap with him! All we have to do is get Charlie to grow his dogs and hide them in the bar somewhere hidden and ambush him when he finds them. We'd be gold!"

"Won't work." Frank argued, "The bar is too small, and if he wanted, he could just set the whole place on fire and throw grenades into the building. And trust me, this place is about as flammable as a gas station. We would need to weaken him first with something."

"Right!" Dennis agreed, "so we need to be the one to attack him. I actually have a plan for taking out Lung. not surprisingly."

Dee, Frank, and Mac looked at each other. Then Mac spoke, "let's hear it"

Dennis took his cue. "ok, so if Mac covers the area in darkness. Lung can't, won't, be able to hit any of us."

"But if it's dark, none of us will be able to hit him." Mac refuted

Dennis put one finger up. "nah-ah-ah-ah! Not true, the darkness doesn't hamper smell, so the dogs will still be able to hit him, while also being able to avoid the fire. With me so far?"

Dee, Frank, and Mac nodded.

Dennis continued "so it's obvious what we should do, we cover the area in darkness while you, Frank, and Charlie ride on the dogs using strike and retreat on him, Dee defeats any thugs he has on him, and I trip him up with my nerves powers. Then-"

"Hold on, hold on, hold on a second, hold on a second." Dee interrupted. "We fight lungs up close while you go from far away and trip him up?"

Dennis rolled his eyes. "Listen Dee, we all have strengths. I am simply playing with mine. plus there's a purpose to it. I can control people completely after a while."

The realization hit Dee. "Oh-no."

Mac's eyes went wide. "Wait...don't tell me…"

"Imagine how great having a fire-breathing, unstoppable gangster on my side would be. The power...the control...the ability to make him do whatever I want. "

Dennis continued. "I could have him destroy a bar, I could have him kill a man." Dennis chuckled. "I could have him do worse than that...It's like the thrill of being next to the executioner switch. Will I flip it? I have the power. Maybe I will, maybe I-"

"Ok, that's enough." Mac was tired of his speech. "Did you know about this Frank?"

"Yeah, did you?" Dee also asked.

"Yeah," Frank admitted. "I figured that's where he was going with it."

Mac spoke up. "do you really think you can control him?"

Dennis crossed his arms. "It never had a limit before. Unless he has completely different biology from a human, it should work just fine. Just one problem, though. The second Lung hears us. He would know something is up."

"I got something just for that!" Charlie announced.

Dennis, Mac, and Frank look in Charlie's direction. He was holding four very large kittens objects in each hand.

"PUPPY MITTENS! TO THE RESCUE!"

The four faces looked as if someone told them the sky was green.

"Pu-pu-puppy mittens? Seriously?" Dennis stuttered.

"Yeah, puppy mittens! A way to sneak up on Lung without him catching on!" Charlie protested.

Dennis, Dee, Mac, and Frank both stuttered over themselves.

Dennis waved both his hands. "Pu-puppy mittens are not going to help us!"

"Yeah Charlie, I don't see puppy mittens helping in any way" Mac agreed.

"Yeah." Dee agreed with both of them. "I mean...they're just mittens! Do you really think that four one-inch thick mittens are going to cover the noise of your giant fricking animals!?"

"First of all," Charlie protested, "they're two inches thick. Second of all, I tested them. They make you completely silent."

"Char-" Dennis was interrupted.

"Completely silent!"

"Okokok!" Dennis interjected. "i get it! They make you completely silent but that's only for humans right? You tested them on yourself, right?'

Charlie nodded. "I mean yeah, but it's the same thing right?"

"Char-" He was interrupted again.

"It's the same thing!"

"No, it is not the same thing, dipshit!" Mac shouted. "It's a completely different weight class! It's like three weight classes down! It's human, large animals, Ethan Suplee, and then your animals!"

"Ok fine then asshole!" Charlie shouted, "What do you suggest we do then?"

"Mac can use the powers on the dog's feet," Dennis suggested.

"Maybe I can use my power on the dog's feet," Mac spoke at the same time

Dennis and Mac look at each other.

"Strange minds think alike." Frank changed an old saying.

"It's not strange minds, it's great minds!" Mac said.

"Yeah, Frank! A broken clock is right twice a day!" Dennis said.

Mac turned his whole body swiftly. "What...What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, I'm just saying-"

"I'm a great-"

"-only one of us comes up-"

"-mind! I'm an excellent-"

"-with great ideas all the-"

"-mind! Oh, I come up with-

"-time. No you-"

"-great ideas like-"

"-don't when the hell do you EVER-"

"-making the Charlie the janitor and-"

"-come up with any INTELLIGENT-"

"-pay him minimum wage!"

"Ideas!...except for that one."

"Yeah! that was good!"

"Admittingly, yes."

"Wait," Charlie growled, "Was that your idea, Mac?"

Mac's eyes darted to the right. "Nope, it was Dennis!"

"WHAT!?" Dennis said.

"All Dennis! All-"

"That is a load of-"

"Ok, so just so we're clear." Dee interrupted. "We are fighting Lung head right?"

"Yes, Dee, we are," Dennis said exasperatedly.

"Straight on?" Dee said.

"Yes Dee!" Dennis said again.

"1v5?"

"YES!"

"Technically, it would be more like 5v20." Frank pointed out. "Cause we'll be fighting all his minions too."

Dennis rubbed his chin. "Hm, that's gonna make things more complex."

"Well, I'm out," Dee announced. "Good luck with the plan, boners."

Dennis pointed at Dee. "No! you are not leaving us! ! Lung is attacking the whole team which means we stay as a team! Now you get back here and get ready for the plan, RIGHT. NO-"

Suddenly, Dennis' face scrunched up as Dee disappeared. Dennis lowered his hand and was left scratching his head.

"Did...anyone else forget what happened?" Dennis asked.

"Actually," Mac thought about it, "I did."

"Weird."

"yeah..."

"So you don't want to do the puppy mittens?" Charlie asked

Dennis turned to him. "No Charlie! We're not doing th-

"Goddammnit Charlie! Will you stop ta-

"-at! Hell's wrong with him!?"

"-lking about that!? I don't know Mac."

"Why? Why does he-"

"I don't know. I-"

"-keep talking about it?"

"-don't know."

"Does he really think that red mittens-"

"Yeah, it-"

"-Knitted by a old lady is going to snuff out the-"

"-Yeah, it doesn't make any-"

"-sound of a two ton beast!?"

"-sense. It really doesn't, he just-" Dennis waves his arm in Mac's direction in a 'it doesn't matter' fashion. "Whatever, let's use the darkness instead, we'll cover their feet, Lung will never hear us coming."

"So I knit these things for nothing?" Charlie questioned.

Dennis looked to the left and the right. "Yes."

"Come on, I put almost ten hours on these things!"

"Well, you shouldn't have." Mac told him. "Because it's stupid!"

"you can't just throw out my hard work! right!?"

"Tell you what Charlie," Dennis said, "we'll do both. We'll use the mittens and the darkness."

"Yes!"

"Yeah, happy, happy. All right we put on our costumes and we'll be ready."

"Ok." Mac stated.

Right as he said that, Frank's phone started ringing. He looked at the caller I.D and found out who it was.

"Coil's calling."

"What the hell does he want?" Mac asked.

"Don't know." Frank answered. "Might be about Lung, could've gotten some information."

"How could Coil get some information on Lung?" Mac asked.

There was a pause. "My business, not yours. I gotta take this."

Frank went to the back of the bar and answered the call.

"Hello Coil."

"Hello Tattletale." Coil responded. "Are you about to go out?"

"Yes."

"Don't," Coil said cautiously. "I have some information."

A warning, Coil made a timeline, The Gang lost.

Not a good sign so far.

"What do you have to tell me?"

"Your fight doesn't go the way you expect it to."

Using indirect language, Lung doesn't beat The Gang, beaten by an alternative source.

"Who beat us?"

"Very quick to the punch aren't you?"

"Hey, it's my power."

"A girl that can control bugs that says on a news show she was fighting against both Lung and your gang, but decided to work with you to fight against Lung. But it was a non-issue because a hero shortly afterwards came to tranquilize Lung and beat your gang. Except for Imp."

" Yeah, the bitch abandoned us, but what you're saying we should hold off on the attack because if we don't...the bug girl and the dragon man will kick our asses."

"Yes."

"Ok Coil, anything else?"

"No, that's it. Be careful."

"Thank you Coil."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

Frank smiled and hung up the phone.

Frank went out to the front of the bar to warn The Gang.

"We have to hold off on the attack."

"What why?" Dennis question.

"There's another variable, another person looking to attack Lung."

"A hero?"

"No Dennis." Mac stated as if it were obvious. "It's obviously not a hero or else it'd be a group of people, it's a villain right Frank?"

Frank pondered for a little while. Then came out and answered. "Yeah."

"All right, maybe we could do a team up with them. Will that work?"

"Yeah-" Dennis was interrupted.

"No-"

"-that could work-"

"No. nononononono," Frank immediately shot down Man's and Dennis' "that won't work. Be-"

"Why not?" Mac asked.

"Because the first thing she will do is attack us. Once we realize what we do, she'll attack us."

"Why-"

"Ok," Dennis said, "so we won't tell her-"

"Would she attack us? We're all villains!"

"-what we do. Some villains have standards, Mac."

"So do we!"

"Yes, but her's might not line up with our's."

"Exactly!" Frank exclaimed. "So we have to hold off on the attack, wait for the bug girl to wear him out a little."

"There's no wearing out Lung Frank! He just gets bigger and meaner and stronger the more you fight him he's like...like rocky!"

"Like Rocky right." Dennis agreed.

"All willpower!"

"Ok so we hold off until the bug girl gets weared down!" Frank exclaimed "Don't worry. Lung won't ramp up a significant amount from fighting bugs so we'll be safe."

Mac breathed out his nose and looked to his left. "All right, fine. So when do we leave?"

"We leave in two minutes. That should be enough time. Charlie, might as well grow the dogs now."

Charlie gave a thumbs up "You got it!"

Then went to work on the dogs.

Growing them caused bone and flesh to pop out of the dogs splattering in amazing, gory, detail. The dogs grew twice their size in 10 seconds and four times their size in 30 seconds. The dogs thrashed and yelped and moaned until they were monsters they could tear a man apart in two seconds.

Mac looked at his arm, even though it didn't have a watch. "Well it's been two minutes."

"About." Dennis agreed.

"Let's go," Frank ordered. "Charlie, put the mittens on."

Charlie put his hand in the air "yes! Whoo!"

Dennis raised his finger to say something but decided against it. He put his mask on. "Let's go get this over with."