lung, meet rewind

[msrewind]

She gets the note just before lunch. She's in the PHQ in less than twenty minutes, then she knocks on Piggot's door politely.

Comments

[acanofworms]

He is, apparently, taking the fake Rewind a long way away to the northwest, teleporting only as far as he can find stable landings to teleport to.

"Follow him, try to remain undetected, the plan may still work," Armsmaster calls, and the noise of his motorcycle starting can be heard in the background halfway through the sentence.

[thinkering]

Transit follows in fewer, longer hops as the bot paths him along to discreet landing places.

[msrewind]

Oni Lee is fast, being able to just go wherever he's looking, and he gains on the heroes easily, crossing half the city in only a few minutes. Eventually he arrives with the Rewind-copy at another warehouse, this one with a metal table and a chair right in the middle, and completely empty of any other content.

"Sit," Oni Lee orders.

"Why?" Rewind asks.

"Sit," he repeats, shoving her toward the chair. "Wait." When she does sit, he looks out the one non-boarded window and after a few seconds becomes dust.

[thinkering]

"Pathing Dad to new signaled location... Bot, bounce it to the comms for everybody relevant."

"Done," chirps the bot.

[msrewind]

And the waiting game happens yet again.

At least that gives the heroes some time to regain their lost positions.

[mxglam]

Glam conjures another hidden camera there, and after ten minutes, Oni Lee reappears, wearing his more usual demon mask, with Lung in tow, unmasked. Not that that makes much of a difference, even with a mask his heavily tattooed body is always visible, and he'd be easily recognizable in public.

[msrewind]

"You came. I thought you would not have."

"Of course I came, you have my parents! Where are they? Are they even alive? If you kill me the heroes will know it!"

"I told you not to warn them," he says, voice thick with menace.

"I didn't warn them, but if I suddenly disappear you're obviously the first suspect."

"Hmm."

"Where are my parents?"

"Alive."

"I want proof."

He nods, and gestures at another thug, who goes outside and returns with a TV set on an extension cord. The set shows a video of her parents.

"How do I know it's not a recording?" she asks.

[mxglam]

Glam expects to see the soft glint of a dark camera in a dark corner, barely there...

And their expectation is met.

[msrewind]

Rewind carries on, unsuspecting of the locator now broadcasting her parents' location.

"What do you want?"

"I want power. To unify all Asian gangs under only one."

"What do you want with me?"

"Power," he repeats. "You are powerful. You on their side are a thorn. You on ours are power."

"Then you have to prove to me that my parents are still alive."

"You see them on this video."

"It could be a recording."

"It is not."

[mxglam]

"It isn't," Glam agrees. "Lorica's bot network should be getting a locator signal there about now. I managed to conjure it there."

[thinkering]

"Yep. Comming location. Pathing," Lorica says.

[acanofworms]

The parents are together, sitting, with two thugs pointing guns at their heads.

"Act normally, pretend you don't believe him," Armsmaster instructs. "Transit, do you have good enough reaction time to rescue them or will you be bringing Rewind with you?"

[mxglam]

"It might be better to bring Rewind anyway, if Lung suspects anything..."

[sundayfish]

"Depends on how fast the gunmen are."

[acanofworms]

"Both your armors can deal with bullets, can't they?"

[thinkering]

"Yes. Glam could armor them up? They don't look attached to anything, just aimed-at."

[mxglam]

"Yeah but we should try to delay that as much as possible, if Lung realizes we're on our way he might start dragon-activating too soon and we want to postpone that as much as possible."

[msrewind]

(And the conversation with Lung continues:

"I have only your word on that."

"Do you doubt it?" Lung asks, his nostrils flaring.

"Of course."

"I could kill you."

"No you couldn't," she says, and smirks.)

[thinkering]

"Stall him five minutes and we've got convergence on the place..."

[acanofworms]

"And don't provoke him," Armsmaster warns. "That could also set him off early. Transit, Lorica, ETA for arrival at the parents' location?"

It is farther away from Lung's, and in a different direction, closer to the docks.

[thinkering]

"I've only got a mediocre path for him, it could take a few tries."

[acanofworms]

"Stall him," Armsmaster instructs.

[msrewind]

"I will make you an offer. You work for me, they stay alive. You slip up, you tell the heroes, I suspect you of stealing a candy, they die."

"You seem awfully confident in your ability to keep them hidden from me."

Lung frowns.

"You could try to encourage me with something more than threats that will make me try to get creative to avoid?" she asks, and rubs her fingers together in the universal 'money' gesture.

[acanofworms]

"I said do not provoke him."

[msrewind]

"I have you outnumbered. I could set you on fire faster than you can use your power. I could make you hurt. I could kill you."

"If you trusted that you wouldn't be holding my parents hostage," she points out.

His frown deepens. "I would prefer having your cooperation."

"And threatening my parents is the best way you could find to have it?"

He remains silent.

"You ever hear of carrots and sticks? You're all sticks, no carrots, and you'll fall, Lung."

He looks at one of his thugs and says, "Kill the father."

"Wait, no-"