Chapter 20

"We're standing in the aftermath of Lung's rampage yesterday evening; nearly ten blocks of devastation-"

Flip

"-reports of Armsmaster's involvement in last night's gang war. We're hearing now that it was the Protectorate hero's actions that triggered the incident with-"

Flip

"Reconstruction efforts continue along the docks, with Fortress Construction purchasing most of the destroyed areas. The fledgling company has promised to revitalize-"

Flip

"-reeling after the Empire's massacre of-"

Flip

"-the question on everybody's mind: What happened to Lung?"

Click

A red MUTE appeared at the bottom of the television screen, silencing the talking head. A shaky home video played in the background: Lung, massive despite the distance of the shot, flying through the air, firing blasts of fire at some unseen enemy.

Flip

Alec reclined on the couch, and continued his search for cartoons.

It was 11:00 am, way, way too early to be awake, and he didn't need to put pants on for at least another half hour.

Life was fairly simple for him at the moment. He'd never really considered what his ideal life would be, but being paid to stay home and watch television seemed to come pretty close. That being said, it looked like it was finally time for him to earn his pay.

The new boss wanted to meet him, and out of costume to boot. Tattletale had assured him the boss already knew his identity, his past, so he wasn't all that worried, but he hadn't survived this long by being stupid. 

He'd dress up nice and professional, professional for him at least, and play the good minion, but the first sign of something off and it'd be time to leave town again. Heartbreaker would pay good money for the return of his stray child, and Alec would rather not deal with his family at the moment.

Running from dear old dad was really a pain sometimes.

He would be... disappointed if he had to leave. The Undersiders were fun while they lasted, though with Grue going legit, Tattletale busy sucking up to the boss, and Bitch being Bitch, they weren't really a team anymore. The loft remained though, their cozy little home away from home. Alec liked it here, the memories were pleasant, the TV got good reception, and the heat worked. Yeah, he would be disappointed to leave this place.

Though, maybe he could find a city with fewer news channels because good lord it was Saturday morning, where are the cartoons? 

---

Alec calmly stepped off the bus, seemingly the only person calm at the moment. The whole damn city was buzzing like a hive today, and the tension that filled the streets made him itch. The little Asian lady he had sat beside on the ride over seemed like she wanted to faint or something.

Honestly, people needed to chill out. It was one thing for random civilians to worry about him in his villain outfit, but damn, he was dressed in a plain t-shirt and jeans. He also needed to practice his smile in the mirror again, because it did not help.

He strolled down the busy downtown streets towards his meeting point, casually humming nonsense to himself. Alec had never really seen the need to worry about things before he had to. Sure, he could stress out about this meet, he could nervously plan for his future, or he could do the sensible thing and relax. Everything would be fine until it wasn't, and then he'd deal with it. Truly, his wisdom knew no bounds.

Alec's feet led him to the steps of a half finished office building and he stopped in confusion. The sign out front had FORTRESS CONSTRUCTIONemblazoned on it and several construction crews milled about doing construction crew things. A quick glance at the address on Tattletale's note confirmed it: He had been pranked.

He would get her back for this, oh yes. His vengeance would be terrible, his retribution swift.

And then an arm was slung around his shoulders, a cheerful, "Hi there!" was chirped into his ear, and the world went black.

---

Alec woke with a start, bolting upright and flailing wildly. The floor was concrete, the lighting was terrible, and there was a gigantic vault door in front of his face.

What?

"Sorry about that." A girl's voice called from the darkness, "I can't have you knowing where we are unless you agree to the job."

Memories flooded back to him; his new boss asking for a meet, Tattletale giving him an address, skin on skin and then nothing. He didn't see any of his family popping out of the woodwork- er, concrete, so this was probably standard paranoia. Fair enough, he could deal with that.

"You my new boss?" Alec called out, his voice echoing off the walls. He still couldn't see more than twenty feet past his nose, and his power was giving him absolutely nothing to work with. If this wasn't his new boss, he was probably in a bit of trouble.

"I'm the one paying you to stay out of trouble, yes," was the amused reply.

Oh good. "Neat, what's the job then?" he asked calmly, slipping his thumbs through his belt loop and slouching into a more comfortable pose.

With a loud clang the vault door opened, and flooded the room with light. Standing in the entrance, a smiling girl, Asian, long dark hair, around Alec's age.

"I thought you'd be older." slipped out of his mouth before he could properly engage his brain.

The girl laughed, not the typical response of paranoid masterminds, and motioned him into the vault, practically bouncing on her heels. "You have no idea how happy I am that you act like you're supposed to." the girl told him gleefully.

Alec wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he didn't.

"Like seriously, I don't think the last guy could have been more disappointing," she continued, as he followed her into the vault. The place was massive, almost the size of a warehouse, and solid concrete. Several large spotlights, one on each corner of the room, burned bright enough to mimic daylight. The room was empty, save for a single hospital bed, a heart monitor, and an over-sized IV pump. Long yellow cords ran the length of the vault, powering the electronics, and in the bed...

"This!" the girl gestured dramatically towards the bed, "This is your job!"

Lying motionless, covered in blood and missing most of his skin, was Lung. Or some random guy wearing Lung's mask, but probably Lung. Alec blinked, slowly, to clear his vision.

Yep still there.

He blinked again for good measure, and opened his mouth to speak. 

And then closed it.

The girl waited patiently for him, smiling all the while.

"Huh." he said, and really, what else could he say?

"I know right!?" the girl squealed happily. "So! What I need you to do is come down here a couple times a week and pilot his meat-suit around so I can run some tests on him. I'll probably want you to make him do a few things later on, but that can wait."

Alec glanced at the broken gangster, then at the tiny girl who had broken him. "I want double."

"Done!"

Damn. "I meant triple." he corrected.

"Sucks to be you then." the girl answered sweetly.

Well, he'd done dumber things for less. Still though, "This will bring a lot of heat on me, if someone figures out he's mastered."

"We can work around it," the girl assured him. "Besides, I'm pretty sure he second triggered, and if we're lucky that'll change his power up enough to cause doubt. We can... I dunno, dress him in a clown suit or something."

Something about that statement sounded wrong to Alec, but it took him a moment to find it. "You think he second triggered? You second triggered Lung!? How do you not know if he second triggered?" Alec's voice had a bit more incredulity than he'd prefer, but this seemed pretty important to know.

The girl's smile was eerily reminiscent of Tattletale's, "Well, something happened to his power, but it didn't help him. Honestly, I couldn't even tell. I was hoping you could say for certain after you've done your thing."

Alec was suddenly very aware that he was basically alone with this person, probably far from civilization. This was followed by the realization that she was a black hole to his power. He couldn't feel her at all, no nervous system, no little flashes of electricity to yank on, no brain activity to learn and copy and manipulate.

"How much would I have to pay you to kill Heartbreaker?" he asked frankly.

The girl snorted in amusement, and clapped him on the back, "I've got plans for your daddy, don't you worry. Once the Bay has calmed a bit, I'll see to it. Be patient, Jean-Paul, and do what I ask. Good things come to those who wait."

That was good enough for Alec, a much better promise than he'd ever gotten before, and his decision was made.

The girl seemed to know it, and as she walked out of the vault she called back to him, "Leave the vault when you're done and I'll show you out."

Alec nodded absently, looking down at Lung. Alec watched the man's chest rise and fall, saw the signals that controlled Lung's every motion dance through his body up and up until it reached the brain. He saw Lung's power glowing dormant in his mind, waiting for Alec to reach out and learn its secrets.

Alec sat down on the cold concrete, and got to work.

---

It was only hours later, after he had returned home, that Alec realized he'd never asked the girl's name.

Perhaps it was better that way.