Chương 2771: 7.x
Lung Interlude
Nostalgia.
Such a simple word, meant to invoke comfort, of days come and gone. It was meant to be positive, something fond to look back to. To me however? It was dangerous. It meant complacency, regret and weakness. It was for fools that could not see the future, who ignored the present for something that had already left. The past should stay where it belonged, in the past.
Complacent. That is what I had become. I had made a name for myself achieving many feats that others could only imagine. I had fought Leviathan to a standstill, I had sent the entire Brockton Bay team of Heroes running, I had united all the Asian nationalities through brute force and cunning.
An acute mind would notice how these achievements fell in splendor, from an Endbringer to the lowly gang. I had grown fat and complacent, satisfied with what I had. My reputation I thought was absolute, you might be able to hurt my holdings, you might be able to hurt those loyal to me. But me? To hurt me was almost unthinkable.
There were those who thought they could survive me if they fought to escape. There were those who believed they could hold me off given the right circumstances. However, the list of people who believed they could triumph over me on their own was exceedingly small.
I had grown complacent. Happy to let my reputation grow as the untouchable leader of the ABB. The longer I went undefeated, the greater I would be in the eyes of others. No one was foolish or ambitious enough to challenge me directly.
That is until Vim.
When I had first met her, she had not even revealed her name. Clad in cheap black clothes and yellow swimming goggles, she did not cut an impressive figure. A newly triggered Parahuman who had grand visions of Heroism. When she faced me I could tell that she was terrified, that she did not want to fight me. I would have even let her go, to let her run away but then she used that infuriating Master power on me.
She got away, just as I intended. But she had done so on her terms, not mine. As much as it enraged me I put it out of my mind in the end. She did not defeat me after all, she merely escaped leaving my authority absolute.
It was easy to ignore her, I had other matters to deal with after all. The Undersiders were my original goal that night. They had taken from me, raided my holdings without retribution. That could not stand.
My chance at revenge came soon enough. Through my contacts I had found that they had robbed a bank of all things and that they were planning to stash and retrieve their goods at a storage facility. With Bakuda and Oni Lee I ambushed them, hurt them and even killed one of their dogs. To hear the girl scream in rage and grief was good enough for me to consider this a victory. Before the encounter Bakuda argued that we needed more help, that we were only three while they were four not including the monstrous beasts they had.
I scoffed of course. Grabbed her throat for questioning my own power. Her fear of me made her apologize most profusely. In the end I decided to let her make her own arrangements for backup. Leet and Uber, both disappointing in their own right but admittedly they did amuse me and as such I always gave them some measure of leniency.
They were the first to fall as expected.
After that encounter normalcy took hold once more. I know I have repeated the point of complacency before but I could not describe such a state as anything else.
That sense of peace, of smug complacency was soon…. Shifted, nudged in such a way that I had not noticed at first.
My men began bringing me information about the Empire 88, their holdings, their real identities and of course the revelation that Kaiser was Max Anders, the CEO of Medhall. It was clear that my men hadn't gotten this information on their own, that someone had leaked it to me, that they had meant for me to find it, that they intended to manipulate me as some sort of weapon to strike at the Empire.
They dared me to break the unspoken rules.
Wordlessly this unseen benefactor taunted me into action.
I knew that I was being played but oddly enough? It worked.
If they thought I would poke and prod, to carefully verify the information then they had another thing coming. To be paranoid and suspicious were emotions that belonged to the weak and meek.
So who was the source of this information? I doubted it was the Merchants. Faultline did things only for money and thus if they had done it then they too were mere tools. The PRT had enough power to find such information but it did not fit their usual pattern of behaviour. That of course left Coil and his mercenaries.
Well, his day of reckoning would come soon enough. But first I had to flush him out, make him play his hand and to that end I decided to go all out as it were.
Oni Lee was sent to kidnap Purity's daughter while I would strike at their heart, Medhall.
He failed of course but he did distract and lead away the one person who could harm me at all.
I killed Kaiser that day. I crushed his arms letting his screams unnerve those who followed him, I superheated the metal armor he wore, boiling him alive within. Throughout this he continued to scream, demanding that the others help him. As time grew short his authoritative commands turns to pitiful whines, he begged and bargained with the others to save him. They redoubled their efforts to save their leader sensing his end but it all failed, I was too strong after all.
With their leader gone, their defenses laid in ruin letting me cleave through their ranks with impunity.
No doubt that chaos would ensue from the following power vacuum. I delighted in seeing how Coil would react to such changes and imagined gleefully how I would make him scream and regret the day that he thought to control me!
Up until now the only people who ever faced me had done so through proxy like Coil, through the mistaken arrogance of superior numbers like Kaiser, through the assumption that they did not have to fight me directly like the Undersiders.
Then Vim happened. An unfamiliar figure flew through the skies, brandishing her weapons in a high pitched warcry. I noted her presence but dismissed her threat. My scales that ignored bullets, Kaiser's spikes and the rest of the Empire's pitiful attempts to harm me thus far would protect me from her I was sure.
Then I felt pain.
At first I thought she was another Empire 88 cape. She had swords and antique armor, similar but different from what the two giants and the ghostly knight wore but close enough for me to assume that they were on the same side.
It wasn't until that she screamed for everyone to 'STOP' did I understand who she was, that she was the same girl from before. For someone I had forgotten, I drew much pleasure from torturing her. I intended to merely force her to pass out from pain. When she did not succumb to my heat and instead began glowing green I knew that something was wrong.
I was then blindsided by children, sent flying into the air as they made their escape.
It was humiliating. I may not have been rendered unconscious, I may have come out alive and there was no doubt in my mind that they were the ones who ran away from me in fear. Yet I could not help but feel defeated.
Still, the fight wasn't for nothing.
Bakuda had not been directly involved in the conflict and instead provided explosives to our unpowered members to use, for Oni Lee to lay waste with. Without her direct presence there, I had her investigate Coil, to find why he was trying to use me.
I expected a mundane answer. I expected to hear that he simply intended to weaken the other gangs to consolidate his own power and to that effect, this is what the captured mercenary had told us. What I hadn't expected was the fact that Coil's mercenaries were under orders to not engage the new Ward Vim. The one who had defeated me. They had not been told the reasons of why they should avoid her but it was clear to me that they did not fear her power, but instead that they intended to keep her alive.
What was Coil's interest in the girl?
Bakuda killed all the mercenaries soon after, planting the corpses in such a way to look like they were killed instantly by one of her mines. A random casualty of war as it were. I may not be used to subterfuge but I was familiar enough to make use of it.
So what to do from here?
Well, at first I intended to hunt down Coil and attack his territory first. That meant cutting through Empire 88's realm which would've been weak with discord after Kaiser's fall. However curiosity and pragmatism won me over. If I attacked Coil's territory then there was no doubt in my mind that he would see me coming allowing him to run away. This would leave Vim to do whatever she did that made Coil consider her valuable.
It was suggested to me that she was merely a spy, a double agent for his organisation. But my gut told me there was more to it then that. So here I was, pacing around in an apartment building on the outskirts of Vim's media debut.
Nothing about her and Coil added up. Her powers from what my men had found involved healing, being a Brute and having dimensional storage. Those were the most normal powers, everything else was wild speculation and rumors. Nothing mentioned her ability to literally shout people into submission.
So why did Coil want her alive? If she was just a double agent then why not seed the PRT with mundane mercenaries or office workers? Having someone with so much attention on them, so much scrutiny simply wouldn't work. Did he intend to kidnap her one day for her powers? Unlikely, Coil did not lack for money and could hire other Parahumans and mercenaries if he wanted more muscles. That and the negative attention he'd bring on himself for kidnapping a child would be more than he could handle.
So what did he see in her? I never prided myself in my ability to gather information, I simply never felt like I needed it, that my own strength would serve me well enough to make up for it.
Still, Vim had humiliated me so it was only right that I returned the favor. With this I might be able to flush Coil out of hiding, to force his hand and reveal his intentions. Two birds with one stone.
And so, after working myself up, watching Vim's debut from a television set. I noted that every Hero and Ward was there and smiled in anticipation. My power thrummed, answering my call as it eagerly provided me with more muscle mass. Even crouching it was becoming more and more difficult to stay inside the apartment room, so I let loose.
Covering myself in flames I crashed through the walls. I must've hit a gas pipe because a moment later the building behind me erupted into a ball of flame. The heat was comforting rather than scalding, though the bystanders seemed to disagree if their screams were anything to go by.
Faithful Oni Lee saw the signal and dutifully went to work as I broke down another wall, and another, and another. Soon I barreled into the street, I kept running aiming for the last obstacle in my way. Another building, this one was guarded by the police to prevent potential snipers access to the media debut. They hadn't accounted for me however.
With some more destruction later I was on the other side of the building surrounded by even more screams. The pitiful troopers lined up aiming their weapons at me. I could melt the containment foam and even struggle my way free once large enough. However doing so would be slow going and give the Heroes time to put me down.
Oni Lee did not give them that chance. Every fleck of foam sent my way was intercepted and in some cases Oni Lee was able to get close enough to them before turning to ash to catch them in their own foam. Teleporting constantly he attacked with precise cuts and stabs. A perfect blend of offense and defence. It was clear that he had the mundane troopers handled.
"VRIIIMMMM" My fangs made it hard for me to speak. But it was clear that my challenge was heard as I slowly made my way towards her. While some of the Heroes had been pulled away to deal with Oni Lee and to help the civilians to escape, there were still too many bodies between me and the young girl.
That's where Bakuda came in. Despite her fearful adherence to my words, she did however have something of a theatrical streak in her. Perhaps that's why she decided to hire Leet and Uber to begin with?
"Hullo BROCKTON BAY!" She announced through a microphone, loudspeakers that hadn't come from the PRT blared through the chaos we had started. "Throughout the crowds I've planted a few bombs!" To show her point a tree blew up, flash freezing a few unlucky souls into transparent sculptures. The ground was so slick that another man who had escaped the explosion slipped and crashed into a woman who wasn't, shattering her body instantly. He slumped to the ground a moment later, the shards of ice that were once a woman impaling him.
Getting the bombs past the scanners was easy enough though it did limit what kinds of explosives she could get through. In a rare instance where she did not fear or display any sort of submissive behaviour towards me she was instead explaining her technology. I did not care for it personally but it did seem to make her happy to have someone to boast to and quite frankly she had done enough good work for me to allow it.
I was a generous leader after all.
More people were frozen instantly only to shatter moments later. While the fight with the Empire 88 had involved many kinds of explosives, the only ones that wouldn't set off the scanners here were these ice bombs that she had. I didn't know why it was only the ice bombs and when I asked she explained… in much detail that I cared little of. I managed to convince her to skip past the specifics and simply have her construct more.
Still, they served their purpose as the Heroes once more split up to help evacuate the civilians more quickly or to fight off Oni Lee. Armsmaster himself had tackled a man pulling him out of his truck that exploded into ice soon after. No doubt the man intended to drive away from this mess.
Children were wonderful little things. Give them a flat, nondescript disc that couldn't be picked up by scanners and people just ignored them as they began hiding them among the area. As long as they were loud and annoying enough people would begin to ignore the children on purpose. How Bakuda convinced children of all people to do this was beyond me but then again I was never good with kids.
Vim tried to flee, to help the people get away. But upon noticing that I was following her, began to hold her ground. Bakuda wasn't the only theatrical one around. Instead of rushing through the crowds to reach her, I instead took slow, deliberate steps. Panicked civilians parted for me and those that weren't quick enough were casually swept aside. Whether they survived or not didn't concern me.
She pulled out a bow and arrow then. Remembering what her sword had done I began to pick up speed. She must've had some sort of power to penetrate my scales that day and I had no reason to believe that her arrows would be any different. I ducked and weaved through the crowds and to my satisfaction she faltered, hesitating to shoot me at the risk of hurting someone else.
Despite the majority of the Capes being scattered a few had stayed behind to face me.
A flash of red bounced off my scales. They didn't hit any harder than bullets or even as quick but the tingling feeling they left behind made me wonder if they would hurt more. It was Kid Win, he was the one that made me fly sky high. It seemed that he was far more confident with his aim then Vim was.
"OOOUOUUU DJIIIEI!" I Roared as I thundered towards them.
Another child, this one in the white costume, Clockblocker reached out to touch me. My body was suddenly wreathed in flames and he wisely hesitated before jumping away from me in panic. I continued to approach Vim when I suddenly tripped. It wasn't a case of me slipping, it was a case of something immovable barring my way as I fell over.
Confusion overtook me and I noted that it was a stick of all things… that was floating in mid air, unburnt from my flames. I growled in frustration. The Clockblocking child was a nuisance but for now I had to focus on Vim. She continued to back away, bow and arrow drawn. At the sight of my weakness she let loose and I felt the sting of her arrow as it bit into my shoulder.
I ripped the thing from my body and snapped it like a twig… or I had tried to. Just like the time frozen stick, it was unyielding. I threw it away in frustration and leapt into the air, trusting my wings to give me distance and speed. If I wanted to force Coil's hand then I'd have to be more quick.
I only floated slightly off the ground. As much as I wanted to soar up only to dive down to crush her, it would leave me open to the young Shaker Vista who had previously kept me in the sky with her annoying powers.
Soon I had her in my hands once more, this time with her body and arms pinned. She wouldn't be able to stab me this time. She struggled to get free as I struck her with my free hand, raking my claw against her face. She screamed in pain and while I would've normally savored such a thing I made sure to stay aware of my surroundings this time. I wouldn't be blindsided by children again.
The red one, Aegis flew at me from the side and I batted him away with my tail.
He went flying into one of Bakuda's ice bombs but managed to avoid the brunt of the blast leaving his left arm and leg completely frozen.
"Hey Heroes!" Bakuda's voice shouted again. "You can't stop us! Nobody can!" As useful as she was she was very loud. It made me appreciate Oni Lee's silent servitude just a bit more. I squeezed Vim and her screams became desperate breaths for air.
Another Hero, an adult this time approached me.
"Let her go!" It was Armsmaster. He sheathed his halberd keeping his hand on it's grip. What was he planning? He then pulled it out, the blade had been replaced with another one, this one however clashed with his usual design.
It took me less then a moment to recognize it. The blade wasn't just a blade, it was an entire sword, handle and all! The sword looked similar to what Vim had, but it was dark instead of the brilliant silver that she used against me. I knew that people like to joke that the halberd was just a sword on a stick but it seemed that Armsmaster decided to take it literally.
If the blade was anything like the one that Vim used, then I'd bet that it could actually harm me. I did not fear Vim but I respected her power and I respected Armsmaster's skill. Put both of those things together and it meant that he might be a threat. He produced a bottle in his free hand.
"Last warning Lung." He called out bringing the bottle to his lips. I charged at him with Vim in hand, using her as a club. Armsmaster leapt out of the way just as he finished drinking whatever he had. Covering him in flames I roared in defiance however he simply pushed through ignoring the pain. His armor was covered in soot and ash, far less damage then I would've imagined with the fire I used.
He was a Tinker though so it wouldn't surprise me if his armor was somehow resistant against heat. That however didn't explain why his beard and face were only slightly singed. I swung my claw at him, intent on destroying him and he managed to raise his halberd quick enough to intercept.
The blade began to dig into my claws, claws that had torn through steel with no effort. Here they began to give. I lashed out with my tail and he managed to kick off away from me, avoiding the worst of the damage as I only clipped his side. Large bits and pieces of my claw scattered to the ground and while it hadn't hurt me it was still uncomfortable leaving my normally razor sharp claws blunted. He rolled, bleeding off the force that he had received.
I dashed forwards not giving him any room to react. I breathed more flames over him covering his form as I swung Vim once more as a club. He managed to duck out of the way, lashing out with his weapon at the same time, scoring a painful cut across my shoulder and the hand that held Vim. I tried to kick him, nicking part of his armor with my talon but he struck again, once again at the same arm as the wounds closed up. It was clear that he was trying to save Vim
I lunged forwards again forcing Armsmaster to backpedal. He continued to parry and strike at me, scoring more shallow cuts across my body that quickly healed. It was clear to me that this blade of his was weaker than whatever Vim had used originally. Still, his superior skill and speed provided more challenge then the Ward had. I had to give him credit, he was annoying to fight. Then he made a mistake. Stepping on a frozen surface his foot lost all traction.
With alarm he slipped backwards giving me an opening for a solid hit! However before I could take advantage of the opening I tripped once more. Not on an immovable object but rather something heavy that I could still knock over.
An anvil? Where the hell did that come from?
I scrambled to get up and managed to avoid a strike to my face. I kicked the anvil and Armsmaster lazily leaned to the side avoiding it all together. I struck once more this time as he lunged at me and was rewarded by a grunt of pain. I hadn't penetrated his armor, but the force was enough to send him reeling. He stood, weapon ready.
His defence had improved since we last fought. His reflexes much sharper, much quicker allowing him to avoid my attacks. But they weren't perfect as revealed.
Most of the civilians had filtered out at this point with Oni Lee cornered (if such a thing could be said of a teleporter) by several other Heroes. Bakuda was of course nowhere to be seen but the sounds of explosions in the distance revealed her continued struggles.
Arrayed against me was not just Armsmaster but also Clockblocker, Aegis, Kid Win, Triumph and Miss Militia.
"Stay back!" Armsmaster shouted. "I'll deal with him, the rest of you help out the others."
I glared at him as smoke began to pour from my mouth. While I hadn't landed a decisive blow against him, I did note with some satisfaction that he was slowing down, favoring one leg more than the other. He then put another one of those bottles to his lips and drank from it. In an instant all signs of fatigue and damage were gone.
A voice in the back of my head screamed at me. A report from one of my men, detailing that Vim could heal wounds instantly with potion vials. One of the more insane rumors, but persistent enough that I paid attention. Was this why Coil wanted her alive? So that she could produce more of these things? Normally I'd rely on my superior regeneration abilities to overwhelm and crush my enemies, however, with these potions such a method would take much longer than I'd like.
Getting Coil to show his hand in such circumstances would be all but impossible now. All I could do now was salvage my reputation by clearly showing everyone that I had defeated not just the local PRT but also Vim. I erupted into flames and once more Vim screamed in my hand.
Blocking their vision I took advantage of the fact that we were both covered in fire to throw Vim at Armsmaster. He dropped his weapon instantly to catch her leaving me free to simply leave. I laughed, watching the Heroes try to contain not just the fires I had started but also the aftermath that my subordinates had left behind.
"WREE RLERREEVE!" I shouted. Garbled as my speech was, Oni Lee understood and immediately began his retreat. Bakuda also made haste, her mines and explosives making the opposing Heroes wary of following her allowing an easy escape.
It wasn't a perfect day but it went well enough. Depending on how the media portrayed things I might have to remind them of my threat again but for now I could leave.
Then a familiar sound began to flood the skies. A high pitched alarm. An Endbringer was near.
I could not help but feel a sense of frustration and danger. I glanced down at Vim, seemingly no worse for wear. There was no point in fighting an Endbringer but it would be inconvenient if Vim were to die, especially if that meant losing my link to Coil.
Not only that but my victory here would be for moot. No one would remember this as the day that Lung had successfully interrupted a Ward's debut and defeated Vim! Instead they would remember this as the day that an Endbringer had come to Brockton Bay!
That said, perhaps it was time to fight an Endbringer once more. To show these people that I should still be feared. To be known as the man who had fought the Endbringers not once but twice! This would do wonders for my reputation, no doubt they would forget my humiliating defeat by Vim's hand.
Normally I would scoff at the idea and be content with my own station in life. To ignore the Endbringers as just another natural disaster. You did not fight a tornado, an earthquake or flood. You simply evacuated or hid in shelters. However these last few days had made me think more and more about complacency and how it had made me weak in the eyes of many. If I fled now when others much weaker than myself had fought, what would they think of me?
To fight for my reputation again. All I felt was….
Nostalgia.
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