2.6
Lung was in his primary hideout, the second floor of a massage parlour, under the name 'Golden Touch'. Surprisingly, the workers were genuine masseuse and he used it mostly because it was in a central location rather than for the 'benefits'. He was a very Spartan person at work, avoiding indulgences in his primary areas of business: the sex industry, high end party drugs and gambling. He also was branching out into stolen merchandise, waylaying transported goods on their way through the city.
He was a very good boss, as long as you avoided his triggers. He hated being cheated, ripped off and otherwise made a fool of and would settle those kinds of matters with liberal applications of fire and violence. He was quite understanding, as long as he was respected and his orders done. Even if his plan ended in failure. It was enough for his gang to try hard and return with minimal losses.
This inspired a form of idolisation among his people, so that they would personally accept no failure. It was a fervour that pushed the majority of the ABB to make him notice and approve of them. Many would willingly die for him, but he would never make that call. Because he was always the tip of the spear in any major attack. The first into the breech. The anvil to Oni Lee's hammer.
A Yakuza by trade in the old days in Japan before Leviathan's attack on Kyushu, he was always a fight loving fool. A street thug and delinquent. It seems he developed a taste for curios from his past, his office an extravagant display of wealth and power to show his people his worth in pure currency. It was actually funny none of it was for his benefit. He was happy with a few oranges and a tiny apartment. It only existed for him to sleep in anyway.
The less obvious his location the better, after all and who would look in a single bedroom apartment in a ratty old building for the great Dragon of Kyushu? Certainly not Kaiser, a decadent leader. That said he did enjoy his few luxuries. Cable TV for example. When his provider failed to keep his local area in service due to 'technical difficulties' for extended periods he called them up and told them that they had a day. Either he had his television as paid for or they would regret it.
They ignored him. The following day he arrived at their headquarters and hurled the corporate logo from the plaza of the building into the executive offices, fifteen stories up. Then he clawed a blood chilling threat into their marble floor. He and everyone else in Brockton Bay had reception that very day. Since then they keep a repair van in the area for general super villain defusing, several other services were warned by the PRT and did likewise. No one crosses Lung, he doesn't care who you are: just that you know who he is.
I was shown in, in my casual clothes since I didn't want Nocturne in any way affiliated with him. The walls of the massive room were flanked by suits of armour, weapons and in one corner an indoor koi pond. He had a wall of masks on his left and on his right a massive wall mounted television. His desk was a massive slab of oak. His chair was luxurious leather. But as I said, it was all appearances. Personal power was his goal and respect was his desire from others.
Like a king or daimyo in an age of chaos he desired to carve out a tiny kingdom from the stagnating ruins of our port city and deteriorating nation. He wore his mask, with an unbuttoned open white shirt and neat black pants and shoes. Dear god, his muscles had muscles.
He looked at me and frowned. Uh oh.
"You do not wear a mask." He pointed out.
"You know who I am, I know who you are Kenta." I shrugged. "Why hide it? The silly rules? I have no desire to ignore the facts. Those facts are that I have no choice but to help you provided you keep your end of the bargain. As for my identity as Nocturne... it will not be aiding your attacks. Instead Jiangshi will."
He nodded. "Ah. You wish to live in two worlds at once."
"Yes. I have a budding friendship with New Wave. I want to keep it." I explained.
"Then keep your personal life. I would have your skills, not your identity." He stated. "All the better if you remain willing."
He stood up, a smile playing behind the dragon mask. "So to honour our partnership, take a mask off the wall. A Jiangshi must look the part."
Not wanting to refuse his generous offer I accepted humbly, looking over the selection before settling on a white cat faced mask that covered the upper face and had vivid red streaks resembling blood. It looked to be smiling, but with the addition of my exposed fangs it became a leer in the waters of the pond.
He seemed pleased as well, complimenting my taste. He brought me into a second area, which was apparently left from Lee's old hobbies. Lee enjoyed cosplay back in Japan and had several outfits. In the back of my head he urged me to take the tiny schoolgirl uniform... eugh... sick old man. There was a pretty white dress, that looked complicated. I chose that instead. Lee congratulated me on my taste, it was a traditional wedding dress.
Eh, whatever. I chose it for the refined look and that it came with a hood that covered most of my head with the mask covering my features. There were cute little sandals as well. I was pleased with the choice and immediately bonded the items to me, biting my wrist to spill blood on them. Lung was momentarily surprised. More so as I immediately equipped them without undressing. To add the finishing touches I stroked a hand through my hair, turning it black and straight and adjusted my height, lowering it by an inch and my body shape to better fit the clothes. A simple transformation I could do if I chose. Alucard suggested it to me, a parlour trick for vampires. I will admit to nothing about my bust. It was always size C.
Lung gaped for a moment. "Now you are Asian?"
I smiled. "Now I am Jianshi. Would you connect this person to Nocturne?"
"No. It is a masterful trick." He chuckled. "I am not fool enough to ask the secrets behind the illusion."
I shrugged. "Vampire magic."
"It is a good look for you." He nodded. "Very elegant. I would suggest a different tone of voice. More subservient, but mocking when facing the Nazi. Silent until spoken to or necessary. It will infuriate and terrify them. For a weapon, I suggest a tanto."
He offered me a long straight knife with a white handle in a lacquered white sheath, like a miniature katana. "It is rare to find a good one. Treat it with care."
I drew the blade and looked at the sheen. It was one of Lee's as well. Without a thought I drove it into my abdomen, immersing the blade in my blood. Lung looked even more shocked, mostly annoyed I'd ruined the dress, since he had seen me impaled on a sword once already.
So he was highly surprised as my dress healed and remained pristine. Even the initial blood splatters from the attuning gone.
"Why?" He asked slightly confused.
"So I can do this." I replied, sheathing the tanto still drenched in blood. Both blade and sheath attuned it was easy to simply dismiss them to the dark space in my head, like my Nocturne costume and my 'everyday girl' costume I added in the morning. My brute knife was also stored away as were a bandoleer of grenades from an Oni Lee stash. I even stored my phone in there. No risk of being tracked that way or having the phone ring at an awkward time.
I summoned the tanto back and then showed off the difference. I snapped the knife in my hands and watched as it regenerated. Lung smiled widely, a pleased look in his eyes. He could think of many ways he could use that. I hadn't experimented, but I suspected the grenades might regenerate after use too. If not, no great loss. Maybe next get a decent gun and try to become a Miss Militia-lite.
We returned to his office, where Sophia now stood leaning on her good leg. She was wearing a knee brace. Her look in my direction was one of dismissal and arrogance. Then it hit me, she didn't recognize me at all. I kept to the new persona, silent, waiting for her response.
"Who the fuck is this fancy slut you brought in here, Lung? A little bit of fun on the side?" She asked in her usual tone.
Lung looked at me with a soft nod. It was my turn.
"I was invited, but why is an uncouth, ragged fugitive here? Oh no, Lung-san you are being robbed!" I replied with a coy, mocking laugh.
Sophia looked like she had been punched in the gut. It was beautiful, hitting her back with insinuations. She turned to rage at me, even drawing a knife. I stepped aside and teleported to her back with the tanto on her carotid artery before she could blink.
"Hello Sophia. It's me again." I whispered in her ear. "Do you want to continue this dance? I'm having so much fun right now. Killing you would be a wonderful way to end things."
"Hebert?!" She whimpered, like the bitch she was.
"Jiangshi in this costume. And let me be clear, Jiangshi likes to kill people like you." I laughed, before pushing her away with a laugh. "Remember the name, or we will have a problem Sophia." I used her real name, twisting the words to taunt her with my second secret identity where she had none.
She was dead if she uttered a word against me and she knew it.
She fell sprawled on the thick carpet. No one helped her to stand. Lung just watched on. He nodded.
"Your fight is settled. You will not antagonize each other further. Our goal is the Nazi scum."
He pulled a series of documents and a map out from his desk.
"We will start with the operations and bases in this area. While the main ABB force holds on as the Nazi probe us, Jiangshi will flank them to the North and attack this area in the heart of their territory to provoke a response." He pointed to an area near the Medhall building. "With your speed you will be there before they can react and all their main forces are currently fighting a double sided campaign against us and the Merchant scum. The reports are that Skidmark is making a big push. He is trying to take advantage of the split focus of Kaiser."
He pointed out two marked areas. "Here is a barracks for their thugs and this is one of their smaller armouries. Do not expect their main combatants, Kaiser, Hookwolf and Kreig are placed to fight me, Shi no Kage reports Victor, Othala and Alabaster are placed to repel the Merchant rabble."
"Purity?" I asked. She was a worry, as I had little in the way of ranged attacks. I also needed to teleport to a surface, so if we fought I'd have to run or become a moving target. At best all I could do is throw stuff at her.
"The glowing bitch hasn't been seen recently. Several months." Sophia explained. "Probably on holiday in Deutschland with her goose-stepping buddies."
"The twins? Fenja and Menja?" I asked.
"Probably with Kaiser as backup. They don't go far out of his sight. They are his eye-candy after all." Sophia explained. "Probably has his own bright, white harem going on. Well they are all dumb blonde bimbos."
"The new girl? Rune?" I asked.
"No idea. The Littlest Nazi does stand out in the sky so she's on foot or defending home." Sophia.
"Night and Fog?" They were a tough pair to hurt.
"Haven't been seen in a while. But they are probably out there too. They are hard to identify." Sophia explained. "Murderous, sick fucks too."
"Present company excluded?" I asked. We're all killers here.
She grit her teeth in a snarl but held back her insult. Oh, this is fun. I wonder how long it takes to break her patience?
"Cricket and Stormtiger?" The cage fighters tended to stick together.
"Probably backup for Victor. Stormtiger can rip chunks off Squealer's tanks and carve up Mush's trash form." She shrugged. "Haven't seen Crusader either."
"Okay, so I should expect to run across Rune, Crusader, Night and Fog... possibly Stormtiger, Cricket and the twins." I said carefully.
"Hookwolf is fast enough in a sprint to reach you if you take too long in one place after the alarm is raised." Sophia remarked.
"Victor is also an excellent sniper. Beware his line of sight." Lung rumbled.
I laughed at that. "Bullets don't worry me at all."
"With Othala he can temporarily shoot fireballs, become super fast, strong or invincible." Sophia reminded. "Not to mention regenerate."
Okay, a bit trickier. But where is the fun in a cakewalk?
An ABB member at the door bowed and entered in a rush. Lung glanced his way with a frown, until he saw the look in his eyes.
"News! The PRT and Victor, Othala, Alabaster and Stormtiger are engaged in a three way fight with the Merchants with both Mush and Squealer present." The messenger reported.
Lung slapped a hand on his desk, making it vibrate. "Now is the time to attack. How soon can you get in position Jiangshi?"
"Twenty seconds." Find a tall building with an unobstructed view, get an angle and teleport to the Medhall building from there straight to the target.
Lung grinned with delight. "Wait ten minutes, we will strike at the same time. Maximum confusion to disrupt their reinforcements."
I nodded. "I'll head back to your side when I'm done to provide support."
Even Sophia looked enthusiastic.
"Let's go kill some Nazi fucks!" She said cheerfully. "I wanna see how Hookwolf and Kaiser like phased bullets."
Even I smiled at that. Let the war begin!
Armsmaster's Master/Stranger Protocol Log Day 2 part 2
Personal log:
I can't even invent in peace. You would think these cells would be sound proof and have constant illumination. Which jackass though arbitrarily turning out the lights was a good option? It's so much harder to write like this. Maybe I could have something more isolated designed?
All the yelling and scuffling is getting on my nerves. I try to ask the door guard about it but find he has abandoned his post. I just ran out of paper again. Eh, fuck it.
Taking a set of threads and an electrostatic wire from my emergency supply of materials in my beard hair I fashion a crude door passkey, using an algorithm Dragon showed me to bypass the security codes. I can hear all sorts of shouting and gunfire. Holding a live fire drill?
I return to my lab and collect a decent selection of paper. Then drink my 2300 Tinker brewed coffee. Then after an hour I finish a hyper efficient pen and put on one set of my low-light contact lens.
The drill is still ongoing. I hear shouts from Clockblocker about a new wave of zombies... Playing games instead of console duty again, no doubt. Bah. I return to my cell and lock myself in again. Back to work... damn, forgot the earplugs. Five minutes later, peace and quiet.
