Dragon turned her attention away from the audio and video streams.  She checked the records, and true enough, Marquis was on record as the killer of Iron Rain.  It was impossible to verify the rest of the story.

Oh, huh, I guess she doesn’t know. I guess she can’t be kept up to date on everything that happens everywhere in Canada and the U.S., especially when it doesn’t involve the Protectorate or the Guild all that heavily.

She composed a message with a general transcript of the conversation and sent it to Amy Dallon’s mother.  It was better that the girl was warned about any potential danger.

Ah, right, I guess she was talking primarily about the Allfather’s revenge portion.

She might have devoted more attention to the subject, but she was already falling behind.  She moved on to her other responsibilities.  The Class S threats.

Hm. I guess that means Endbringers are class A? Or does this operate off a game-like rating scale, with S at the top and A-F below? I doubt that – the Birdcage may be well-designed, but I doubt it contains anyone as dangerous as, or more dangerous than, an Endbringer.

That said, maybe these “other responsibilities” are one layer further out than I was just thinking? As in “other than checking on the Birdcage” rather than “other than checking on the newest inmates”.

With that said, let’s get back to this!

I received a whole bunch of asks last night, some of them about this Interlude, but due to the sheer amount I think I’ll hold off on answering those for now. I’ll finish the Interlude first and then do the asks tomorrow. (This post is pretty much just an acknowledgement that I’ve seen them.)

“I see,” Lung rumbled in his low, accented voice, “Allfather no longer leads the Empire.  He died and was succeeded by his second in command, Kaiser.” 

“That’s some consolation.  Still, I worry.  He might have made arrangements.”

“Perhaps.”

Dang it, Lung, that’s what I was gonna say.

“I suppose I will have to wait until another villain from Brockton Bay comes here to hear further news, yeah?”

Lung’s response was unintelligible.

“Tell me of my daughter?  What did she look like?”

It’s clear that Marquis does care about Amy and her safety.

A slow smile spread across Lung’s face, but it did not reach his eyes, “This no longer interests me.  If you wish me to say more, we should negotiate.”

Aaand there we go.

“Hmmm,” Lung spoke, “The healer.  A young heroine in New Wave.  Brown haired, like you.

There we go.

When I was in custody, my flesh blackening and falling off, they had her come in and mend the worst of it.  As I understand it, she does not patrol as the others do.”

SKITTEEEEER!

😉

I wonder if Panacea is aware that Skitter was responsible for that. I mean, they wouldn’t have told her, but maybe she would’ve recognized some of the characteristics of the injuries, at least in retrospect.

Marquis leaned back, sighed.  “Good god.  A healer.”

Not quite what you had imagined for your daughter, huh?

Lung did not respond right away.  “Is this simple sentiment?  A father caring about his daughter?”

Marquis shook his head, “Not entirely.  I have some reasons to be concerned.  In one of my fights with Empire Eighty-Eight, I executed one particularly irritating young woman.  Iron Rain, I think her name was?  No matter.  It turned out she was Allfather’s daughter.

Ouch. Yeeah, if the Empire finds out about Amy’s origins, that might cause some trouble.

The man called a meeting, and swore he would wait until my daughter was of similar age, that I grew equally fond of her as he had his own daughter, then murder her.  So I knew how he felt.”

Yeah… let’s hope they don’t find out. Allfather doesn’t seem to be around anymore, but some of the former Empire members might still want to carry this out.

“I do not know anyone by such a name.”

“The group of heroes who put me in here… While I was awaiting my court date, I heard they had custody of my little girl.”

At least they seem to have taken good care of her.

“I would not know.”

But I suppose Dragon would.

“No?” Marquis put down his tea.  “This is disappointing.”

Lung didn’t respond.  Instead, he took another drink, reached for the one remaining croissant and tore off a piece to dip in the butter at one side of his plate.

“The Brockton Bay Brigade.  Are they still active?”

At this point, Wildbow seems to be pulling out the references in part for the benefit of those who didn’t get it at “Amelia”. On top of it being what the character of Marquis is naturally inclined to ask about, I mean.

“I do not know this group.”

Marquis frowned.  “My daughter, she would be… what year is it?  2010?”

Almost.

“2011,” Lung replied.

“She would be seventeen.  If she had powers, they might have something to do with bone?”  Marquis raised his hand, slashed his thumbnail across his index finger, and a needle-thin rapier blade of bone speared out of the wound.  The blade retracted into his finger, and the cut sealed shut.

Huh, that’s a pretty neat power. Seems Panacea primarily got the “cut sealed shut” part, though, and the ability to make other people’s bones stop hurting.

Marquis picked up his tea and held it in both hands, but he didn’t drink.  “True.”

“Tell me,” Lung said, “And you may find I do not desire much.”

“My daughter,” Marquis replied, his tone not his lackadaisical usual.

…was I right?

“Have you heard of her?”

“Her name?”

“Amelia.”

Amelia.

Amy.

Holy hell, that’s one prediction I wasn’t really expecting to come true.

“Can I not say you are a kindred soul?  Someone who fought against the Empire Eighty-Eight, in a different era?”

I see, so there’s been some animosity between Marquis and the Empire, too.

Dragon knew Marquis had come from Brockton Bay, as Lung did.  It was why she had placed Lung in the cell block – there was little chance Lung would cooperate or band together with others, so she’d grasped at straws.  Now it seemed there was something else at play.

Hm, yeah, but it still seems to tie back to them both being from Brockton Bay, so good work there, I guess.

Lung shook his head, “I do not believe this.  I do not mind sharing stories and passing the time, but you would not be seeking to flatter me if you did not want something.”

I suppose in a place like this, that mentality makes some sense. Especially when there’s been animosity between the two of them before.

Marquis stroked his beard.  “But if I did desire something and I told you what it was, you could withhold it and demand favors from me.”

…good point.

Lung tapped his finger on the table top, “If you insist on being a nuisance, you may never get what you want.”

Better point.

“If they disappeared, then that is using fear.  The ones who remain will wonder what happened to the missing man.  They will imagine the worst.”

He does have a point.

Marquis raised the tea to his lips, sipped from it, and then put it down.  He waited a moment and stroked his close-trimmed beard before nodding his concession.  “True enough.  I never gave it much thought.  Just an easy way to handle any problems that came up.”

But it does seem like Marquis didn’t take advantage of that on purpose. He may have benefitted from fear, but if he didn’t really mean to, did he still use it?

There was a long pause.  Both drank their tea.

Lung rumbled, “I find you change your mind too quickly.”

What, you having a problem with the fact that Marquis is conceding points?

“Do I?”

Lung nodded, then put one hand on the table and began tapping a fingertip against it, hard.  Speaking slowly, with his accented voice, he jabbed one finger in Marquis’s direction.  “I think you are losing this argument on purpose.  You are not so stupid a man.”

On purpose? Why would he?

Marquis took another sip of tea.  “Nor are you, it seems.”

But it seems like Lung’s right.

“You want something from me, yet you insist on dancing around the subject.  Tell me why you seek these meals with me.”

Ahh, that should be enlightening, if Marquis complies.