80 Interlude: Xiao Long

Just saying but the next arc is already getting fun to write, so as of writing this my patrons are 9 chaps (18k words) ahead. Just sayin'

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𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬

The door opens and I turn as Rose leaves the Boss' office with a sigh.

"Everything good?" I ask.

I may just be a 'grunt', a glorified doorman, but everyone knows everyone here and Rose never treats us normals any different to the other capes, so we're at least close enough for me to ask if she's doing good.

She gives me a light smile as she closes the door behind her.

"Yeah, just more work, you know how it is right now. Boss says that he needs some privacy right now, so don't let anyone disturb him 'till he says otherwise, kay?"

Obviously I am curious about what he's doing, it's not often that he really closes his door like this, but I know it's not my place to question the Boss so I just nod my head and ask the only question that matters here.

"What should I say to anyone looking for him?"

She doesn't hesitate in her answer, which makes sense since she's presumably just been told the answer before she left the room.

"Just tell them to go to Senior. Speaking of, do you have any idea where he is? I have a message for him."

Makes sense. Probably to tell him about whatever it is the Boss is cooking up.

"Sure I do. He's out back with Carl and his lot."

She thanks me with a smile and heads in the direction indicated. Then I just go back to my job, which consists of sitting around and doing a whole lot of nothing.

Haaah, guard shift sucks.

At least it's safe. Nothing interesting happens on guard shift which is good when in this business 'interesting' generally has a high death toll.

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"-and Carl. You make sure that those drugs make it to where they are supposed to be. I want them counted and recounted when they get there, if a single ounce of it gets skimmed of the top then it's your head, got it?"

The small man doesn't even flinch, my threat long since having lost its effectiveness against the man over the years he's been doing the job without a single slipup.

Still, have to maintain appearances.

But before he can give his usual response, we are interrupted by a new yet familiar voice entering the room.

"Yo!~ Senior, got a minute?"

I turn to the side to see Rose approaching me, for all the world like she should be in a hospital bed with how sick she looks.

"Do 𝘺𝘰𝘶? You look like you're about to keel over?"

She just waves away my question as if it's unimportant.

"Got banged up by bad luck. I'll get better. Anyway, you got a minute?" She reiterates her question while tilting her head to Carl.

Clearly she wants a more private word so I give Carl a look and he gets the message immediately.

"Ah, well. I'll just go over there and stare at the wall then, I guess." He sighs as he trudges off and actually does just sit down and stare at the wall.

What a retard.

Still, both Rose and I share a brief smirk at his antics before my face returns to it's typical stern expression that I do my best to maintain.

Image is important.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Boss is calling a meeting on the down low. He wants you to get a couple of your better fighters together, then head down to Stacy's workshop to let her know and bring her along."

I nod at the information, curious about the purpose of the meeting but figuring it will be explained when I get there.

Honestly, with everything happening, there are so many things the meeting could be about, but since he wants fighters then I guess Boss is expecting a fight.

"Sure. Where and when?" I ask, getting straight to the point to avoid wasting time.

She starts to turn around as she answers, making me think that she probably has to go and let a few other people know and is probably in a rush.

"The yellow room and basically now. Just get the guys and gal and go straight there. I'll probably be just behind you and Rebecca will meet you on the way to Stacy's."

Finished with her piece, she quickly makes her way back through the door she came in and I turn to shout at Carl.

"Oi! Get your ass over here!" He does. "Something's come up so we'll finish this later. Just follow what we usually do and give me a call if anything urgent comes up, I need to go find Micky."

Carl just nods his head and is smart enough to not ask anything about what exactly has 'come up'. Not that I would really have an answer.

"Sure thing."

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"Hmm hm hmm hm Rock you!~" Humming and mumbling along to the song, I focus on the oven in font of me and bend down to open it, allowing the sweet, sweet smell of cookies to slam into my face.

Ahhh~ this never gets old.

Looks like they're just about done too.

I'm sure Lucy will appreciate a little welcome back gift. The little cutie should be done meeting with Tai soon, then she can at least come and get a snack, maybe stay and chat if Tai doesn't give her something else to do.

I swear, that man spends far too much time thinking about things.

All work no play makes for a boring day. But I suppose it's that dedication to family that attracted me to him in the first place.

Otherwise I wouldn't be willing to use my powers as extra muscle for him. At least he is understanding enough that he only ever asks me to help if he really needs it in a fight and he doesn't try to involve me in any of the actual criminal stuff.

It's really not my cup of tea, but he's a real sweetheart beneath that gang lord persona of his, so at least I know I'm not helping to facilitate anything too cruel.

Unlike those so called 'Lords' who do nothing but ruin whatever territory they hold.

Bunch of Spanish assholes, those lot.

I'm distracted from my thoughts by the buzzing of my phone and I check the caller ID to see the adorable little ball of seriousness that is Lucy.

How fortunate, I was just thinking about her. Guess she's free now then.

I pick up the phone with a smile and quickly let out a greeting before she can get so much as a word in.

"Hello!~ Little Lucy dear~ it's so good to have you back! I swear, you have no idea how worried I was, but you're here now and I made cookies! So come over so I don't eat them all, unless you want me to get fat?~"

My words come out in a rush and I am left short of breath when I finally stop, allowing me to clearly hear the young woman's supressed laughter.

Score!

"You are constantly cooking cookies, I think you're gonna either get fat anyway or somehow develop a power that lets you turn cookies into power."

I chuckle at the thought of cookie powered parahumans but quickly refocus as she keeps talking.

"But as much as I would like to snack with you, business comes first so we'll have to shelve it for later."

I'm glad that this is a phone call rather than in person otherwise she would definitely tease me for pouting.

"I know you're pouting right now." Her dry voice causes me to freeze in place."

Drat!

Quickly! Deflect!

"No!" I shout before freezing again.

What kind of counter argument is that!?

Her knowing chuckle just makes the situation even more embarrassing.

"Mou~ I wanted to do something nice and yet you're being so mean to me!~" I whine at her, mentally cursing at the unfairness of the world.

Then her next words cause me to perk up due to the playful tint the carry.

"Well. If you want to do something nice, would you mind helping out with a prank of mine?" Her words carry an almost seductive glint to them and I can't fight the smile from growing on my face.

Hell yeah! Pranks are the best!

"Always!" I exclaim as I rest the phone between my ear and shoulder so I can put the cookies back in the oven and turn it down low so it doesn't cook them and just keeps them warm for later.

"Awesome. In that case, I just need you to go over to that hallway with the painting of the sea that's by Stacy's workshop. Senior will be passing by soon to get her for reasons he can explain when he gets there. For the prank I just need you to act all lovey dovey with him, kay?"

I'm mildly curious about what he's getting Stacy for, but even if I'm not too into this whole crime thing, I'm not so dense as to not notice when someone is trying to avoid saying something so I assume it's something that isn't to be said over the phone.

With that in mind, I focus on the far more important part, the prank!

"Can I ask why? I mean I get that teasing the ever serious Senior is fun and all, but you do know that Tai and I are already a thing right?"

I wouldn't want to cause any misunderstandings after all. But she quickly assuages my worries.

"Yeah yeah, I know. I'm not asking you to do anything obscene, just when you're following him to get Stacy, maybe like, cling to his arm or something? I don't want to spoil the surprise so I won't explain, but just trust me alright? It'll be funny, I promise."

Trust her? Of course I trust her!

Nobody so adorable could ever be evil. It's like, scientifically impossible.

At least I would assume so, and I'm not going to check because it is something so obviously true that there is no need. Like googling if grass is green when it obviously is. It just doesn't make sense.

Also, I love surprises!

"Alright then!~ See you soon?" I agree and ask just to be sure.

"Yup. See you soon." She hangs up and I quickly go about getting dressed in something more appropriate for the occasion.

By which I mean my cape costume, even if I think it's a bit silly.

With a smile on my face, I head out to intercept Senior, shaking with anticipation for what the surprise is going to be.

Whatever it is, I bet it'll be a blast!

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𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘨!

Snapping my head to the door in surprise I watch as Lucy barges in and quickly turns around to slam the door shut behind her, locking it.

"Uhhh, Luce? What's going on?" I ask as I put down my soldering iron that I was using to modify my latest pet's brain.

She speed walks up to me and I belatedly realise that she looks like shit, the heavy breathing and panicked look not helping the image one bit.

"We need to leave." Is all she says which does not help the growing unease inside of me.

"Why? What's happening?" I demand even as she starts moving around and gathering up my stuff in one of my bags that I had laying around.

"Boss is dead."

My brain short-circuits for a second at her words but she doesn't stop collecting stuff and the noise snaps me back to reality.

"What do you mean dead! Lucy! Stop moving for one damn second and explain to me what the fuck is going on before I start freaking out!" With me all but screaming at her she finally stops moving.

With a sigh she drops the now nearly full bag and walks up to me, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Boss is dead. I saw it with my own eyes. You can check the camera in his office, he should still be there. But we really do need to go. Now."

She lets go of me and for a moment I just stand there frozen before I rush over to my computer and type in commands faster than I ever have before.

In no time whatsoever, the screen changes to show the camera feed of Boss' office. He insisted that I put cameras everywhere, but that doesn't mean they are always being watched.

Which would explain why there has been no alarm raised by what I see, which is Boss slumped over in his chair with his neck clearly broken.

This can't be happening.

Everything was fine literally three minutes ago.

This is too much too fast. I don't know what to do.

How did this even happen? Why is it happening?

Realisation strikes and I set about rewinding the footage to see how he died, but right before I do so Lucy's hand takes hold of my arm and stops me.

"There's no time. We need to go. Now." The urgency in her tone makes me want to agree with her, but no matter how much it might be obvious I should listen, I still need to know why.

"I'm not leaving until I know exactly what is going on here! Who killed Boss!?"

She sighs and starts manhandling me to put one of the backpacks she filled with stuff on my back, apparently having gotten another one while I was typing, and answers sombrely.

"Betrayal. Senior and Summer. Apparently they were having an affair or something and Boss caught them. Now he's dead and they're coming for us so that they can fully take over the family. Check the cameras leading here, I'll bet they're already on their way which is why we need to leave. Now."

Her words sound so foreign to me that I reject them almost on principle alone.

Summer and Senior? Betraying Boss?

That doesn't make any sense.

I've seen he way Rebecca talks about Boss. I 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 she loves him and I refuse to accept that she would just turn on him like that.

But the camera's don't lie and the Boss is definitely dead.

Lucy picks up another bag and heads for the back exit of my workshop but I ignore that as I start typing in more commands.

It takes less time this time around as I was already in the cameras and I am quickly left frozen by the sight before me.

Summer and Senior, both of them walking down a hallway in this direction except Summer is attached to Senior by the hip, squeezing his arm between her breasts as they walk.

Not only that but they are followed by three armed men who I recognise to be some of Senior's best fighters.

Oh my god.

This is real.

This is all real.

Why?

What should I do?

"Stacy!" My head snaps to Lucy who is holding the back door open with one arm while holding the other out to me. "We need to move!"

Right. Right.

Move.

Just keep moving.

It's something to focus on and I latch onto her arm like my life depends on it, which it very well just might.

We run through a couple of empty halls before Lucy drags us into an empty room and opens its window and quickly climbing through it.

"Come on!" She urges and I follow her despite my ragged breath.

I'm a Tinker, I'm not supposed to be running around like this!

Still, I never realised I was so out of shape.

After a few minutes of running I start lagging behind and Lucy doesn't even bother to stop, just picking me up and continuing to run despite breathing heavily herself.

A short while later and we are in some abandoned alleyway in the middle of some deserted industrial district.

We both take a minute to catch out breaths, even if she did most of the running, before I work up the nerve to ask the question I've been dreading the answer to since we climbed out that window.

"So, what now?" I ask and I hate how feeble my voice sounds.

But when Lucy scoots over and wraps an arm around me in a side hug, I don't do anything to stop myself from leaning into her, taking what little comfort I can get at the moment.

"We need to leave. Denver won't be safe anymore, but neither is being an independent cape. So we need to find someone to protect us."

How does she have everything so figured out?

It's amazing, and I'm glad she does, because I am too lost to come up with a plan of any kind.

"Like who? Who can we go to?" I ask and she gives me a painfully fake smile.

"Well, you're a Tinker. So on one hand, you're in more danger, but on the other you can join just about anyone you want. But for your safety, I have one group in mind that should accept you and keep you safe. Toybox."

Toybox?

Wait, but they're a group of Tinkers that gathered together to avoid being forced into other groups, thus they only let other Tinkers join them.

That means...

"But what about you? I'm not going to just abandon you." I refuse.

But she just smiles as if she has everything figured out and despite myself I find myself reassured before she even says anything.

"Don't worry about me ok? I heal remember? I'll be fine. I just need you to be safe first ok? Please?" She pleads but I'm not having any of that.

I give her a hard glare and prepare myself to tell her how much of an idiot she is, but when I look in her eyes I see only stubborn determination and I know deep down that no matter how long this argument lasts, she will win it.

So instead, I just wrap her in a tight hug and do my best to stop myself from crying.

"Just don't die." I manage to croak out, barely a whisper and her answer soothes me enough that I fall asleep almost immediately after hearing them.

"Don't worry. I'll never die."

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A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

FYI I'm going to Spain today to visit relatives for a week, I'll try to keep the upload schedule consistent but idk. Shouldn't be a problem but figured I'd let you know just in case it is.

Lmao, forgot to post this when I wrote that ^, I have arrived in spain, it is 1 in the morning and I am going to sleep now. Sorry for the delay, be prepared for more XD

This chap is 3k words you know and I knocked it out in about 2 hours.

As can be seen, Lusia's plans are all coming to an end. The area is thoroughly destabilised. The Street Lords are broken and fractured, the Xiao Long is also broken except they don't even fully know why and suspicion can be a slow and insidious killer, all the while public faith in the Denver PRT is at an all time low after Extinctions seemingly unprompted attack on Tear cost the lives of thousands of innocents.

All said, it's a job well done on Lusia's part. I'm sure Uppercrust will be happy.

Also, just realised the title could be considered a pun, like 'so long', since it's more or less the end for them

(5+)Advanced chapters with the links below!

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