"Right," Brian muttered as they portaled away. "We've just declared war on Lung and thanks for warning me about how far your friends would go, Tats, but what now?"

"Take down a couple of more sites," Orb Weaver said, in that calm voice of hers. "Make it so that Lung can't laugh it off. We have to keep the pressure up, so no going to hide."

"And when we fight Lung?" Grue asked. "He fought Leviathan."

"After he ramped up," Lisa said. "And…" she stared at Claire. "You have a plan. Are you really going to fight Lung?"

Jim laughed. "No… I mean, not unless I have to. But…"

"You can't fight the air," Claire said. "So we call Lung out, Jim gets him into position and then…" She gestured and shimmering purple filled her hands. "I put him into the sky. Then I let him fall until he gets up to speed and do it again, and send him into the bay. That's just water. Nobody to fight."

"Then we call Armsmaster to get him before he gets out, get Ann and her family back home, and I…" Jim put one hand behind his neck. "Face the music. But don't worry—it was my idea."

"You do realize just how pissed off the PRT is going to be with you, right?" Lisa said.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time I've been sentenced to something like death," Jim said.

"That's… Holy shit, you're not exaggerating." Lisa shook her head. "Look, it's okay to not be the suicidal sacrificial goat."

"I'm not…"

"Yeah, you are," Claire said. She glanced at Lisa. "Know the type?"

"Y-yeah, I do," Lisa said.

"What about Oni Lee," Brian asked. "Lung isn't going to play by the rules."

"I…" Jim paused. "He'll have to fight me first, or he'll lose face. We get him out fast enough and Lee won't be able to respond." He shook his head. "But that's my and Claire's job. First, I need you to cover Claire while she gets Ann and her family away. Then you can all leave."

"No." Orb Weaver said nothing else.

"Yeah… I'm sort of curious to see what happens as well," Lisa said. "Besides, I don't think we can piss Lung off any more, so the best bet is us all jumping on him…" she smirked. "In case your plan goes south." She looked over at Brian. "Think of the rep this is going to get us!"

Yeah. Think of the rep. Hopefully it won't involve dying. Aisha really needed someone other than Dad to watch over her, and her mother… He shook his head. "Where to now?"

"There is a pachinko parlor about five blocks away. It's an ABB money-laundering front." Lisa said. "Anyone feel up for a game?"

The first thing Dean heard as he entered the command center was Piggot's voice.

"What the Hell is happening!" the director bellowed.

"The Undersiders, Trollhunter, Shadowdancer and Orb Weaver have declared war on Lung." Battery gestured at the screen, where a PRT drone was showing a huge hole in the ground, churning water visible. "That was the Good Fortune Club. It used to be the HQ for the largest Triad gang in the city until Lung made it part of the ABB. Then it looks like Shadowdancer decided to turn it into a sinkhole. But that's not the worst…"

"What's going on, Gallant?" Dean looked down and saw Vista. He'd been up late with Vicky when the PRT had come crashing in, but it looked like Vista had been sleeping. She had pajama's on under a coat, a big purple unicorn embroidered on the pajama shirt, her mask looking odd on her.

"I don't know," Dean said. "War, I think." The rest of the Wards were filtering in, Mr. Blinky staring at the image in disbelief, Merlin leaning against the wall exuding boredom.

"Tell, Lung, the Coward of Kyushu, the Dog of the Bay, that he will return the family he took, and he will stop taking women for slaves, or I will end him, and utterly destroy everything he has built."

Dean whipped around at the words of Jim, sounding unlike anything he'd ever heard him say, just in time to see the cell phone video repeat the scene of a fucking five-story building collapsing.

"Director, I have found their civilian phones," Armsmaster said. A second screen came up, showing his helmet cam view. "It is an apartment, apparently one that was forcibly entered…"

"Wait a minute," Dean said. "Armsmaster! Pan left!"

Everyone looked at him, but he didn't say anything until the family portrait came up. "Oh fuck, that's Ann's family."

"The girl that was with Jim when Rune assaulted them?" Piggot frowned. "Could this be an E88… No, that makes no sense."

Then a phone rang, and she grabbed it. Dean watched and felt Piggot's mood. It went from angry, to shocked… To furious. He'd never felt that, not even when Shadow Stalker had come out as the bully she was.

"That was the BBPD. A man just showed up 'wearing a crown of black widows.'" Piggot took a deep breath. "Evidently the brother, Kenji was the man who betrayed Lung. Lung took him and his family, including his mother and sisters as repayment to replace the lost sex-slaves."

Vista sucked in her breath.

"Mr. Galadrigal," Piggot said. "What is the chance of us convincing Mr. Lake and Ms. Nunez to let us handle this."

"None." Blinky paused. "None at all."

"Lung's going to go on a complete rampage after this," Assault muttered. "And I bet the E88 is also going to mobilize. This is too good of an opportunity for them."

"Hopefully it won't start with the deaths of my two wayward Wards," Piggot muttered. "I want to kill them myself." She paused. "Armsmaster, I want you looking for them first with the rest of the Protectorate. All nonlethal measures are on the board to get them back, safe and secured, along with anyone they're working with. For now, we'll extend the Undersiders truce protections and Orb Weaver is a heroic rogue. We'll deal with Lun—"

"That's bullshit!"

Dean looked down at Vista. Her face was red, space seeming to twist around her body.

"That's bullshit!" She repeated. "Kim goes to my school, Jim's our friend! And you're acting like he, he's the bad guy, And it's—"

"VISTA!" Director Piggot didn't usually shout. She got loud, but shout—

And Vista's mouth snapped shut.

"Lung is one of the deadliest capes in the city. So is Oni Lee, and Jim and Claire are seeking to fight him, and he won't be holding back. Trollhunter is a brute, but he's not in Lung's weight class." She took a deep breath. "My first priority is to secure their safety. That is my responsibility. But if you had let me finish, we will then deal with Lung permanently—I will be requesting a Kill Order from Director Costa-Brown right after this meeting. Wards, return to your quarters. All section heads, prepare for your briefings. This is going to be a full mobilization."

Moments later, Dean and the other Wards were heading for their quarters. Then Vista tugged him to the side.

"Call Glory Girl!" Vista hissed.

"Vista, this was classi—"

"They won't find Jim and Claire, not in time!" Vista said. "But they won't be trying to hide from Vicky! She can tell them that Lung is going to get a Kill Order so they don't have to fight him!"

And Vicky is the fastest flier in town, pretty much…

And Jim won't back off. Dean knew that. He saw emotions. Jim's fight with Circus had led to a combination of amusement and embarrassment.

Uber and Leet pulling one of their stunts where people could be hurt? That had pissed him off. A man kidnapping Jim's friends to sell into slavery…

Vista was right. The only way he'd back off would be if he knew that he didn't have to take Lung down.

"Right." Dean said. I am going to be in so much trouble for this… He thought as he typed out the message on his phone. But that wasn't his biggest fear. I am asking Vicky to do something that is going to rely on her ability to talk someone down.

But they really didn't have a choice. Jim and Claire didn't have their phones, and you didn't publicize a Kill Order—not the first time. The first strike was usually the PRT with the gloves off. Only if that failed did you announce it to the world and hope a bounty hunter could win where you failed.

"Sent it," he said. "Now let's just hope…"