Dragon and the Fly

By: Bubbajack

Beta/Co-Author: IcySnowSage

Disclaimer: I do not own Worm or any character that appears in this work. The only characters Bubba does own are his OCs

Ch.1.3: Berth

The jetpack on Akio's back let him practically fly through the rain washed city that was Brockton Bay. 'Though calling it a jetpack feels like a bit much. I don't feel like I'm flying just jumping. So maybe call it a jumpak?' He thought wryly to himself. Before shaking his head as he landed on a puddle laden roof. "Nah, Hana'd never go for it."

"I wouldn't go for what Akio?" 's voice rang in his helmet's communications array, suspicion heavy in her tone.

"I was thinking of calling this jetpack a jumpack… cause you know, I don't really feel like I'm flying per say, that it's just letting me jump higher, and I can already jump high to begin with."

A wave of static came from the other end of the line signalling the Korean Tinker had sighed. "Technically, you're correct. Even with antigrav-tech, extended flight is rather difficult if I'm not building a full on Meka. How high can you jump anyway."

"It's fine D, I'm not complaining, just making an observation," Akio said before he answered her question with another question. "By jump height do you mean with or without chi?"

"Both," The Tinker said for the sake of gathering data.

"Without chi I can jump about four feet straight in the air. With it, about thirteen feet? Maybe higher?" Akio hedged.

"Kay, kay," Hana said from her makeshift command center. "So how do you like the suit? Feel good not too heavy? I gotta admit, it's my first time making something like that so I'm a tad concerned about how well made it is."

"Works great so far D," Akio praised. "I wouldn't think armor would be too difficult from a Meka though. I mean it's really just a downscaled Meka in the long run right?" He inquired as he jumped on top of a roof across from a supermarket.

"Yes and no," replied. "Meka are big and meant to enclose a person. I have more space to work with and they don't necessarily need to be humanoid in shape. With armor I really need to scale everything down so it fits on a human body rather than on something that encapsulates it. It's a bit more challenging to build for the smaller and form fitting dimensions."

"Right, right," Akio said distractedly as he peered over the edge of the roof, seeing a group of what could only be five Empire Eighty-Eight thugs surrounding a young girl in a kimono holding a red cloth umbrella in one hand and bags of groceries in the other.

"You're going to help that girl, aren't you?" Hana asked, a sigh in her tone as she could see everything from the lens put into Akio's helmet.

"Well I wouldn't be much of a hero if I stood here and did nothing now would I?" Akio retorted sarcastically as he leaped off the roof.

The thugs looked up as a shadow loomed over them, and one unfortunate soul had both of Akio's thumbs plunged into his temple. Where they stayed as he did a somersault and landed in front of the girl.

"What the, who the fuck are you!?" The teen he had his thumbs implanted in questioned. "What the fuck are you doing with you're thumbs man?"

"Do you believe in hell?" Akio asked, his voice distorted by the enclosing nature of his helmet.

"What the …?"

"Do you... Believe in... Hell?" Akio repeated slowly, deliberately. "I ask because once I remove my thumbs, you have five seconds before you find out if it's real or not. I suggest you use those seconds to pray and repent for your sins to whatever deity you hold dear."

The Empire Eighty-Eights stooges eyes widened in abject terror and realization as Akio removed his thumbs. "You're a fuckin cape!"

"What pointless last words," Akio replied. As the teens skull began to expand and distort before exploding in a shower of blood and gore, causing the other four to take steps back in fear. One of them drawing a gun and pointing at the now identified cape.

Akio swept his cloak aside, revealing Ishan in the pale white artificial light that was being given off by the inside of the grocery store. The tension of the rain was only accentuated by the steady drip of rain on concrete.

"You think you can beat me with a fuckin sword you damn cape?!" The gangbanger shouted spittle flying from his mouth, his eyes darting around in his skull erratically as he pointed the gun at him. "Hasn't anyone ever told you not to bring a sword to a gunfight before you damn subhuman scum?!"

The armored cape disappeared in a blur of motion and in the next second, the gun toting banger saw the barrel of his gun get sliced in half, and then something hard slammed into his neck, causing it to break with an audible snap.

Without missing a beat, even as the second gangster fell Akio threw Ishan, impaling another foe in the chest before throwing the sheath and crushing another's windpipe. The last was disabled when he was struck in a couple pressure points in his arms making them fall limply, uselessly to his side, the balisong knife he had in his hand falling unused onto the asphalt. The wide-eyed teen who looked like he was fresh out of Winslow high, kept working his jaw but no words were coming out. Finally Akio turned to the woman he'd been protecting.

She was average height, of pale complexion, with long black hair and pink tinted eyes. She wore an open black overly large kimono that had a green and red qianlong running throughout its length. Her chest was bound in cloth, leaving her torso on full display, and she had on red hakama pants, tabi socks, and sandals on her feet. Fixing him with a mild glare she said, "You got blood on my kimono Rogue-san."

Looking at the sleeve he saw that yes indeed, the right sleeve of her kimono had blood all over it.

"Ah, sorry about that miss," Akio apologized. "However I think it's a fair trade off from what would've happened to you had I not intervened on your behalf."

She held his gaze for a moment before nodding, "True enough," She then glanced behind him at the last of her living would-be assailants. "What are you going to do with him?"

The Rogue turned as well and slowly approached the white supremacist who was frozen statue still thanks to the pressure points he'd struck. As he walked around him like a pacing wolf, Akio came to a decision. "I think… I'll use him to send a message to his leader. Kaiser was it?"

"W-What message?" The Neo-Nazi asked fearfully. "You know once Kaiser finds out you killed his guys, he's gonna come for you right?"

The Rogue chuckled. "I'm planning on it. It'll make it easier to dismantle his little 'Empire' if he sends his forces at me. It means I won't have to go through the trouble of hunting them down." He then touched the boy in the center of his forehead. "There, now get going."

The thug stumbled back. "B-But you didn't give me a message?"

"You are the message," The Rogue replied coldly, causing the footsoldier to freak out before he ran off. He then turned back to the girl asking, "Are you alright Miss?"

"Kamodo Nezuko," The girl said with a bow, "Also, yes I am, though I could've taken them on my own without your help."

"I'm sure you could've, but five on one seemed unfair so I decided to intervene. Besides, this city has enough problems without even more gang violence breaking out between the Empire 88 and the Azn Bad Boyz."

Nezuko cocked her head to the side. "What makes you think I'm a part of the Azn Bad Boys?"

The armored rogue was quick to point out, "The greens and reds in your Kimono, along with the depiction of a quinlung. Either you're not so subtly hinting you're a member of the ABB or you not so smartly decided to dress in their colors. Which is it?"

Nezuko bowed slightly again. "Rogue-san is very astute, this is part of the dress code where I work. Yet if you could figure this out, again, why did you intervene?"

"You were in trouble. Pretty sure that's all the reason I needed to help someone," Akio said with a shrug. "Besides, you don't look like a gangbanger, and there's nothing wrong with working in an establishment that is run by one, as long as it's legitimate."

"Do you consider being a hostess at a casino legitimate?" Nezuko inquired as she thought. 'He acts a lot like Nii-san.'

"Hostess? Pardon me for saying so but you look too young to be a hostess." Akio said.

"Oh?" Nezuko commented before she started to grow, filling out everywhere a grown woman should be filled out at, her kimone becoming almost form fitting on her shoulders while her chest bindings strained under her dramatic increase in bust size, as she cocked her eyebrow at him, smirking. "You think so do you?"

"I stand corrected," Akio amended while keeping his eyes on her face and not her enlarged assets. "So you're a cape then?"

"You say that like you're not?" Nezuko noted a grin on her lips that showed off gleaming sharpened fangs.

"What I possess comes purely from the realm of martial skill, as far as I'm aware," The Rogue commented.

Tapping her chin, Nezuko Kamodo said to herself. "Master of the Martial Realm, huh? Do you have a Cape name Rogue-san?"

The white armored man shook his head. "No, this is my… first outing."

Tucking her umbrella handle into the crook of her neck, only for her rescuer to take it and hold it for her along with her bags, Nezuko clapped her hands together, "Then as thanks, let me give you a name."

"If you insist, Kamado-san."

In response, the girl waved a finger in front of his face. "Uh-uh, Nezuko. It's Nezuko! Hachiman-san."

"Hachiman huh? The Japanese War God… I like it. So, where to?"

"Ah, I can't possibly ask you to see me back to my place of employment," Nezuko said, her face flushing, "Surely you have more important things to be doing?"

"No, not really," the now named Hachiman replied. "Now, which way?"

'He's as stubborn as Niisan,' Nezuko thought to herself as she sighed and pointed. 'But at least he's not babying me.'

Following her directions, the two quickly arrived at a casino with a chinese dragon in lights on the front called the Reverse Scale. Akio noticed several ABB members that had katana's slipped into their waists, all of them giving him the eye as he approached the entrance alongside Nezuko while her umbrella to keep the rain out of her face and clothes. Several of them even 'casually' slipped their hands to the handles of their swords as they approached.

"Nezuko-chan, is this guy bothering ya?" One particularly burly looking gangster with a reddish-brown pompadour asked.

"Kuwabara-kun, he's carrying my things and shielding me from the rain, how exactly could he be bothering me, when it is quite clear he's providing assistance?" Nezuko retorted calmly.

"I… uh, you got a point there. I'm just tryin' to do my job is all," Kuwabara replied, rubbing the back of his head.

Nezuko reached forward and patted his cheek in a sisterly fashion. "And you're doing a very good job Kuwabara-kun. Good job. We'll be going inside now alright? Do say hello to Yukina-chan when you see her won't you?"

"Will do. Seeya later Nezuko-neechan," Kuwabara said letting her walk by but stopping the unknown element before he could move past. "Listen here man, I dunno who you are or what your deal is, but if you somehow get Nezuko-nee hurt… All of the ABB will come down on your ass Lung included."

Kuwabara expected alot but he didn't expect the man behind the mask to respond in perfect japanese. "Is Lung-sama in Kuwabara-san? I would like to speak to him if at all possible."

Kuwabara blinked for a minute before he smirked and replied in kind. "This is the dragon's cave where he keeps his horde, you'd best behave yourself while you're here or you'll find out just why it's called Reverse Scale ya bastard. Nezuko is considered the crown jewel of the Azn Bad Boys, and the Dragon's own pearl, so you'd best be extra careful around her. "

"Kuwabara-kun, you can talk with Hachiman-san more later, it's rude to make guests stand outside in the rain," Nezuko's voice called in a slightly chiding tone.

"Right!" The man called. "Head on in and remember what I said."

"Yeah, yeah," The Rogue replied as he stepped into the establishment.

The first thing that assaulted his senses was the cacophony of sound. The dings of slot machines, whirring of roulette wheels, humm of automatic card shuffling machines all caught his ear then there were all the neon lights. Everywhere Akio looked neon glowed. From the face of slot machines, to video poker, to a red neon sign advertising all you can eat lobster for fifty bucks.

'Note to self, come here for the lobster sometime,' Akio thought to himself before he heard Nezuko whistle to get his attention and motioned for him to follow. She led him to the kitchens where she had him put the bags he was carrying on the counter.

"Thank you so much Nezuko-chan!" A portly chinese man said as he tore into the bags, "Now I can get to work on my dragon tail soup. Hahaha!"

"Your welcome, Chang-san. I'm happy I could help."

The man proceeded to breathe fire from his mouth instead of lighting the stove. "You always were... a good girl... Nezuko-chan." Chang said between breaths of flame. "You didn't… have any trouble… getting this… did you?" he asked as he proceeded to pour the ingredients into a large pot one after the other.

"There was… a minor hiccup with Empire Eighty-eight, but Hachiman-san took care of it." Nezuko replied honestly.

"E-Empire Eightyeight?!" The Chinaman gulped. "You're not hurt are you?!"

Nezuko shook her head. "No Uncle Chang I'm fine."

Chang wiped some sweat from his brow that had nothing to do with the flames coming from his mouth. "Good, good. Lung would have my lungs for a pipe organ if something did."

"Speaking of him, is he around?" Nezuko asked.

"He's upstairs with those lady friends of his Shiro and Kuro, along with the Juzoken."

'Thirteen swords? What does that mean?' Akio thought to himself as he followed Nezuko out of the kitchens and to a hidden door near the back, up several flights of stairs and then came out on an upper landing. They were now on a second floor that was filled with private rooms that had sliding paper screen doors. Nezuko walked right down the hall to the room at the end.

"Excuse me," She called before she opened the door.

Sitting around the room were various people in kimonos, playing shogi, drinking sake, eating food, or in the case of a couple, quietly playing the koto. Each one had a sword sitting next to them on the tatami mat floor and the one Akio noticed immediately was the bulky asian with his body covered in dragon tattoos, his face covered by a metal dragon mask. Kenta "Lung" Kobayashi looked up from the shogi game he was playing with Oni Lee.

"Nezuko-chan, is something the matter? Who is this one you have brought into this den of mine?"

"Lung-sama, while I was always doing my best to assist those around here by going out to get groceries, I was accosted by cannon fodder of Empire Eightyeight."

The temperature in the room suddenly rose when Lung spoke again. "What?!" He growled. "Why did you not take a member of the Juzoken with you, you foolish girl? What if you'd gotten harmed? And what of Kaiser's me-"

Lung didn't get to finish as his mask was abruptly smacked off of his face, clattering against the wall. He glared up into the face of Nezuko's supposed rescuer who moved so quickly he couldn't be seen for just a moment as he slapped the mask off his face with his sheathed katana. He then spoke in calm japanese. Even as more than a dozen swords were drawn at the same time and pointed in his direction. All pointed at vital points on his body where if struck he would bleed profusely, "That is no way to talk to a lady, Lung-sama."

Lung said nothing as the temperature in the room rose again as he stared at this unknown variable. Then he spoke, in his mother tongue. "You would do well not to provoke a dragon, if you were wise, you would bow down and hope not to be devoured for such disrespect."

"No matter how hard the wind blows, the mountain will not bow," The stranger replied back.

"You, son of a…" A heavily muscled and scarred individual began. Only to stop when Lung raised his hand.

"Even mountains fall to the dragon's wrath," Lung boasted.

"Mountains, but not Leviathans, ne?" The armored individual needled.

The room got even hotter. "Who are you, boy?"

"Someone who respects the Dragon of Kyushu, not the Snake that Crawls on its Belly in the Mud because it was beaten by a whale."

Now Lung was on his feet huffing in rage he had abandoned Japanese due to his rage.. "Boy! You have no idea what it was like! Fighting that force of nature! You couldn't possibly understand! You weren't there! Even my loyal Juzoken weren't by my side then, not in the capacity they are now."

Hachiman looked right up into Lung's dark green eyes. "But I do know Lung, I was there. I was but four… but you don't forget an Endbringer attack. You fought bravely, valiantly… but you lost. So you lost, so what, big deal! The fact that you managed to even fight an Endbringer solo is admirable! Yet instead of taking pride in this, you let it what? Defeat you? Sad, truly. I didn't think dragons, symbols of Japanese divinity, turned tail and ran."

"Four… just where were you at the time that you could safely watch my fight, boy?"

"On a boat, you might've heard of it, it's called the Sanctuary?"

A wave of shock ran through everyone in the room. All of them had heard of that ship. Lung owed a debt to the Captain. For if it hadn't been for his firing of the command ship's cannons into Leviathan's face as his transformation started to wear down, he likely would've died. It was that distraction, momentary though it was that allowed him to slip away unharmed in all but spirit.

He had since then made a hobby of sorts to follow Captain Johnson Adams career. When he heard news of the man docking at port in the bay he had meant to approach him, but news of his court marshal had reached him and he decided to wait until such time when the man had paid his 'penance' to his superiors. It would be unseemly to visit when he was doing his sentence. Still he gave word that all in the ABB were to guard the Sanctuary like it was a Kami shrine and they were Sohei, buddhist warrior monks from the ancient Warring States period of Japan.

So they did, gathering intel on those inside as they did so. Due to them, he could guess who was under that helmet.

"Zentisu-kun, dim the lights so our guest can take off his helmet."

A short blonde haired boy wearing an orange yellow haori with white triangles all over it jumped slightly when he was addressed. "M-Me?! "

"Is there anyone else in the room named Zenitsu, idiot?" A girl with rough ash black hair that ended in pleasant blue highlights replied, who was dressed borderline indecently in a brown leather bra that criss crossed over her neck, indigo leggings, and a fur skirt and anklets. She had a pig mask sitting next to her along with a pair of chipped swords.

"Inosuka, you're closer to the dial, you do it!" Zenitsu complained.

"Lung-sama told you to do it."

"If someone doesn't turn the lights down in the next five seconds, I'm going to get angry," Lung said, blowing smoke out of his nostrils.

Zenitsu moved quickly after that, turning the dial on the wall down to a low glow.

The Dragon of Kyushu then focused all of his attention back on his guest. "You can take your helmet off now, boy, also don't worry me and mine follow the Unwritten Rules."

"D? Whattaya think?" Akio muttered under his breath.

"Whose D?" Someone who looked like a ninja with two swords connected by a chain asked. "You got a friend on comms don'cha kid. How flamboyant of you."

A sigh of static came from the other end of the line. "You might as well take off your helmet Akio. He's already guessed who you are, and for fucks sake AKIO, stop antagonizing him!"

"You should listen to the little missy kid, she's flamboyantly smart!" The man with the chained swords advised.

"No one asked you!" Akio said over his shoulder.

"Uzui, that's enough," Lung rumbled. "Sake, warm. Two cups," He said to no one in particular.

"I'll go…" Nezuko began as she turned to leave the room.

"No," Lung said, "Nezuko, you stay. Rengoku go get drinks."

"Yes Lung-sama," A man with long messy blonde hair with red highlights got up and made his way out of the room.

Akio reached for his helmet, then stopped. "Just for clarification, you already know who I am, right?"

Lung grinned like a shark. "If you're not Captain Adams son, Second Lieutenant Akio, I'll be very surprised."

"Heh," Akio laughed before he took off his helmet revealing his face to those present. It was dark enough that his eyes didn't bother him. "For the record, Lung, Second Lieutenant would be my equivalent Army rank. Don't tell me you've forgotten everything you've learned under Uncle James?"

"How is the old Wolverine?" Lung asked, clapping Akio on the shoulders with both hands his anger forgotten.

"He's still alive and well, I'll let him know you asked after him," Akio replied.

"Your mother and the Captain?" The dragon asked, falling into a relaxed sitting position on the floor and forcing the albino to do the same.

"All are doing well, as I'm sure you're well aware Kenta-nee," Akio said with a pointed glare.

"Oi, oi! Don't gimme that look imotou!" Lung complained, catching a lot of people in the room off guard with his nonchalance. This was a side of Lung few people still alive could say they have seen.

"I have every fucking right to glare at you however the damn well I please Kenta Koyabushi! You went AWOL when Leviathan showed up and have been ever since!"

Lung threw his head back and laughed bitterly. "Ha! That's funny coming from a ship full of AWOL's!"

Akio pointed at him accusingly. "We learned from your example!" Akio shot back.

Lung laughed morosely. "Maybe so, maybe so… Akio, what the Captain did was nothing less than foolish."

In a blur of motion, Akio's hand was on the hilt of Ishan. "Be very careful what you say next Lung, cause I may die, but I can promise you, I'll take you with me."

"Heh, you have your mother's temper," Kenta noted. "She too would brook no insult perceived or otherwise to her loved ones. You should really get a handle on that."

"Funny coming from you," Akio replied, his tone curt.

"But what I meant was he constantly put both your life, the life of his wife, and the life of everyone else in danger to hunt the Endbringers… to what end? I fought Leviathan. I know, just as well as you should, there is no beating those things. It's like trying to cut water, or slaying the wind."

Akio decided enough was enough and it was time to be blunt. "Seriously Kenta, what the fuck happened to you soldier? Cheif Warrent Officer Kenta Kobuyashi I knew sure as hell wouldn't stoop so low as to running prostitution rings for something as petty as cash, he had some sembalance of honor. I'm not sure who I see in front of me anymore… a wraith? A remnant? Some sick and twisted facsimile of the man I knew respected and looked up to?"

Lung scowled silently. "Your words, cut far deeper than your blade ever could Akio. Tell me, why have you come here other than to make me feel like shit and insult me in front of my men?"

The blonde man returned with the drinks and placed a saucer with a heated clay gourd in front of Lung. The military man turned gangster poured two drinks and pushed one saucer towards Akio. The albino scowled at the alcohol. He didn't particularly like it. It dulled the senses and slowed his reaction time. He saw no real benefit in indulging such a useless drink.

"Need I point out that some of your men are women?" Akio cast his gaze around the room, it landed on the slightly older woman in the butterfly themed haori who seemed serenely calm, but the tension in her shoulders said otherwise. "Also why is she so pissed off?"

Said women tensed even more, this time in surprise. "My, my, Akio-san is quite good at reading body language isn't he?"

The teen inclined his head ever so slightly. "Yes, so again, why are you so angry? Are you trying to give yourself a heart attack soldier?"

"Akio-san is… strangely considerate," The woman said, placing her index and middle fingers on her chin as she smiled at him sweetly. "But he needn't worry. This something he can't help with, not until I know for sure if that man is dead or not."

"By that man… Do you by chance mean the S-Class level threat called Oni? Otherwise known as Muzan Kibustsuji?" Akio asked.

Everyone else hissed and looked around fretfully as his name was said, sans Lung, who just sighed. "We've been over this, just saying his name isn't going to make him pop up out of thin air. That's an old superstition."

"Yes Lung-sama!" Everyone in the room chorused like chastised children.

"Is that why you left Kenta? To personally hunt down the Oni of Kyushu as they were calling Kibutsuji before Leviathan attacked?"

"We haven't seen him since that day," Lung said, his tone homeful. "Since the day Leviathan attacked no reports of him have surfaced anywhere. Not in any channel be it official or 'unofficial'. We would like to think he's dead…"

"But rule number one of dealing with the enemy is, never assume the enemy is dead. Not unless you see the body and can confirm the kill," Akio said before picking up his saucer and throwing back his sake with a grimace.

"Hahaha! You should see your face! You're not one for drinking are you?" Lung cajoled in enjoyment for being able to relax a little.

The Albino shook his head, "No, not really,"

"So tell me," Lung said as he refilled his own saucer for the third time. "What happened tonight?"

"I was heading out on my maiden venture as a rogue, I happened upon some Empire Eighty Eight footsoldiers harassing Miss Kamado and I intervened on her behalf."

"By?" Lung asked as he threw back another shot.

"Killing them of course, this world is already full of the likes of Endbringers, the Slaughterhouse Nine, and Ashbeast. It doesn't need fucking neo-nazis on top of all that. Every wanna-be nazi corpse I can add to the pile makes the world a little bit safer if you ask me."

"Hahaha!" Lung threw his head back and laughed again, "You're your father's son alright! The Captain was always a tough old bastard who believed in equality for all, and hated racists," Lung toast with his saucer. "To the Captain!"

"Salute and Semper Fi!" Akio said, downing his second shot.

"Oorah!" Lung hollered back downing another shot before saying, "You know Kaiser isn't going to take this lying down right?"

"Shit, I'm counting on it," Akio replied. "It'll be easier to bring his 'kingdom' down around his ears that way if I know they're all comin' after me."

"True, saves you the trouble of having to hunt them down I suppose," Lung said, drinking directly out of the clay gourd now. "Need backup on this op or do you have a squad all ready to go?"

"I was gonna do this solo actually."

The leader of the ABB did a spit take… right in little miss 'I'm not angry's face.

"Nice job Kenta just spit in a girl's face why don'cha… Here, Miss?" He said, offering her his cloak to wipe herself off with

"Shinobu Kochou, and thank you Akio-kun… you should take notes from him Lung-sama," She smiled as she said this but there was something dangerous and sharp in that smile she gave her leader which gave him a momentary pause and the urge to check his food and drink for the next few weeks for laxatives.

"Ahem, sorry Shinobu-chan, Akio-kun's utter stupidity just shocked me," Lung turned to said boy whose fault it was for making him afraid to eat and drink for the foreseeable future. "What the hell do you mean you were going to do this solo? What makes you think you can take on Empire Eighty-Eight by yourself?"

"I don't need to take on Empire Eight-eight by myself. I just need to kill Kaiser. You cut the head off the snake, the rest of the animal will die," Akio didn't add that he probably could take on a majority of the E88 capes without much difficulty as long as it wasn't Hookwolf, Purity, or that albino fucker Alabaster. He'd been studying the gangs of Brockton Bay for months before the Sanctuary docked in the shipyard. He knew what to expect, what he was capable of and what he wasn't. Hookwolf was possibly too hardy, Purity could blind him simply by being nearby, and Alabaster just tanked anything he could dish out.

He had counters set up for every other cape in the E88, though some were harder to pull off than others. Crusader and Kreig in particular would be a bitch to fight, but he could do it if he had to. He really didn't want to fight either of them, cause it would likely hurt him like a bitch to do so. In the age of information, it was easy to find videos online of cape fights in brockton bay even more so when you had government access to street cameras and the like. Through such things he was able to compile a hoard of information on all of Brockton Bay's capes, be they PRT, ABB, E88, or the Merchants.

That said, just because he had plans ready to be implemented didn't mean he wanted to use them. For example he'd rather not make an enemy of the PRT, but that didn't mean he didn't have a plan ready in case such a thing did come to pass. Hell, he had plans for just in case the Slaughterhouse Nine showed up in Brockton Bay for some damn reason. 'Mom says I worry too much, that I over analyze everything. Well it's only paranoia if they're not out to get you mother.' He then cleared his throat and complemented Lung, "I must say, you've done a good job hiding the true number of capes you actually have."

Lung smirked. "Thank you, and you can stop fishing for information, if you want to know what they can do, just ask. It's up to them if they want to tell you or not."

"In addition to shapeshifting, I can make my blood explode Akio-san," Nezuko volunteered.

"Wow that's… something quite impressive Nezuko-chan," Akio complimented. "I'm assuming shape shifting also grants super strength?"

"I… Yes, Akio-kun is smart."

"Oi oi, oi! What's this?! Akio-kun? Nezuko-chan?" Inosuka said before turning to a boy in a green and black checkered hoari and said, "Hey Tanjiro shouldn't you be doing your job as a big brother right now or something?"

Said boy, who had his messy black hair slicked back from his head and a scar on his right temple sighed, "I don't really see a problem Inosuka? He saved Nezuko, I'm grateful and that would obviously make them close. Besides, Nezuko is cute!" Tanjiro proclaimed with pride.

"Niisan!" Nezuko complained flustered.

Ako scooted closer to her and whispered. "Hey Nezuko… is your brother a siscon?"

"No, he just likes to tease me… and he takes offense if someone says I'm not pretty," She replied.

"I can hear you!" Tanjiro complained.

"We know!" the two shouted at him at the same time. Akio asked again, "You sure he's not a siscon, Nezuko-chan?"

"I'm not!" Tanjiro defended.

A girl with pink and green hair and a diamond shaped boob window in her kimono said teasingly, "Isn't that exactly what a siscon would say Tanjiro-san?"

"I'm sorry I don't think I got your name Miss?"

"You don't need to know her name!" A girl? In a black and white vertically striped haori with a white snake wrapped around her neck along with bandages covering everything up to her nose replied.

Akio cocked his head to the side. "What's your malfunction lady? That time of the month?"

"No, but you don't need to know more about us than you already do!" The woman hissed.

"What's the matter Obanai? Afraid of a child?" A woman in black lingerie with a wolf mask on the side of her head asked as she draped herself on Lung's right arm.

Obanai scoffed. "Don't be ridiculous, and don't drape yourself on Lung-sama like some common whore."

The woman laughed, "We both know I'm not a common whore though."

"N-Now neechan d-don't fight with Obani-chan p-please," A girl in more conservative white lingerie with a sheep mask on the right side of her head pleaded quietly as she took Lungs left hand in both of her own. Lung's tenseness and anger from earlier completely evaporated at her touch.

"Obanai, Kuro, Shiro, that's enough," Lung grumbled tiredly as if this was something that happened quite often. He then addressed Akio, "You've got plans don't you boy?"

"Are you planning on hurting us?" Kuro, the woman in black asked.

Akio's eyes went out of focus as he replied listlessly. "No, I don't want to fight the Azn Bad Boys at all if I can help it," Akio answered truthfully. "What the fuck was that?"

"That, by dear boy was my parahuman ability. Compliance. If I ask someone to do something or a question, they are forced to comply or answer honestly. Now tell me, if you had to kill me, how would you do it?"

"The easiest way would be to shoot you in the head with a sniper round from a thousand meters out." Akio said listlessly. "Fuck!" He swore.

"You… are a smart boy," Kuro praised. "Do you intend to try and kill me or anyone else in this room anytime soon?"

"No, but I do intend to learn whatever I can and make contingency plans just in case and in all honesty if you're not doing the same against me, you're idiots… Damn it, stop doing that!"

Kuro hugged Lungs limb closer to her. "Is this satisfactory Lung-sama?"

"Quite," Lung replied. "It's what I've come to expect from the son of Captain Johnson Adams who was trained by Logan 'Wolverine' Howlett. In fact, I'd be insulted if he didn't have a plan to deal with me."

"Would like me to find out where these plans are so we can get rid of them?" Kuro inquired.

Lung shook his head. "No, he's not wrong to prepare for potential conflict and he's smart to do so. Plus, you heard him. He doesn't want to fight with us. Empire Eighty-Eight… is a different story. Lung clapped his hands, "Akio, I've a proposition for you."

"What is it dare I ask?" As he gave Kuro a wary look, the dark haired woman just smiled at him and licked her lips.

"In return for giving you information on all the capes in the ABB, we want in on your war with the E88."

Akio blinked and shook his head in disbelief. "I'm sorry what?"

"We. Want. In." Lung repeated accentuating every word slowly.

Akio quickly put the pieces together. "And I can't factor into my plans without knowing exactly what you can do… additionally if I do factor you in, you'll be able to take over the downtown and commercial district once the Empire Eighty-Eight are taken care of."

"Indeed," Lung didn't even bother trying to deny it, to his credit.

"I… need some time to think about this," Akio said.

Lung nodded. "Of course. We shall speak more another time," The man looked to Nezuko, "Nezuko, see Akio-kun out, will you?"

The girl bowed. "Of course Lung-sama."

Once the two were at the front door, Akio with his helmet frimley back on his head Nezuko frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to drag you into something so complicated as a gangwar."

"Don't worry about it. While Lung having more capes than I expected was surprising, as was his offer, I almost half expected it. Kenta is… has always been conniving. He is after all, the man who taught me how to play chess."

"Were you two close?" Nezuko asked before she backpedaled. "I'm sorry, I suppose it's not my place to…"

"It's fine, and yeah we were before he up and left. He was my big brother along with Steve," The grimace could be heard in his tone.

"You've missed him haven't you?" Nezuko asked, a little sad.

"Like flowers in the desert miss the rain," Akio admitted. "While I'm happy to see him again, I can't stand the person he's become, illegal arms trafficking, protection rackets, contraband peddling, prostitution rings, and even sexual slavery. I can't reconcile who he was, with who he's become, and what he's done."

Nezuko reached up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Until you brought it up, I didn't know about the prostitution rings or the sexual slavery… he doesn't seem like that kind of man. He's always treated me…"

"Almost like a daughter?" Akio mused aloud. "Yeah I noticed."

Nezuko scowled. "I dunno if I like learning all this."

"I'm sorry," Akio apologized. "I didn't mean to drop all this on you."

Nezuko shook her head, "Not your fault, I should've known he wasn't just a Casino owner. That he wasn't just preparing for the eventual return of Muzan Kibutsuji."

"You don't think he's dead either… and you're not afraid to say his name," Akio noted.

Nezuko shook her head. "A man… thing," She amended, "Like that wouldn't die of drowning or being crushed. I know Muzan Kibutsuji is still alive, out there... somewhere," Nezuko said with assurity. Nezuko paused and looked down at the wet asphalt for a moment before she said, "Do you have a cell phone Akio-kun?"

"Yes?"

"Can I see it?" Nezuko asked. Akio reached into his combat skirt and unclipped his cell phone from where it was hidden within its confines. He handed it to her. She quickly added her own contact info into his contact list. She also made an offhand comment as she was doing so. "Lot's of girls' numbers in here, Akio-kun."

"Most are family," the albino replied promptly.

"Most?" Nezuko's pink eyes flicked up to his T-visor not quite accusingly, but there was something in her gaze.

"Some are friends I've made in my travels that I keep in contact with," The Rogue replied honestly.

"Friends huh? It's a bit funny that all these friends are girls don't you think?" Nezuko thought aloud as she handed him back his phone, but not before scrolling through his contact list one more time.

"Not when all your male friends are in your unit with you at sea, no," The would-be hero said with a chuckle as he put his phone back. He gave Nezuko a two finger salute, before he walked out into the drizzle the rain had died down into. "I'll seeya around Nezuko-chan."

"Bye bye Akio-kun," Nezuko called after him as she watched him leap from rooftop to rooftop.

In a dimly lit room the heads of the Empire Eighty-Eight were meeting sitting around a table. Their leader, Kaiser was clad in ability crafted metal armor, a crown of swords around his metal bucket helmet as he tapped impatiently on the armrest of his chair. "Would someone like to tell me what's going on? I had better not have been pulled away from a board meeting for no reason."

"Some of our footmen were killed while attacking a chink flying ABB colors on our turf," Hookwolf rumbled. "Now normally I wouldn't bring this up, but it was some new Rogue in town who did the killin'."

"New Rogue? You're sure it's not some ABB or PRT cape out to make their bones?" Kaisar asked.

"Wasn't showin' ABB colors and the PRT don't kill if they can help it. This guy went for the jugular straight off the bat. According to the lone survivor he has a message for you boss," Hookwolf said.

For the first time since this impromptu meeting started, Kaiser sat forward in his chair interested in what was transpiring. "Send him in then and let's see what this new Rogue has to say."

Hookwolf whistled and a pair of trusted men led a jittery footman who had a swastika branded into his forehead forward. Pounding his fist against his chest and give a Nazi salute. "Hail Kaiser!"

"Seig Heil," Kaiser said back. "Now, what did this new Rogue want you to tell me?"

"T-that's just the thing my Kaiser said I was the message, but I don't know what he meant by tha- Gah! AHHH!" The man cried out in pain as his head began to bulge before his skeleton was ripped from his flesh in gruesome fashion. Everyone stared in shock. Even Cricket, who was blind looked a little green by what she had just heard.

"What the fuck just…" Hookwolf began only to be cut off by a sudden ringing coming from the tattered remains of the man's pants.

"Cellphone," Cricket said, stating the obvious.

"Clearly," Kaiser said, "Cricket, if you would be so kind?"

The blind woman got up and picked the ringing smartphone out of the tattered pants pocket. She then answered it after some fumbling.

"Put me on speaker phone please. The voice on the other end of the line said.

More fumbling on Cricket's part until finally, she said, "You're on."

"Kaiser, I do hope you got my message?"

"I did… you seem to have a flair for theatrics."

"Not really. Do you know what a red flag means Kaiser?"

"In war, it means no quarter is to be given nor expected," The King of the Empire Eighty-Eight replied. "First used in medieval times as something called a Baucan banner, it signified a fight to the death, in more modern times, it was used by President General Antinio Lopez de Santa Anna during the Battle of the Alamo."

A slow clapping came from the other end of the phone. "Very good Kaiser, so just so we're clear the corpse there is both my declaration of war against your empire, and letting you know that I will show no quarter."

"Dare I ask what you have against us? Other than likely being a subhuman?" Kaisar drawled.

"You and yours are simply an unnecessary relic of the past Kaiser."

Now that got the gang leaders attention. "Unnecessary relic? How so?"

"This world we live in is quite fucked up enough already with Endbringers, Endbringer cults, the Slaughterhouse Nine, Ashbeast slowly but surely wiping out the cradle of civilization that is Africa, and the Three Sisters roaming around Europe. Then we have people like you with your… quite frankly useless racism. It's just so… 1960. People who think like you do are quite useless and serve no purpose in this world that is already slowly going to hell. In other words if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, and I'd like to think of myself as a problem solver Kaiser."

Doing his best to keep his mounting fury in check, Kaisar replied "I see, and how do you propose to end my empire?"

"Oh, there are three ways I can do that Mr. Anders,"

You could've heard a pindrop when he said Kaiser's actual last name.

"You're breaking the Unwritten Rules boy!" Kaiser warned.

"That's the thing about unwritten rules if they're not written down, how is anyone supposed to know what they all are? Also thank you for confirming my theory about your identity for me, it makes this easier," The enigmatic figure on the other end of the line said.

"Just what the fuck is your name anyway?" Hookwolf growled.

"You can call me Hachiman I suppose," The person on the other end of the line replied.

"We're being threatened by a damn chink?! Great, it's' probably one of Lung's goons," Hookwolf said, contradicting the report he gave earlier.

"This chink, just found the chink in your leaders armor, so be a good doggie and shut up Hookwolf." Hachiman said.

"You fucking Gook!" Hookwolf howled threateningly.

"Silence Hookwolf!" Kaiser said sweeping his hand through the air before he addressed the now named Hachiman, "What do you want Hachiman?"

"As I was saying Kaiser there I have three ways to kill your empire. First. I could just kill you. Cause let's be honest, without you around to keep the peanut gallery together there is no Empire Eighty-Eight."

Kaiser clenched his fists. He wouldn't admit it aloud, but he knew the person on the other end of the line was correct. He was a cult of personality the others rallied around. They either feared, respected, or loved him, and without him to hold them together, his Empire would collapse.

"The second way empires have collapsed in the past is lack of infrastructure. The Roman, Spanish, and British Empires all fell apart due to this and it's why Communism doesn't work either. Lack of infrastructure means everything falls apart from the inside out. I could spend a few weeks tearing apart your infrastructure. Destroying your dog fighting rings, smuggling operations and generally just making a nuisance of myself."

"That would take a long time," Kaisar noted.

"Indeed it would Max." Hachiman replied. "That's why I probably won't be doing that. Then there is the third way empires are killed." The sound of a gun being cocked was heard before Hachiman spoke again, his voice dead cold. "You kill their future, You've got some cute kids Max. Tell me, how much do you love them?"

"You son of a bitch!" Purty roared at the phone as the room lit up like a midday sky. "Don't you dare threaten my daughter!"

"Purity I presume? Right now I've got little Aster in the sights of a .308 sniper rifle. I can pull the trigger faster than you can fly back here so I suggest you calm the fuck down."

Kaisar put a hand on Purity's shoulder. She threw him off but sat on the very edge of her chair. He then spoke in a dangerous tone. "You've crossed a dangerous line Hachiman. I hope you realize that."

"I hope you realize I really don't want to go with option three Max, but I will if you push me that far," Hachiman replied sincerely.

"What do you want?" Kaiser asked for the third time.

"For the peaceful dissolution of your empire," Hachiman replied.

"What?" Kaisar replied flatly.

"The E88, I want them gone. Not just out of Brockton Bay, I mean disbanded permanently. They, as I've said, serve no purpose in this already fucked up world. We've got enough on our plate without damn Neo-Nazi's to deal with."

"If I refuse?" Kaiser said, ignoring the death glare he received from Purity.

"Well, I dunno, it's not like I've got a gun on your daughter or anything here," Hachiman replied.

"I said, if! If I refuse… perhaps we can negotiate?" Kaisar weaseled out as would not like his daughter dead.

"Hmm, could you at least consider being less racist? I mean really, you guys wanna be capes fine. But why Neo-Nazi's? I mean one of you're guys isn't even white, he's albino."

"I'm the purest of the pure!" Alabaster rebutted viciously

"Yeah your white as fuck, good for you, but are you caucasasian? Is the question I'm asking?" Hachiman rebutted. "You could be ethnically African and still be pale as a ghost if you have albinism."

"I… I am! They wouldn't let me into Empire Eighty-Eight if I was a subhuman!" Alabaster said though he didn't sound confident about that.

"Are you sure about that?" Hachiman replied. "You don't sound too sure to me."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night Alabaster," Hachiman continued. "Anyway, Max, I do believe we were negotiating the terms of your surrender?"

"So you want us to change our ideology? To what exactly?"

Hachiman scoffed. "Buddhism, don't ask don't tell, Hooters philosophy of having the best breasts in town? I don't give a shit man as long as you drop the Nazi angle and start making yourself useful around here. Think about it, we'll be in touch Max."

The line went dead and Kaiser's fist slammed into the table causing blades to burst from the impact and splintering the desk. "I want him found!"

"Thanks for that sound bit of the cocking gun D, you really helped me sell it," Akio said as he sat on the edge of a roof in the downtown district.

"Sure no problem…" Hana said nervously. "Akio… you wouldn't actually kill a baby would you?"

The albino shook his head, "No of course not! The worst I would do is report her mother to CPS and get her removed from the home. I needed Kaiser to think I would though. As Sun Tsu's Art of War states, If you have a small force make it seem large, if you want to be in one place make it seem like you are in another."

Hana sighed in relief. "Okay, good to hear. So you've got plans on dealing with capes? I'm assuming they're on your laptop?"

"Yes, and I'm assuming you're going to use some kind of backdoor you left for yourself to have a look?" The Rogue replied.

"Guilty," Hana replied. "Going over it now… Akio…" Hana said dangerously, "Why is there a plan for taking me out on here?"

"Did you honestly think I wouldn't have such a plan Hana? Like what if your tech gets hacked, or you get Mastered somehow? I have contingency plans for everyone Hana. You, Zoe, Akihiro, Laura, Jubes, Kitty, everyone. I don't take chances."

Hana was quiet for a moment before she said, "You're paranoid. You know that right?"

"It's only paranoia when they're not out to get you Hana, and now that I've painted a target on my back with the E88 it's not paranoia."

"True," Hana sighed. "So, what's the play here?"

"Long term guerilla tactics, hit and runs on all of Kaiser's operations, keep him focused on me while Lung prepares for a push into his already shaken interior."

"A king's gambit? Isn't that a little… risky?" Hana hedged. "Also shouldn't you be getting back here for some shuteye?"

"No, I'm fine. I was put through SEAL training by the Wolverine. I can go three days without sleep if I need to. I'll crash for twelve hours after that but I'm good for right now. As for risky… well, no risk no reward right?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hana sighed, worried evident in her tone. "So what now?"

Akio hummed in thought for a moment. "Well, I've got a couple of options. I could get an early start on my guerilla warfare against Kaiser's empire… Or I could wipe out the Merchants."

"Drug dealers right?" Hana inquired as the sound of clicking away on a keyboard followed.

"Indeed another something this city doesn't need."

"You're really invested in this place aren't you?" The Korean cape asked after a moment.

The albino chuckled beneath his helmet. "Well, if I'm going to be living here from now on, I should be more civic minded right?"

"By wiping out the gangs of Brockton Bay one at a time?" questioned.

"Feels like doing a public service to me," The Ensign replied with a shrug, "So Merchants or Empire, pick one."

"Want me to just flip a coin?" Hana asked only half-jokingly.

"Why not? Heads are the Merchants, tails is me going after the dog fighting rings of the Empire."

Hana was quiet for a moment before she said, "The simulator came up Heads."

"Well then, looks like we're going to mess up theMerchant's infrastructure earlier than I thought," Akio said as he stood from his seat on the building edge and stretched. "That said, I don't exactly know where there storehouses are."

"Looking into it now," The Tinker replied, "Just start making your way towards the trainyard. As I doubt such things are taking place in the marketplace. How'd you figure out Kaiser's identity anyway?"

"Well it wasn't that hard. I mean he's a white CEO of a multimillion dollar pharmaceutical company that is in the heart of Empire Eighty-Eight territory, if you take a look at his finances and follow the money it shows quite a bit of it being funneled through various shell companies and being 'anonymously donated' to white supremesist groups across the globe."

"How did you get access to his finances?" Hana inquired.

"Little bit of that hacking you taught me, little bit of insinuating he was affiliated with the Hells Angels, which isn't entirely incorrect," Akio replied as he jumped off the roof, winging his way towards Archer's Bridge.

Akio landed on top of a train car in the train yard and looked around. The place seemed deserted… but things weren't always what they seemed. 'Okay from what I know of the Merchants Squealer has a penchant for building crazy dangerous vehicles. Now, from what had looked up they were staying in a lighthouse but there was no way she's keeping any of them near there.'

Seeing a train car door ajar, Akio threw it open and muttered, "Jackpot!" under his breath.

For inside the train car was all manner of Tinkered vehicles. From dune buggies to a ratrod all of them dangerously tricked out with nitrogen, raised suspension and tinker munitions. From machine guns to flame throwers to a nail gun, all of Squealers vehicles looked like they belonged in a Mad Max movie. Akio honestly expected to see the Pursuit Special if he looked around long enough. He moved forward cautiously as this was tinker tech, and Tinkers were known for trapping their creations. He looked around for tripwires, finding none, he made his way forward towards the first car and activated a spotlight on his helmet checking for explosives. Finding none, he proceeded to cut the break and oil lines. He then repeated the process for all the other cars. Once he was finished he activated the flamethrower on his left arm and set the entire interior of the train car on fire.

He then took a running jump and was thrown forwards when the chain of explosions finally went off. The force was such that he was thrown over the top of the train car he was aiming for and sent flying face first into a brick wall.

"Akio, are you alright?!" asked, concerned.

"I'm good. I hardly felt that," He replied. "You make good armor D. Don't worry so much. Time?" he asked.

"6:35am," replied.

Akio, cracked his neck, "Right then I should probably swing back, get a shower, and then go visit Taylor."

"Whose Taylor?"

While Akio was taking a shower Hana was doing her research on one Taylor Anne Hebert, her latest love rival if what Akio mentioned in passing was true. She shook her head, 'Only he wouldn't realize that saving a girl from her own trigger event wouldn't cause some form of emotional attachment to develop,' She thought as she clicked away on her keyboard, searching for the information she wanted. "Let's see Taylor Anne Hebert, born June 12th, 1995 to Annette Hebert deceased due to a car accident in '08, and her father Daniel Hebert Dock Worker Union Rep. Former student at Winslow Highschool school was recently closed down due to a biological homegrown terrorist attack and numerous safety and health code violations. Currently a Seamans Recruit in the Kub Squad aboard the Sanctuary."

"You know," Akio called out from her doorway, a towel over his shoulders and dressed in his civvies which for him was a red cotton plaid shirt, jeans, and boots. His comment startled her, but he wasn't done. "If you wanted to know more about Taylor, you could've just asked me or better yet asked to come along and visited her yourself. You didn't have to go snooping."

"Well if you weren't so clueless, I wouldn't have to snoop in the first place," Hana shot back as she made her way forward and adjusted his collar, "Why are you dressing like a hick?"

"What's wrong with my shirt? Also, how am I clueless?" Akio inquired.

"Nothing, it just screams redneck, that's all," Hana quipped. "Also I'm sure you can figure it out, you're a bright boy. Think about all the things you've done for Miss Hebert lately and it should come to you pretty quick."

"So I guess I should take that to mean you aren't coming to the hospital with me then?" Akio asked though he already knew the answer.

"No, I've got things to do, like catch up on my sleep from pulling an allnighter and jet lag," the Korean Cape returned.

"Fine, but when I do bring Taylor around, and I will be bringing her around because she needs proper training, I expect you to at least be civil. Alright D… Alright Hana?" He said with a bit of tension in his tone.

"Fine fine, now get outta here Casanova, I'm tired," Hana said as she pushed him towards the door.

Quickly checking on his sister before he headed out, and finding her snuggled into her bed surrounded by her plushies, Akio began pondering over Hana's words. 'What does she mean by that I mean all I did was rip off a locker door, prevent her from being pressed into the PRT, befriended her on my first day of school when I saw her being bullied…' Akio stopped the supposed revelation hitting him like a ton of bricks. "Does Hana think Taylor has a crush on me? Well, I suppose it's possible but she's been through alot recently and it wouldn't be appropriate to even bring it up right now." The Ensign nodded to himself assuring himself this was the right decision. "Yes, what she needs to do is recover right now," He flipped open his phone, and found a number he had yet to call, "Besides, I think I owe a certain someone a phone call anyway," He said to himself as he dialed a number.

Lisa Wilborn awoke with a groan as she heard her cell phone ring. Haphazardly tossing her sheets aside she fumbled around for her phone. "Damn it! If that's the boss I swear he's getting an earful!" She grumbled as she'd been up most of the night putting together the best plan she could for the Undersiders latest job. She looked at the caller id and found it was a number she didn't recognize. She was unlisted so she knew it wasn't a telemarketer. Curious she answered it. "Hello?"

"Lisa? Is now a bad time? It's Akio Adams from the other day?" A concerned familiar voice said from the other end of the line.

Lisa immediately found herself smiling. The brief meal she'd had with him was the most relaxing and most fun she'd had in awhile. No lies, no info from her power telling her all his deep dirty little secrets, she was just Lisa, allowed to be a normal girl for the first time in a long while. So long in fact she didn't realize how much she'd missed it. "Ensign Adams! I didn't… I was wondering when you'd call."

Akio sounded contrite. "Yeah, sorry about the delay. I was… possibly given some bad intel. Are you alright? You sound like you're in pain?"

"Got a bit of a headache, stayed up late working on a project," She lied but only a little bit. "Now, what's this about bad intel?"

"Well, I was told it's considered bad form to call a girl any sooner than three days after you get her number," The albino replied. "Any sooner you seem too eager, any later and I don't seem interested."

"And what if I want you to be eager to see me again? Did that thought ever cross your mind?" Lisa teased as she rolled over onto her stomach.

"I… am eager. To see you again I mean," The soldier admitted after a moment.

"Me too," Lisa said honestly. "I wanna see you too. I… my job is… it requires me to be… well a bitch basically, but with you, I feel like I can just be you know?"

"I do, how bad is your headache by the way?" His question was heralded by the ding of someone entering a drugstore.

Lisa sighed and rubbed her throbbing temples. "On a scale of one to ten, an eleven."

"Right so extra strength pain killers and chamomile tea it is then," He replied.

Lisa blinked, "Akio, are… are you picking up things for me at a drugstore?"

"Yes," His reply was blunt and honest. "Where do you live exactly? No ma'am I don't need a receipt."

Lisa blinked. She was trying to prepare and think around this new situation, but she had a Thinker headache, had maybe three hours of sleep, and honestly? She really wanted to see Akio the other Undersiders be damned. 'Well it's not like Grue can complain, he has his own place. Bitch is out, that just leaves Regent.'

"I live in a shared apartment in the Downtown area, I'll text you the address," She said at last.

"Cool, I'll be by in a bit, do you need anything else before I come over?" Akio offered.

"Food for our fridge and tampons?" Lisa said jokingly.

"Okay, what kind of food and what size tampons?" Akio said dead serious.

Lisa blinked. "I… you're serious aren't you?"

"I'm a trained Navy SEAL Lisa, I've seen my fair share of blood, death, and war, caused plenty of the first two. Getting you groceries and feminine products isn't a big deal," Akio replied casually.

Lisa frowed sadly at that. She wanted to ask, but knew better than to do so. "So about the groceries, the usual meat cheese, salad, eggs, milk you know standard stuff… and I'm a small I don't know what Rachel uses."

"Fair enough I'll be by soon shouldn't take me more than an hour."

Lisa couldn't stop herself from smiling. "See you then."

"Bye Lisa."

"Bye, Akio… and Akio?" She said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"Your welcome Lisa."

Even after he'd hung up, Lisa Wilborn couldn't stop smiling despite the pounding in her head. 'This might be the best Thinker headache I've ever had,' She thought with a sigh.

The address he put into his GPS led him to an abandoned building called Redmond Welding. A three story tall red brick factory with its sliding iron doors being held shut tight by a coiled iron chain and padlock, both rusted to the point of near uselessness. Weeds were springing up all over the street and potholes big enough to be mistaken for shallow graves lined the road set the scene for the area surrounding the building, making it seem like so many warzones and disaster areas he'd been to in the past. This side of the docks was like a ghost town, derelict buildings with broken glass all over with homeless people just wandering around. Akio didn't question why his acquaintance was staying in such a place. People had to make due with what they could afterall, he'd seen shack towns spring up overnight after an Endbringer attack.

Entering through the unlocked sidedoor like Lisa's text said, Akio found himself in the dust covered bottom floor of the building. Pale white sheets covered long abandoned machines and a layer of dust so thick he could write his name in it covered the floor. Looking around in the pale light coming from the rusted rafters the soldier saw a wrought iron spiral staircase in the corner, and ascended it, groceries in hand.

The first thing that caught his eye was the television that just about took up an entire wall. Half a dozen game systems lay sprawled out on the ground around it, and two couches divided the space up, along with a coffee table. The tv was flanked by giant speakers, and open spaces were filled with rugs and shelves, the shelves which were filled with books and magazines. He saw a kitchen on the far end of the loft and a set of rooms one of which had a rather accurate rendition of a unisex bathroom symbol painted on it.

Making his way into the kitchen, Akio began unloading his supplies into the fridge which was empty except for some soda and beer cans. Tuttering to himself he moved the cans aside and began organizing everything. He didn't react when he heard a door open in the distance. Instead, he looked around for a skillet, got out a half dozen eggs from the three cartons he'd bought and started chopping an onion. He only tensed slightly when his arm spasmed for just a moment outside of his control only for him to forcibly take it back a second later, and say over his shoulder. "Please don't do that while I'm cooking. I might cut myself on accident."

"Who the hell are you?" A young male voice asked suspiciously.

"A friend of Lisa's. She's not feeling well so I came to look after her for a bit," Akio replied as he automatically went back to his task, putting water in the kettle on the stove before setting it to boil.

"You... bought groceries?" The young man questioned.

Now that he was finished chopping the onion he threw it along with some kielbasa medallions into the skillet and let them all cook, and turned to face his host.

He was young, around Akio's age, with dark hair that had a slight curl to it and dark green eyes, and a pale complexion, he was thin and lanky, his white t-shirt was practically hanging off his frame. Akio smiled. "Well, Lisa said you were out of food so… Yes, I bought groceries," He offered the boy a hand, "Akio Adams nice to meet you."

"Alec. What's with the cape and sword?" The boy replied not taking his hand.

"Gifts from a friend," Akio replied easily, before he spread a thin layer of mozzarella cheese on top of the food. "Breakfast is about ready, where are the plates Alec?"

"Top cupboard," The teen replied, sounding out of his depth. "So Lisa just told you about this place?"

"Yes, we're not exactly dating but… it's complicated," Akio said at last. As he fished some plates from the cupboard. "Silverware?"

"We use plastic, it's easier," Alec replied. Pointing to a glass mason jar full of plastic tableware.

Akio nodded and grabbed three full complements of plastic utensils and divied up the food. He then found some cups and allowed a packet of chamomile to seep in the now whistling kettle. "Red solo cups are all you have?" Akio asked while shaking his head.

"We're teenagers. Sharing a loft, what did you expect? Crystal goblets?" Alec retorted.

"No, but actual glasses and cups would be nice," Akio replied as he handed the other boy a plate and a drinking cup full of tea.

"Thanks?" Alec said as if unsure whether to accept the food or not.

"Your welcome, but I hope you don't mind eating alone, I'm going to give Lisa some company. Which room is hers by the way?"

"The door that has the face with the puckered lips," Alec said.

Jean-Paul Vasil looked at the plate as Akio walked away. He considered dumping it in the trash, but then he thought, 'I got out here soon enough that there was no way he poisoned anything, right?' Deciding to take a chance he took a bite of the food and didn't taste anything funny. In fact, it tasted great. Still good food or no, he decided he needed to inform Grue about this, so he fished his phone out of his pocket and dialed his number. He didn't even wait for him to say hello before he said, "Grue, we've got a problem."

Meanwhile, Akio had just knocked on Lisa's door.

"Yeah?" She called uncertainty.

"Lisa? It's Akio, may I come in?"

"Wha! You're here already!? But my room's a mess and… and… Gah!" She all but yelled from the other side of the door, as the sound of rapid movement and things being shoved into drawers followed. Akio chuckled, causing Lisa to hollar, "Shut up! Why didn't you let me know when you found the building! You're supposed to warn a girl when you're on the way you know?!"

"I see, my apologies," Akio said through another chortle. "I made breakfast after I let myself in so you might wanna hurry if you want to eat it hot."

The sound of shuffling and slamming drawers stopped and Lisa asked, "You… you made breakfast? You didn't have to do that."

"Well food often helps with headaches I found. I also made tea, and have extra strength tylenol in my pocket. May I come in?"

A sigh came from within. "Fine but I have to warn you, I look a mess," She told him before she opened the door.

Lisa stood in her door frame barefoot in a purple negligee, her blonde hair was a tousled mess and she had slightly black circles under her eyes. Yet despite looking tired and in pain she smiled at the sight of Akio and the smell of food. "Hey stranger, long time no see."

"Wow," Akio said at a loss for words.

Lisa frowned. "I know I look terrible," She began, only for Akio's next words to stop her cold.

"Even half dead from lack of sleep you look beautiful…" Then he paused, realizing what he'd just said, "I… I mean. I made breakfast. You should eat it before it gets cold."

Hearing his accidental utterance, a cat that ate the canary smile stretched across Lisa's face. "You think I look beautiful? Even like this?" Lisa said motioning at her bedraggled appearance

"I… yes? So um about breakfast?" Akio said, swallowing nervously.

Lisa leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks. C'mon in, sorry about the mess."

"Right," he said. He entered Lisa's room and looked around. No less than three laptops sat on a desk on the right that was piled high with superhero themed magazines. The left side of the room was dominated by a closet that had mirrors for doors and a large bed sat in the middle of the room on a wrought iron bed frame, the bedspread being light purple.

Up against the door was a dresser that had some knick knacks like a set of headphones with a mic, a lava lamp, and a stuffed bear of all things. "Nice place, but go sit down."

"I, what? Why are you telling me what to do right after your brain malfunctioned?" Lisa shot back.

"Yes, because you're not feeling well," Akio said, repositioning her pillows on her bed so she could sit up to eat. "Now lay down, doctor's orders."

"You gonna feed me too?" Lisa asked, fluttering her eyelashes at him playfully.

"Yes," Akio stated again, "If you think you're too impared to feed yourself that is."

Lisa laughed and slapped him in the arm as she got into the bed pulling the covers around her, and accepted her plate of food. "Mmm, this is really good!"

"I left a portion out for Alec," Akio said conversationally.

Lisa's bottle glass green eyes widened slightly when he said that. "You met Alec?"

"Yeah he tried to make me spasm and fall over while making breakfast. It didn't work."

"You no-sold his power? Are you a trump?" Lisa asked.

"I have complete control of my own nervous system," Akio replied as he ate his meal. "I don't know if that counts as a trump power but… meh."

"Are you even a cape?"

"I… don't know?" Akio replied. "I can do things other people can't but in my defense. I've been trained by a navy SEAL, have seen more combat by age ten than most people will in their entire lives, and I've traveled all over the world. So you tell me Lisa."

Tattletale was trying to fill in the blanks with what little information he was giving her but her power was giving her the equivalent of a '404 page not found' message for most of it. What it did tell her was that Akio was dangerous just with SEAL training. That if needed he could take out all the Undersiders from over a mile away from a rooftop with a sniper rifle, or lay in wait at the bottom of a lake for two minutes or more without making air bubbles, and going three days without sleep all in order to get whatever he perceived as his mission, done.

Yes Akio was dangerous as he was, and Lisa felt both honored and humbled to be counted among his friends, and did not want to piss him off. "I'd say you're pretty damn dangerous as you are. You being a cape on top of your military training would just be the cherry on top of the oh shit sundae for someone else to eat."

Akio smiled a bit, then frowned worriedly. "I don't… scare you do I?"

"Let's just say I'm just glad we're friends yeah? Now, about those painkillers?" Lisa said, giving him a smirk.

She soon downed two extra strength tylenol with a swig of tea, and sighed as she finished her plate. "Thanks for doing all this, you didn't have to."

"Don't worry about it. Are you feeling any better after eating?" Akio asked, concerned.

"A little bit, but the painkillers haven't kicked in yet, and even then, they only do so much," Lisa said with a sigh.

"Lisa are… are you a thinker of some kind?" The albino questioned.

"... yes," She admitted after a moment's hesitation.

Akio nodded, "Right then, the painkillers won't do much for a Thinker headache," He stood up and cracked his knuckles. "Lay back a bit and relax. I'm gonna try something with your permission."

"What're you gonna do?" Lisa asked as she laid back on her pillows.

"I was taught how to manipulate chi. I guess you could call it life energy, I can, on contact redirect the flow of yours to get rid of your headache."

"So you are a cape! Also a healer to boot?!" She said, sounding impressed.

"I don't usually use chi to heal, but I can," Akio said as he placed his index and middle fingers on either of her temples and began messaging them, slowly kneading chi into her brain, and the afflicted area.

Lisa closed her eyes and let out a low moan as a warmth spread through her head washing over her thumping skull and washing it away like she had just dunked the inside of her skull in warm bathwater. "W-What do you usually use this chi stuff for?"

"Self-reinforcement and pinpoint elimination," Akio said in an almost whisper as he continued his temple massage.

"Pinpoint…" Lisa's eyes snapped open when she realized what he was insinuating. "Pinpoint elimination?! You mean you're an assassin?"

Yet when she opened her eyes she didn't see Akio. She saw a magnificent golden dragon standing over her, protecting her in the boughs of its leathery wings from… giant space orca's? 'What the fuck?' Lisa thought to herself as the golden dragon snapped and spit flames from its maw at the space whales forcing shards of crystal to fly from their flanks. She was not the only one there beneath the dragon's wings. Another girl with long dark hair and glasses was also present.

A third space whale floated past neither making contact with nor being assaulted by the golden dragon. Lisa felt an alien presence connected with hers and a voice so old, ancient, vast, and echoing with the screams of dozens of dying worlds echoed in her mind. It said, "Welcome, Visitor! Little Cog outside of the Broken Cycle."

Then she blinked and the vision was gone. She found herself laying in her bed with Akio's index and middle fingers still on her brow and she could feel the concern coming from his covered eyes as he stared down at her. "Lisa are you alright? You seemed to have zoned out for a moment there."

"I… I think I'm fine," She said after a moment in a dazed sort of tone.

"Are you sure, you sound out of it?"

"I… had a weird ass vision just now," Lisa was in no state of mind to lie at the moment.

Akio cocked his head to the side. "A vision?"

"A golden dragon protecting me as it fought giant crystal whales?" Lisa said trying to make sense of it all. "But I wasn't the only one there either. There was another, a girl with long messy dark hair square glasses. She was cute in an awkward nerdy kinda way."

"Taylor?" Akio asked himself.

Lisa was now slowly coming back to her senses and turned to look at her not-quite boyfriend but certainly more than a friend at this point. "You know her?"

"She… went through a very bad experience at school recently," It was clear he was being vague for the sake of her privacy.

"Kay, and there was a third whale, but it was flying? Floating, I dunno either way it was moving away then I heard this voice say Welcome Visitor! Little Cog outside of the Broken Cycle!"

"Did I… accidentally scramble your brain or something?" The albino wondered worriedly. "I mean you're starting to sound like a kabbalist after an acid trip."

"Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism that sometimes involved the use of psychedelic drugs in an attempt to broaden the mind to reach the holy seat of God," Lisa rattled off.

"Yes, exactly," Akio affirmed. "Are you sure you're okay Lisa?"

Slowly she nodded. "Yeah I'm good, little weirded out but I'm good."

"Okay if you're sure… Now would you please explain what that black smoke seeping up under your door is? Cause I'm certain I didn't leave the stove on." Akio asked as he pointed to the tendrils of smoke making their way up from under her bedroom door.

"Grue…" Lisa said to herself, only for Akio to catch it. "Brian what the hell?!"

"I don't think your friends like me very much," Akio said as the door was suddenly kicked open and the room was suddenly consumed in a cloud of darkness.

Akio closed his eyes, they would be useless here, and sharpened his hearing, as well as all of his other senses with his chi as he stood up. He heard the sound of feet, paws, dogs he quickly deduced, big ones running towards him. He pulled Ishan, sheath and all, and turned swinging. The sheathed sword met the canine's skull with a sickening crack and dog whined piteously as it skidded across the floor. Another dog clenched its jaws like a vice around his arm, and Akio pressed two fingers into its neck, causing it to let go and slump to the floor. Then a third one almost clenched its own jaws around his throat, only for Akio to unsheathe his sword and put it blade up in the dog's mouth as it bit down, slicing into its own upper jaw. It released with a howl of pain, and skittered back.

"Disperse the smoke now or else!" Akio ordered.

"Do as he says Brian!" Lisa called.

"... Damn it!" A voice called before the smoke began to fade away.

In the place of the oily smoke was a boy in a ghoulish looking mask covering his face, Alec, and a girl in a clownish store-bought dog mask complete with a chained dog collar around her neck. "You know, in polite society, this is not how people say hello," Akio said as he returned Ishan to its sword frog on his belt after he flicked it clean of dog blood.

"Lisa," Grue or Brian he assumed his name was. "Who is this guy?"

"He's a friend Grue. Met him a few days ago. He found out I wasn't feeling well and came to check up on me. He even made me breakfast."

"Made you breakfast? He stocked our fridge for a month," Alec retorted. "Also if Lisa is allowed to bring her boyfriend home to meet the family does that mean I get to bring my lady friends too? Cause all's fair and all."

"Shut up Alec," Grue said coolly. "Just who are you anyway?" He asked Akio.

"Ensign Akio Adams, and you're all the Undersiders unless I miss my guess?"

A slow clapping came from behind him from Lisa. "Wait to go Brian, just give the game away why don't you."

"He shouldn't even be here in the first place Tattletale!" Grue shot back.

"Everyone be quiet!" Akio barked in his drill sergeant voice. Silence was immediate. He then walked over to the dog, a hairless terrier he cracked over the skull and gently checked it over. While he would freely admit to being more of a cat person dogs were useful. Especially after an Endbringer attack when trying to locate survivors trapped under the rubble. So he gently approached the hound and laid a hand on the goose egg it had forming on its head. His hand started to glow yellow with chi as he focused his own strength on aiding the animals, speeding up its healing processes. In moments it was looking a bit more lively, and he stepped back. He then made his way towards the bleeding dog, a rottweiler with blood dripping from its jaws. The girl in the dogmask stood defensively in front of her hound. "Stand aside girl, I can't help your dog if you don't."

Akio knew who she was of course. She was Hellhound, wanted for murder by the PRT. He being a member of the US Navy wasn't obligated to report her location. The PRT had their job and the navy theirs.

"Move, Hellhound," Akio

"Bitch," the girl growled out, "My cape name is Bitch."

"I… am not going to call you that," Akio replied. "Now, please stand aside so I can stop your dog from bleeding to death."

The hairless terrier made its way over and nuzzled Akio's hand with its nose. Upon seeing this Bitch or Hellhound, slowly stepped aside. The Albino then repeated the process that he did on the first dog. It took longer, over a minute this time, but eventually the wound closed and the dog gave itself a shake before it yipped happily.

"What about Judas?" Bitch asked. "He hasn't moved at all, what'd you do to him?"

"Struck a pressure point in his neck, paralyzed him," Akio replied as he struck a pressure point at the nape of the dogs neck, causing Judas to twitch before he jumped up, shook himself and trotted back to his mistress' side. He then turned to the Undersiders. "I would like to make something perfectly clear. I know who you are, I know where you're located… and I don't give a rats ass."

"You don't?" Alec asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"No, I'm a Navy Ensign it's not my job to deal with Cape related crimes unless the PRT is stepping out of line. Or if the POTUS says otherwise. My job is to combat this nation's enemies. As long as none of you get a sanctioned kill order, you're not my problem. You're the PRT's."

"So don't fuck up too bad basically?" Grue said.

"Yes…" Akio disappeared in a blur of motion and when he came back into focus, the edge of his sword was resting against Grue's neck. "And if you get a kill order put out on you, I will do my job. Don't make me do my job, guys."

"Message received," Grue replied. "You sure know how to pick 'em Lisa. You dumbass."

"Shut up Brian!" Lisa spat back. "Akio… are we good?" Lisa asked in a worried tone.

Casually sheathing Ishan the Albino made his way back over to the girl in the bed and, palcing both hands on her shoulders, said, "Of course we are, just promise me you'll be careful out there when doing stupid things like robbing banks and casino's okay?"

Despite herself, and despite the fact that the others were in the room watching, Lisa felt herself flushing, "Yeah, I'll be careful, promise."

Alec wolf whistled. "Get a room you two!"

"We're in a room and it's mine! Would you all please get the hell out?!" Lisa snapped at her unwanted audience.

"We'll just leave you two alone, sorry for the interruption. Akio, I wish I could've made a better first impression, and thanks for not ratting us to the PRT," Grue said as he headed the other two and three dogs away.

"Anytime Brian, but let's just say you owe me one."

"Kay, that's fair. Sorry again," He called over his shoulder as he closed the door behind him.

Once he was outside he pulled Alec aside and said, "Why did you tell me to get here fast and come guns blazing again?"

Alec had the nerve to look offended. "Dude, Some random ass albino shows up at our place, with groceries, saying Lisa of all people told him to come over? Lisa the girl who trusts people the least? Of course I thought he was dangerous!"

Brian muttered almost to himself. "The scary part is, he is dangerous, and it's only because he's friends with Lisa and not part of the PRT that we are still in one piece."

"So we keep on his goodside?" Alec suggested.

"For how long? How long until the boss tells us to do some seriously questionable shit and he feels the need to step in and stop us? He'd probably curbstomp us if it came right down to a straight up fight," Brian said with a grimace behind his mask. "He paralized Judas with a poke to the neck. We… can't compete with that."

Alec stretched lazily. "Think we can get him to join us?"

Brian pulled off his mask and scoffed. "Fat chance of that. He seems the career military type."

"What if we joined him?" Alec countered nonchalantly.

That made Brian laugh. "You, mister lazy and amoral? Yeah you'd last five days in any military organization, tops."

"On the contrary," Akio's voice called from Tattletales room, "Alec would do great in the CIA!"

The two boys shared a look. "How good is his hearing?" Brian whispered.

"As good as a wolf," Akio called.

"Akio stop picking on the boys!" Lisa said.

"Yes dear… woah what're you doing?!"

"Getting changed, what does it look like?!" Lisa shot back as she started to change out of her pajamas.

The sound of a door slamming was heard. "You could've asked me to leave the room!" He called.

"And here I thought you would've enjoyed the free show," Lisa said with a laugh.

"You know you could just stay in bed if you're not feeling well," Akio said as he walked down the streets of Brockton Bay looking for, of all things, a bookstore.

Lisa who was wearing a purple sundress, flats, and had her hair pulled into a loose ponytail replied "I figured a bit of fresh air would do me some good. Did you not want to spend more time with me?" She said latching onto his arm and pouting at him playfully.

"It's not that I just can't help but wonder why…" He looked behind him to the girl in a stained white t-shirt,torn jeans, and boots that was following behind them with the trio of dogs flanking her.

"Rachael?" Lisa offered her civilian identity.

"Yes, why is Rachel following us?" Akio asked.

Lisa blinked. "I don't know, she might be worried about me… or curious about you. You did heal both of her dogs after smacking them around. Most people wouldn't do that."

"So either you have a friend who worries or I have a stalker with trained attack dogs huh? If I have a choice between one or the other, I prefer the first option."

"Hey Rachel?!" Lisa called over her shoulder, "Why are you following us?"

"Angelica likes him," The girl called back. "So he can't be all bad."

As if to prove the point Akio went up to a hotdog vendor, and bought six dogs three plain, and three with chili, cheese and onion for himself, Lisa, and Rachel. He tossed the plain hotdogs to the canines who snapped them up eagerly causing their owner to smile as she ate her chillidog.

"You trying to fatten me up?" Lisa joked as she ate her own chili dog.

"Yes, soon you will be a perfect sacrifice for Zuul," Akio quipped back.

"Oh no! Not the stay puft marshmallow man!" Lisa said in mock horror before she took another bite of her chiliedog. "What're you looking for anyway?"

"A bookstore. I've got a recruit that needs training up, in more ways than one." Akio replied as he chowed down on his tubesteak.

"You mean Taylor," Lisa guessed as her power informed her the girl was the newest recruit in his squad.

Akio nodded as he finished off his food. "Correct little Miss Thinker."

"Shh, shh, I don't need that being public knowledge babe," Lisa said, putting a finger to his lips as she glanced around.

"Yes dear, all apologies," Akio replied with a bit of an eyeroll behind his goggles.

Lisa slapped him on the shoulder. "Well if it's books you want, then there's a Stable and Royal not too far from here."

"Great let's go… you may need to wait outside Rachel. I don't think the store will allow dogs," Akio apologized.

"That's fine, not big on books anyway," Rachel grunted. "I'll head to the park, let the pack run. Come find me when you're done."

Thus they headed inside. The bookstore smelled like old paper, and rows and rows of shelves of books lines the place. At the till, a woman in her thirties sat on a stool and smiled at them as they entered saying to ask her if they required assistance. They nodded, and Lisa followed in Akio's wake as he walked through the shelves looking for books on… well, Lisa didn't know. "What're you looking for? I could help if I knew."

"Books on arthropods and other forms of invertebrates."

Well, if this place still uses the Dewey Decimal System then they should be… over here!" She said pointing to a particular set of shelves. Akio began looking through them. He picked up several books on the biology of insects, lobsters, mollusks, corals, and worms. Then if only on a whimsy, he went and picked up the latest editions of a Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual.

Lisa took one look at it and rolled her eyes. "Akio I don't think…" She suddenly paused as her own powers filled in the blanks on just what Taylors power was capable of. "You know what, nevermind! In fact, get as many of those as you can!"

"What did your ability tell you?" Akio questioned in a whisper.

Lisa just smiled knowingly. "She'll make good use of them," Lisa assured as they made their way to the counter to pay for their books.

As they neared the counter, Akio heard something on the radio that caught his ear. "The bodies of four cacuasian men presumed to be part of the Empire Eighty-Eight street gang due to various tattoos located on their bodies were found butched outside of an asian market early this morning. As of this report, the ENE-PRT does not think this was the result of a parahuman and has left it to the BBPD to solve. More at six."

The woman at the counter shook her head, "All this gang violence will consume this city one day. You kids be careful out there you hear?"

"Yes ma'am," Akio said as he made sure to hide Ishan under his cloak as he collected his purchases in his bags and made his way out the door, Lisa by his side. Once they were outside, Lisa nudged him and asked, "What was that about Akio? You wanted to get out of there pretty quick."

"Let's just say I got up to some stuff last night and leave it at that.

[Highly likely that the killer of the Empire Eighty-Eight members is Akio Adams.] Her power informed her. Lisa blinked when her power told her that. "You got in a fight last night huh?"

"Stop digging Lisa," The albino told her looking her in the eye.

"Okay, but doing dangerous stuff? It applies to you too, you know?" She told him looking up into his eyes challengingly. "You better not die on me."

"Not planning on it," He replied easily, not making any comment when Lisa intertwined her hand with his as they made their way down the street.

"Good, now let's go see Taylor."

Taylor was worried Akio wasn't going to show up today, as he was usually there bright and early. So she brightened up immediately when she heard a knock at her hospital door and his voice called, "Taylor, may we come in?"

"Of course!" She assumed Laura, Kiden, Jubilee or one of the others was with him.

When he came in carrying plastic bags with an attractive blonde in a lavender sundress and flats with her hair pulled up into a loose bun, her heart stopped for a brief moment and a whirl of thoughts spread through her mind. 'Who was she? Was she a friend of Akio's? How close were they? Were they dating? They weren't dating were they? Had she missed her chance?'

She didn't ask any of this however, and instead quickly schooled her features and asked, "What's in the bags?"

"The most valuable tool in any fight is information," Akio replied as the blonde next to him nodded in agreement. "Information you have on yourself and your opponent. Know yourself, know your opponent, and you will be the victor of a thousand battles," Akio raised the bags, "This is the first step, knowing yourself."

Taylor rifled through the bags and pulled out books on various types of invertebrates. It quickly clicked for her. "For my power?"

"Yes, though Lisa… this is Lisa Wilborn, a friend I made in the city." Akio introduced.

"Nice to meet you Taylor," Lisa said with a genuine smile as she held out her hand.

When she stared at the dark-haired girl in the hospital bed who gingerly reached out and took her hand, Lisa's power filled her in on certain things just by reading her body language. [Has low self-esteem, sees self as a burden, possible suicidal tendencies. Has trust issues. Really wants to be a hero. Has a crush on Akio, sees you as a potential threat to that.]

"Nice to meet you Lisa," Taylor said to the perpetually smiling girl. "Have you known Akio long?"

[Is fishing for information.] Sometimes Lisa hated her power. It would point out the obvious on occasion. "I met him three days ago now. He wanted to know a place nearby to eat and the only one I knew of was Pop's even though I'd never been in there. He treated me to breakfast as thanks."

"Was that a date?" Daniel asked, from his place in the chair. "Sounds like one." As he glanced worriedly at his daughter who was grimacing.

Lisa just laughed. "Nonono! Akio and I are close, but we haven't gone on an official date yet."

Lisa worded it just so as to let everyone know she was interested but hadn't made a move yet.

Taylor nodded. "I see…" She finished unpacking the bags and looked up quizzically. "What's with the DnD books?"

"You'd have to ask Lisa that," Akio replied, giving the blonde a sideways glance. "She seems to know something about your power that neither of us do."

"Are you a Thinker, Lisa?" Taylor asked point blank.

The blonde winked. "Yeah, I just know things, maybe I read minds, maybe I have ways of filling in the blanks of my own information… who really knows?" She said with a shrug as her impish smile never left her face.

"You do, but if you don't want to share that's perfectly understandable," Daniel replied.

"Thank you, Mr. Hebert I presume?"

"Just call me Daniel please. Mr. Hebert makes me feel older than I already am," The single father replied. "So, what can you tell us about my little girl's power, Lisa?"

"Dad!" Taylor complained. "Stop embarrassing me in front of people please."

"But it's one of my few joys and privileges as a father, sweetheart. Along with threatening any boy you bring home with certain death."

"Dad!" Taylor said again. "Stop, please." She begged, "Besides, I don't think you could handle the boy I'm interested in," She refused to look up from her blankets when she said this.

Daniel just laughed. "True enough."

"Your dad's cool Taylor," Lisa said as she watched the byplay between father and daughter. "A lot better than mine by half." Lisa then cleared her throat pointedly and said, "Anyway, if you look through those books Taylor you'll find insect-like monsters. See your power isn't just gathering swarms of arthropods…" Lisa leaned in forwards on the bed as she finished, "You can also force them to rapidly evolve too."

Taylor blinked. "I can what?"

Lisa carried on, "It's what my power told me. You're more than just a master and you're also something of a biotinker… though only of insects."

"Cool… scary as all hell, but cool," Taylor said. Taylor's mind immediately raced to the likes of Bonesaw, Blasto, and Nilbog, three very well known, and rightfully feared biotinkers. "And the PRT can't touch me?"

Akio shook his head. "No, you are a member of the US Navy and as such, legally untouchable. Learning you're a biotinker is useful, you could have possible healing abilities if you try hard enough, maybe. It might be useful to call in a favor and apprentice you to Panacea at some point, see if you can use your abilities in the healing field at all. Speaking of her, I should probably go check on her at some point."

"What's going on with New Wave?" Lisa asked, licking her chops at the thought of more insider info. A Thinker was nothing without info to work with after all.

"Stop fishing Lisa," Akio said, tapping her on the nose, making her go momentarily cross eyed. "Also, New Wave is temporarily out of commision for reasons you don't need to know."

The blonde crossed her arms and huffed looking away. "It's not like I was going to rob their house or something… What, I wasn't!" She said defensively upon seeing and feeling the dubiously glare Akio was sending her.

"Is Lisa a villian?" Daniel asked.

"Small time crook due to being a runaway," Akio lied smoothly as it wasn't technically a lie. He did his homework. Up until a few years ago Lisa Wilborn didn't exist. Meaning she was A in witness protection or B, had changed her name for a damn good reason. Being as old as she was, he assumed she ran away for a good reason. He just didn't know what it was.

"I wasn't exactly trying to hide it," The blonde said defensively, flinching a little at how on the nose Akio was, "It's just nobody asked."

"We're not judging," Daniel replied. "If it was bad enough you had to run away from home and resort to petty crime, it must've been bad."

"I take back what I said earlier Taylor… you're dad isn't cool, he's awesome!" Lisa said, her smile dropping a bit but this one seeming more sincere.

"He is," Taylor said with pride.

Daniel chuckled a little. "You can say that when you have something to be proud of."

"Dad," Taylor said with a frown.

"No, no I… losing your mother hurt Taylor, but that's no excuse for me being a neglectful father. I should've noticed something was going on sooner than you ending up in the hospital," Daniel began. "I didn't and I'm sorry…"

"I… It's okay dad. We're gonna be okay."

Akio noticed a faint gleam on a nearby rooftop and reacted on instinct. Throwing himself over Taylor as he shouted, "SNIPER!" Seconds before the glass shattered and a metal arrow was protruding from the outside of his left shoulder blade.

Akio grunted when a second arrow impaled him under his floating rib. 'Arrows, broadheads. Only known capes that use bows are Shadowstalker… I see.'

Akio stood up and walked over to the now destroyed window before he took a deep breath. As he did so, his muscles expanded to the point they destroyed his shirt. Shame he liked that shirt. He then launched himself out the window and began jumping between the buildings, aiming towards the roof across from Taylor's room.

He landed directly behind a startled Shadowstalker and tossed his cloak aside; it would only be a hindrance here. "Did you actually think you could get away with this?" Akio asked calmly as he turned to face the former Ward.

"You!" She spat. "You ruined my fucking life! You and Hebert!"

"No, you ruined your life Hess! No one but you and your stupid beliefs in might making right," Akio said as he tilted Ishan's sheath preparing for a quickdraw as Sophia prepared to shoot him with her crossbow. The tension mounted between the two as they stood there each waiting for the other to make a move. A pigeon landed between them, its head bopping around for a moment before it took flight again.

The winged rat taking off was like a gunshot to the two as they moved at the same time, Shadowstalker fired one of her crossbows, and Akio sprinted forwards, spinning to avoid the arrow and dropping into a kee slide to avoid the second shot aimed at his heart. As he rose he drew his sword, and slashed.

Dragon had been searching for the runaway Shadowstalker ever since she escaped FBI custody. It was unknown how many safehouses she had in the Brockton Bay area, but she had for almost a week evaded capture by the PRT. She had been asked to aid in the search by Armsmaster as a favor to Emily Piggot. She had no problem helping of course but what she read in the girl's file was disturbing. She had superiority tentendances, would often shirk responsibility, and buck against authority she also had what appeared to be a Social Dwarwinist mindset and from what she'd looked into on her bullying of Taylor Hebert, deserved to have the book thrown at her from a cannon.

That said, she didn't want the girl to die, which is why when she got the report of shots fired at Brockton Bay General, she hurried over. As that was where Taylor Hebert was being held for observation. She found Shadowstalker missing her dominant arm bleeding out on the roof, she moved to provide first aid as quickly as she could. Standing over her, bloody sword in hand, with blood trickling from his side, was Akio Adams

"Ensign Adams! Please step away from Shadowstalker so I can both secure her and provide a tourniquet," Dragon said, approaching slowly her helmet pulling back, allowing her 'human face' to be seen, black hair flowing behind her.

Akio spoke to her, never removing his gaze from Shadowstalker. "She tried to kill Taylor Dragon."

"I know, but you've disarmed her. Let me handle it from here."

Akio chuckled, his bare skin was already turning lobster red in the sun. "Yes, I certainly did disarm her," He slowly raised his blade above his head. "Part of me feels like I should finish it."

"Don't do it!" Dragon warned as several drones moved in surrounding him from a distance. "Don't do it Akio," Dragon said softly. "You're better than this, than her."

Akio smiled. "I'm really not. I've killed plenty before."

"That's different, you're a soldier, it's expected of you, doing what you need to do for your country," Dragon said as she edged closer as she told her drones to hold position. "Don't do this, she's defenseless."

"Now! She's defenseless now! How much do you wanna bet if I let her go now, she'll just come back to be a bigger thorn in my side later?" He questioned.

"If that happens I'll personally take responsibility for it," Dragon swore.

Akio seemed to weigh her words, before flicking his blade down and to the side performing chikiri, or flicking the blood from his blade. He then returned Ishan to his sheath, removing the rest of the blood with his thumb as he slid his sword home.

Dragon smiled at him before she began tying off Shadowstalkers arm with twine and covering her in limb, and the rest of her, in foam. "Thank you Akio, I know you're well within your right to execute Sophia and it would've been self defense. She still had one arm after all."

"Just get her out of here Ryu-obachan," Akio said tiredly.

Dragon was surprised for a moment. He didn't expect him to call her 'aunt'. She didn't mind of course. Having no family of her own, she considered it endearing that he had taken her to be a part of his family.

"Of course Akio, and you should get yourself looked at. You're both wounded, and you're starting to get boils on your skin from sun exposure."

"Shit," He hissed through his teeth. "Of all times for Panacea to be unavailable."

"Actually she put you on her guest list even though she's in quarantine. I suggest you go see her sweetie."

"I will once I let Taylor and the others know I'm alright," He assured her. "I doubt Taylor will want to stay here any longer in any case, seeing as someone just tried to kill her."

Dragon nodded. "Do so, get the Heberts out of here. Then get yourself looked at, and I want it done within the hour."

"Yes auntie," Akio said as he prepared to jump off the ledge.

Dragon nodded. If she was going to be called auntie she was going to live up to the role damnit!

Everyone jumped when Akio swung his way into the room through the broken window. Some blood splattered on his red and blister covered torso. Taylor threw herself out of her bed and began looking him over. "What the hell happened Akio?"

"Sophia fucking Hess happened," He said with a sigh. "Apparently she used her power to escape from FBI custody and decided to try her hand at assassination. She failed. I sure hope she's ambidextrous because she's also going to have a hard time using her right arm from now on."

"Why?" Lisa asked.

"I cut it off," Akio replied easily as he

"You look half dead and… wait… Sophia Hess was Shadowstalker?!" Taylor asked, her eyes widening as all the pieces, the arrows, the teleportation, her ability to escape from FBI custody all fell into place. "That… that bitch! You cut her arm off?" Seeing Akio nod, she said, "Good!"

Daniel thought about reprimanding his daughter for her language but honestly? He agreed seeing as said girl just tried to kill her. "Could one of you please go get a doctor to go yank these arrows out of me?"

"I'll go," Lisa volunteered. "Taylor stay here with him,"

"No, both of you stay here, and I'll go get a doctor," Daniel said in a tone that would brook no argument before he left the room.

Akio moved the books he bought taylor aside and sat cross legged on the bed. He hadn't slept for more than twenty-four hours now and he was wounded. He needed to heal himself. That meant he needed to meditate. Placing his palms flat on his knees, he breathed in and out, and allowed himself to seek his center. Finding it, he let his chi close his wounds oh so slowly. First he forced the arrows out of his body, then he stanched the blood flow, and lastly he restored damaged flesh. While he was doing all this, he listened to the girls talk.

"What's he doing?" Taylor asked.

"My power says it's some kind of healing trance," Lisa replied. "When it comes to him I'm lucky if I get any info at all… to be honest I'm kinda happy that's the case. It's been so long since I actually got to know someone ya know? It's nice to just be a normal teen again."

"Yeah… Do you think he can hear us?" Taylor asked.

"I… don't know. Why?"

"You… you like him don't you?" Taylor asked nervously, "Akio I mean?"

Lisa laughed a little bit. "I do, you like him too, right Taylor?"

The dark haired girl was silent for a moment, and since Akio had his eyes shut he couldn't see her expression. Finally she said, "Yes! I do! He... I was… betrayed! Betrayed by someone who was like a sister to me since elementary school and I don't know why! She, Hess, and one other girl became my worst tormentors and almost a week ago now… they caused me to Trigger!"

Lisa gasped she knew how much this must have hurt Taylor. Triggering was no joke and for a bullying campaign to cause someone to cross their trigger threshold well she was humbled Taylor seemed to trust her enough to tell her… Akio did his best to school his features and not grimace. He didn't like being reminded of Taylor's trigger event. It felt like a personal failure to him.

The sound of cloth meeting cloth was heard, along with Lisa deciding to offer some solace to the girl by revealing her own secret by saying, "I'm so sorry you had to go through all that… My brother commiting suicide is what caused me to Trigger. I wanted to know why he did it so badly that it caused me to break down and then… I knew."

"I'm sorry," Taylor replied genuinely sympathetic to the girl

"It's okay… but Taylor? You gotta stop beating yourself up girl. You're not helping anyone by doing so, least of all yourself." Lisa told her.

Akio heard Taylor sigh dejectedly. "I'm not like you Lisa, I'm not naturally pretty or anything like that. I honestly think the only thing about me that's feminine is my hair."

'That's not true,' Akio thought to himself. 'You're brave. You have a nice smile, what you need is confidence which is what I'm working on giving you.'

"You just need to be a bit more confident in yourself Taylor. So you don't have udders on your chest? So what? I'll let you in on a secret. Back pain is a bitch. Or it can be if you don't have proper support," Lisa told her in a conspiratorial tone. "Back to the topic at hand though. We both like the same guy huh?"

"I don't stand a chance I mean, just look at the competition… Ouch! Why'd you pinch me?" Taylor said rubbing a part of her body Akio assumed was her arm.

"You need to be more confident!" Lisa replied sternly. "Thank you for the compliment though."

"You're welcome," Taylor said. "What're we gonna do about Akio though? Have a duel at ten paces?"

That got a chuckle out of Lisa. "With your power and mine, we'd both probably critically hit each other, so let's not do that okay? I see what you mean though… then again who says only one of us can have him?"

"Um society and the laws of the United States?" Taylor replied. "Pretty sure polygamy is illegal."

"Oh it is… at the moment," Tattletale assured her. "But think bigger Taylor. Think worldscale. The whole planet is being attacked by the Endbringers, who attack population centers, Ashbeast is slowly wiping out Africa, and let's not forget that Akio is Japanese. One of the few survivors of Leviathan's attack on Kyushu that caused almost ninety percent of the nation's nuclear reactors to go critical."

"So you think that because Akio is japanese and hasn't been breathing and bathing in radiation for almost a decade that he'd be allowed to have a… a harem?" Taylor didn't sound convinced.

"From what I've heard on the dark web the Prime Minister of Japan is going to be making an announcement sometime in the next couple months about the unsustainability of Japan's population," Lisa replied. "Only those who fled Kyushu's destruction are actually fertile from what I've been hearing. That's three million out of one hundred and fourteen million people."

"Hmm… Well until that happens I don't feel comfortable doing anything," Taylor decided at last.

"Completely understandable. It'll give you time to build up your confidence."

"You're so stubborn!" Taylor said with a sigh.

"You're going to be confident one way, or another," Lisa promised the other girl seconds before the door banged open causing Akio to snap his eyes open.

Kiden was standing in the doorway with Laura, claws loosened, and looking for a fight, as Kitty phased through the wall pulling Jubilee, Akihiro, and Tatianna with her.

"Stand down guys, fights over! I already took down the tango," Akio replied.

Laura stalked up to him sniffing the air. "You got hurt, I know the scent of your blood anywhere."

Akio sighed. "Well I was healing myself before someone kicked the door in," Akio sent Kiden a glare.

"Sorry Pointman, we ran in to Taylor's dad down in the lobby and he said you got shot… he didn't mention it was with fucking arrows? Who'd you piss off? Robin Hood?"

"No, Shadowstalker," Akio said with a sigh. He saw no point in trying to hide a former hero's identity.

"Fuck me!" Kiden swore. "What'd you do to piss her off?"

"Got her arrested by the FBI."

"FBI… she's one of the Trio?! Which one, and please don't tell me it was that prissy bitch Emma?"

"Hess," Akio said wearily. Healing took a lot out of him.

Kiden whistled. "So Thundercunt "I'm better than all of you" Hess was actually Shadowstalker? That stupid bitch could've got a free ride to Arcadia and didn't take it why?"

"Probably thought staying at Winslow made her hard or something I dunno," Akio said with a sigh as a shadow suddenly overtook the shattered window. Looking over Akio sighed. Dva was there in her Meka, floating in front of the window. Her Meka's cannons primed to fire. "D, park that damn thing on the roof and get in here!"

"Before I do that, are all these people friendlies?" asked.

"Even if they weren't you'd kill the entire room if you fired," Akio retorted. "Now, go park and get in here."

"No need," The Meka opened up and rolled out, athletically rising to her feet in her lavender bodysuit. She then hit the fob on her gun and her meka slowly descended to the ground before almost rolling itself into a ball, and making an all too familiar 'beep-beep' of a car car locking itself down. She then fixed Akio with a glare. "You look like… well not shit, but worse for the wear," She said as she pursed her lips.

"Thanks D. How'd you sleep?"

"Well, until a bot I had following you went off saying you were in a fight?"

"Someone tried to kill Taylor with a crossbow," Akio said tiredly, nodding towards the dark-haired girl.

'So this is Taylor. She's cute in a nerdy kinda way,' Hana thought to herself. As she turned to face the nervous girl who just kept staring at her.

"Y-Your fucking !" She said at last. She then glared at Akio. "You never said you knew a famous cape."

"I am," Hana said with a smile. "Are you a fan?"

"Sort of, I used to watch your streams."

"Used to?" Hana inquired.

Taylor looked away. "It was something a friend and I did together. We… drifted apart and it just wasn't the same."

Hana frowned the way the girl talked and acted when she spoke of this separation, it hurt. "Was she the one who just tried to kill you?"

"No… but she's part of the reason I'm here," Taylor replied quietly.

The last thing Taylor expected was for the to give her a hug. "You're strong Taylor. Do you know how I know?" When the other girl shook her head, Hana finished. "That's because you're going to come back from this, and overcome it. That other girl? She won't be so lucky. She'll be stuck in a cold grey eight by eight cell forced to think about this for a long time. You meanwhile will be moving on with your life."

"So, not that its not cool to meet a celebrity and all, but how do you know Akio and all?" Kiden asked.

"Oh, I'm his girlfriend," Hana replied matter of factly.

"… WHAT?!" Laura, Lisa, and Taylor though her small weak voice was lost under Lisa's and Laura's angered tones while they both looked at Akio in anger and betrayal.

"Well, I am," the Korean Tinker said defensively.

"What Hana means to say," Akio said, not liking the look on any of the three girls' faces, "Is that she's my ex. We currently aren't dating… to my knowledge."

"We never officially broke up," Hana pointed out.

Akio was quick to counter. "We never officially started dating either. I was there for all of three months D."

"Best three months of my life, despite everything going on at the time," Hana replied sincerely.

"So uhh… when did you two even meet?" Kiden asked.

Hana cleared her throat. "It was during Behemoth's attack on Seoul."

All eyes turned to Akio. "You showed up during an Endbringer attack?" Lisa questioned.

Hana laughed. "Oh, he did much more than that. He punched Behemoth in the face so hard it's head and some of its torso flew off, then, it ran away after it brought itself back together and Scion then showed up."

"You KO'd an Endbringer?" Lisa asked in disbelief.

In response Akio made his fist glow golden for just a moment. "At full power I've been told the fist is not dissimilar to a thermonuclear bomb."

"Your fist is an atomic bomb?" Kiden asked.

"At full power, yes. I should've aimed for its chest. I might've broken something vital," Akio said with a sigh.

"You ripped its damned head off, that's pretty fucking impressive bro," Akihiro replied.

"Thanks Hiro…" Akio's eyes suddenly widened in terror. "Wait… if you're all here, then who the hell is watching Zoe?!"

All the members onboard the Sanctuary just held their hands out defensively. "Relax, relax, she's staying at a friend's house right now that she met at school."

Akio sighed in relief. "Oh thank God! She probably can't get in too much trouble right?"

Everyone who knew her shared a glance. "Maybe we should like, call? Just to make sure she hasn't you know teleported the house to Taiwan or something?" Kitty said only half-jokingly.

"Good idea you do that Kitty. You do that right now," Akio all but ordered.

"On it boss," Kitty said, moments later she had her phone out and someone answered. "Yo Misses A, is everything okay with D and Zoe?"

"Yes, everything is just fine Kitty. They just came down wearing New York Giants hats and jackets… I've no idea where they got them from though."

"Phone," Akio ordered. "Hello ma'ma? This is Akio Adams Zoe's older brother.

"Oh hello dear, your little sister just thinks the world of you. She talks about you all the time."

Akio smiled. "Thank you ma'am. Although she's adorable and I love her to death, I feel inclined to inform you my sister is an active military cape who specializes in teleporting. So the reason they have New York Giants attire is…"

"Is because they were in New York. I see."

"I apologise if this distresses you ma'am but you deserved to know. We've tried telling her time and time again not to frivolously use her powers but…"

"She is a twelve year old girl who loves adventure. I understand Akio and it's fine. Neither of the girls got hurt but I will insist she take my husband or myself with them if they go on an excursion again. Especially since my husband Wilbur has always been a Giants fan. Zoe dear what're you doing dear?"

"Visiting Oniichan!" Zoe called back moments before a blue-white portal opened up in Taylor's hospital room and Zoe stepped through, carrying a paper bag that from the smell, was filled with pastrami sandwiches.

"Zoe… why do you have pastrami?" Akio said with a sigh.

"Well I was with my new friend Dinah and we heard her daddy yelling at the tv. His baseball team was losing. It's boring watching sports on tv, so I decided to take Dinah to the game in person. We hung around for a little bit, bought some souvenirs, then we got hungry. I didn't feel like paying eight bucks for a hotdog so we went to this deli that was called after Cats, but they spelled it with a 'K'. I got pastrami sandwiches for everyone!" She reached into her paper bag and pulled out a huge sandwich and a cookie and handed it to Taylor. "I got you an extra big one and a cookie cause I heard you were sick Taylor."

Taylor smiled, wishing not for the first time that she had a cellphone to capture the cuteness in human form that she was. "Thank you Zoe. That's very thoughtful and sweet of you."

"Mmhm," She then noticed Akio was slightly red, and he had dried blood on his chest. Her smile dropped and her mismatched eyes became flinty. "Oniichan… how did you get hurt?"

"Someone tried to hurt Taylor, I took offense to that," Akio replied, "Don't worry Zoe, I'm fine."

Zoe nodded. "Uh-huh. Who?"

"Zoe… I'm fine. Really," Akio assured her.

"Gimme her name Oniichan," Zoe's tone was dark and foreboding, her eyes began to glow, and her hair began to turn a complete dark purple.

Akio locked eyes with his little sister. "No. You're not going to kill her Zoe."

"Kill? No," Zoe shook her head. "Make her wish she was dead? Most certainly."

"Her name is Sophia Hess aka Shadow Stalker," Kiden said, ending the staring match.

The albino fixed the girl with a glare. "Kiden, what the hell?"

"Look Pointman, you took her arm, and that's all well an' good, but you got two holes in ya. Hess only has one in her. Don't seem fair to me," Kidan replied.

"I'll fix that! I'll fix that right now," Zoe said as she blinked away.

Dragon was almost to the PRT when she stopped. She stopped because a little girl, no older than twelve just stepped out of a portal in midair. When she stepped out of the portal, the girl just floated there glaring at the foam covered blob that was Shadowstalker. Dragon did a quick facial recognition search and quickly came up with a name in the military archives.

Zoe Adams. Akio's little sister. Triggered at age eight, is known to teleport, fly, and fire lasers. Worse yet, she looked pissed. 'She probably found out about what happened to her brother.' Dragon realized. "You should go home sweetie, let me and the PRT handle this."

Zoe shook her head. "Nope," she popped the 'p' when she spoke. "She shot my brother twice and only got cut once, that's not fair oba-san."

"She lost an arm, isn't that enough?" Dragon inquired.

"She lost one arm… she shot using both didn't she?" Zoe asked sweetly but the darkness in her tone made it perfectly clear what her intentions were.

Dragon grimaced. This child was here to get her pound of flesh, and if she were being entirely honest? She wasn't sure if she could stop her. "Please don't do this."

Zoe started teleporting around laughing. The sound of portals opening and closing all around was a tad disorienting "Sorry obasan… but it's already done."

Dragon had no idea what she meant until she felt a massive weight clinging to the drones that were carrying Shadowstalker. Looking over she stared for just a moment, for a Great White Shark had breached a portal. The bred killing machine leapt up and took a chomp out of Shadowstalkers other arm, severing it at the elbow, before sinking back down into the portal.

"Son of a… how the hell did you even do that?!" Dragon asked as she mentally ordered one of her drones to apply first aid to the struggling former Ward. "Stop struggling Sophia. I've got a low electrical current going through the foam. You can't shift and if my drones drop you, you will fall to your death."

"Fuck you!" Sophia swore. "I've lost both my fucking arms! One of them to a damn shark!" She said laughing hysterically. "I'm getting the fuck out of here do you hear me?! I am a predator! Not prey! A Predator! A hunter! I. AM. NOT! PREY!"

She kept yelling as he kept struggling and finally the drones lost their grip on her sending her plummeting into the bay below.

"Damnit!" Dragon swore as the foam hit the water with a splash. 'At this height, the water is like concrete.' Dragon thought. 'If she survived that, she's gonna wish she hadn't.' As she had her drones skim the surface of the bay looking for the girl, but finding nothing. When she turned back to find the girl responsible for this she found nothing but wicked laughter on the wind. "Well, Piggot isn't going to be happy about this."

Words: 21,342 Number of Pages: 50 Date Completed: 4/11/2020

AN: Hello one and all and Welcome to Dragon and the Fly chapter 3. I do hope you all liked this one, it's got humor, action, and sharknados. What's not to love, eh? I hope everyone stocked up on toilet paper before in this quarantine hit, and is staying safe. That said, I'll pass the mic over to my friendly neighborhood beta Snowy! Take it away buddy!

So yeah Zoe is scary and don't mess with her big brother or else. I think this chapter laid down some depth and helped flesh out some other characters. Now remember the world is not stagnant, things are changing and events have already been set in place that will ripple and forever change this world forever. Now the only problem is its not this world causing problems now is it? With those ominous words I will turn the mic back over to bubba. Also fans and readers I am happy to answer any questions if you pm icysnowsage on fanfiction about any of our stories.

Indeed. Time as they say, marches on, and the only thing that stays the same is everything changes. Thanks for reading everyone and please, stay safe in these trying times. Till next time, this has been a Bubbajack and IcySnowSage Production! Peace!