Men and women fled the building, this time because Bitch's dogs were rampaging through it.

Jim had never really met the girl before, but when she came up and glared at him through her cheap dog mask something… Triggered and he growled at her. Claire blinked at him in shock, and Rachel just lowered her eyes.

"What are we doing?" she asked.

"Fucking up Lung's shit," Grue replied.

Yeah. Still no sign of Lung or Oni Lee.

And then there was a man coming up the street, timidly waving a white flag.

"Lung wishes to speak to you," he said.

Claire took the phone, put it on speaker.

"Trollhunter," the voice was low, angry. "You have taken what is mine."

"And you have taken what was never yours to begin with," Jim said. "Return it, and I leave."

"No." The voice was deeper. "I have sources in the Protectorate. Even now, they speak of Kill Orders and after this, at the very least I will face the Birdcage. If you want them, you must take them. From me." He chuckled, and read off an address. "There. But if you think that the Protectorate will do your job for you, understand that I will kill them if I see a single Protectorate Cape. You named this as between us, so it shall remain." There was a pause. "Now proof."

"J-Jim!" Ann was speaking. Jim had never heard her so terrified. She was crying, and he could hear someone else crying. "Don't—he's Lung, he'll—"

"Lose. Ann. Don't worry, I'm coming for you."

Ann's voice vanished. Lung was there. He chuckled. "We shall see, Trollhunter."

The phone went dead.

"You know it's a trap. That's in the train yards," Grue said. "At best, he'll have the place surrounded, at worst…"

"He'll kill them just to fuck with us," Jim said, his voice deep, growling. "I know. I…" Jim grinned. "How far can you control your bugs, Orb Weaver?"

"A few blocks—four at the most."

"Right, Claire can portal you a little closer before we get there. We have cell phones and bluetooth earbuds, and we can see what they're planning."

"So…" Regent said. "You're not going to fight him head on?"

"No." Jim shook his head. "The only objective is to get Ann and her family out. Once Lung can't hold them hostage we can go with the portal plan…"

"He's not going to give up," Tattletale said. "And he's done a lot that the PRT hasn't hit him for, what's the difference now?"

"Merlin," Jim said. "He can be a jerk, but I bet he'd be willing to put pressure on them." He looked around at everyone. "Thing is, you're helping, but you didn't ask to get killed, and I don't care about the rep for taking Lung down. All I'm interested in is saving Ann and her family—and I'll do that, whatever it takes."

"Well, let's go," Orb Weaver said. "The longer Lung waits, the more likely he is to think we're calling the PRT."

"Right. Claire?"

"On it," Claire said, and raised her hands. "I can portal up and around and still be there before you guys. We'll tell you what's waiting."

"Right," Jim said. "Let's go."

I was used to working alone. It was easier that way, no need to worry about betrayals or failure. But there was something about having a team. By myself, I was limited to running, and however much I practiced, I wasn't a speeder.

But now the blocks just flew by as Claire popped out, looked down the road, and portaled again. We were in the train yards long before anyone else could get there, hopefully long before Lung would expect us.

It was cold, many insects asleep, but they responded to my power and I sent them fluttering and buzzing into the area, never so many as to raise concern, but enough to get a feel for the people there.

Extensive amounts of lice and other parasites let me detect the homeless in the area, but they were hiding. Not moving.

There was a much larger group in several old buildings surrounding a cleared area.

One was hotter than the others. Lung. Another was standing still by him—Oni Lee.

"I can't see very well with my bugs," I told Claire, "It's more of a sense. But Lung has at least 30 people in the buildings around him, at the windows."

"Gunmen?"

"Probably."

"Wow, the Crime Boss who is into sex slavery also cheats. What a surprise."

"I'm dealing with them."

"You can't warn them…"

"I'm not. There are beehives and spiders in the buildings. I've woken them up. When things start, I'll sting them in the eyes and their balls. That should keep them occupied when things begin."

Claire didn't say anything for a moment. Then. "Yeah… That'd do it. Can you do the same to Lung?"

I glanced at her.

"My boyfriend is about to throw down with a guy who turns into Godzilla, and he might be fast enough to avoid my portals if he isn't distracted. We are not fighting fair."

"Maybe. But the problem is he's standing away from any buildings. He'd have warning and…"

"And kill Ann and her family. What about them, where are they?"

"The van I think, but there are more than four people in it. There's another group in a second van."

"Right." Claire called Jim. "Jim, we've got people in the buildings, probably because he's gonna cheat, or thinks we are."

"He's right," I said.

"Yep. But Orb Weaver thinks she can handle them."

"How?"

"Um… Let's just say that if her boyfriend ever forgets an anniversary, he's gonna regret it."

I blinked at that. Why would she think I had a boyfriend? Then again, there was already fan art of Claire on PHO and she had the kind of face that did attract guys. She was probably just assuming I looked as good as she did.

"Right. Okay, plan. Depending on how things go, remember, first priority, portal Ann and her family out." Jim said. "Got a location in mind?"

"I practiced with the PRT lobby, I can get them there," Claire said. "It'll be faster and more accurate if I go to them, portal out, and then come back."

"You can do that?" I asked.

"Yeah." Claire shook her head. "I can't directly portal to someplace I can't see without some kind of connection or memory, but short term, I can backtrack a portal out." She paused. "After this, we should practice to see if your bugs can work through my portals. Right now though…"

"Not really the time to experiment."

"Right."

"Right," Jim said. "Any last-minute ideas?"

"He'll probably take Bitch and her dogs as cheating, keep them out of the clearing, but the minute the fight starts…" Grue glanced at Bitch. "Kill."

"Okay," Bitch said.

"Regent, focus on Oni Lee, keep him stumbling around." Finally Grue looked at Jim. "If you have to fight, go all out. Lung ramps up, so the longer things go, the better it is for him. If you kill him before we get a chance to portal him…" He shook his head. "Well, we're in it up to our necks."

"Look on the bright side," Regent said. "The E88 will probably make us all honorary members!"

Bitch growled, Tattletale rolled her eyes, and Jim just stared. "Are you—"

"Regent's thing is being sort of inappropriate." Tattletale smirked. "But the big issue is that if Lung thinks it's the Birdcage or kill order, he has nothing to hold back for. Get them out fast."

"Yeah." Jim nodded.

But Tattletale was frowning. "He's not got nearly the numbers he should have…"

"Maybe he needs them to hold off the Empire?"

"No… He doesn't think he needs anymore. Granted, he fought Leviathan, but…" She shook her head. "Not enough to go on."

"Well," Jim said, and grinned, remembering something Stricklander had said, a year and an eternity ago. "The good news about crazy stunts is most people assume you're sane, so they're never prepared for them."

"Wow, you are new to Earth Bet," Tattletale said. "Let's go."

When Jim, Tattletale, and Grue walked into the open area, there were nearly a dozen ABB members to the sides. He knew that there were more in the buildings, but he didn't look.

Claire and Orb Weaver had that one handled. Regent and Bitch were waiting outside for their signal.

Lung was standing in the center. Jim didn't see Oni Lee, as he walked forward, leaving Grue and Tattletale behind him. No part of the plan called for them to get into CQC with Lung.

"Lee just bamfed out," Claire said. "We didn't have bugs on him, didn't want to risk him noticing."

"Thanks. Be careful."

"You too."

Lung was standing, already almost seven feet tall.

"He's internalizing…" Tattletale said. "He's pissed off, but holding it in. He's going to ramp up fast."

"Got it."

"So, the would-be dragonslayer,"

"Where is Ann's family," Jim didn't bother with the banter. Bad guys loved to hear themselves speak.

Lung gestured and the rear of one van opened, and Ann, Kim and their mother were tossed out, before being pushed to Jim's end of the area, away from where Lung stood. It was almost as if he was taunting Jim by bringing his hostages closer to Jim than Lung. Kiyoko was frantically trying to hold on to both of her daughters, trying to keep them shielded from the men around them.

She was shorter than both of them, and it would have come off, under other circumstances, as amusing.

Not now.

Kim had been crying, her face splotched. She was still wearing her pajamas, pink and blue cartoon unicorns all over them.

It looked obscenely out of place, especially remembering how hard Kim had worked to come off unimpressed at the Rig.

"Where is their brother?" Jim said, holding Eclipse, the blade aimed at Lung.

"He took my pay, ate at my table, and betrayed me," Lung said.

"You mean, he didn't know what was paying for his meals." Tattletale was smirking. "You were going to bring him in later, once he was used to it, but someone jumped the gun while he still had some morality."

"Your pay was with stolen money," Jim said. "One last time. Where is Kenji?"

"Here." Lung said. The other van opened and two men threw a form down on the dirt in front of his family.

"Kenji!" Kiyoko's voice blended with the screams of her daughters. Jim looked down. If not for the clothing, he'd never have recognized Kenji. His face was beaten into a shapeless blob, and every finger on his hands had been…

Broken.

No, not broken, shattered. His breath rasped and wheezed.

"Kenji!" Ann screamed, her little sister just crying as their mother threw her body protectively over her son.

"Kenji," she screamed, and then a torrent of words, mixed Japanese and English, spilled out.

Jim suddenly had a vision, and in Kiyoko's place there was a thin woman, wearing glasses and dressed in surgical scrubs. Someone who had spent her entire life caring for Jim, who had been…

"Change in plans," Jim said. "Claire, get them out of here."

"What's the change in plans, then?"

Jim paused, and met Lung's gaze. He knew he was playing right into his hands. Attacking after being given what he had asked for, might give Lung a fig leaf. Might give him a way to salvage something.

Suddenly, Jim found that he didn't care. "Lung doesn't walk away from this. Do it, Claire. Then get Lung. If he avoids your portals. I'll take him down."

Permanently. Some people you could talk to. People like Gunmar and Lung?

Never.

"Right," Claire said. Suddenly, there was a portal by the family, Claire standing, conjuring another one on the ground, and—

"Oh, Shit!" Tattletale shouted as Oni Lee appeared. Lung and his men were throwing themselves back.

Wait, Jim thought. Oni Lee wasn't wearing his normal bandoleers of grenades. He just had a single big bag on his chest, something that looked like an industrial flour bag—Oh shi—

And then Oni Lee exploded, and things got very complex.