Interlude 3: Oni Lee

It was a quiet drive to Brockton Bay. No one spoke. No one had a phone out to idle away the time. The driver kept glancing anxiously in the rearview mirror to look at the man sitting in the back row of the SUV. The tension in the air could have been cut with a knife. Perhaps an amusing turn of phrase, or an ominous one, considering the knife Oni Lee spun casually in his hand was a primary source of said tension.

He guessed they thought he was angry. Everyone in the ABB had heard the stories of what happened to people Lung became angry with. These people had been trusted to come with him on this job. They were probably high enough in rank to have seen it first hand. Maybe they thought he had the same murderous temper. Maybe they thought he would kill them for failing him.

They were wrong. Oni Lee wasn't angry. He had been, in the initial minutes after having his job interrupted and in the following minutes where he had failed to eliminate the interruption and in the minutes after that when the interruption forced him to withdraw entirely. But emotion was hard to hold onto these days and it had bled away by the time he got into the car. He wasn't angry anymore. He wouldn't kill them for failing him.

He might kill them for other reasons. The thought crossed his mind that he could pull two knives from his belt and slash the throats of the man and woman sitting in the row in front of him. After that he could move forward and do the same to the driver and the passenger. He had no particular reason not to.

They were driving him. That was the reason. So he didn't kill them. The thought passed and he continued to sit. He didn't move. He didn't speak. He might as well have been a statue. The murderous thought didn't bother him. He'd had nearly a dozen similar thoughts since getting in the car.

He could see Brockton Bay up ahead. He could see its buildings. There was no reason to continue riding in the car. There was no reason for these people to keep driving him. There was no reason not to kill them.

He would kill them. Yes. No. He shouldn't kill them. The car would be left crashed. The police would find it. Or someone would have to come get rid of the evidence. The car was still outside of ABB territory. That would be a hard trip for the cleaners. Lung would be angry at him. He wouldn't kill them.

Oni Lee looked at one of the buildings and used his power. A copy of himself appeared on the rooftop at the same time as his power vanished from within him. He felt afraid at that, but not very afraid. Should he have expected this? Could he have, even when he first got his power? He didn't know. He didn't care. He just had to wait.

A few seconds later, Oni Lee died in a cloud of ash.

Oni Lee appeared on a rooftop and looked back at the highway. A few seconds after he teleported, he thought he saw a car swerve as white smoke poured from the windows. Was that the car he had teleported from? Maybe. He didn't much care.

He turned back to the city and looked over the skyline. He picked out a rooftop that was high and closer to ABB territory. He used his power. A copy appeared on the rooftop. His own power vanished from him. His final thoughts were remarkably similar to those of the previous copy.

Atop the rooftop, Oni Lee died in a cloud of ash.

Oni Lee died twenty-seven times in the course of crossing the city to Lung's current safehouse. He didn't realize it. The twenty-seventh death came when the thug who pulled back the eye-slat of the door gave him a chance to look past him into the hall.

He ignored the sounds of the thug talking to who he thought was the real Oni Lee. He walked down the hall and took the turn he knew led to where Lung stayed. He ignored the shout of protest behind him as his copy exploded into ash that blasted through the eye-slat.

When Oni Lee reached the door that led to Lung's room he almost opened it. He hesitated. Lung didn't like it when he burst in. Or when he teleported in. He knocked instead.

There was a moment without response. There were several moments without response. Oni Lee waited patiently. "Who is it?" The voice was deep and gravelly. The words were Japanese. Oni Lee recognized this voice came from Lung.

"Oni Lee." His words were clipped. The words were also Japanese. He would follow Lung's lead on the matter of languages.

There was a grumble from behind the door. "Come in."

Oni Lee opened the door and walked inside. Lung was there. He was standing besides the bed and buckling his belt. Someone else was there. A woman was on the bed. She was trying to put her clothes on too. She was slower than Lung. Lung left himself bare chested. She was trying to retrieve all her articles of clothing.

Oni Lee watched her. Emotions were hard to come by these days for him. Some harder than others. Lust was one of those. He didn't feel it as he watched the naked woman. It wasn't why he watched her. She looked at him as she got her clothes. He wondered what she was feeling. He wondered if he should kill her.

He'd used to wonder about his power. Not in the early days, there hadn't been anything concerning about it then. In the middle days, when he'd started noticing the side effects. That it was harder to care about things, that it was harder to make him laugh or to make him cry. He'd worried that he was losing his mind. Then he'd worried that he left part of himself behind with every teleport.

He watched the naked woman. It was easy to see when she wasn't wearing clothes. He could see the place it would be best to slide the knife between the ribs into the heart. He could see when she breathed and so when the best time to puncture her lung was. He'd worried about that to, how he grew more violent and more willing to kill as his other emotions withered. He'd wondered if his aggression was being enhanced at the cost of his other emotions. He'd wondered if it was just the only thing left untouched. He didn't bother with such wonderings anymore.

Then her clothes were on and she went to scurry out of the room. She must have been one of Lung's whores. Lung would be mad if he killed her. He wouldn't kill her. Oni Lee stepped aside and let her through. He closed the door behind her. A small part of him thought she was rude for not closing it herself.

"Well?" Lung said when the door was closed. "How did it go?"

"We failed." Oni Lee said. "The deal did not go through."

Oni Lee wasn't the best at reading social cues even before gaining his powers. He could still recognize Lung's expression as one of anger. "You are my top lieutenant, Oni Lee. How could you fail to secure the cooperation of a powerless croupier?!"

Fear was one of the easier emotions for Oni Lee to feel. He felt it now facing down his enraged boss. He wondered if he should kill Lung. He decided not to kill Lung. He knew he couldn't kill Lung. He'd tried before when they first met as enemies. He had failed. Lung killed most of his gang. Lung killed many capes in many other gangs. Lung had recruited some capes instead of killing them. Lung had killed most of them later. Lung had chosen to recruit him instead of kill him. Oni Lee didn't know if Lung could have killed him. He didn't want to find out he could. He wouldn't try to kill Lung.

It was better to not make Lung angry. "There was interference and I was forced to withdraw. The gangsters were not able to secure the man's cooperation alone."

That didn't seem to help. Curls of smoke rose from Lung's mouth. "What sort of interference?"

"A girl in purple and black. A boy in white. A girl in black and gray and red. Monsters that stopped me from killing the three. Darkness that I could not teleport in that filled the building."

They had been a great frustration at the time. The boy in white had not died when his stomach was slashed. The girl in black and gray and red had not died when her stomach was stabbed. His copies must have done more harm but none of them had died. None of the grenades had gone off correctly. It had been irksome enough that he'd pushed himself to think creatively for the first time in years. It hadn't worked. He simply hadn't been able to think of new ways to approach the problem and kill them. So he kept using the old ways. But they hadn't been enough. If he'd been a few years younger, he would have been able to think of something. He'd thought of new things to use against Lung when they fought. But his creativity had faded and he was left to use and reuse and combine the tactics he already knew. It had frustrated him when he first realized that he was losing his edge and was forced to rely on preplanned strategies. Now he didn't feel that frustration any more than he felt the frustration of his fuming boss.

"The Undersiders." Lung growled. "I was mistaken to grant them leniency. I should have rooted them out and crushed them as soon as they dared meddle with businesses in my territory."

Oni Lee didn't know anything about that. He concerned himself with the gang's business and he hadn't heard of any new capes robbing the ABB. Maybe they had been meddling with legitimate businesses. Lung knew about that sort of thing. Lung had a broader awareness of the city.

"Will we root them out and crush them now?" Oni Lee asked.

Lung considered the question for a moment before shaking his head. "We must deal with the failure at the casino first. They are a part of that, and they will pay for it soon enough. As will those who proved spineless and weak when I trusted them to do what needed to be done."

For a moment, Oni Lee was afraid that Lung was talking about him. He realized that wasn't the case when he realized Lung wasn't looking at him. Lung was talking about the gangsters who had come with him. Oni Lee had beaten them here. He had been the one to report to Lung. His version of the story was the one Lung would believe. They could have told Lung about how the casino owner had been a tough sell even before the interference. They could have told Lung how the darkness had been gone for minutes before the casino's guards had thrown them out. Now they wouldn't get to tell him anything. Lung would kill them for failing him. Oni Lee had decided not to kill them and they would die anyways. The thought gave him a glimmer of amusement.

"First," Lung continued, "We must go to the croupier. If there is still a chance that his obedience can be secured, I will not allow it to slip through my fingers."

Oni Lee didn't nod. There was no need to signal understanding. Lung assumed himself to be understood unless one was foolish enough to give proof otherwise.

"Go to Iida and have him retrieve everything he had collected on the man." Lung ordered. "Make sure he knows the order is from me and return to me with whatever he deems relevant. Time is of the essence."

Oni Lee turned and walked towards the door. He stopped when he felt Lung's hand clamp onto his shoulder. "But first," Lung said, "there is the matter of you."

Oni Lee had been wrong. Lung had been talking about him. The covert threat to him had been hidden by the overt threat to the gansters. If he was a few years younger, he wouldn't have made such a simple mistake just because of where Lung was looking. Now it was impossible for him to do anything but.

Lung pulled him back by the shoulder and flung him to the ground. Oni Lee fell against the foot of a leather-bound rocking chair, setting it in motion as he caught himself. He could try to flee his punishment. He could teleport while Lung was limited without a fight to grant him wings. He could try to kill Lung. He couldn't kill Lung. He wouldn't kill Lung. He wouldn't try to kill Lung for the same reason he wouldn't try to flee. The ABB gave him purpose. Lung gave him purpose. He wouldn't risk that. He wouldn't disobey Lung.

He pushed himself up from his spot laying on the ground only so that he could kneel as Lung approached him. He kept his head bowed. He couldn't see Lung, but he saw the light and shadow cast on the ground as Lung reached towards him.

Oni Lee crept quietly through the house. He believed it was a nice house. He'd wanted to own a house like this once. One with a large kitchen, a grassy yard, a big tv in front of comfortable seats. He'd worked so hard to achieve it. He'd worked so hard he went mad.

He stopped and looked at himself in the reflection of the television. He tilted his head to regard his leering oni mask. Maybe he was better off like this. There had been so many traps back then, so many obligations. Now he was free of them. He had no yearning for a nice house to tie him to a job he hated for the sake of a paycheck. Now he lived in an abandoned loft above a supermarket in the fringes of ABB territory. He still worked in the supermarket. Though now he didn't need the money any more than he wanted the house. It was just habit.

He kept going and reached the front door, flinching as the movement stretched the fresh burn that covered his shoulder under the costume. Ludicrously easy to turn off the alarm panel on the nearby wall and open all the locks. There were so many defenses looking outwards. None looked inwards.

He opened the door and waited. Soon Lung stepped through and into the house. Smoke curled from behind his metal dragon mask and his eyes glowed faintly in their sockets. Oni Lee fell in step behind him, the shadow of the dragon. Lung moved with almost as much grace as Oni Lee did. It seemed like far too much agility for a man as large as he was.

Their path had no meandering as it took them straight to the master bedroom. They knew he was there. The casino was a crime scene and they couldn't get to him at work. Iida had found his home address when researching the business for Lung. They knew he was here now because they'd been waiting for him to arrive and then had waited hours to ensure he was asleep. The sky was lightening by now with the approach of the sun.

Lung opened the door slowly and found the hinges oiled. The two capes entered the bedroom to find a middle aged man sleeping alone in a king sized bed. A nice house for a single occupant. The benefits of income. Oni Lee tapped Lung on the shoulder and nodded. This was the man who had been in charge at the casino.

Lung nodded back and gestured to the room. Oni Lee knew what he wanted. They had done this before on leaders of rival gangs. He closed the curtains to darken the room further as Lung closed the door. Lung stood at the foot of the bed as Oni Lee took up position in a corner along the wall of the headboard.

The room lay quiet and dark until Lung spoke. "Wake up."

The man shifted in his sleep, but didn't wake. That dissatisfied Lung. "Wake up!"

His yell caused the man to jolt awake and look around in a panic. His eyes stopped on Lung looming at the foot of his bed. The low smolder of Lung's eyes was the brightest source of light in the room. Glowing eyes on a dark figure with a monstrous mask standing at the foot of the bed. The first reaction was often to scream. The man froze instead.

"Jason Moreno." Lung growled. "We have business to discuss."

Jason's eyes remained locked on Lung. His adam's apple bobbed as he tried to swallow. He hadn't seen Oni Lee. That was why Oni Lee was standing there. It was the hardest place in the room for someone lying in bed to see. A place they never looked when something at the foot of their bed was holding their attention. He'd figured that out the first time he and Lung had paid someone a visit like this and it had worked. He'd been copying it ever since.

Jason finally spoke. "Lung."

"Yes, me." Lung replied. "I understand my envoy's business earlier this evening was interrupted. So I am here to pick up where they left off."

"Are you now?" Jason's voice squeaked. There was a hint of something in it Oni Lee couldn't understand."

"Yes." Oni Lee had no trouble recognizing that tone from Lung. It meant that Jason would be in trouble if he said something like that again. "Do you remember the terms they brought before you?"

"A fifteen percent cut of all the Ruby Dreams' profits, a ten percent discount on all purchases by members of the Azn Bad Boys, and two storage rooms and one private room permanently set aside for your use." Jason rattled off. He sounded less nervous now. Maybe the comfort of facts helped settle his nerves. "Presumably in addition to whatever you decide to tack on later."

"Yes." Lung rumbled. "Now, since you have shown you understand the agreement, we can-"

"No."

Lung paused. "What did you say?" There was a very dangerous tone to his voice.

Jason flinched. Then he repeated himself. "No. There's no agreement."

Lung's eyes glowed brighter as his hands began to glow with heat. Oni Lee watched with more surprise than he'd felt in a long time. The man had no powers. The man was turning down Lung to his face. Lung had incinerated the last person to do that down to his bones.

"Do you understand what you are saying?" Lung said. His voice wasn't getting louder even as he grew visibly angrier. Fire licked at his fingers now. The light from below gave his mask a hellish illumination. "Did they not make it clear what would happen if you refused?"

"That you'd burn down my casino? They did." Jason replied. "But the thing is, you can't do that now."

"Can't I?" The fire had climbed to Lung's elbows by now.

Oni Lee wasn't sure what to do. The man was clearly being a problem. The easiest option was to kill him. If Lung wanted him dead it would have been easy for Lung to kill him. Lung was angry at the man but he hadn't killed the man. Lung must want the man alive. If Oni Lee killed him then Lung would be mad. He shouldn't kill the man. He wanted to though. The thought wasn't going away like it normally did.

"You can't," Jason continued, "Because I talked to the police tonight."

"I am a criminal." Lung rumbled. "If you think I will not burn down your business with you inside because it is illegal, you are badly mistaken."

"But that's the thing!" Jason was getting bolder the more he talked. The quiver was almost gone from his voice. "I'm not dumb, I follow the news. I know you're strong enough to take on the local heroes and win. But you don't because, you don't want the heat. If you draw to much attention to yourself they'll come after you in a way you can't beat."

"I am Lung! I cannot be beaten!" His arms were ignited up to the shoulder now. He looked maybe an inch taller than when Oni Lee had followed him into the room.

Jason grinned at him. Oni Lee's surprise and desire to kill him jumped in equal amounts. "Maybe you can't, but your gang can." Jason retorted. "And what do you think the heroes will do if the casino burns down after I told the police and the news crews about how the ABB attacked my casino to try and strongarm me into paying them a tithe?"

"We didn't…" Lung paused, then growled, "The darkness. That was the work of Grue, a member of the Undersiders, not the ABB."

"Is he?" Jason asked with feigned confusion. "I don't know about that. I just know that some ABB thugs tried to twist my arm and then my casino was blacked out. And if a few minor capes interrupted a meeting and saved me from making a terrible deal, I think it's only fair that I keep their names out of the media in return. They tried to rob me. You tried to fuck my entire business."

"There were others there. They will be able to identify the Undersiders."

"Maybe. But I spent some time reading the wiki tonight to figure out what my options were. Grue's a mercenary, and the Undersiders? Barely a page at all. I doubt anyone will be able to ID them, and as a just in case I emailed every employee at the casino. They're all getting a bonus and no one saw any meddling parahumans besides your spooky ninja creep, and I'm sure the police will find the surveillance tapes to prove it."

Lung was literally smoking with rage. "You…"

Jason had the audacity to keep talking. "So if you try and burn it down now? The PRT's gonna come down on you like the hammer of God. They'll say it's proof that you're not content to sit in your little gang territory, that they need to take you down before you can go too far. They'll call in outside help to take you down, come after you when you're not charged up. More than that, they'll take your gang to pieces to rob you of support. I read up on you, I know it took you years to build your gang, that you chose to keep the name and colors of the ABB as your own. You don't want to lose it after all the work you put in, not over one failed business."

Lung settled for silence. His flames continued to burn. With his powers, it was restraint more than anything that stopped his gaze from burning a hole through Jason.

"It's best for both of us if you just take a loss on this one." Jason said appeasingly. "To be honest, I don't think it would have worked out anyways. The Ruby Dreams is too far from your territory, you would have ended up overextending yourself for whatever profit margin we afforded you. It probably would have fallen through in a few weeks anyways, months at most. I told your guy this already when they first pitched the deal."

Lung was silent for a few moments more. "You seem to have forgotten that I can just kill you here." He raised his hand and the fire swirled into a condensed sphere in his palm.

"You could," Jason said, a twinge of nerves returning to his voice, "But that brings you all the same problems. I just talked to the police abut how the ABB terrorized my casino. Won't it be suspicious if I turn up burned to death the next morning? You've gotten by so long without being Birdcaged because you're smart, you know that's now a good move."

"Every man has family." Lung countered. "We found your home in hours, it would not be much harder to find the homes of those you love."

Jason snorted. "Who, like my parents? They're five years dead. My ex-wife? I'll give you her address right now if you want it."

Oni Lee felt a glimmer of emotion towards the man. Maybe it was respect. Maybe it was envy. The man clearly remained unbound by family. It was the best way to live. A sickly mother who burdened you with demands for visits and calls regardless of whatever else you had going on. A father you hated but depended on to pay the college tuition. A younger sister who leeched away your money to pay off the debts she kept piling up. A cousin whose obnoxious demands you couldn't refuse because he had connections that could help you find better employment. So many obligations. So many traps. Shackles pulling in so many directions. He had done away with his in the days after he got his powers. Then he had been free.

Lung flared up. He seemed angry that the man was not cowed. Then the flames abruptly died. "Very well. I see you cannot be brought around."

Jason's grin was visible in the dark.

Lung continued before the man could make his own reply. "I will return in a moment. Lee, watch him."

Confusion settled over Jason's face. Then Oni Lee's knife settled over his throat. The two of them watched Lung leave the bedroom. He left the door handing open.

Jason broke the silence. "How long have you been standing there?"

Oni Lee did not reply.

"Look, if you heard the bit where I called you a spooky ninja creep, I'm sorry, alright?"

Oni Lee did not reply.

"How much is Lung paying you? I'll double it if, no, I'll triple it if you let me go."

Oni Lee somehow replied even less. Lung did give him money. But he could get money anywhere. Lung gave him purpose. He would not betray Lung.

"Fine, quadruple!" Jason's voice was more nervous now than when he'd been talking down to Lung. "Fuck, do you not speak English? I. Will. Pay. You. Four-"

Lung retuned. Following him was a group of ABB gangsters. They looked nervous. They were the ones who had driven Oni Lee to the casino. They were the ones who had driven the car here. Lung chose them as drivers so that he could kill them afterwards without having to find them again. They probably knew this.

Lung reached a hand out to one without looking at him. "Gun."

The gangster didn't hesitate. He knew better. Lung was holding his handgun within a second. Lung looked the gun over. He still didn't look at the gangsters. Now he was looking at Jason.

"Go through the house," he ordered, "Steal whatever valuables you find. Leave this room for last."

Jason tried a laugh. It wasn't much of one. "What is this?"

"A robbery." Lung said. "You are correct. I do not wish to draw attention to myself and to my gang. But you have insulted me. You have mocked me and told me that you are smarter than me, that your way is the best way. I can not allow this to stand."

Jason's eyes flicked between Lung and Oni Lee. His confidence was long gone. "Wait wait wait!" Jason said desperately. "You're right, I wasn't thinking straight! You want a cut? How about twenty percent? Hell, twenty five!"

"You are lying to me." Lung said calmly. "You will say anything now to save yourself, and you have shown me how you will work to twist and weasel your way out of any bargain we make. You have proven that I cannot trust you."

"It's the same problem as if you kill me with fire!" Jason pleaded. "They'll link it to the ABB!"

"Perhaps." Lung said. "But you are not the only one who can think. You were on the news today as the owner of the Ruby Dreams. You made yourself a target to every thief in the area. With you dead by a gunshot and your home looted, it will appear as nothing more than a robbery gone wrong."

"I… I…" Jason had run out of things to say. Oni Lee felt nothing in particular at that. The man would die. Lung would kill him. Oni Lee could kill him. But Lung had a plan. He would be mad if Oni Lee interfered with it. Oni Lee wouldn't kill him. The thought was frustrating. He hadn't gotten to kill anybody tonight.

Lung gestured to the phone on the nightstand, barely visible in the early morning gloom. "Give him his phone."

Oni Lee obeyed. He took the phone and dropped it into Jason's hand. He quickly stepped back.

"Dial 911." Lung ordered. "If you are fast, you might be able to-"

Jason had already started dialing. Oni Lee didn't notice. Lung did. He shot Jason without bothering to raise the gun properly. His strength absorbed the recoil and let him aim straight anyways. Jason died.

Lung turned away and gestured for Oni Lee to follow him. The two capes stepped out of the room and into the midst of the gangsters combing the house for anything of value. Lung grabbed the closest one and shoved the gun into their hands.

"When you have stolen all you can," Lung ordered, "Lock the door and break in from the outside. Then we will leave."

He turned away without waiting for an answer. Oni Lee saw the gangster desperately nodding to Lung's back. The two capes left the house and walked to the car. The sky was lightening overhead as they climbed inside.

"He was wrong." Lung said.

Oni Lee didn't ask for elaboration. Lung gave it anyways.

"The PRT will not come for us if I burn down the casino. They will already be coming for us. They know they cannot defeat us, so will try to beat us down so that we are too busy holding our territory to expand it. I will not allow this."

Lung fell quiet. It soon became clear he did not intend to continue. Oni Lee was curious enough this time to ask. "How?"

"I will make them focus on me. They know they cannot defeat me, but they also cannot afford to ignore me. When their attack begins, I will make my own counterattack. I will do this every time. Eventually, they will understand that it is best to not awaken a sleeping dragon. And until then, we will work."

He clapped a hand on Oni Lee's shoulder. It was the burned one. Oni Lee winced at the reminded.

"The Undersiders have crossed us. We will root them out by fire and by blade, until there is nowhere for them to hide."

Oni Lee recalled such a hunt in years past. The target had been a cape who led a rival gang that Lung wished to absorb. It was the third such gang she had founded to defy him. She had called herself Ubume. Her powers had made her even harder to pin down than Oni Lee. The hunt had been bloody. City blocks had burned. Women who might have been her were killed in their beds. It was a time Oni Lee remembered with as much fondness as he was capable of.

And now there may be such a hunt again. Emotions were hard to come by these days for Oni Lee. Some harder than others. Joy was one of those. But this made him truly happy.