Wassup, not much to say at the moment but the story is at 50k! To think that I've written that much in less than two months is nothing short of a miracle compared to the pace of work I've had on my past stories.
2.0 – In Service of the Dragon
The first meeting of the Maids of Brockton Bay, Servant's newly official fan club, was being held at an abandoned warehouse that she'd cleaned up for the occasion. She waited for her watch to beep 7 pm and then stood up onto the little podium she'd put together out of some decrepit MDF boards, a white projector screen standing empty behind her lit up with plain, elegant letters spelling out that this was the inaugural meeting of the MBB.
They were surprised to see her in the new costume that Parian had delivered yesterday when she'd come by for their fencing practice, it was as beautiful as she'd expected of her friend's work; a subtle pattern printed onto the dark fabric of the skirt and the apron being far more detailed, clearly intended for ceremony rather than the prospect of actually getting dirty, not that she'd refuse to work just because she was wearing it. She'd simply switch it for the plain one that would be in her cart from now on, the fine black dress was made well enough that it could handle the rigour of work without replacement anyhow.
"Your attention please, ladies and gentlemen. I hereby call the first meeting of the Maids of Brockton Bay to order" Servant spoke in the crisp, clear tone of royalty "I would like to thank you for attending and am honoured to hear that I have so many fans."
She continued her speech once the audience had quietened down from their cheers "The MBB shall be my officially endorsed fan club, as such there are some things I expect from those of you who wish to take part. Foremost among them is that you conduct yourselves in a manner befitting myself, I shall not have you disgrace me before the city which I am attempting to fix up. That means not using my name lightly and not engaging in acts of ill repute while you can be identified as members of the MBB."
Fortunately, none of the fifty-odd that turned up appeared to have an issue with that so she resumed her speech "Secondly, my official stance is neutrality. As such, none of you are to affiliate yourselves publicly as both my fans and members of either the gangs or the PRT. I have no issue if you seek or hold employment with them but you must take care to avoid any conflict of interest, if this is in doubt you should avoid displaying your affiliation with me."
"Lastly, I expect you to respect my privacy. Anyone attempting to discover my civil identity will find themselves not only expelled from the MBB but will also greatly displease me, take that as you will…" Servant left that sink in and waved before her, "Do you have any questions about these basic rules?"
"I've got one Ma'am" one of the new faces spoke up "By the neutrality stuff, erm, what if some of the gangsters start accosting us? Are you saying we should just take that?"
"No. I expect you to avoid trouble and conflicts of interest with the powers of this city. But should trouble find you I expect that you will do your utmost to defend yourselves, your property and your reputation as the fans of Servant. For that matter, I would encourage you all to take at least some basic self-defence courses. My mission within this city will have those who oppose it and they may very well go after you; in light of this, I will not hold it against you if any of you should wish to retire or leave the MBB, all of this is strictly optional."
With worried looks appearing on the faces of some of her fans, she clicked a remote and the projector she'd set up in the back flicked onto the next slide, she waved a hand at the projected text "Now, your most pressing question will likely be, 'what are we going to be doing as part of the MBB' and I will shortly explain that. But for you to fully grasp our mission, I would first like to explain my mission for Brockton Bay. You have all likely seen the state of the city outside, some of you may even be old enough to remember the days when this city was doing well, being clean and largely absent of serious crime. I wish to restore it to those glory days, to give the people employment and opportunities such that they do not need to seek out the gangs or crime to make a decent living. As MBB, you will be assisting me with this cause."
Seeing a raised hand, she pointed to the young woman to speak "Sorry my lady, but I thought this would be a fan club, not charity work."
"Aiding me in my work is indeed purely voluntary but does not preclude you from membership of the MBB or taking part in the various fan activities that our new Board will be holding." she nodded "That being said, these general meetings will be held once a month and I may not be able to attend some of them. On the other hand, I work on my projects constantly and a regular volunteer will have plenty of opportunities to speak with me, besides, I will offer a travel allowance, lunch allowance and some exclusive events with me for those who volunteer regularly."
Clearly that alleviated the woman's concerns as well as those of a few in the crowd as eager murmurs began to rise. One young man in a sharp black suit which looked a bit like a butler uniform spoke up over them. "My lady, pardon me but what will these 'exclusive events' consist of?"
"I was thinking we could get together for a picnic or lunch every so often, with me cooking the food for all attendees. I assure you that my cooking is worth the price of admission."
Before the eager chatter could turn any louder, she raised her hands and they quietened down. "Finally, I have some administrative matters to handle before we conclude this meeting and open the floor to questions and suggestions. Foremost, Ronald, please step up onto the stage" As the man stepped up dressed smartly in a butler uniform, she gestured to him "As the chairman of the MBB, I hereby appoint you as the secretary of our society in recognition of your efforts in organising my fan club over the past two months. I hereby charge you with setting up the Board of the MBB to assist in your administrative burdens and to establish events for our membership to enjoy. Will you accept this role?"
"I accept my lady!" he knelt to her discomfort.
She waved him back up and turned back to the watching crowd of fans "If any of you wish to apply for the positions he will be setting up for the society, please speak to him and register your interest. If there is more than one applicant per position then I will speak to the candidates as to their relevant experience and select the best."
With the substance of the meeting over, she spent the next hour with her fans: speaking with some who caught her interest, signing several Fumo and other handmade bits of merchandise including the script of a play which she did not need to read past the first page to realise it was smut and finally waving everyone goodbye, leaving the new secretary to organise things as they'd agreed over PHO.
She was still waiting on a response to her application to register as a charity corporation but considering the IRS would no doubt be investigating her as a cape, it would probably be a month or two before that went anywhere.
Taylor was taking a break from cape stuff. Today, she'd finally convinced Sabah to go somewhere with her, which was a challenge in itself when the woman seemingly only left her store to get groceries at this point. But her friend had finally been convinced when she'd offered to go to the beach just outside of Downtown for lunch, it was close enough to her shop that she would be able to respond if the alarm went off and they were still in somewhat neutral territory so an attack was unlikely, more so in their civilian identities.
Sabah had come in a dress with some gloves and a cute hat to protect her from the cold breeze of the late spring sea while Taylor, having upgraded her wardrobe a bit with a little help on the part of her friend, was wearing a pair of better-fitting jeans and a navy-blue sweater over her blouse, she carried a basket of food she'd prepared just an hour earlier to a spot where Sabah had laid out a rug she'd had in storage.
"Hello Taylor, aren't you a bit chilly like that?" her friend inquired as Taylor sat down by her and began to lay their lunch out.
"It's not too bad, though I suppose a pair of gloves and hat would've been smart now that I see yours." She smiled back, putting her hands into her jean pockets.
Sabah sighed at her friend and pulled out a roll of cloth and scissors from her handbag, their bodies concealing how the fabric began to move on its own from what passersby there were. By the time Taylor had everything out before them, there was a pair of thin gloves made of linen on her lap. "Call it payback for today's food. They aren't the best quality but this is the fabric I've got for self-defence, not really prime glove-making materials."
Taylor nodded and put on her new articles, they were a bit rough but fit her hands perfectly unlike any other pair she'd ever owned, always having to get a size larger or one of the men's sizes since her fingers were longer than average. She put her newly gloved hands to use by handing Sabah a plate with a chicken and lettuce sandwich and an egg, cress and mayonnaise; one of each cut into triangles so they'd both have a pair to taste.
"Thanks" her friend bit into one and Taylor smiled as she saw a pleasant surprise on her face at the egg sandwich "It's funny how eggs and mayo go well together, despite the latter essentially just being more egg, don't you think?"
Taylor laughed at that "Yeah, just an odd quirk of flavour. I'm trying an English recipe where the mayo and eggs get chopped together, there were some others where they were kept separate but those weren't as good."
Sabah agreed and finished up the sandwich, moving on to the chicken and lettuce one "I'll say, this one is a bit bland, don't you usually put bacon in one of these?"
"Oh. Sorry about that, I assumed you didn't eat pork," Taylor replied flustered at the misunderstanding.
"It's alright, I didn't make it clear. My family is Muslim and I come from a Muslim country originally, but I've never really practised the details of it. I'm fine with pork, in fact, I often get pulled pork wraps from that one store a bit down from my own for lunch."
"Alright, next time I'm making BLTs and pulled pork sandwiches!" Taylor concluded.
She was about to pull out the gelato desert she'd had in a foil bag with an ice pack when her work phone began to ring. She sighed and pulled it out, looking down at the unrecognised number for a moment before answering "Servant speaking, I am unfortunately occupied at this time, please send your work requests to my business email or wait until this evening when I will be taking further calls."
"The Great Lung does not wait. He has work for you, you are to attend the Golden Dragon Casino today and speak with him. Do not be late."
The call went cold.
Taylor did not need to consider her next course of action for long, she apologised to Sabah, left her the basket and asked her to enjoy the gelato since she'd been asked out on an emergency work order. Since she didn't want her friend to worry about an order from Lung of all people, she'd set an email to be sent tomorrow to the police, PRT, her father and her friend, on the off chance that this was a trap.
It had taken her about an hour to get back home, throw on her costume and sword as well as putting together a more limited bag of supplies; Lung probably wouldn't appreciate her rolling a cart into a very high-class environment like a casino. She'd also used some time to look up the casino itself, it was in pretty much the heart of ABB territory and was rumoured to be the nerve centre of its operations; or at least those which were controlled by the Dragon himself rather than one of his cronies.
Having made sure everything was perfect, she slipped in one final piece of equipment. She and Sabah had moved on past using standalone swords and had been experimenting with all sorts of weapons, in particular, their last few spars were with swords accompanied by a parrying dagger, hers being of an English Alehouse style with a simple handguard. She did not have anything to attach it to the belt with but it could fit in her pocket and be there for an absolute worst-case scenario.
Servant stepped off the bus, noting the ABB graffiti miring the stop as she turned to head for the bright gold of the Casino's gates. It was certainly an imposing building, at least three stories tall and a bit higher under its golden dome, which bulged like dough that had just finished rising and was about to enter the oven.
She reasoned that the man would not want her entering visibly for the front so she sought the staff entrance, which was located in a nearby alley and was watched by two security guards wearing concealed pistols. They tensed as she approached, eyeing her sword as one raised a hand to her "Stop right there, what is your business here?"
"I have been summoned by Lung; he has requested that I not be late."
One man continued to watch her as the other drew out a small radio and began to speak in a hushed tone with whoever was on the other side, about a minute later he put it back and looked to her "The Great Lung will see you now, please follow me."
She nodded and followed the man through the service corridors of the casino, the occasional staff member staring at her as she enjoyed the utilitarian architecture of the corridors, feigning the lack of tension between her shoulder blades and neck.
They took an elevator to the fourth floor, the carpets there being in a red and green swirl in a more obvious hint that whoever the owner was on paper, this place belonged to the ABB. The decorations were also fitting, full of gold and dragon motifs. But she did not come there to enjoy the furniture no matter how her mind attempted to wander away from meeting Brockton Bay's equivalent of an Endbringer. A large pair of doors covered in red leather with golden studs opened up and she was met with a large ballroom, or dining room, or throne room she supposed.
Servant entered the richly decorated room and walked forward, along the carpeted path between the tables before a dark wooden throne upon which sat a tall man in a dragon mask, tattoos across his chest and arms barely visible through the white shirt that he was wearing tightly across his chest. The throne sat on a raised platform and she stopped a few steps in front of it, giving a shallow curtsey to Lung "Greetings Lung, you have called for me?"
"Servant" the man motioned to her "Do you know why I have called you before me?"
"I would not assume, but I guess that you have work for me."
"No." Servant refused to shudder at that "I have heard from my lieutenants that you have been causing trouble for their operations. I suggest you pick your next words wisely."
She did not need to have amazing social skills to see the threat for what it was, if her answer did not please him then she would likely end up splattered as a decoration upon this very carpet; they'd probably call it modern art or something. But at the same time, people like Lung preyed on weakness, he expected her to cower before him and beg forgiveness; she refused to give him the satisfaction, even if it did lead to an altercation with him.
"Your lieutenants were attacking premises upon which I was working, being tasked with their cleanup I took object to those hooligans creating more work for me by breaking in. It is nothing personal, I assure you."
The Dragon stood up and walked onto the tip of the platform, bending down a little to look into her masked face "You've got some balls to look me in the eye and say that, do you mean to challenge the Great Lung?"
"I do not. I have no quarrel with you nor with your ABB. I maintain my neutrality and the offer to work for anyone to whom my skills are of use provided that the said acts are not in themselves illegal. With that being said, while I try to avoid conflict, those who do engage me have a tendency to lose."
They stared at each other for a moment before Lung began to laugh, standing to his full height and looking down upon her "I take that back girl. You are either stupid or insane. Please enlighten this lowly one as to how you would defeat him" He mocked.
"Your powers become stronger the longer you are in a fight, so I would simply deny you a fight. I would fight my way through this building with you on my tail, and then run for the PRT Headquarters." She looked at his mask appraisingly and tapped on its forehead "Hmm, I'm thinking a 12.7, no a 14.5 to the forehead would likely be enough to break through your Brute baseline."
She crossed her arms menacingly "So tell me, Lung, do you have work for me? Or have you called me here to put my theory to the test?"
They shared a tense silence for almost a whole minute before Lung turned back and sat on his throne "You do have balls girl, I've got work for you" he leaned back casually "Representatives from some of the Homeland's Yakuza families will be visiting me, I need someone to carry out the tea ceremony. Can you do that?"
"That is well with my power, when will I be required?"
"In two days. My secretary will send you the details."
"I can make that. Now, let us discuss the matter of my renumeration."
When Taylor came home, she collapsed straight onto the sofa, not even bothering to remove her costume. Yes, she had just done that. She'd just told Lung that she'd win against him and then negotiated payment with him. She then somehow went home without getting Oni Lee sicced on her or even some ordinary goon hit squad; her power didn't do anything against bullets after all.
"Hey Taylor, you look tired. Did something happen at work?" Her father wheeled out of the kitchen to stop near her "You know there's nothing wrong with not working weekends, we're doing fine financially at this point and the doctors say I can start on the lighter physiotherapy soon. I'll be back working in no time."
"That's good Dad, but this is something else. Lung called me for a job today…"
"Lung? Wait, you mean the leader of the ABB! Oh fuck, are you alright?" he panicked taking her hand.
"I'm fine, you can't really blame me for not being a little anxious about it."
"Couldn't you just not go?"
"Dad, do you think the Dragon of Brockton Bay would just accept a no? Odds are he'd have me kidnapped or something, at least like this I went on my terms, looked him in the eye and asked him what the job was."
He calmed down a bit and sat back "So, what is the job then?"
"The details are confidential, but I will be serving tea to some important people from Japan. He needed someone who can perform a tea ceremony and my power can do that easily."
"I still don't like it. But if that's all you're doing and you stay safe for me then I suppose I can't ask anything else."
She'd spent the last day watching videos of tea ceremonies and even managed to find a book on them in one of the public libraries that hadn't been shut down yet. Ordinarily, Servant would rely on the knowledge of her employer to supplement her own but she'd guessed that as a gangster, Lung had likely done little more than seen a Tea Ceremony; he would not know the procedure or its details and she'd have to perform to the scrutiny of a bunch of Yakuza, who probably would have done these in the past.
They did not have a proper full tea set at home let alone the stuff for tea ceremonies so she'd gone out and purchased some inexpensive 'chadōgu' at one of the smaller Japanese shops in town as well as some cheap powdered Matcha. Lung had informed her that he would source the highest quality of Matcha available on short notice as well as chadōgu fit for an important tea ceremony, but her own acquisitions were enough for practice. By that evening, her father was sick of green tea and she was reasonably confident in her skills, which would be enough when supplemented by her power.
Servant entered the chamber, carrying the chadōgu one of Lung's men had given her as well as a cast-iron kettle full of boiling water and the Matcha she would be serving today; it seemed she would have to work with pre-opened thick Matcha but that was fine, it was of a good grade and she was confident that the flavour oxidisation could be reduced with the right technique.
Lung was not sitting on his throne, rather he sat opposite a shorter man, perhaps in his 70s with a white beard and balding hair. Beside the presumed delegate was an obvious bodyguard, a better-built man in his 40s with a Katana and Wakizashi laid out on the floor by his side. Much of what was meant to be present at a tea ceremony, such as tatami mats to sit on were absent but she did not comment on that; perhaps it was Lung's way of sending a message to his guest.
Servant bowed to Lung and the Yakuza delegate and knelt between them at the table's side, beginning to set out the chadōgu and tea bowls as protocol dictated. When Lung motioned for her to begin, she scooped out the appropriate amount of Matcha powder and whisked it to a proper foamy consistency for each guest, serving the bodyguard last.
Having been served, the two began to speak in Japanese while the bodyguard looked her up and down, glancing at her sword. She could have obtained a passing knowledge of Japanese to listen in on them, but the fact that her contract with Lung did not grant it suggested that the man did not want her to hear whatever they were saying.
It took a full half-hour of vague tone shifts and growling threats for anything interesting to happen. The delegate turned to her and spoke in somewhat accented English "Maid, you are hosting this disgraceful tea ceremony. Why is it not being held in the proper room, why are you not dressed properly, how could Dragon-sama employ such an incompetent servant?"
"I have done precisely as Lung-sama has instructed. Do pardon me, but I find it quite rude that you insult your hosts like this." Lung smiled at her remark and spoke to the man, who was becoming increasingly angry.
"This stain upon my honour is unacceptable!" the old man yelled at her "I demand a duel to settle this!"
"Surely not against yourself Ojisama. I do not believe that fighting an old man will bring back anyone's honour" Servant replied causing Lung to chuckle and finish his tea.
"My bodyguard will put you in your place." Growled the representative as Lung nodded in approval and waved for her to take care of the man.
"Greetings Sir, unfortunately, duels have been illegal in all US states since the Civil War. Could I interest you in a spar perhaps?"
The man did not respond, glaring at her intently and drawing his two swords. Servant was still not sure if he was a cape, she'd have to be careful until she could determine that.
"Self-defence would also be an acceptable scenario." Mused Servant as she drew her own sword and withdrew the dagger she'd concealed within her pocket.
With a bark from the old man they were off, Servant keeping the bodyguard back keeping low and delivering a few thrusts at range while the swordsman tried to close in and strike at her outstretched hand. Seeing as she had no intent to lose fingers, she pulled back, allowing him to close further as his second blade came into play.
He attempted to skewer her with the shorter sword while his longer kept her sword busy, but a simple readjustment of her longer blade to point at his throat led to him pulling back, denying her an easy thrust that would end this little battle.
Both of them stepped back and examined each other, moving to make contact once more in a cautious manner. Servant reasoned that if the man had any powers, he'd have used them by now and went on the offensive, switching to a series of slashes which were matched by the man with his Katana. He really was quite skilled; she was fighting with the aid of the knowledge supplied by her powers and he was holding her off evenly.
Unfortunately for her opponent, he was trained to fight with the sword, whereas she had also trained in grappling as part of the Fiore system Parian had initially taught her. So, when she flashed high at his neck and he blocked, she hooked her left leg behind his right and pushed his sword arm to his chest, poking her dagger into his belly hard enough to draw a grunt out of the man before she pushed him off balance onto the carpet. Placing the blunt tip of her sword onto his chest to push him down.
Seeing his champion defeated in such a dishonourable manner led the Yakuza representative to stand up and start yelling once again before Lung waved his hand and the two men were promptly removed from the room, leaving him with Servant as he made himself some more tea. "That was expertly handled, if I had subordinates capable of acting with half the professionalism you showed me I expect that all of Brockton Bay would have bowed before me by now."
"Thank you for the compliment. But it remains that our contract did not provide that I would fight as your representative in any duel." Noted Servant as she took the representative's place at the table and helped herself to the bodyguard's untouched tea.
"It is as you say, but it was not I who ordered the duel, that imbecile demanded it because he was dissatisfied by your service."
"Which was done to such a standard by your implied instruction. I see now Lung, well played." Servant smirked as she stood back up "That being said, I think a tip would be reasonable for my services. Even if it was not in the contract I did it out of respect of our business relationship."
"You will have your payment and your tip; send the details to my secretary. As for you, I may have work for you in the future, even if it is not much since you insist on observing the law so strictly."
"Of course, I would be interested in hearing about any work you may have. Now then, I must take my leave; my friend awaits me for tea and I'd rather not be late."
Now I have a funny thought about the MBB going around carrying little red books with the writings of Servant contained within, I never took Taylor for a fan of Chairman Mao but actions speak louder than words! Next chapter, all MBB members will be issued a little book of Servant's teachings and advice.
As for the tea ceremony, I think it's been made clear that it was meant as an insult by Lung against his guest. Ordinarily, a tea ceremony is quite formal and is hosted to certain rules such as the room where it is held and the particular decorations. What Lung has done is the equivalent of telling someone you'd like to attend a restaurant with them and then taking them to Burger King.
I tried reading the Wikipedia article on how the tea ceremony is conducted and decided that it would be a waste to describe everything for no compelling story reason, which is what led me to have Lung disrespect his Yakuza connections this way, alongside having Servant fight the swordsman bodyguard; a sort of clash between the old world and the new. Also, Servant does a Yoshikage Kira: 'Although if I were to fight, I wouldn't lose to anyone.'
To clarify, the destruction of Kyushu would certainly be significant but it is ultimately only the third largest island and only 12 million live there. Even if all of them died without evacuating I don't understand why so many fics have it as if Japan was completely wiped out.
Fun Fact! The original title of this work was to be 'Taylor Hebert – Ultimate Servant', but I think 'In Service' is a more elegant name for a more civilised age.
