Crystalized Munchkinry - Act III - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Danny looked at the Merchant thugs and sighed with exasperation. Apparently, fate did not like his happiness.

Still, it could be worse, because it seemed they had come without their parahumans.

He straightened up, dusted off some imaginary dirt from his pants, and called out.

"Can I help you, gentlemen?"

In response, some of the druggies laughed, and their leader’s grin only widened. “Of course you can help us! We are here to collect the local tax!”

Apparently finding himself hilarious, he joined the others in laughter, while Danny just grimaced.

A shakedown. How quaint.

In his long career with the Dockworkers’ Union, he had been approached several times by all the gangs for all sorts of things, though they usually hid it behind a thin veneer of legitimacy. Even the Merchants managed that much, in their drug-addled state, so either they had stopped playing by the supposed rules, or this one had simply forgotten them.

Danny went with the second option. It was a Merchant, after all, and who knew what went through their brains.

While the druggies were laughing themselves sick – he even saw one of them vomit next to their car – he took a moment to assess the situation.

The Merchants were arrayed before him, slightly fanned out, holding both guns and simpler weapons. Unfortunately, not all of them were laughing, and the ones who weren’t kept their eyes on him. So he could not use their distraction as an opportunity to run for cover.

The only thing keeping him this calm was the shield emitter Taylor had recently put together, disguised as a belt buckle. They had not fully tested it, but she assured him it would hold against most gun calibers.

The idea of triggering the emergency button on his communication watch did not even occur to him. He did not want Taylor anywhere near these degenerates, powers or not.

His best hope was that Dragon would interfere. She had said she placed several protections around the facility, but based on the PRT’s behavior, he did not expect her to act unless the drug-addled fools actually attacked the building directly.

He saw the Merchants beginning to come down from their laughter and refocused on them.

He also felt a small measure of relief when he noticed a faint distortion behind one of the druggies at the edge of the group. The distortion sat conveniently at the same height where Dragon’s drones usually hovered.

“Haaa, that was funny, old man!” the leader exclaimed, wiping tears from his eyes. “Now, let’s get to business. You’re doing business stuff around here, and we own this place, so you owe us some money. Pay up!”

The last sentence was punctuated by several of them smacking their weapons against their palms.

Danny just looked back at him, incredulous. “I’m afraid you are mistaken. I do not own this building. You have to–”

The druggie immediately cut him off. “Don’t lie to me, asshole! I know you’re the leader of these fuckers, Heleber or something!”

“Hebert,” he corrected quietly. “And yes, I work for the Dockworkers’ Union, but we were just hired for this job. We do not own anything here.”

“Even better! Then you can pay a job tax, and whoever the fuck owns this thing can pay the building tax!” the man said, sounding proud of himself.

“I’m afraid that is not possible.”

Another man near the leader spoke up. “And why the fuck not? Too good to pay your due, asshole?”

Danny sighed. “Well, no. I simply do not want to. And the building is owned by Dragon, so good luck with that.”

Several of them laughed again, including the leader.

“Right, Dragon. Pull the other one, fuckhead! Come on, Johnny, you can’t believe what those PRT fools say! No way Dragon would come here and build something!”

“Pfft, of course not! That was just the PRT trying to make themselves look big!” Johnny replied, then turned back to Danny. “Don’t try to play me, fool! I know this place. There’s no Dragon here.”

“Just Lung!” someone called from the back.

The Merchants erupted into laughter again.

Danny was starting to hope Dragon would intervene soon, because he was very close to simply not caring anymore and punching the man. Their laughter was grating, and the smell alone would require several showers to get rid of.

“So, asshole, what will it be?” Johnny asked after finally regaining control of himself. “Pay us, or get hurt?”

Danny was about to tell him exactly where he could shove it when another voice cut in.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Johnny."

“Who is that? Who wants to get smacked around?” Johnny asked, though Danny could see his eyes already darting nervously.

A moment later, a blue light flared, blinding them for an instant. When their vision cleared, a holographic woman stood beside Danny. At the same time, several drones uncloaked around the group, their presence humming in the air.

“Allow me to introduce myself,” the woman said, her voice lacking its usual warmth. “My name is Dragon, and you are trespassing.”

The Merchants’ confidence faltered, though Johnny still tried to recover. “Yeah? And I’m Santa. Pull the other one!”

Danny glanced at Dragon, who wore a tight smile but said nothing, clearly content to let the situation resolve itself.

“I am not interested in a discussion,” Dragon continued. “If you do not vacate the premises posthaste, I will be forced to remove you.”

"Heh?"

The exasperated woman sighed.

"Leave. Now. Or. Bad. Things. Happen. To. You."

The Merchants understood this time, and several of them began edging back toward their vehicles. Johnny, however, seemed determined to push his luck, proving exactly where he stood on the intelligence chart.

Danny sometimes wondered how the Merchants had survived this long with survival instincts like theirs. The comment was not directed at him, but even he felt a shiver at Dragon’s tone. Only a fool would challenge her.

“Hah, I ain’t afraid of no bitch who isn’t even here!” Johnny spat. “Your pissy little helicopters don’t scare me!”

Danny had to cringe at the man’s grammar.

Dragon merely sighed. "How about this?"

And with that, one of Dragon’s suits decloaked behind the holographic projection, hovering silently in the air.

The druggie swallowed hard, then immediately turned and ran for his car. His cohorts followed after a few seconds of stunned silence, shouting incoherently as they fled.

Danny watched them go, tires screeching as their battered cars protested the speed forced upon them.

Unfortunately, Johnny still managed to leave them with a parting message. “This ain’t over, assholes! This is Merchant turf!”

A few minutes later, he was sitting in one of the facility’s offices that doubled as a break room, settled into a comfortable couch, and was sipping warm coffee. In the background, the low hum of machinery continued its steady work.

In front of him, Dragon’s projection stood with a much friendlier expression than before. “I’m sorry that this happened,” she said in an apologetic tone.

He smiled wryly. “No worries, Dragon. The blatantness was new, but the violence wasn’t. You live here long enough, and you get used to it.” He took another sip, then looked into her eyes. “Though I do have to wonder why you waited so long to interrupt. I’m not as tough as your suits.”

“I apologize, but I felt it was necessary,” she explained, frustration flickering across her expression. “In recent days, there has been an increased effort to halt or inconvenience the operation of this facility, and indirectly, mine as well.”

"Oh?"

“The usual: lost paperwork, people suddenly on vacation, permits not checking out, missing inventory. The same thing tends to happen when I operate in areas with elevated corruption levels. There have also been attempts to vandalize the building.”

“And you think that group was part of it?”

“Yes. I wanted to see if they would give anything away. Not even the Merchants could be that stupid to challenge me so openly, not when the Empire and Lung have done nothing.”

“Could it be one of the other gangs?” Danny asked.

“No. The PRT has knowledge of several major players of those gangs, and using that information alongside some of my own magic, I was able to determine that this appears to be exploratory probing. I traced several of the earlier attempts, and they did lead back to the other gangs, but it was clear someone was framing them.”

“Who else could it be? I don’t think the other villains have the manpower or capability for something like this.”

“My best guess is Coil,” Dragon replied.

“Coil? That sounds familiar. I think I’ve heard of him. Wasn’t he with the mercenaries?”

"Yes, that's correct."

“Why do you think it’s Coil?”

“At this point, it is simply a process of elimination. Though I am still looking for other possible culprits.”

Danny considered that for a moment, but since he had nothing useful to add, he left it as is.

“Very well,” he said. “Then I wish you good hunting, but next time please step in earlier. I’d hate to leave Taylor alone.”

The woman nodded with a smile. “Of course, Danny. Though that shield belt buckle would have stopped their weapons.”

Danny felt his face go pale and a cold weight settle in his back. “What belt buckle?” he asked nervously.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t ask where you got it,” she said dismissively. “I just wanted you to know I am aware of it.”

"Thank you."

"Though I have to say, it was rather smart of you to acquire it. One can never be too careful.”

Danny’s smile turned a little shaky. “How did you find out?”

“Oh, I scan everything that enters the building to ensure nothing dangerous is smuggled in. I’ve found dozens of bugs that way. After that, it was child’s play to determine its purpose.”

Danny nodded slowly, then drained the last of his coffee and stood up. “Thank you for the save. But if you don’t mind, I’d like to go home and hug my daughter.

“Of course, Danny,” she replied cheerfully. “Do you want an escort?”

"Sure. I'm sure they left somebody behind…"

“Excellent,” she said. “And I will be preparing for their inevitable return.”

"Good luck with that."

He leaned back in his chair and contemplated the last few days.

He had taken his considerable resources and concentrated almost all of them on dealing with Dragon. While he knew that most of his efforts were little more than annoyances to the powerful woman, he still took satisfaction in them.

While Dragon was occupied with the bureaucratic roadblocks he had set up for her, he had begun to incite the Merchants.

If he could get it right – and he would get it right, his power ensured it – the Merchants were capable of destroying the facility and causing other setbacks for Dragon.

He would make sure they destroyed the facility, and then his men would loot it for anything interesting. If Dragon started again after that, he would simply repeat the process as long as the woman stayed in the Bay.

It was his city.

He did not need another dragon to contend with; Lung was trouble enough as it was.

Thanks to Dragon’s arrival, both the Empire and Lung were lying low, either avoiding her attention or trying to work out how to get around her. He preferred it this way. It let him concentrate on one thing without having to worry about interference from the other gangs.

This was his favorite part: using patsies and fools to do his bidding while nobody knew he was pulling the strings.

That small group of Merchants who had tried to accost the workers had already returned to their hideout with their tails between their legs, and with the help of several of his disguised assets, they would soon be used to rile up the rest of them.

He could hardly wait for that.

Though there was something odd about Dragon whenever he turned his attention toward her. He could not quite put his finger on it, but his power had felt slightly off lately.

For now, it was not affecting him, but he made a note to examine the phenomenon once the current project was complete.

If Dragon was working on some kind of anti-Thinker measure, then he would need to destroy it.

The room stank of alcohol, sex, and who knew how many drugs. Whatever the original color of the walls had been was a mystery at this point, and the furniture that remained in the repurposed warehouse had clearly seen better days.

A low-key party was in full swing. As always, the booze was flowing, people were talking, shooting up, or fighting. A steady stream of bodies came and went, picking up something or dropping something off before leaving again, while those deep in their highs largely ignored the movement around them.

In the middle of it all, however, a small group was not having a good time.

“What did you say, asshole?” yelled the black-skinned man sitting on an old couch, while a well-endowed blonde beside him barely paid attention, clearly high.

The man he was addressing tried to speak up, but he was cut off before he could get a word out.

“Some hussy Tinker thinks they can build on our turf?”

“Yes! They tried to pretend they were Dragon, but I saw right through it!” the man replied proudly.

“Hah, as if that bitch would come ’ere!” came a voice from the crowd.

Several people voiced their agreement, some of it rather obscene.

“Probably some shiteater new Tinker thinking they’re the big shit!”

“We can take them!” someone shouted from deeper in the room.

“What if it really is Dragon?” another voice asked, suddenly worried.

“Ah, don’t be an idiot, that was just the PRT trying to be clever! They think they can scare us with fake flying suits!”

The room immediately broke into an argument, with everyone debating the supposed Dragon suits and how the PRT could theoretically fake them.

After nearly half an hour of increasingly heated discussion, the man on the couch stood up. Instantly, several purplish-blue fields flared into existence beneath people throughout the room. Those standing on them stumbled and collapsed into one another, and the room quickly went quiet.

“That’s enough, assholes. The only thing that happens around here is what I decide, and I decided to show this new bitch who’s boss. No fake-ass Dragon is going to stand against us, right, babe?” he said, throwing his arms wide before turning to the blonde on the couch.

The woman giggled, her reply slightly slurred. “Sure you are, Skiddy! I even have something really bitchin’ to use!”

"Hell yeah, babe! Can't wait to ride it!"

The resulting cheer from the onlookers drowned out anything else he might have said, and the room quickly shifted back into a far more energetic party.