A scowl was plastered on my face as I stalked through the halls of my home, trailing a path to my office as I practically fumed with anger at what had just happened. It was late enough that nobody was still wandering the halls which was good as it meant that I didn't have to bottle up the anger I was feeling until I was in private. I could show just how displeased I was without anybody any the wiser.

I couldn't believe that Hiashi of all people would have the gall to suggest something like that. I had thought that the man had more sense, that his loyalty to my father was just as strong as my own. Apparently I was mistaken.

Unbidden, a growl escaped my throat, my power roiling inside of me as I remembered his words. Run the ABB in my father's place, take over leadership and deal with things in his stead. What a laughable idea.

Even putting aside the massive betrayal that it would be to my father, as well as the fact that I probably could do it, I didn't want to run the ABB. I didn't want to be responsible for all of those lives that my father had brought together. I didn't want to deal with the conflict and stress that came with being the leader of the second largest gang in Brockton Bay.

Though I may seem completely on top of things on the outside, the trust was that my father's presence was a large part of that. The knowledge that he would always be there to handle things that I couldn't was a great comfort to me and allowed me to perform at my best and even then, I was often overwhelmed by the sheer amount of work that I often had to contend with.

I couldn't count the amount of times that I had worked late into the night, fixing an issue that had popped up within the gang or even dealing with another that had been there long before I had even taken up my position. It seemed like it was one thing after another, a never ending pile of work

As much as I hated to admit it, before I had arrived, the ABB had been hanging on by a thread. Financials had been on a plummeting nose-dive for nearly a year and actual recruitment was lower than it had ever been with conscription at an all time high. If it had continued for another few months, I had no doubt that it would have begun to show even to those who were not privy to the gang's internal workings as defections grew and we began losing money.

Despite this, nobody had seemed to care enough to fix any of it and instead it was left to me. I had been forced to learn and master more skills than I had ever imagined in the months since joining the gang and while the ABB was better off for it, it was certainly weighing on me.

With how carefully polite and composed as I had crafted my cape persona to be, most wouldn't notice what was happening from the outside and indeed, it seemed that Hiashi hadn't either. Else he wouldn't have dared ask such a thing from me.

For just a moment, the idea of his loyalty being compromised crossed my mind before I immediately shook my head. As blasphemous as Hiashi's request of me was, I retained enough judgment in my anger to know that he truly believed that his request would do nothing but help the gang. Even if his way of going about it was traitorous at best.

I put it out of my mind for now, and not just because all of this anger was starting to give me a headache. My hands were more than full enough already with the upcoming war with the Empire, not to mention this business with the Undersiders. Hiashi's ideas were inconsequential, no matter how angry they made me.

With a huff, I turned into the hall that held my office. I suddenly stopped as I was met with a sight that made my gut sink.

Since my house was technically also the main hideout for high ranking ABB personnel, it only made sense that the gang's capes would have a space here as well and Bakuda was no exception, having a small workshop here for her personal use. She didn't use it often, mostly preferring her much larger workshop in one of the warehouses near the docks, but it seemed that today was different.

The woman closed the door behind her as she exited her workshop. She was wearing her entire costume sans her mask and she turned in my direction as she heard me approaching, revealing a young woman of mixed blood just like my father and myself. As her brown eyes met my own, she frowned, clearly as unhappy to see me as I was her.

"Bakuda." I nodded to the woman as I made to pass her by. As deep as my distaste for her ran, I didn't want to deal with any more incidents today. Unfortunately, it seemed I was alone in that regard.

"Hey, Yosei." The woman called out to me as I passed her. I paused at her tone, turning back to look at her with a placid expression. She was now grinning, a cocky smirk on her face as she adjusted one of the straps of her bandolier, the grenades it held clinking with the movement, "How's preparing for the war going?"

The question, spoken with seeming sincerity, wasn't one I had expected to come from the woman so I was a bit slow to respond.

"It's going slowly, but it's progressing all the same." I responded, slightly suspicious of her intentions, "Figuring out the logistics of how things are going to go as well as ensuring that our losses are minimal is a necessary, but slightly grueling process."

I paused as Bakuda scoffed before frowning at the glint in the woman's brown eyes as she turned a smirk her way, "Grueling, really? All you're doing is doing the same shit you do every day. Sure, things have picked up a bit, but compared to me, you're barely doing anything."

I stared at for a moment, actually surprised by her gall. The ego of this woman was actually astounding sometimes, to say something like that directly to my face like it was a normal thing she could just do because she pleased

"I've been in my workshop eighteen hours a day, every day, working on all sorts of nasty bombs that'll scare the shit out of those Nazi fucks." Bakuda boasted, pretending she hadn't just done what she did.

She pulled a boxy grenade off of her bandolier. There was a small screen on the side and wires were poking out of the top, indicating it was different from her normal explosives. Bakuda did something I couldn't see and the screen lit up with bright red numbers and she grinned, "This one turns everything around within fifty meters of it into sand and doesn't even need input from me because it's on a timer. Just set it, wait an hour, and watch shit disappear."

"When all of this kicks off, I'm gonna ask Lung-sama for a couple men and maybe Oni Lee too, to come and help me plant some of these babies in some of their more important stash houses. The ones they hide in the residential areas thinking nobody will come after them." Bakuda grinned, tossing the grenade up and down, "It'll catch them by surprise and send 'em scurrying like rats. They'll be easy to mop up after that. Especially if I manage to catch one of their capes in the blast."

For a moment I just stared at the woman as her words registered in my ears, wondering if I had heard her correctly. There was no way she just said that.

"And tell me, Bakuda, what happens when those bombs of yours catch innocent civilians in the blast?" I asked slowly, marveling at the woman's apparent lack of forethought.

Bakuda scowled at my question, placing her bomb back in its place, "There won't be anything left of them to identify so who cares? It's not like anyone will be able to tell if they were civilians in the first place."

Or maybe she had thought about it. Maybe she was just a fucking idiot. I stared at her for a long moment, wondering just what was going on in her mind that she thought killing civilians by the truckload was in any way a good idea.

I held my tongue before I started to openly question her sanity. Clearly, this woman was insane and if there was one thing I had learned from Tammi and her frankly egregious amount of time spent on the internet, it was that you don't argue with crazy if you want to keep your own sanity.

"Right. Well, truthfully, your bombs likely won't be needed at all so there's no need to overwork yourself." I dismissed her idea entirely, feeling a bit of satisfaction at the way that her hands clenched into fists at my words, "Between my father and myself, it is entirely possible that we will be able to deal with their cape roster in an extremely short amount of time. It is my hope that we can have all of this business said and done before we catch unwanted attention."

I turned away before she could say anything in response to my words, "Continue working on your gadgets if you wish but don't expect to see them in action any time soon. Your propensity for lethality would spell bad news for the ABB if the heroes learned of it."

I could have just left it there, but my current bad mood was making me a little vindictive. I looked back at her, unable to resist one last parting shot, "Or don't. By all means, use your bombs as you wish. Just don't expect the ABB to shelter you when you are inevitably assigned a Kill Order for your actions. Fools who can't keep themselves or their ego under control have no place in our ranks."

Bakuda's face twisted in rage but I didn't stay long enough to see her reaction, turning back forward and continuing my journey.

"...You know, it's funny," Bakuda called out towards me as I walked away, anger plain in her voice. "I didn't figure that Lung's daughter of all people would be such a coward. Guess you take after your mom or something."

Immediately, my stride came to a stop as I processed the woman's words. My hands curled into fists at my side as they registered in my brain, the rage that I had been feeling only a few minutes ago returning tenfold. It curled in my gut, hot and angry as my temper reared its ugly head.

I didn't turn to look at the woman, "Would you care to repeat that?"

"Well it just makes sense doesn't it?" Bakuda's voice was taunting, as if the woman was happy that she had gotten one up on me, "You're the daughter of one of the most powerful capes in the country, and you can't even bring yourself to kill a few civilians to get rid of the rot in a city you should have been ruling years ago. With your power, you could easily turn the Bay into your own little kingdom. Nobody would be able to stop you! But you don't! You hold back Lung-sama because you're scared of the consequences! Scared of the heroes."

I took a deep breath even as my hands clenched at my sides, breathing slowly and trying to keep myself calm before I did something I regretted.

One thing that most people got right about my father when they met him was his temper. Kenta Araki had always had a short temper and everyone knew it, exploding easily and explosively at the slightest of provocation. He had gotten a much better hold on it in recent years, but there wasn't a single person in the ABB who didn't remember how he used to be.

My late mother, though… She was the exact opposite. Her anger was like a stalking tiger, always present, but never making itself known until it was too late. On the few occasions that she did lose her cool, even my father knew better than to catch her ire. She was like a lit candle, too hot to touch until she finally burnt herself out or consumed whatever had caused her anger to catch in the first place.

Being a mix of the two, I had always prided myself on keeping myself composed in nearly every circumstance despite how easy I was to rile up, speaking slowly and calmly and practically never raising my voice unless I was forced to. Right now, though, I was finding it very difficult not to walk over to this woman and rip her throat out with my teeth.

Bakuda spat, unknowingly sealing her fate, "I don't know who your mom was but cowardice was clearly in her genes if she managed to make someone like you with Lung-sama. Pathetic."

With that final word, I had had enough. My already frayed temper snapped, and spelled the end of Bakuda's little spiel.

Thanks to my enhanced strength and speed, Bakuda had little chance to do anything but flinch back as I suddenly turned and cleared the several feet between us in a moment. As she yelped, I grabbed her by the bandolier on her chest and pulled her towards me. A swift and purposeful kick to her right knee caused the woman's leg to buckle, sending her to the floor on her knees in front of me, leaving her kneeling before me as if she was finally respecting my position.

But Bakuda was still as full of arrogance and vitriol as ever and the moment she hit the ground she was already making the move to get up, not willing to show even the facade of supplication towards me. I was not having it though.

"Stay." The single word was filled with every single bit of the frigid rage that was currently filling me. Bakuda stopped in her tracks, instinct winning out over pride as she froze in fear.

I leaned in close, bringing one hand down to the woman's face to force her to look me in the eyes. My words came slow and purposeful, carrying all of the weight of the responsibilities and duties I had taken alongside my position. The position that this woman seemed intent on disrespecting at every turn. No more.

"Baku-no, Alice." Her breath hitched minutely at her name and I felt a vicious satisfaction as her pupils dilated in fear, adrenaline coursing through her veins at her civilian name, "Hear me and hear me well. Your disrespect, of both me and my position in the gang, ends here. I have continually tolerated this childishness out of deference to my father as I did not wish to cause an incident unnecessarily. If you continue pushing me however…"

Just as I had done with Hiashi, I pulled a small amount of power from within, altering my features just enough to be noticeable. Bakuda's eyes widened as my eyes changed color, going from steely grey to pitch black.

"I will show you exactly where you stand compared to me, both in terms of authority and power." She twitched in my grip at my words but I held firm. "In the wider scheme of things, you are inconsequential at best. The ABB has gone years with only two capes in its ranks. It will do just fine with three instead of four."

Bakuda flinched back from me in fear, a clearly unconscious move as her eyes almost immediately narrowed. Her fists clenched at her sides and I realized that she was angry that I was able to cause such a visceral reaction in her. It seemed that her ego truly knew no bounds.

Coming unfrozen, the woman jerked back from me and I allowed her to go, watching her placidly as she rose to her feet. She stared at me with an enraged expression on her face and I could practically hear her teeth grinding as our eyes met. For a moment, I thought she may actually attempt to swing at me in her anger, but instead she abruptly turned on her heel and marched back into her workshop, slamming the door behind her.

I eyed the door for a long moment, somewhat expecting Bakuda to come stomping right back out with some sort of device in her hand to threaten me with. Nothing happened however, and I shook my head at the whole situation, continuing towards my office.

It had been a long time since I had blown up like that at someone and it had happened twice today. It was regretful but this continuing issue with the crazed bomb tinker was beginning to get tiresome and I was growing sick of it. If she heeded my warning then that was perfect. If not, well….

I hadn't been lying when I said we could manage without her.

~~~ Two Days Later ~~~

All things considered, it didn't take long for us to sniff out where the Undersiders were likely hiding, or at least the general area that they were in. Using the gang's connections as well as cross referencing some of their more prolific exploits, we managed to get a broad idea of where their hideout was likely located.

Only a few hours ago, my father had gathered several of our men, as well as Lee to scare them out of their hiding places. With how the Undersiders operated, the teleporter would be needed when they inevitably tried to flee so he had enlisted the man's help in cornering them.

As terrible as it was for me to do so, I hoped that the Undersiders didn't put up much of a fight and my father would be able to wrap up this business quickly. The last thing we needed right now was to catch the ire of the city's heroes with so much going on behind the scenes.

With them gone, that left Bakuda and I alone to take care of things at home for the time being. I had been slightly annoyed at the fact but truth be told, I hadn't actually seen the hide nor hair of Bakuda since our little confrontation the other day. Apparently she had holed herself up in her shop, working on some project or another with the single-minded focus that all Tinkers seemed to share.

That suited me just fine. The woman's absence would allow me to focus on more important things than her and her overinflated ego. Namely, the progress of my own operations to weed out our resident traitor.

"So yeah, I'm pretty sure that someone might be catching on to me, I feel like I've got eyes on me everywhere I go and some people I've been talking to feel the same." Kon said, idly rolling his ever-present candy stick over his tongue.

"Have you received any overt threats? Suspicious encounters even?" I asked in slight concern.

Kon closed his eyes as he thought, "Hmm… No, not really. Nothing out of the ordinary's been happening. At least not anything I can think of."

I nodded slowly as I thought, "I see. Then it's possible that Takao suspects something is amiss but isn't sure exactly who. He likely has someone keeping eyes on any new members that have joined his branch in the past few weeks. You might have to dial back on your suspicious activity just a bit."
To my surprise, Kon waved me off, "Nah, it's fine. If he really does suspect someone, then completely changing how I'm acting will be way more suspicious. Probably not a good idea to pull out before all this shit with the Empire kicks off either.

I couldn't help the smile that came to my face at his bravery, "Alright then, if that's what you wish. Remember, if you feel like you're in danger, you have every right to pull back or contact me. The task I have given you is important but it is not worth the loss of a competent individual such as yourself."

I felt a small bit of amusement as Kon blushed at my praise. Despite his general demeanor and being a bit older than I was, he was oddly shy about receiving compliments.

"Heh, thanks, Yosei." He said, grinning slightly, "Anyway, that wasn't really why I came here. I found something that might help our investigation."

I raised an eyebrow, pleasantly surprised by the news, "Oh? That's good news. May I see it?"

In response to my question, the man reached into his pocket and retrieved some folded up papers. After unfolding them, he slid them across my desk for me to read.

"I found those papers in his office, hidden under a bunch of other stuff. Damn near got caught but I managed to slip away at the last second." He said, motioning to the papers as I looked them over, "I'm sure you can see why I thought it was really important."

I could indeed. The papers that Kon had handed me were more than a little suspicious. The first was a list of statements directly connected to Takao's personal account outside of the gang, going back several months. The fact that he used his personal account meant that he hadn't used any of the ABB's funds for any of it and more importantly, it meant that he didn't need any kind of approval from my father, myself, or even Sadao.

Why he had gone this route was abundantly clear the longer I read. While there were several benign transactions on the page, from entertainment to food and even utility bills, underlined in red marker by Kon himself were some much more suspicious transactions.

A transfer of over two million dollars from his normal bank to an unnamed one that was outside of the state of Massachusetts, as well as several more statements that were simply labeled, 'Security' seemingly happening every week.

I knew enough about the criminal world to know what that word meant. Takao was contracting mercenaries, likely to act as bodyguards given the nature of the man himself. What was surprising was just how much these mercenaries cost, each and every transaction was in the tens of thousands of dollars and went back several months. How in the world had nobody noticed?

I did a little mental math in my head and my eyes widened at the number I came out with. If the paper was telling the truth then this month alone, Takao had paid an astonishing two hundred thousand dollars of his own personal money for an anonymous security detail to guard him at all times, completely forgoing the Officers and other personnel that would normally be assigned for such a position.

Even with the amount of money that the Faces earned in revenue every year, two hundred thousand dollars was no small sum and was in fact, significantly more than it would have cost him to simply request additional guards from his fellow Faces. With that amount, even Takumi would be more than happy to lend him some support and his men were even more professional and competent than Hiashi's despite his general demeanor.

Why would Takao need his own personal security team? What was the man doing that he needed to have a separately contracted, secretive organization of mercenaries keep him safe? If he was Aoi I would have somewhat understood but he wasn't. His branch of the gang managed our brothels and the women who were forced to reside within them, there was no reason for him to need this amount of security! Especially not long before the war with the Empire was even a thought within my father's head!

"What do you think we should do?" Kon asked. I didn't answer immediately, instead looking down at the papers in thought. With this, I was pretty much secure in my suspicions of Takao being the traitor but unfortunately, while the purchases should be more than enough to incriminate the man, the ABB was in an odd position right now. Too many things were in motion to attempt to oust a member of the Faces and with Kaito still without a replacement, the work would just pile up even more should Takao be dealt with.

And besides, even if I did bring this forward, I had no doubt that any attempt to do so would be met with nothing but denials by Takao followed by a swift investigation into his branch.

An investigation that would reveal absolutely nothing as the man did what he was best at and hid any and all evidence of his wrongdoings. The man was a snake, sneaky and conniving. The moment that he caught wind of the investigation, he would go to ground and nothing would come of our weeks of hard work.

Above all of that however, the biggest question of all still remained unanswered. If Takao truly was the traitor, then why? What would the man have to gain from betraying the ABB when he was already practically at the top? What was he looking for in that warehouse and why had he given that grunt a list with the names of the Faces on is. Was someone supposed to retrieve it from him to get insight into the gang's internals? What was going on behind the scenes that I didn't know about!?

I made a frustrated face, putting the paper back down. There were too many questions left unanswered right now. We needed more information before we could act unless we wanted this entire thing to fall apart and Takao to flee the city, never to be found again.

"Continue your investigations." I finally said, "Focus on Takao and try to find something substantial. We need hard evidence before we can bring this to my father and the rest of the Faces."

"Gotcha, I'll keep snooping." Kon nodded, "Hopefully I'll be able to find some more stuff during this thing with the Empire."

I frowned lightly even as I reached down into my desk, pulling out Kon's payment and sliding it across the desk, "I hope so too. I have a feeling that once this war begins, we aren't going to get many chances to meet like this again."

"You think it's gonna go on for a while?" He asked as he stowed the money in his jacket, not bothering to look at the amount.

I didn't answer at first, turning my thoughts inward. Despite my words to Bakuda and even Hiashi, I knew that a conflict with the Empire would not be a simple one, nor was it truly in the ABB's best interest. It was what my father desired though and I would follow him without question as always.

"I'm not sure." I finally confessed, "While I do believe that we can deal with their cape roster relatively quickly if we're careful, the Empire is the largest gang in the city and though we may be in second, the difference is vast. It could easily become a prolonged conflict if we are not careful and if it does… Well, things aren't exactly stable at the moment but they could easily get a lot worse."

Kon frowned, rolling his sucker over in his mouth, "Then why are we doing it? We-well you already took care of three of the Empire's capes including Hookwolf. And even if Rune got away, they're gonna take a while to bust them out so it's not like they're coming back any time soon."

"It's what my father desires." Was all I said in response. It was the same answer that I had given Hiashi but it was the only one I had. If my father wanted war with the Empire, then war is what he would get. I would do my best to mitigate the damage that such a conflict would have on the gang but other than that, there wasn't anything I could do.

Kon clearly didn't understand my reasoning as his face twisted in confusion. He opened his mouth to follow up on his question but never got the chance as suddenly, a bright flare of light filled the room with its brightness and only a moment later, the building rumbled around us. I whipped my head to the nearby window, my eyes widening in horror as I was met with a massive plume of smoke rising high into the night-time sky from deep within our territory.

"Oh shit!" Kon stood fast enough to knock his chair to the ground, "Is that Lung? I thought he was going after those thieves."

"That's not my father." I said numbly, staring at the smoke that was rising into the air where the explosion had emanated, "He went in the opposite direction, towards the city. That's coming from near the Docks."

"Hey, that's where we've been putting a shitload of our product, right?"
With a sinking feeling, I realized that he was right. The place that had just exploded coincided with one of our largest storehouses housing a good percentage of what we had been moving away from the border with the Empire. Someone was taking advantage of our preparations and striking us where we were most vulnerable.

We were under attack.

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