All Demons, All Queens

5 A.M.

On a closed off road, there was a barricade manned by two advanced infantry fighting vehicles and a fully kitted platoon, with heavy machine gun nests and missile launchers. High tech scanners monitored the area.

“Contact!” One of the operators on sentry duty shouted, causing everyone to immediately raise their weapons and aim down the road into the wilderness. “Friendly.” Hearts dropped in relief at the second word, safeties going on again.

Lt. Ja-eun Yong of the Korean Marines, aka Dragon Girl, appears covered in blood. She’s holding a giant head, one that belonged to an Oni. In her other hand, dog tags and dog collars. The barricade officers move to assist Dragon Girl, taking the tags off her… and reluctantly, the Oni head. The creature’s face was locked in an expression of fear, its large, bulbous yellow eyes still open. Its throat stump was still dripping blood.

The field commander, an older gentleman with a moustache and a beret, approached and saluted. “Lieutenant! Report.” He said, respectfully. He may had rank, but he knew who he was talking to.
Dragon Girl returned the salute and delivered a brief SitRep.

“Colonel. No site personnel or site K-9 survivors. All hostiles involved in the breach have been terminated. Containment breach confirmed, and the trail leads into downtown…” She pointed to Downtown LA.

The Colonel let out a sigh. “This is a huge mess. Covert teams will have to start keeping an eye on things. The local metahuman population will probably get involved now… the superheroes. What’s your take? From what I heard, you’re the one that brought this thing in in the first place.”

“Gumi is an advanced member of her species, and these people who broke her out aren’t some stupid rabble rousers. They’ll take out those who can’t stand up to them, subvert those who can. It’s their M.O.”

“Gumi? Ah... whatever. It’s out of Op’s hands until we get sure intel. So what will you do now?”

Dragon Girl pressed some controls on her phone, which caused her military battle dress to transform into hip street clothes – black leggings for days, a gray blazer, a scarf, and her hair done up in a pony tail. “Go play superhero.”


= = = =

8 A.M.
The Hell Hound, Los Angeles

Renee was one of Isroh’s secretaries, a hardworking, loyal, no-nonsense, some say frigid, professional of a woman. She delivered the morning’s news to her boss after entering his office.

“Here’s today’s reports boss. So first off, the Jets and the Sharks, and 13 minor affiliates have paid their dues without a hassle. The week’s shipments have arrived and are being processed, without a hitch, and here are the week’s bar sales.”

“On to local news. Word on the streets is someone high profile is in the area.” She turns on the 70in plasma screen tv. She switched from Netflix to another output that would show CCTV feed real time. “Dragon Girl is within our vicinity, probing public establishments and speaking with local officials. Our eyes on the street say she’s looking for someone, but certainly not you, Fortunately. Or Unfortunately.”

“And her arrival here is no coincidence either. We just heard there was a … containment facility of some kind… someone or something escaped it. They must be related.” She gave her boss a rather sparse folder containing a few photos of a fenced off facility, patrolled by lots of armed guards and K-9 units, and a perpetual military blockade that turns away all civilians who stumble upon the road.

“…So Isroh, What do you want to do?”

So far the morning of Isroh had been uneventful. Aside from having some underlings scrub the imp blood off the marble floor from the ‘incident’ last night after last call. He had a cup of coffee set on the glass desk beside him. On his laptop played Riverdale- the latest of Isroh’s binges.

“Oh fuck you Archie.” He groaned before his eyes lifted to see Renee waltzing into his office. He pokes the space bar lazily to pause his show.

Isroh adored his secretaries. Each Hell Hound location had a secretary, sometimes multiple and Los Angeles was one of the more heavily loaded locations as it was the first location. He leans back in his office chair as he lazily listens to Renee with his usual stoic silence he always had when others were talking.

“Seems the example I made of that imp really sunk in.” Isroh scoffs. If flaying an imp alive in front of minor dealers got them to pay their cut then having to pay to get rid of the mess was worth every cent. “Dragon girl, however, that is interesting.”

Someone looking for something was surely a bonus for him. Those looking for something tend to seek help if unsuccessful for long enough. The idea of the containment breach made him tilt his head a bit. He didn’t much care what the human militaries had hidden away in their vaults. So long as they posed no threat to him, his operation or the denizens in his turf. However, this did pull his concerns that there could be conflict in his backyard. The king had to win every fight on his territory and sitting one out was an automatic loss. “See if there’s a way to get this dragon woman in my office. Color me interested in her. Might as well insert myself into this if it’s going to be happening in my territory.”

“I’ll take Larry and see what I can do. Maybe over lunch?” Renee suggested before leaving the office.

10 A.M.

Dragon Girl checked in with a few local intel contacts and friends, keeping a low profile, but a seven-foot-tall lady always catches the eye. Still, it was about time for brunch, and Dragon Girl didn’t eat since containing the situation this morning and felt famished. She spots a Mexican takeout shack and orders burritos. Six of them. The old mexican manning the shack served June with a smile, remarking on her big appetite and Ja-eun (June from now on) had to swallow her embarrassment.

She walks off and finds a bench near a pocket park to enjoy her breakfast. Unfortunately, she only manages to eat one before trouble presented its ugly head.

A man had caused a traffic ruckus by jaywalking – diagonally no less, the monster – towards the shack. He was already barefoot and took off his shirt. He then transforms – ripping his human face and skin off – and transforming into a 9 foot tall muscle bound ram-man, with one horn; the other one broken. They call him… Billy the Goat, a known but relatively low-level enforcer who’ll work for whoever pays. Not even important enough to be on Isroh’s wonder drug.

“Dragon Girl! There’s no use in trying to hide. I know that’s you. I’ve been waiting for this rematch.” He snorted, scratching the ground with his cloven hooves.

Dragon Girl sighed and put her bag of burritos aside. Some onlookers took out their phones and started taking video of the fight about to go down, but savvy locals knew better and started evacuating. She stood up and looked at Billy.

The car that Billy brushed aside very conveniently contained Renee and her driver, Larry. It was a company car, a cheap Honda City, for low profile movement in the city. Renee quickly whipped out her mobile and rang up Isroh. She even had a bodycam so that she could quickly have Dragon Girl speak with the office. She was not expecting to be in the middle of the action.

“Boss. I found Dragon Girl, but right now she’s having an altercation with Billy the Goat and AH!!!” Renee’s normally cool disposition was broken when Dragon Girl was sent hurtling into the car’s engine, sending a sudden jolt that shook the car, even triggering the air bags. Larry the driver was knocked out, and Renee was tossed around the backseat. The live feed from her body cam jostled with the action, as seconds later a giant horn pierced through the window, inches from Renee’s face. She instinctively shielded herself from the shattered glass, shouting obscenities as Billy the Goat tried to dislodge himself from the car.
Dragon Girl obliged him, breaking off his horn where it connected to his skull, making the Goat roar in pain, holding his bloodied stump with two hands.

His broken horn fell to the car floor, a grisly trophy.
There was too much adrenaline going on for anyone to notice a piece of jewelry- a jeweled claw- on the tip.

Renee and her bodycam had front row seats to Dragon Girl bloodying Billy’s nose with a spinning roundhouse kick, while a follow up front kick relieved him of his front teeth. She leapt on him, pinned him to the ground, and pounded him with her fists till he stopped fighting. Renee could feel each punch sending vibrations into the ground. The violence ended, and Dragon Girl looked into the car, opening the door.

“Miss! Are you okay?!” Dragon Girl moved quickly to evacuate Renee from the car, inspecting her for injuries. The secretary was still a great deal shaken, seeing Dragon Girl's bloody fists, and moreso what was left of Billy's face.

“W..w..w..w… ” Renee could only stutter, shakily putting her glasses back on. “…would you like to g…g…get some lunch?” She blurted out, somehow her job being the first thing to come to mind as she came to her senses.

11 A.M.

Hellhound, Isroh’s office

Renee had composed herself and fixed her hair and clothes upon returning. She had returned just in time for lunch, and brought one of L.A’s best – John Cappadocia “Belly Buster” Deep Dish Pizza. According the the pizzeria, Each pizza was a whopping 6000 calories of meat and cheese, each slice topping 750 calories. She brought five whole pizzas, three for Dragon Girl and two pizzas for the Hellhound staff.

“…Sir, Dragon Girl, over lunch, as promised. We also took Billy the Goat in, so we'd have another source of info. He's in the warehouse under guard.” Renee said with pride, though she was still visibly sweating, before sitting down on the sofa, taking out her tablet and prepared to take notes of the meeting. Her hand was still shaking.

Dragon Girl still had a few light bruises but seemed overall very relaxed, quite serene in fact. “Nice bar. Your secretary tells me we can help each other.” She commented, before sitting down. Always a polite individual, she gestures Isroh, her host, to eat before she digs in.

Isroh had sadly seen the absolute hell Renee had gone through in order to fulfil his request. If he had any foresight at all he’d have simply gone himself rather than put his poor secretary at risk. But damn this woman was great at her job.

The demon king had Renee a nice bottle of wine from his personal cellar waiting at his desk for her troubles due to that whole ordeal as getting roughed up by the equivalent of a kaiju fight was far out of her pay grade.

Isroh was waiting in his office, continuing his binge of Riverdale as Renee entered with Dragon Girl, victorious as always. “Very well done Renee. This is for you, terribly sorry the retrieval went rather… rocky.” He gives a gentle smile, setting the bottle down on the coffee table before his exhausted secretary. "And Ill make sure that troglodyte of a goat regrets his entire existence."

Isroh’s human guise begins to fall away as the door closes, his inky horns spiraling back from his head, skin flourishing with markings like black lace and his hair hanging down his back in devilish ringlets. Too-blue eyes shimmer and fade to a more correct violet as he stops making an effort to hide what he truly was. A demon.

The devil in the room only takes one slice of pizza, inspecting it for a second and setting it aside his now-closed laptop. Human food was something he had to consume in small amounts, or he’d make himself ill. The downside to being dead was he could eat far less delicious goodies than he would like. “ Thankyou, I am Isroh and I do believe we can be quite useful to each other in deed.” Isroh settles back into his black leather office chair as a small doggie door opens and in trots a ball of toasted marshmallow fur with big black eyes and a wet nose.

The little pomeranian surveys the room, see her daddy and candidly skips her way to his chair as if she owned the place. To which Isroh leans over to place the little dog in his lap, adjusting the pink bow pinned in the fur just to the left of her right ear. “Sorry, Bella likes to be a part of most office discussions.” He picks a small pepperoni off his slice of pizza before giving it to the little dog as she scarfs it down whole. “Especially when food is involved.”

Isroh straightens, lazily stroking his dog as he gets back to business. “Anyway, I hear you are currently looking for something. Or someone. Either way, I have pretty good methods of finding people or things in this city’s underworld.”

"Hmmm. So a demon. I suppose I should've known the sort who'd be in charge. I think you'll be interested in what I have to say." she remarked, showing a contrasting raveous appetite to her host - she'd already scarfed down three slices of that calorie bomb by the time Bella arrived.

Dragon Girl playfully extended a finger to wag at the dog, but the little Pom to simply growled at her. She caused that reaction in animals often these days.

"But before I go into details. Isroh? I need to know, what's in it for you? I'm sorry, but I haven't been back in L.A. for awhile. Last time I checked, that uh... Shark Guy...? was in charge of this neighborhood." She remarked off handedly, folding another pizza slice and scarfing it down. "I'd prefer to get to know you first."

"I assure you Dragon Girl, Mister Isroh here is ..." Renee began talking again, but as Dragon Girl shot her a look- a serious look - she stuttered, and her words failed. She worked for a literal demon for god's sake, but why this dread now?

Dragon Girl grabbed another pizza, taking an unusually big bite, almost comical, to turn off the dragon fear. Renee was speechless now, and Isroh had to do his own explaining.


= = = =

Meanwhile, as the chop shop groaned at the damage done to the Honda City, the discarded horn of billy the goat went unnoticed, as it transformed and slithered out of the car. A lone mechanic arriving to work on it spots the thing, and remarked appropriately. "Oh shit snake!"

The dark serpent slithered towards him, and leapt at him, coiling around his neck. But rather that bite him, forced itself onto him, entering him through his mouth. No one saw this, at least, not in person.

"Jeez, Raul, what the heck were you screaming about?" another mechanic came by hearing Raul shout. But Raul had regained his composure.

"Nothing. it's nothing." He said, looking around the shop in a daze, like it was the first time he was there.

"...Okay, then grab your tools, we've got a long week ahead of us." Pat on the shoulder, and heads to work.

"I need to go... see the boss first." Raul said, slowly making his way towards the main office where Isroh and Dragon Girl were.

Isroh gave a light chuckle at Bella’s little growl. She thought she was invincible. However, with Isroh behind her, she basically was. If he got the inkling anyone could hurt his little dog, Isroh would probably burn down the whole city to ashes in a blind fit of rage.

“‘The shark wouldn’t step down when I took over.” Isroh shrugged, reaching over to a small glass cube.He sets the small trophy down to reveal it was an enormous shark’s tooth encased in clear reisen. “It was one of the only ones in his mouth that wasn’t crushed in.” Isroh couldn’t help but laugh. Isroh’s hostile takeover of Los Angeles came with one decree, kneel or die. Some bent the knee and became more like vasals, others revolted and ultimately died horrifically painful deaths.

Isroh leans back in his chair, as if unphased by any intimidation tactic going on. The devil could respect her being weary. He wasn’t exactly known for being the kind to ‘gift’ out favors. “I understand. Deals with demons have a reputation for a reason after all.”

The horned king sets the reisen case aside. “As of right now, I don’t want anything from you.” The demon’s horns scrape against the back of his chair as he reclines a bit. “I plan on helping you with no immediate charge. I do enjoy having friends who are rather powerful denizens of areas I’ve conquered.” His eyes scan Dragon Girl for any reaction. Some had very foul opinions of Isroh’s underworld warpath. His tactics were ferocious, merciless and sometimes just flat out unfair. “I run a tight ship. But on occasion there are tasks that I need done, that I cannot trust with underlings. My boys are great, but they are still underlings. And in those instances it is very nice to have friends. Especially friends who have already so very nicely disposed of a giant goat who decided to so rudely intrude on my turf without paying the toll.” Isroh couldn’t help but let anger show in that last bit. The king was not one to be toyed with, and Isroh took great offense to not being paid his tribute by that cloven hooved bastard.

“I also get the feeling that if someone such as yourself is interested in something, I do believe I should be as well.” The demon king sets his dog onto the floor as she scurries away beck through the doggie door from which she’d come. “Anyways, enough about me, What of yourself?” Isroh gives a light hand gesture, leaning forwards slightly as he hears footsteps coming up his stairs. He swore to all that was holy if one of those lumbering Neanderthals interrupted his meeting they’d be plant food.

“Alright then. I’ll deal, Isroh. But I won’t be accessory to anything illegal. We'll need to find them and fast, considering the damage they'll do to people who live here.”

DG uses her phone to provide visual aid. Immediately the pictures of two women – or rather, two female creatures – appeared. On the 70 inch plasma screen TV.

“The subject being held… rather, that was held at the nearby facility is … was a nine tailed gumiho. She’s down to six now. Very old, very powerful. A sorcerer. Shapeshifting. Elemental powers. Enhanced speed and reflexes. She also has a taste for human liver. Bad news for population centers, but I wouldn’t ask for help if she was alone.” The Gumiho woman had fox ears and an alluring appearance, but another picture cut to a large fox in a containment cell, bloodied and beaten, three stumps indicating where tails used to be, and one of her arms missing.

“Surveillance at the site also confirmed another being, Slaying Mantis. Creates highly dangerous mutated insect life, controls them, and she herself has mantis like arms capable of slicing steel and concrete, acidic spittle, shooting poisonous spines… the works.” The picture showed yet another strangely… exotic woman, like a human who was encased in form fitting carapace with wings. Another picture showed her in her cell, half her face burnt off.

“These two ladies were part of a quartet of …” Dragon girl pauses and wonders what to call them. “…well, they call themselves demon queens. Like an evil girl group. They’re not so much metahumans as completely inhuman monsters.”

The door to the office suddenly opened, to show Raul standing with one hand on his hip, acting completely unlike himself. “You don’t know the half of it darling.” He said, but it wasn’t quite his voice. He strutted- strutted! Into the office looking around like he owned the place.

Renee objected to the intrusion. “Hey! We didn’t call for you! What are you doing here, wrench monkey? Guards!”

“Oh don’t bother them, they’re busy.” Raul waved, the door opening to reveal Isroh’s two door men- big burly dudes trained in many dangerous arts – now completely embracing each other, making out like there’s no tomorrow.
“Dear god…” Renee was having a palpitation now. She’d seen so much metahuman activity, but mind control was the most disturbing.

Dragon Girl meanwhile, could only clench her arms and stand. She could smell something off about the man- and it wasn’t his extensive use of Old Spice Body Wash. She didn’t want to harm an innocent bystander. “I’m afraid I’m not following.”

“I’m not talking to you Dragon Wench. You made my sisters ugly, you ruined their beauty forever.”

“Sisters?”

“Maiming them. Humiliating them. Putting them in cages. You could have been one of us once. But I know you stand with the weak half of your blood.”

“So you’re in charge of this outfit. Quaint. Charming.” Raul looked around the office, pawing at all the trophies and valuable décor. Then he turned to Isroh, “I’m not for mysteries, I’m for deals, power plays and the humiliation of my enemies. You look like an ambitious lad. How’d you like to grow your territory ten times its size now, and be of service to the demon queens? You can be in charge of the entire west coast, its warlord- if you bring me this Dragon's head.” Raul offered him point blank.

“Noted. Nothing illegal.” Isroh settles into his chair with a light smile. Anything was legal if you found the right loopholes. He did however, assume she meant ‘anything morally obscene’ which would have probably been the wording to use. Either way he didn’t really have a lot of time to play word-lawyer right now.

The king’s eyes immediately shifted to his television to which Dragon Girl was nice enough to throw the images. He leans forward, placing his elbows onto his desk and his hands folded together, resting his chin upon his fingers in great interest.

For moments he just listened and watched, his expression only changing to one of light rage when Dragon Girl mentioned the Gumiho enjoyed the taste of human flesh. Another rat in his palace. “So we could actually have four to deal with th-” Isroh was cut off by the slamming open of his office door. A feat one would literally have to either be stupid, suicidal or possesed to do. No one entered the boss’s office unless he allowed it for fear of their skins, but here comes Raul waltzing in like some bastard prince. This made him think over those three possibilities. Raul was a meathead, but he wasn’t entirely dumb nor did he seem unhappy. He wasn’t ranting about urgent news either so… was he actually possessed?

Isroh seemed to not react at first to the debacle, not necessarily moving, nor did his expression change all that much as he let the literal mouthpiece continue until they seemed to be done. He couldn’t help but spare a glance to the two pit fiends who suddenly had a great big ‘coming out of the closet party’ on his steps. “Hot.” He sarcastically points out as the puppeteered mechanic continues. The Kings mind returns to assessing the behavior, coming to the conclusion rather quickly someone has hijacked poor Raul and is currently puppeting his meatsuit.

“You come to the king and ask him to bend the knee?” His voice was it’s normal commanding ring yet carried a bit heavier weight. It was as if the air in the room was sucked out all at once. A feeling of mounting dread building within it, as if the room was simultaneously bursting to life and spiraling into its own death. The potted plants near Isroh’s front door began to creepy up in size, darken to a bloody red in color and grow long thorns the size of nails. They slithered over Isroh’s doorway like a forest of deadly serpents.

“You truly believed possessing the body of one of my employees was going to win my favor? If your sisters are hunting humans on my turf they’re as good as dead. Their faces shouldn’t be what they’re worried about.” Coils of vines began to snake up the mechanic’s prancing legs, weighing heavily and roping themselves up further with every second. The spines facing outward as to avoid cutting poor Raul’s skin like scalpels.

“I offer a counter offer. You and your sisters either give up and live quietly under my rule. Or you get however much of a head start it takes for us to leave this office and track you down to go elsewhere and disappear for your own good.” This was not at all toned as a question or even a suggestion. This was what was happening in Isroh’s turf. Invaders didn’t get to dictate the terms of their invasion.

“Also, release my mechanic, nightmare smurfette.”

Seeing that he was now immobilized, and that the offer was flatout refused, Raul let out a disappointed sigh. "Hm Hmmm. Alright. I like it when they play hard to get. Alright pretty boy. Come find us at Big Mama's House. we're inviting the neighborhood to a cookout." Raul let out a sexy laugh, then made a painful vomiting sound, as a large purple snake forced its way back up his throat, to escape the mundane human controlled. The snake reared up and lashed out at the secretary cowering in the corner.

Renee recoiled in horror, reacting instinctively to cover her face from the snake. Dragon Girl showed off that heroic speed and caught it by the neck, mid air, inches from the secretary's face. The snake struggled, but DG made sure it couldn't bite, even as it tried to wrap its tail around her arm. Then she put the squeeze on it.

The snake de-materialized and turned into a bejeweled finger claw. The greed hidden in her heart compelled her to keep it, but she dropped it instead like a hot potato, and refused to look at it any further.

Raul and the two door men came to their senses. The door guards, naturally, starting retching and spitting, wiping their mouths as they realized the horror of what had befallen them.

"Bro! what the hell!"

"Bro! I don't love you like that! I swear!"

"Broooo!"

The mechanic looked around in a daze, and saw his employer. The pain of the serpents shot up his legs and began apologizing. "Boss! I didn't mean to come in here! One second I was gonna fix up the car and then... I'm here!"

"You're alright now, the thing that possessed you left." Dragon Girl assured the mechanic, then turned to Isroh. "... Who or what is this Big Mama the demon mentioned?"

“Well. That was something.” Isroh blankly states watching as Dragon Girl literally squeezed the life out of a demon snake. Impressive. The king takes a minute to process everything that has just occurred, vines snaking down off Raul’s body, harmlessly recessing back into the floor in smoldering smoke.

“It’s alright boys, We just had a demon snake her way into my castle and make a fool out of my crew. This shit is personal now.” Isroh crosses his arms as his temper begins to grow. He didn’t much like the notion he should bend the knee, nor did he enjoy his men being used as a puppet in the most grotesque way possible.

“Big Mama in an ogre. Big and ugly. She’s even ugly for an Ogre and that's saying something. But I must admit, she is actually pretty pleasant as far as Ogres go and keeps a short leash on her brood. She used to run some kind of food establishment I guess, they were serving humans but I managed to strong arm her into using pork as a substitute. However, she is great at paying her dues and hasn’t given me any trouble. If they’re at her place and she’s allowing them to put her home in danger I’ll be shocked. We should go check it out.”

Isroh sighs as his features morph and change to resemble a handsome human man. “Should I bring some extra muscle or would you prefer just you and I?”

"I'll have an armed crew ready to support-" Renee volunteered naturally, but June politely cut her off with a gesture.

"No. You don't want any non metahumans on the scene. They know we're coming, they might have some unpleasant surprise for us. I recommend we go discreetly, see what's going on with this ... Big Mama's House." June suggested, displaying restraint and thinking.

Renee's fingers tapped away at her tablet to bring up a map of their associates' hideouts. "...It's a warehouse, past a condemned junkyard near the river. If you two want to go unnoticed, stopping in the junkyard is your best bet." She then curtly turned to her boss. "... Especially considering the boss's rides are anything but discreet."

"If it gets us there I won't complain. To your garage then?" June looked at Isroh.

“My crew would be entirely composed of demons. But I think you’re right. I don’t really want to risk them, nor move the muscle from where I currently have it.” Isroh thinks out loud before putting some thought into how this would go.

The demon pushed open the door that Bella had just scampered through into a rather spacious living room with pristine white carpet, crimson furniture with a black rug. He leads his guest through the living room to another door on the other end of it which leads to a spiral staircase down into a huge garage with at least 10 cars in it. All cars looked like old antiques, refurbished and beautifully remodeled to the point they looked brand new.

He plucks one of the many keys off the key rack to a Dark blue 1969 Mustang Boss 9. An absolute badass of a car that Ford made specifically to prove that Americans could make just as fast an engine as Ferrari could. “Her name is Olivia. She’s a bad bitch.” He smirks, opening the passenger side door for Dragon girl and plopping himself into the white leather driver’s seat. With a turn of Isroh’s keys, the monster of an engine roars to life.

Dragon Girl tried not to look too impressed at the muscle cars, coming from the land of Hyundai. “Nice! But these cars are gas guzzlers!” Was all she could say, before switching to Korean and mumbling to herself. “I want one though.”

As they made their way past downtown towards the district Dragon Girl monitors their position on her gps. This part of town had always been a bit run down but not abandoned; now it was truly deserted now that the Man Eaters were back with a vengeance. June looks out the window and eyes a school bus full of children being chained to a large modified truck, which looked more like an ATV with a large ogre sitting in it. “Over there!” June pats Isroh a bit hard on the shoulder to get his attention.

And just then, four ATV’s came into view in the rear view mirror, their junk modifications letting them boost up to catch the muscle car. The raider ATV’s were ridden by obese creatures, half ogres- vile mutant minions of the man eaters, spawned of foul rituals and foul men, dressed up fully mad max style. They don’t issue a warning – they recognize Isroh’s vehicle, and start open up with pintle mounted assault rifles. June’s attention did not even register if the bullets bounced off window or passed through- a gimp mask wearing mutant drove up to her window with a shotgun, laughing and screaming.
Before June could find out if the car was bullet proof or not, she opened the door with her left hand while the car went at full speed – the maniac reached in to grab June, and of course that would be the last bad life decision he’d make that day. The Dragon Girl did not budge, but instead used her right hand to flip the ATV completely over, sending him careening into a bridge post. The car uncomfortably lurched for a few seconds, the forces involved sending it into a 45 degree side wheelie, with Isroh having to experience the discomfort of being tilted in his own car.

“…Keep the car going, we have a bus to catch!” June said rapidly in Korean, not even noticing she'd switch to her native language in the excitement.

“That they are. Old cars drink gas like I drink vodka. By the metric fuckload.” Isroh laughs as the car strolls down the road. Sadly he didn’t understand Korean. If he had, he probably would have stored that bit of information away for later. Isroh did have a habit of giving gifts to those who he needed favors from to sweeten deals.

He supposed he’d have to learn some languages if he insisted on making such interesting acquaintances.

Isroh's attention was well gotten as Dragon Girl pointed out the cacophony of fuckery going on. Of course these Mad Max lookalikes had to shoot at the very much not bulletproof car. The fury that had been churning inside him at the idea of ogres kidnapping children only amplified that he’d now have to have body work done on sweet Olivia because these people couldn’t respect a good muscle car.

Luckily Dragon Girl had more than enough composure to completely off one of the mooks before Isroh could really do anything. The engine of the restored Boss 9 flared to life as Isroh’s foot leaned heavy on the gas pedal. She was at her core, built to run like a scalded ape. Keeping up with a truck wouldn’t be much of a problem. But if her tires got blown out or her engine block got compromised, they’d be hoofing it.

The devil couldn’t help but cringe as he felt the shift, all bets were out the window if they ended up belly up on the road. He quickly leans his weight over with as much ferocity as he could to pop his tired back on the ground, praying the suspension held. Luckily, old cars were built better and could take a beating. “I am not a stunt driver.” Isroh groans, as his eyes lock onto a lamp post they were approaching.

Vine creep up the pole and stretch down off the overhang, and creep across to the other side and pull themselves taught as soon as the bus and Olivia pass by. Two ogres get clotheslined, one getting split from the gut, another flat out losing his head entirely. The third? That one was smart enough to duck.

The Boss 9 was soon right on the tail of the bus. “I can drive or I can fight. You think you can unhitch that bus?” Isroh asks, trying to think of a scenario that doesn’t end in a bunch of underaged road kill. He looks back as the other Ogre was catching up. He could try the vine again, he thought, but going this fast? He didn't think he could manifest one up in time while he had the car completely floored.

Dragon Girl sighed for a moment, wishing she could do this discreetly, but the Man Eaters had escalated the fight. Her blazer shimmered and tightened around her and morphed into her signature long sleeve swimwear, as to not snag anything.

"...Hang on to your car." She said, unfastened her seatbelt, and opened the door. Due to the newtonian physics involved in Dragon Girl hitting the asphalt at a full sprint, Isroh's car felt the reaction force, bouncing and shaking as DG Really went to work.

Dragon Girl was not classified a speedster, but only because her top speed was about that of a cheetah- clocking in under a hundred mph and swiftly closing the gap with the bus. The remaining orog rider tried to cut her off, but found himself flipped over and crashing.

With finesse DG skillfully climbed up the driver side of the bus, coming eye to eye with the children inside scared but now cheering her on. "SIT DOWN!" She yelled and gestured, before feeling a large fat boot futiley trying to kick her off. She grabs the foot and tosses the mutant off instead, and lifting herself up to face the last one. One solid front kick and he was sent flying.

Once those two were dealt with, she landed on the hood of the engine, reached down and unhooked the bus from the large dump-truck driven by a full sized ogre. DG did not see the need to break the chain.

She tapped on the driver's window, the man's hands frozen on the wheel in fear. "...Can you drive the bus?" She asked him. "HEY! can you drive the bus?!" She repeated, shaking him out of his fright.

"yeah... yeah!" He answered, firing up the bus now that they were freed.

"Okay good." DG jumped off and rolled on the concrete, the concrete breaking on her first impact.

THey were near the junkyard now, and the dump truck pulled over, its massive rider dismounting. Big Mama had four full blooded ogre sons, and this was one of them. Garr the Gutgouger, second youngest.
He specialized in fighting with chains and a large meathook, hammered into shape from structural steel.

"...ISROH! WE AIN'T ANSWERIN TO YOU ANYMORE! C'MERE SO I CAN WRECK YER PRETTY FACE!" He bellowed his challenge, eyeing Isroh's car coming into view.