Taylor Herbert is terrified.
Not for her life but for her father's.
Her father failed to pay a tribute to Lung so the Dragon took him with the intent to punish him.
When Taylor heard about her father's abduction, she immediately went to find him and hopefully save him from the Dragon's clutches.
Within two days, Taylor finally finds him somewhere in ABB territory and now she stands before the Dragon, trying her best not to tremble out of fear.
"I'm offering myself to you in exchange for my father's freedom," she says to Lung, who is lounging in a settee in front of her with whores on either side of him.
Upon hearing her offer, Lung, the women and the rest of Lung's goons laugh in amusement and derision. Except for Oni Lee who remains silent as a statue.
"What can a white girl offer us that my men and women of ABB can't do?" comes Lung's drawl through his metal mask.
Taylor bites her lower lip and wrings her hands in front of her nervously.
Tell them what you are. It's for your father's sake. She thinks inwardly.
She straightens her spine and juts out her chin while she says with false confidence, "I'm a cape. I'm sure you have better use of me in your gang."
Taylor notes the way Lung's eyes narrow at her after her admission.
"If you are a cape, then why don't you show us your ability," is Lung's demand.
Taylor can't help the flush of embarrassment from showing on her face when she realizes that Lung wants a demonstration.
"Or are you lying?" Lung asks in a deadly tone after a prolonged silence.
"I'm not lying!" Taylor burst out. "It's - it's just that I'm embarrassed."
"Embarrassed about what?!" The Dragon snaps impatiently. "I haven't got all day for this. So why don't you just explain to us about your power?"
"Fine!" She says and begins to explain. "From my understanding, I'm a trump. I can use the power from any capes permanently or temporarily without any weaknesses, depending on the method of transmission."
Taylor left out the fact that she is also a Master. She really doesn't want Lung to know about that.
At her words, Lung's eyes glinted with interest.
"What do you mean by method of transmission?" Is the Dragon's inquiry.
The blush on Taylor's face deepens while she looks anywhere else but at Lung's eyes.
"The method of transmission is either through ingesting the blood of the cape or - or -" Taylor stutters for a moment. "Or I kiss them on the lips where I absorb their powers."
There's a moment of silence where Lung and his people stare at her.
"Interesting," Lung murmurs. "Well then. Go ahead and demonstrate your power to prove yourself."
"I'm not kissing anyone!" Taylor blurts out quickly.
"Who said you are kissing anyone?" Lung says in mild amusement. "You said you can absorb other cape's power through ingesting their blood. Well, Oni Lee can give you his blood. All you have to do is prove yourself and I will release your father."
Taylor wrinkles her nose at the thought of drinking other people's blood but that was what her power told her. She needs blood or saliva to absorb power from other capes. She also doesn't mention that she has fangs to inject venom on her victim to make them permanently suggestible to her.
"Alright," she says reluctantly.
"Oni Lee, give her a bit of your blood," the Dragon commands.
Taylor watches as Oni Lee draws out a dagger and slashes it against his arm before he walks towards her with the dagger dripping with blood.
Oni Lee presents the dagger to her but she shakes her head and says, "No, I need to drink it from the source."
The assassin seems to freeze at her words right before he reluctantly raises his bleeding arm towards her.
All the while Taylor feels self-conscious as she reaches for Oni Lee's arm and draws the wound towards her mouth. She briefly glances at Lung, who is carefully watching her every move.
"Don't try anything funny," Lung rumbles a warning. His eyes flashing with deadly promise.
Taylor simply nods before bringing Oni Lee's wounded arm closer to her mouth. The moment Oni Lee's blood touches her lips, she is immediately bombarded by information and an insatiable hunger for more. Every nerve in her body becomes electrified at the taste of blood. She is in complete ecstasy. Without her control, her fangs came out and pierced Oni Lee's flesh, instantly flooding his system with her venom.
She hears Oni Lee make a sound while she also keeps tabs on her surroundings. She notes how Lung suddenly stands up from the settee and roars at her to "STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING!".
Meanwhile, Oni Lee seems to sway on his feet while Taylor continues to suck more blood and info from him until she finally understands how his power works.
Right before Lung closes the distance between him and her, Taylor teleports away from him, leaving ashes behind.
She licks the blood off her lips and then says calmly to him, "It's done. I got his power temporarily."
Lung ignores her comment as he whirls around and yells at her, "What did you do to Oni Lee?!"
Taylor glances towards the ABB assassin who has dropped down on one knee and looked confused.
"He will be fine. That's the side effects of my power after I ingested his blood," Taylor replies and meets Lung's angry eyes. "He will be alright after a minute or so. Also, I already healed his wound."
Lung growls at her while he helps Oni Lee to his feet.
"You are not going anywhere else until I make sure Oni Lee is fine," the Dragon tells her furiously.
Taylor nods her head silently.
"The rest of you. Get out!" Lung angrily orders his whores and goons, who scrambles out from the room in a hurry.
"And you! Stay where you are or you are never seeing your father again!" Lung says to her while he drags Oni Lee towards the settee, who collapses on it soon after.
Taylor watches as Lung tries talking to Oni Lee, who remains silent as he lay there on the settee without a care in the world.
He must be high due to my venom. Even if I only injected him just a little bit of it. Taylor thinks.
"He's unresponsive!" Lung snaps at her. "What did you do to him?!"
"It's probably because of my saliva," Taylor is not going to say venom or Lung will be more suspicious of her as it is, "It makes him feel high as a kite when my saliva interacts with his system."
Lung lets out a grunt in displeasure.
"I hope he gets better soon or else you and your father are dead meat," the Dragon threatens and Taylor recoils from him.
"I assure you that Oni Lee is fine. Do you think I would jeopardize my father's well being if I did something to Oni Lee?" Taylor says in a reasonable tone while hiding the fact that she was scared shitless of Lung.
Even though she has obtained Oni Lee's teleporting power, she can't do anything about it, not until her father is free.
Lung just continues to glare at her. Taylor tries her best not to fidget.
A minute later, Oni Lee begins to stir from the settee and says something in another language.
Lung begins speaking to his Lieutenant in Japanese while Taylor starts to wring her hands in worry.
Then, Lung abruptly starts laughing and turns to her.
"Girl! Do you have any idea what your power did to Oni Lee?" Lung says, chortling.
"I - what did my power do?" Taylor asks with growing trepidation.
"You are right. Your saliva is like a drug. Like an ecstasy in fact that Oni Lee is left to fantasize about having sex with you for hours on end to him, which is only like a few minutes to us in the real world," the Dragon tells her.
Taylor is horrified while a flush suffuses her face. She didn't know that was the effect of her power on her victim. She will not subject anyone with her powers again if she can't help it.
She glances at Oni Lee who seems to be staring at her intensely. Her face heated up some more at the realization that Oni Lee has been fantasizing about her for the last few minutes.
Taylor inwardly moans with humiliation.
Stupid power! Taylor thinks in despair.
"Now that you have proven yourself to be a cape. I will release your father after you promise to work for ABB," Lung says to her seriously.
Taylor bites her lower lip in uncertainty right before she responds slowly, "I don't have any other choice. So I will do what you say as long as you free my father."
"Then, we have a deal," Lung says while Taylor simply nods her head and silently wonders what will happen to her in the future.
She can only hope that her father is going to be fine without her.