A.N. General disclaimer for all things copyright. I do not own the characters, setting, or lore utilized in the creation of this piece. My work is inspired by the creative thought of the original authors
Lung. The distractions were for Lung.
How as she supposed to deal with that!?
Taylor lay face down on a roof, just out of sight of the beast and his allies, fighting back a panic attack as she registered what they were plotting.
They were after kids. The end goal was to cut down some kids.
She knew that he was a monster, a literal dragon in the form of a man, but this took the cake. Nobody crossed the line to go after children. Indeed, anything involving civilian emergency services or schools would get a Parahuman tagged with a kill order in no time at all. The PRT and the Protectorate didn't fool around with that stuff.
And here he was, telling his men to go out and shoot some unnamed children.
What in the literal fuck was he thinking!? Had he gone off the deep end, embracing his monstrous side? Was this just the start of some twisted power play for the city? Did he really think he could take on the largest Parahuman group on this side of the Atlantic?
What did it matter, he was going after civilians, kids no less. He had to be stopped.
But, honestly, what was she supposed to do? There were over a dozen of his men there, readying themselves for battle, sharpening their knives and loading their weapons. She was fast, sure, but even she had limits. She could dodge one bullet, but five? Ten? A couple of rounds with some knives and a bat thrown in?
And what about Lung? How was she even going to begin to deal with that? He was so much stronger than her, faster, and could throw fire around at will. Sure her outfit was flame retardant, but there were limits to things. She would burn given enough time. Her strength alone wouldn't take him out, not unless she got the jump on him before he got going. A knock out punch, a swift blow, might be able to bring him down, but then she would be open to the others, standing in a swarm of ABB ready to retaliate.
Her worry increased as she realized that unless she put Lung down and kept him down then it really didn't matter how much damage she did. She didn't know who the targets were, if there were even targets to begin with. She prayed that this wasn't just some indiscriminate attack, shotgun blast of violence.
Alright Taylor, get yourself together. Your the hunter, the one most capable to deal with a monster like this. Your strong and fast. You have the workshop, but its not gonna help you here. Think, girl, what else can you do?
She spent a full twenty seconds on that topic, her nerves fraying from the stress, before she came to a conclusion.
She needed help.
She couldn't handle this threat alone. Really, no Parahuman in the city could handle Lung on their own. Purity, a flyer that could shoot lasers with the power to demolish buildings, would probably do decently against the man-dragon, at least until he grew wings.
Could he even do that? How far does his transformation go? What were the limits?
She shook her head, getting her thoughts back on track. She had no phone, so calling for help was out. She had no allies so she really couldn't rely on anyone to lend a hand. She didn't know who the 'children' were so she couldn't remove them from the danger. Her only option at preventing a tragedy was to attack the beast before he acted.
She closed her eyes, stifling a whimper at the helplessness she felt, the weakness, and lowered her head against the gravel rooftop. She needed help, but from where? If she just ran in there she could be killed! Lung was no joke when he got going. If he was willing to kill kids for unknown reasons then he would have no qualms with killing some dumb teenager for trying to stop him.
Taylor felt a twist, a pulling sensation not unlike when she used the mark, but gentle, something she could barely feel.
She looked up, tilting her head to the right, and felt her heart stop.
There, a short distance away, the gravel roof looked like it was melting, spinning into a familiar distortion.
What. The. Fuck.
What was that doing here!? The workshop world and her own were separate, distinct, and unable to be crossed aside from her sleeping and the affect of the mark. What was going on!?
She heard a shout from below, something in whatever language they were speaking, and the sound of multiple feet moving.
Screw it, she was out of time. The messengers wanted to help, that was good enough. She would decide where it fit on her 'don't think about it' scale later.
She made short work of crawling over to the distortion, her outfit protecting her from the abrasive surface. The messengers sprouted from the distortion, their bodies getting caught half way through as they usually did, their moans beginning to sound out.
"Shh!," she hissed, trying her best to keep quiet, "Keep it down or the beasts will find us!"
The moans lowered notably. She didn't know whether she should be grateful at their cooperation or disturbed that they listened to her.
"What do you want!? How did you even get here!?"
The messengers, their grotesque faces staring at her, or nothing at all in the case of the eyeless one, motioned for her to come closer. She grunted a bit as she did, crossing the couple of feet between her and them.
In an instant they had pulled something out from somewhere, an act she tried not to think about it, and presented it to her, their hands groping for the object as if to share in the offering.
It looked like a cane, that was for sure. It was almost as long as her leg, probably stopping somewhere near mid thigh. It was made of a solid but tarnished metal, pocketed with nicks and chips from obvious use. There was a handle at the top for a palm to comfortably rest, and a grip slightly below that, ostensibly to swing the cane much like a sword. It had a small point at the bottom, wicked sharp, to rest against the ground. The body of the cane was a single long blade, cut in a diamond shape, with two cutting edges. She could see how narrow the edges were, thin lines that couldn't have been larger than a hair.
It was so unique and strange that she barely questioned it coming from the messengers. She was getting used to this sort of thing from them.
What did that say about her?
She tried not to think about it.
Instead, she took the cane by its grip, relieving the messengers of their burden. It felt comfortable, the grip fashioned for her hand in the same way that everything else fit her, and was surprising light, made with a skill she didn't know. She looked it over, once and then again, before turning to the messengers, their forms still with attention.
"You heard me. Thank you."
They swayed with glee before disappearing back through their distortion, the roof turning back to normal.
She tried really hard not to think about what just happened and how those things had 'heard' her when she hadn't even spoken.
Instead, she crawled over to the far ledge, away from the moving horde of monsters, and carefully positioned into a crouch, trying to keep her silhouette low. She gave a few test swings of the caneblade, a couple of horizontal swipes through the air, positioning her hand so that it was most comfortable.
Her brows furrowed as she felt a small switch between her thumb and index finger, something embedded in the swinging handle of the weapon. She gave it a squeeze, applying on light pressure, and was startled as the blade seemed to fall apart, the core coming undone in a spool that settled at her feet.
Taylor briefly paniced, thinking that she had somehow broken the weapon, before realizing that it was more than just a simple caneblade. The blade had come undone in a pattern, shards of the edges all connected to a single wire that seemed to run through the core of the weapon, turning the blade edge into a flurrying of sharp shards. Flipping the switch returned the weapon to its previous state, leaving her somewhat bewildered by what she was holding.
A few swings confirmed that the caneblade was more than it seemed, just like everything else that came from the workshop. It was a sword edge, capable of parrying a foe's weapon and running him through, and it was a whip, the blade able to separate into a flurry of threaded shards that could rend and tear. She smiled as she retracted the weapon, feeling an ease come over her.
She had a weapon, something to even the odds. She could do this. She could stop them.
She had too.
A roar, the sound echoing across the neighborhood, shook her from her thoughts, following quickly by burst of red and orange fire that cut into the night sky.
She wasted little time, rushing over to the roof edge where she had last seen the gang, and vaulted over.
Lisa ran for her life.
Shouts garbled in a language she couldn't understand echoed just behind her as she ran down the alley. She jumped a turned over dumpster, a blur of purple and black, her boots nearly catching on an open lid, and tipped over a trash can as she rushed by, desperate to stall her pursuers.
Everything had gone so wrong, so fast. This was supposed to be a simple job, a small hit on a local casino. It was safe, easy, and fast. Her team had gotten in and out in five minutes, good cheer and spirits abound.
Then Oni Lee had attacked, forcing them to decide between their loot and their lives. She had seen what he was doing, corralling them further into the Docks, forcing them to move with explosives and bombs, keeping them on the off foot and entirely reactionary.
She turned on her heel as she hit the street at the end of the alley, bolting down a sidewalk that looked in disrepair. She could see figures in the distance, several men in red and green clothing near a street lamp.
Her head throbbed as her power activated.
Probable trap. Pursuing elements are meant to isolate and contain. Separation from the group is a mission objective. Fear of power. Fear of knowledge.
She cursed as she swung down another alley just as the men began to run toward her, joining in the mob steadily gaining on her. She forced her breath to stay steady, pushing through sudden hitches and a burning in her side.
Damn it. They had been split up, separated from each other sometime during the fight with the teleporter. Grue had taken Regent for some ill conceived plan to divert the bomber's attention, and Bitch had been lost sometime after the gang had come into play.
Lung was here, she knew it. Oni Lee's presence all but confirmed it. Where the teleporter was, the dragon was close behind.
Or, in this case, ahead. They were being taken apart and funneled into the fight, disorientated and probably wounded. Easy picking for someone with the experience that Lung had.
She turned left upon exiting the alley, running down a stretch of road between buildings, tipping over another trash can, its contents spilling over the concrete.
A gunshot rang out in response, a small puff of brickwork only feet away, startling Lisa as she continued.
Fear tactic. Goal is to drive target forward. Possible fatigue setting in. Possible rogue element wanting glory.
She hung a left into another alley, skipping just over a set of steps.
She let out a small grin, some amusement she really didn't feel. They were probably getting tired of running in circles. Ha, take that Bitch! She knew it had been a good idea to memorize street layouts.
Her small cheer stopped half way down the alley when she saw five men enter from the far entrance, blocking her exit.
She skidded to a stop, looking back to confirm that, yes, the rest were still following her and closing fast.
Fuck. Options?
Unlikely pursuing elements will negotiate. Capture possible. Torture possible.
She cursed again as they drew closer. Better options!?
One against approximately fifteen. Primary weapons are cutting and blunt based. Unknown firearms available. Unlikely to incapacitate all assailants. Force will be responded by force.
She growled in irritation, her power continuing to point out just how many ways she was screwed. She could feel the pistol, hidden in a holster at the small of her back, weighing heavily.
She could use it. Take as many as she could with. It was a small alley, only a couple of yards wide, so aiming shouldn't be a big deal.
She had ten rounds. She couldn't see the gunman from here, but she could take out the five in front of her, maybe make a break for it. Her costume wasn't armored enough to take bullets, so any shot could be lethal, not to mention the lack of cover in the immediate vicinity.
Still, there was another way out. She was the one with the gun, after all.
Lisa grimaced, silently hoping that it wouldn't come to that.
The two groups approached, stopping only five feet away, forcing Lisa against a brick wall that had seen better days. Two men from either side stepped forward, one younger and one older, and greeted each other, saying things that she didn't understand.
Working out details of operation. Congratulating younger subordinate for a successful capture. Intends to deliver hostage to boss after operation is completed. Unknown intention during the interim.
Lisa felt her blood run cold. She could read in between the lines.
After a few moments the older man returned to his side, pulling out a cell phone. The younger man turned, gave out a series of orders to his larger group, and finally stepped her way, hand reached forward to grab her.
His hand never made it.
Instead, a dark blur swooped down from above, a glint of steel flashed, and blood began spraying, catching Lisa on her right arm.
Before her was a figure, only slightly shorter than herself, covered in dark cloth and leather. A long coat hung down to a pair of shins covered by boots and greaves. Gloves, armored in the same pattern, met more of the same dark cloth to cover the arms. A cap, made with some kind of weird bird design, met with a dark cloth that held tight to the face of the girl, made clear by the long tail of curly dark hair.
In an outstretched right hand was some kind of caneblade, an edge honed to a sharpness that she had never seen, blood dripping from just near the bottom.
Lisa briefly heard the small thump of the hand hitting the ground before she remembered to breath.
That seemed to be a cue, the girl shifting her weight back and performing a swift kick, catching the still reeling man square in the abdomen. He flew back off his feet, faster that he should have given how thin she was, slamming into the far wall, a loud cracking sound rolling down the alley. As he fell she registered how the wall had been damaged from the force of the impact, a web of cracks and a small indent, and how the man's back was not supposed to bend that way.
A shout of alarm sounded as the gang members began to respond, the older man having discarded his phone for a pistol, the barrel turning their way.
The cane flashed faster than she could track, a streak of metal arcing through the air, wicked blades unveiled like a whip. In an instant the streak passed through the man's arm, cutting through flesh and cheap clothing with absurd ease, removing the limb at just below his elbow, viscera spraying as the weapon began to retract.
Her head burned as her power fed her information.
Cape based around brutal tactics. Take no prisoner mentality. Weapon exceptionally dangerous. Unknown design. Possible self made. Mechanical in nature. Enhanced strength with possible preternatural sense. Possibly unstable. Probably new cape.
Her mind whirled at the information as the fighting began, her presence forgotten in the wake of the monster who had just dropped in. The cape had excellent situational awareness, moving with a clarity that kept the others off foot, punishing them with brutal slashes and rending strikes. A gunman, probably the one from earlier, drew a bead on the girl, firing just as she incapacitated one thug, his body crumpling from a swift kick that destroyed his left knee.
She moved so fast, faster than anything Lisa had seen. In an instant she had jumped to the right, lashing out with her whip cane, removing the offending limb from its owner.
After several seconds a general retreat was called, the force breaking and running back the way she had come, fleeing from the merciless cape before them. One made it a few steps before a thrown brick impacted his shoulder, the internal structure collapsing, sending him to the ground with a cry.
Lisa looked around, eyes wide behind her domino mask. There was blood everywhere, dripping from the sides of walls and pooling underneath bodies. Most were alive, their groans and shaking showing their continued existence, while others lay still, those missing limbs who had been the victims of the caneblade. Moans that begged, cried for help, her power supplied, echoed through the alley, their pain so very clear.
It was gruesome, brutal, and nothing she had ever see.
It had taken less than twenty seconds.
She promptly turned and vomited, adding her fluids to the growing pool. Even as she was leaning against the wall, her body rebelling against itself, her power was still going, still providing her with information.
Cape allowed others to escape. Reinforcements unlikely. Forces will regroup before returning to collect the casualties. Injuries favor crippling strikes, the exception based around if casualty had lethal weapon.
Lisa spat out the last of what had to be her lunch, her head rolling in waves of pain. She needed to stop, to give her power a break, before she hurt herself.
But she couldn't, not with the new cape around. A cape entirely willing to maim on a whim with a weapon sharper than most professional cutlery. A cape who had saved her for seemingly no reason.
She would need every ounce of wit her power could give her.
She recovered a couple of minutes later, moving forward to the end of the alley, the exit she had originally meant to go. She couldn't be in that space anymore, surrounded by so much blood and gore. Her costume, a skintight suit of purple and black with a stylized eye, was already half covered in the stuff.
She turned back to the alley when she heard a sound. The cape was looking over some of the bodies, seeming to check on who was alive and who wasn't. She was moving between them, tilting some and shifting others, moving on after only a few seconds each time. If Lisa was half covered, then the cape was drenched in blood, having been in the middle of the fight, a flurry of flashing steel and bone shattering kicks. Her costume seemed to be somewhat water resistant, the blood giving off a sheen as it ran down the clothes, the coat dripping a small trail in its wake.
It was enough to make her sick had she anything left.
Unknown motive. Unclear intent behind examining casualties. Unsure what cape is looking for.
Lisa couldn't help it.
"What are you doing?", she blurted out.
The cape, kneeling by a fallen ABB member, one that was favoring his left leg, slowly turned to look at Lisa, green eyes flashing underneath the pointed cap. A moment passed and the cape turned back, seemingly satisfied with her finding, moving off the man and headed down the alley. Her cane was hooked against her pants belt, hanging just off her right side underneath the coat. She stepped over a pair of still bodies, boots clicking as they lightly splashed the pool of blood growing beneath them.
"Beasts, all over the city."
A girl's voice, which couldn't have been older than her, reached Lisa's ears. The cape continued to march forward, seeming to care little for how she looked like something out of a horror film. She stopped next to Lisa, arms loose and low, and gave her a once over, eyes trailing over the girl's body.
Parahuman status is noted. Presence of costume is important. Differentiates self from the casualties.
The girl sighed, a tired sound.
"You'll be one of them, sooner or later."
Lisa didn't know how to respond to that. Didn't know if she even could respond to that.
A moment passed before the cape continued, "Who are you? Your clearly not with the ABB."
Lisa blinked, her brain restarting. Right, she should probably say something.
"I'm Tattletale. My team and I were ambushed by Oni Lee earlier. We've been split up since then."
The cape hummed before looking back at the gore behind them. She then shrugged, something decided, and started off down the road, boots lightly clicking on the sidewalk.
Lisa followed, unwilling to let such a dangerous cape off on her own. Said cape began speaking glancing at her as she caught up.
"I haven't run into any other Parahumans other than yourself. Are you all new? I don't remember hearing about a team operating on this side of the Docks."
Cape assumes Undersiders are a hero team. Cape assumes Tattletale is cooperative.
Her thoughts raced. Mentally she weighed her options. Lying to the clearly dangerous cape and being found out would probably end of badly. That said, she had just literally taken apart several affiliated gang members without hesitation. The choice was pretty simple after that.
"Yeah, we just formed. We've been out a few times but this is the first time trouble really hit back."
The girl nodded, taking in Tattletale's words without question.
Lisa continued, emboldened by the response of the probable hero, "So, about those guys..."
The cape seemed to bristle at that, eyes narrowing as she responded, "What? They were beasts, preying on whoever they could."
Lisa wasn't sure how she could respond to that, so she ignored it entirely.
"Some of them are probably dead, you know."
The cape stopped, hands clenching with eyes shut.
Cape feels guilty. Has no desire to kill. Extreme action merits equally extreme reaction.
The cape opened her eyes, her voice quite in the cold night air, "I overheard Lung order them to go out and kill some children. They were beasts, but that's a level I never expected them to go. I will not tolerate monsters like that in this city. People should not have to fear for safety of their children."
Attacking children unlikely. Low chance Lung would risk kill order. 'Children' probable used in demeaning the true target. Only clear target of ABB are Undersiders. Undersiders are likely 'children'.
She had spent a lot of time learning how to keep a straight face. With her power allowing her answers with even the slightest glimpse, it became paramount that she knew how to mask her emotions.
This was a skill that made her both exceptionally capable at handling negotiations and a devil at a poker table.
Lisa nodded, looking away slightly, before responding, "Shit, I had no idea."
There was a quiet, a mutual understanding of the terrible ramifications of that revelation, before she continued, her voice empowered and just a little pleading, "Look, my team wandered into this operation and we were attacked. Lung will probably come after us for interrupting his show, which is not a fight we're ready to deal with. I know I'm asking for a lot here, but will you help me save them?"
The cape seemed to take her in for a moment, a slight breeze teasing at her brown curls and Lisa's dark blonde locks. Finally she nodded, starting their walk forward anew.
Lisa forced a grin into a friendly smile as she thanked the girl.
Maybe they would live through this yet.
It wasn't hard to catch up to Lung.
Really, all they had to do was get on a roof and follow the burning path of ruined buildings. Simple really.
Convincing the new cape to not rush ahead with her enhanced speed...not so simple.
Lisa, with the help of her insightful power, was quickly coming to an uncomfortable conclusion.
The girl was insane, or at least somewhat touched in the head. She was also very gullible to opening up when prompted with soft words and friendly gestures. For all her strength the cape had a lack of social skills that left an opening Lisa couldn't resist.
For the most part she was a new cape, first night out even, that had walked into a bad situation. She was young, sure, but not much younger than Lisa, and pretty clearly new to the whole hero/villain game. That said, the cape had done her research, able to cite the extent of Lung's power set from several sources.
Which told Lisa that she was someone who was intelligent, bookish even, but wasn't thinking about her image as a 'hero', how people would see her. The girl hadn't even picked out a name before coming out, so focused on 'helping' the city.
It was there that Lisa began questioning her ally's sanity. The way the cape would talk about gang members as 'beasts', like they were nothing more than terrible animals, showed a disregard for human life. The girl clearly didn't want to kill, but when push came to shove she was choosing, in her mind, between the life of a human and the life of an animal.
The choice, after that, became simple. Bloody, but simple.
More, the cape believed what she was saying, honestly thought that those people were nothing more than just wild animals attacking a virtually helpless young woman. The girl believed she was doing the city a favor by dealing with them, leaving whatever remained for others to clean up.
Lisa tried not to think about what the cape had meant by she becoming a beast at some point. Maybe some kind of statement, a word of warning? Was she aware of her mental degeneration, likely caused by whatever trigger event she had gone through, and was warning that she might see everyone as a beast?
Her head hurt from thinking about it and not in that 'ouch powers' kind of way.
Overall, the cape was a female hero with a fearsome amount of strength, some kind of weapon of unknown origin, and a brutal mentality that left nothing in the gray. She had little to no understanding about how cape politics worked, how the villain gangs let live with the hero groups, and probably wouldn't care if she found out, her conviction so strong. This was a girl that could cause some major waves in Brockton Bay if left alone, someone who 'hunted' with so little mercy and so much violence.
The villains would never leave that alone. Her actions would disrupt things, cause problems for the calm between the gangs. The heroes wouldn't be able to ignore her leaving broken bodies in her wake, no matter the 'good' it did the city. Her presence would be a public relations nightmare if anyone began to side with her, to actively fight against the villain gangs with no restraint, promoting a civil war that would envelop the city.
Lisa decided then that she could not, in good conscience, allow this girl out of her sight. It also really didn't hurt that she was basically a magic bullet to be aimed at any villain in the city.
Which came back to the original problem of keeping up with the cape. Her legs burned as they ran, her side twisting from the strain of the night's activities. The cape, for her part, was calm, breath controlled as her long strides carried her.
Probably a runner or something. So unfair.
After a few minutes another burst of flame pierced the night sky, a bloom of red and orange that couldn't have been more than a hundred yards away.
Warehouse located in the vicinity of fire. Possible location of fight. Probable attempt to contain within small space.
Lisa turned down an alley, instructing for the cape to follow, directing their run along the fastest route to the warehouse.
A couple of roars, the howl of some great dog and the guttural echo of something else entirely, passed through the streets, driving the girls forward.
Tattletale frowned. They were causing too much attention. The Protectorate had to be on the way. Probably waiting to get what they needed to fight Lung at his best. They only had minutes, at best.
She had to get the team, and this rogue cape, out before anything else went wrong.
A minute later they exited an alley into a street near the warehouse, smoke and fire choking the roadway as a buildings burned. A trail of ruined structures lined the street, buildings with chucks of concrete torn away, as if by some great beast, and many more set ablaze. Down the lane she saw the warehouse, looking no better than any other structure nearby, the sounds of some great conflict emanating from within.
She saw the cape move forward, determined to join the fray, and grabbed the girl's shoulder, her hand running slick from blood that just wouldn't seem to dry.
It was something that she didn't want to think about.
"Wait! We need have a plan! Your strong but Lung has had time to amp up!"
The brunette stalled, her hands clenching, muscles twitching under Tattletale's fingers. She was struggling to hold herself back, some kind of compulsion driving her forward to face the threat. After a few seconds the girl calmed, half turning to Lisa, her voice sounding strained.
"He's a beast. He needs to be dealt with. What's your plan?"
Lisa knew she had only precious seconds to convince the mentally struggling heroine. She thought fast and spoke quickly, "Alright, my team has to be around her somewhere. Bitch is probably stalling Lung with her dogs, but that won't work forever. If we can find the others we can link up, stall him, and get out of here. We'll hot wire a car or something to escape."
She only believed about half of what she said, knowing that Bitch wouldn't leave her dogs behind no matter the cost. Grue's too stubborn to leave a man behind, so they would have to find a way to get everyone out, a near impossible challenge given the scenario.
Her skull throbbed as she pushed her power, running through simulations and conclusions, searching for an answer that would keep everyone alive.
A loud crash, the sound of crumbing stone and tearing metal, broke her thoughts. The girls turned to the sound and beheld something truly monstrous.
Two somethings, in fact. One was clearly some kind of dog, though it looked like something from hell. Nearly the size of two vans, it had a body rippling with muscles under a layer of thick hide, black fur burned in various places. Large spurs of bone erupted from its body at seemingly random points, claws elongated into talons. Its eyes were blood red, a mouth filled with teeth jagged a sharp, ears pointed slightly to the rear, spines running around its neck like a collar. It was a monster, something told in tales of heroes going on great quests.
The dog beast had its maw clamped around the long, sinewy neck of something that was...inhuman. There wasn't really any other way to describe what she saw. It was large, maybe twice as big as the dog, stood on two legs, bent in an animalistic fashion, and was covered in scales that gleamed like metal, patches of fleshy skin dotting the creature. Its arms, if you could still call them that, ended in two human like appendages tipped with wicked looking talons, easily large enough to cleave a man in two. Its body was barreled out, thick muscles sliding underneath scales, displaying the power of the creature to any who should observe. A long neck, something easily approaching a car length, was twisting and writhing, desperate to get the dog monster loose.
Atop the neck of the inhuman creature was a face, not unlike that of a man, but so heavily mutated that it really didn't matter. One side was minimally changed, metallic scales and what was clearly some kind of snout forming, while the other was unrecognizable, a jaw bisected vertically and horns growing from a too stretched face.
Both creatures tumbled through what had been a wall to the warehouse, now a smoldering ruin, landing on the street, fighting and grappling, each roaring with supremacy.
Lung, the dragon, was going all out, and it terrified Lisa.
How were they supposed to stall that!? He was already almost half as big as the surrounding buildings and she knew he could get bigger. He earned his reputation through fighting an Endbringer, a being of horrific destruction that could raze cites and flood countries, to a fucking standstill. His growth potential seemed limitless, making any strategy against him forced to end the fight early, not letting him 'power up'.
He was almost two stories tall now and looked more dragon that man. There was no stopping him. Bitch, when she focused entirely on one dog, could make something truly monstrous, but it was going to only work for so long. She could already see how the claws and fire were taking their toll on the animal, its skin and fur burning faster than any passive regeneration it had could compensate.
This was a loosing battle, her power all but confirming. They needed to get out, now, sacrifice what they needed in order to survive, if they even could.
Lisa felt a pair of hands grip her shoulders and roughly pull her, a dark form with piercing green eyes taking up her view. She heard the girl speak through the constant noise of the battle, their bodies close enough to almost touch.
"Find your team. Get them out of here. Be a hero that helps, not a beast that harms."
The cape gave her a shove, something light enough to only just throw her off balance. By the time she had gotten a grip over herself the cape was running forward, caneblade held aloft, rushing to fight.
It took Lisa only a moment to realize a grave fact: the girl was going to die. She hadn't needed a know it all power to realize how screwed they were. Nobody was getting away unless something could detract Lung, could hold him off long enough.
The girl was throwing her life away to save a villain she thought a hero, and it made Lisa sick.
An explosion of fire erupted from Lung, a bubble of flames expanding outward, setting buildings aflame and exploding glass. The dog released and rolled off, a loud whining emanating from its maw as it rolled to try to put out the flames, its pain clear. Lung rolled and stood, his neck wounds oozing from the attack, the blood disintegrating under the heat. A great swing of his right claw tore a furrow though the wounded dog thing, its form quivering under the strain as it was thrown several feet away. The dragon man roared, the other half of his face cracking as his jaw finished separating into an X shaped maw.
He was a monster. An extreme action that merited an equally extreme reaction.
The cape rushed over the fallen dog, its form starting to morph and warp as if it was shedding its skin, her whip cane flashing in the fire light.
The weapon tore its way through the metallic scales, slicing a deep cut along his right thigh, blood pouring from the wound.
The dragon roared, his head turning as he eyed up his next opponent.
Lisa took that chance to move, running to the warehouse, eyes peeled for her team while she kept half a mind on the fight. Her feet were swift, carrying her half way to the burning structure as the fight began, the cape moving with deft speed as she avoided the dragon's claws, her cane weapon slashing into the outstretched limbs as they passed by. For a moment it almost looked like she was dancing around Lung's clumsy swings, her body twisting and moving with an agility that outstripped her opponent completely.
Of course, strength and claws weren't the only thing to worry about.
A burst of flame spewed out from a clawed appendage as it slammed into the street, the pavement buckling under the force. The fire spread quickly, catching the fast moving cape before she could react, the flames washing over her form.
In an instant she was moving, her outfit smoking but not burnt, her body rushing toward the appendage in a sudden dash. Her cane blade flashed and carved into his wrist, rending the scales and flesh alike. She continued this sudden assault, a complete one eighty from the her previous tactics, bringing her strength and blade to bear against the dragon man. More wounds were opened as he recoiled from the attack, blood drenching the cape and the surrounding area.
Lisa kept moving, trying to ignore how Lung's roars were getting more guttural as the seconds ticked by.
She reached the warehouse opening just as another wave of fire was released, this time stronger, buffeting her with hot air, eyes watering from the heat. She coughed, the smoke choking, and called out, "Is anyone in there!? Grue!? Bitch!? Are you alive!?"
Seconds passed by as she waited, her coughs steadily getting worse as the smoke grew denser. A chill ran down her back as she considered the possibility of their deaths. Besides being decent people, in her opinion, they were somewhat trustworthy allies, something she sorely lacked. Her worry began to rise, her mind running through scenarios of what she would do should the worst come to pass.
"No worries for me, huh? I see how it is."
The sudden voice, a male's, was followed quickly by Regent stepping through the smoke, surrounded by some kind of cloak of darkness, an inky blackness that defied logic. His costume had seen better days, the Renaissance styled clothes burned and torn, his left sleeve entirely missing. His mask, fashioned in the model of a Venetian mask, was black with soot, as was his body.
Slumped against his right shoulder was Grue, aided along by their lanky teammate. His mask, a motorcycle helmet with a face plate fashioned in the visage of a skull, was bent, warped by the heat, and had a large gouge torn across one side, a trail of blood leaking from the opening. The black motorcycle leathers than made up his costume were cracked, burned from an intense heat.
She stepped back, allowing the two guys to exit the ruined structure. They were quickly followed by a muscular girl wearing a heavy coat, boots, and a pair of large dogs by her legs. Her clothes were burnt, her jacket missing its back, revealing a nasty burn that rested to her bottom right, the skin warped and peeling. She had a hand raised to her square face, her short auburn hair looking even shorter than it had before their intrepid night began.
Lisa blinked, Bitch's exposed face sending alarms throughout her mind. She approached the other girl as she settled in with the other two, just out of reach of the flames and smoke.
"Shit, what happened to your mask?"
Said girl grunted as she stopped, her stance favoring her left leg, and responded, "Fire melted it."
Regent spoke up, the shroud of darkness dissipated, "Grue's not doing too good here. You got any ideas?"
Tattletale opened her mouth to speak, to suggest one of her half-baked plans she had been working on, when a roar, deep and loud, erupted nearby.
She turned, along with the group, witnessing the carnage transpiring nearby.
Lung, now easily two stories tall, looked far worse that she had seen him last. Numerous cuts and slashes lined his body, from his legs to one clever gash along his neck. They were healing quickly, visible sealing themselves as the seconds passed, but there were so many, and so much blood.
Blood that seemed to cover the street, dried and crusted from the constant fire he was pouring out. Blood that covered the form of the cape, standing just off to the side, her outfit smoking. Her caneblade was held in her left hand, a clearly unfamiliar position for considering how much she was shifting it. Her right arm was hanging limp at her side, terrible puncture marks lining the limb from wrist to shoulder, like the teeth of a great beast.
The dragon lunged forward, claws looking to rake the ground while the head surged in. The cape, to her credit, didn't hesitate, instead charging forward, diving just under the snapping jaws. She leaped ahead again, putting distance between her and the claws. Swinging her whip cane she lashed the dragon's legs, cutting into tendons and tissue, forcing his right leg to buckle, bringing his abdomen to her level.
And everybody knows that the soft underbelly was a dragon's least protected spot.
The cape jumped forward, dropping the cane and landing on her left foot, throwing her momentum into a left strike, hand clawed out not unlike her adversary's. The metallic scales had no defense against such force, her arm plunging into the belly of the beast with ease, driving as far deep as her bicep.
There was no response from Lung, no roar of pain or flare of fire. He was never given the chance.
The girl twisted, stepping forward with the other foot, giving her the leverage she would need. In a great act she pulled to the right, her arm ripping across the flesh through brute force, blood pouring out from the grave wound. Lung's body was shoved back a couple of feet, causing the dragon to topple, a cry in pain echoing out. The cape stepped back, a piece of intestine trailing with her, and turned in the direction of Lisa. She raised her good arm, pointing just down the street, watching the girl and her team.
Lisa followed the hand and saw a truck parked not a hundred feet away.
She looked back to the cape, eyes wide as she understood.
The girl nodded in her direction and seemed to gather herself as Lung recovered, moving to pick up her caneblade.
"Well, she's intense, isn't she?"
Lisa whirled, turning back to her team. Regent was openly staring at the cape, eyes wide as he took in the carnage surrounding the fight. Rachel was off digging her dog out of the pile of fur and bone it had shed as it reverted, her others dogs shying away from the combatants.
Tattletale spoke, her eyes darting between all parties, "There is a truck just up the road, next to the laundromat. Take Grue and get it started. I'll get Bitch and meet you there."
Regent tilted his head toward the fight, eyes on the dragon as it rolled to one side, its wounds sealing with remarkable speed.
"What about the cape?"
Lisa felt something clench in her chest, a shot of guilt running through her. That girl didn't deserve to die helping people like them.
"She's stalling him for us. We have to go."
But it was the only way anyone would survive.
Lisa left Regent to his work, already up with their wounded teammate and heading to the truck. She hurried over to Bitch, arriving just as she finished digging her dog out, a large rottweiler that was whining, joining its pack away from the fight. It took only seconds to explain the plan, Rachel giving a single nod and a sharp whistle, focusing her dogs. The two skirted the edge of the bloody and burnt battlefield, heading to the far side of the street with less burning and smoke, watching as the dragon began to resume its attack.
To his credit Lung was nothing short of a monster when he got going, capable of shrugging off mortal wounds like paper cuts. His belly was completely healed, as were most of the lashes, his metallic scales shining like new. He had grown larger, towering over the cape at two and half stories, his back rippling in an undulating pattern, muscles twisting into something that didn't belong.
The cape, on the other hand, was standing a ways back, sprinting to the side and further down the street, away from Lisa. Her wounded arm still hung limply at her side, blood running down the limb. Her dashing was getting worse, interrupted by a limp that was beginning to develop from the right leg. She was still covered in the viscera of the dragon, a dark red that gleamed, a display of her accomplishment against such a creature.
It didn't matter. Her greatest strength, her speed, was waning. She was getting slower as the fight drug on, her wounds pilling up, while Lung got stronger, his injuries almost gone now.
It wouldn't be long now.
Lisa tried not to think about it as Lung let our a roar, charging his opponent, fire flaring into being like a cloak from hell.
It took a full minute to reach the truck, one of the longest minutes of her life. She couldn't help but look back every now and then, watching as the cape barely dodged swipes that crushed cars and cracked open the pavement, retaliating with strikes that healed within seconds.
Lung was unreal. How could anyone actually beat him? How strong could he really get?
Regent called out to her from the drivers side, the engine of the pickup roaring to life, telling her to 'get in or get left'. Directing Rachel to the front in an effort to hide her identity, she jumped into the back with the dogs, settling in along with Grue, his body slumped against the cabin window. She felt the truck pull away, wheels squealing as the vehicle lurched forward suddenly.
Lisa took a second to recover and calm her breath before looking back at the fight.
Lung had grown wings, bat like appendages lined with silvery scales. The webbing was a dark red, something akin to crimson, with a wingspan approaching the width of the road. They twitched, new muscles groups resetting against an expanding nervous system, and were growing, much like his form had throughout the fight.
He let out a blast of fire, greenish blue flames radiating outward from his massive form, causing horrific damage to the area, melting cars and brick like candle wax. The cape dived forward, threading through some perceived opening within the flames, landing on her bad leg, her body dropping to a knee but only for a moment.
It was all Lung needed.
His head lunged forward, powerful muscles, inhuman in nature, propelling the attacking limb. His aim was true, the cape responding too late to his sudden movement, jaws clamping down over her body with a sickening crunch. With a quick twist he threw the girl, her body soaring high through the air. She landed maybe a fifty feet behind the truck, her body rolling, her weapon lost in the flight, covered horrible puncher marks that tore through her tough clothing like it wasn't even there. She rolled several times, hair long burned away by the flames, finally coming to a rest on her side, her body splayed against the ground.
She did not get up.
Tattletale turned away from the sight, not wanting to see Lung confirm his victory. Not wanting to see the horror of what she had just witnessed any longer. A girl, younger than herself, had given her life away because she wanted to be a hero, without really caring who was involved or why.
It was one of the most heroic things Lisa had ever seen.