A/N: It's important to me that you understand that I am not my characters, and that just because I'm going to have to write literal Nazis, doesn't mean I'm also a Nazi.

Commercial District North

October 27th, 21:30

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Looking down at the cheering and jeering crowd from his spot on high, Brad lets himself just relax. Revelling in the deafening noise being generated by the warehouse full of bloodthirsty men and women.

Turning from the roaring crowds, Brad looks down at the the 'ring' half dug into the floor of the warehouse. It's technically more of a hexagon than a ring, and as said, they only bothered to dig it half the way down, meaning there's still a chain fence surrounding it.

A chain fence that has dozens of bodies pressed up against it as they scream for whoever they bet on to fuck up the other guy.

Brad however, isn't really all that interested in the fight going on in the centre of the building right now. As far as he is concerned neither of them are particularly skilled, just bulky newbies that want to vent their aggression, or impress someone, or maybe just really want to punch someone half to death and can't wait to go out and find some niggers or chinks to do so.

"A lot of disappointments today." 

Brad hardly hears Cricket's voice mirror his thoughts from over the din of the room, but he nods his head regardless. She is an early twenties woman with a gymnast's build and a blonde buzzcut. She wears a metal cage as a mask and has an ugly scar across her throat, leaving her with a scratchy voice that sounds like death.

But at the very least, David is going to fight next, and he at least has some skill. Watching him beat up some upstarts who don't know jack about fighting will at least be more entertaining that two 'roided up idiots treating each other like punching bags.

"Might as well've just got the dogs. Woulda been more brutal for the crowd," Stormtiger says from his other side. He's a pale, tall, and muscle-bound man wearing only loose-fitting pants accented with chains and a white-blue tiger mask.

Brad doesn't disagree, the dogs would have been more entertaining. The only issue with dog fighting is that there is always a casualty in every bout, which means they have to find more dogs, then they have to train those dogs, and even after all that, they will just die again anyway.

It's a cycle, but they did dog fighting the other day, and they haven't got any new dogs yet, so it's not really an option right now.

Though... now that he thinks about it, there are enough dogs that they could have the men fight a dog or two. With the three of them there, the men shouldn't be in much danger of dying, Stormtiger could rip the dogs to shreds the moment it seems like they're going to kill the men.

Hmmm. Food for thought, maybe next time.

"A woman?" Stormtiger mutters, and Brad would have missed it if not for the room itself quietening down.

Returning his attention to the ring, he sees David, a bulky six and a bit foot tall blond man wearing only loose brown pants, with a torso full of tattoos, most notably the giant Swastika covering most of his back.

However, what is more interesting is his opponent. Five-nine, long red hair, lightly toned muscles and a wide grin. Wearing skin-tight, dark red pants, a brighter red tank top, red gloves and simple red runner shoes. But most importantly, a woman.

Granted, it's not unheard of for women to show up in these things, but only ever in fights against other women, or if Cricket feels like cutting someone up. They all know it would be unfair to pit women against men after all, and truthfully most present look down on women fighter in general.

That's usually the reason Cricket likes to cut people up every now and then, to teach them their place. Personally, Brad doesn't look down on women fighters, he's known enough badass women over the years to understand that they can kick ass. But at the end of the day, while a skilled women can beat most men, a skilled man can beat all women, it's just not a fair fight.

Hence, why it is so surprising to see a women show up out of nowhere.

He can see David go to speak, likely to ask her if she's lost or something, but he never gets the chance too as the woman abruptly shoots her arms forward, palms spread.

"WAAAIT!!" She shouts out, silencing the crowd, mostly, "I know what you're thinking; 'why the red suit?' Well, it's so bad guys can't see me bleed~." Everyone shares a confused look at her humorous tone, even Brad looks to his two partners to see if they know what's going on, but before anyone can question her, she speaks up again, pointing at David. "This guy's got the right idea, he wore the brown pants~."

David goggles at her blatant taunting, while the crowd laughs, and Brad figures he might understand her intention.

He thinks she might have understood that David wouldn't want to fight her, and decided to piss him off to speed things along. And if the shade of red David's face is taking under the crowd's mocking laughter is anything to go by, she's succeeded in that.

Assuming that she's not stupid, Brad decides to help things along, hoping for something interesting to happen.

"Fuckin' fight already!" He yells out, to the audible approval of the spectators, and that is all David needs.

He mutters some words to the woman, but Brad can't hear what, before advancing.

Yet, instead of getting into a stance herself, the woman waits until David takes up his loose boxing stance, and then mirrors him perfectly.

Brad and Cricket are both experienced enough to get suspicious at that, thinking that this woman might actually be a cape, Combat Thinker maybe, here to either test herself, improve herself, or prove herself to join the Empire.

Stormtiger is too stupid to realise.

With renewed interest, Brad leans forward, deciding not to cancel the fight despite the woman maybe being a cape. Worse case, David dies. So not much of a loss either way.

David advances first, and the woman once more mirrors him. However, when David reaches close enough to swing a fist at her face, the unthinkable happens.

"Eep!" The woman ducks under the strike with both of her hands on her head as if a child hiding from thunder.

With her new position low down, David moves to follow up his punch with a kick, only for the woman to dive forward and slide under his legs on her stomach, kicking up some dust and making childish sound effects all the while.

Even more incensed than before, David spins around just as the woman gets back to her feet and faces him with a serious expression, holding the same loose boxing stance as earlier.

This time, David takes it a bit more seriously and aims his punch for her torso, where it's harder to dodge.

"Eeyaahh!" The woman screams, once again dropping her serious look as she literally falls backwards, landing on her ass with her hands held in front of her and her eyes closed and facing the side.

She peeks one of her eyes open right as David is about to stomp down on her, and barely rolls out of the way in time to dodge, all the while calling out, "Scary~".

The match continues in that vein for nearly a full minute. David swinging and the woman just barely dodging, all while acting like a child narrowly avoiding a slap.

The crowd are loving it, laughing their assess off, much to David's noticeable anger. As for Brad, Cricket and Stormtiger? Well, they respect it. They all used to be pit fighters, so they all know how to play up the crowd in a fight, and they can acknowledge that this woman knows what she's doing in the entertainment department if nothing else.

She even seems to understand when something stops being amusing, as right when Brad notices the laughter of the crowds start getting quieter, he also sees something change in the way the woman is holding herself.

He gets the feeling that she's finally going to fight back, and he is not disappointed.

Huffing with exertion, David fruitlessly tries for one more punch, only this time, the woman doesn't just dodge.

Instead, she acts shocked by the strike, as if she hasn't already dodged a dozen, and 'trips' backwards like she slipped on a banana peel. As she rapidly falls back, one of her legs shoots into the air in a very comic book fashion.

Only, her foot doesn't meet with air, but rather with David's chin.

A resounding smack is heard, and then David is falling backwards, knocked out in a single blow that an idiot could be forgiven for thinking was accidental.

"Ha! Ha! She KO'd him by accident! Hahahaha!" 

Brad does his level best to ignore Stormtiger.

Looking around as if dazed, the woman slowly gets to her feet, seeming genuinely confused as to where her opponent has gone, despite him lying right besides her.

Brad abruptly realises that no one would have bet on her to win the fight, but with the lack of groaning and cussing, he suspects that bets were put on hold for this fight. He'll have to reward whoever made that choice later. It would have been a pain dealing with a horde of pissy idiots claiming the bet was rigged.

The 'commentator', or at least the guy who's close enough to being considered such, walks into the arena. He doesn't have a mic or anything, but Mikey can shout real loud, which is why this is his job.

"Wow! What a twist!" He yells out as he steps over David's body to stand besides the woman. "You never saw it coming, but the winner is this mysterious Lady in Red!" He take shold of her hand and hoists it up into the air while the crowd cheers and laughs.

Brad can already tell that despite her victory, no one present really thinks of her as much of a competent fighter. She played up the theatrics to such an extent that even though they know and saw her win, they still don't actually understand that David never stood a chance.

He finds it amusing.

She doesn't help this misassumption with how she aloofly smiles and waves to the crowd as if she knows them personally.

"Tell us!" Mikey shouts out again, quietening the crowd. "Do you have any words for your adoring fans as the victor!? Maybe a name!?"

With great pomp, the woman takes a step forward, her foot landing on David's face like a hunter would pose with their prey, and she raises her head high and proud.

"I am Guanyin Bodhisattva!" She yells out, before turning to the high box and pointing right at Brad, "and with my thousands of victories over impossible odds! I challenge thee, Hookerwolf! To a Du-Du-Du-Duel!!!"

Her words, ridiculous though they may be, immediately bring a silence over the room. Everyone's eyes turning to stare at Brad in shock, while the man himself narrows his eyes.

Ridiculous name and challenge aside, he can tell that she means it. If anything, he admires her balls to challenge him in the heart of his own 'kingdom'.

And he has a reputation to uphold, so it's not like he can let such a challenge go unanswered, especially with how she, probably purposefully, butchered his name. Not that he would have without his reputation demanding it.

His pride as a fighter demands that he accept the challenge. 

So, without a word, Brad gets up from his seat and steps one foot on the railing in front of him, before simply stepping over it.

He falls a solid ten feet down, and the metal under his skin ensures that the ground cracks upon landing.

"Brave of you to challenge me, girl," Brad says as he runs a hand through his greasy blond hair, his scarred and muscular form towering over her, face hidden behind a steel wolf mask.

"Call me Bodhisattva," she 'seriously' responds.

"I ain't calling you that chink shit. And my name's Hookwolf."

"Fine," she pouts, seriousness once more evaporating, "you can call me Hannah then." She pauses for a moment, an idea seemingly coming to mind. "Or, you could call me Athena, on account of my war acumen and incredible beau-"

"Hannah." Brad interrupts, "Shut the fuck up."

His words only cause her to smirk however, and she answers with a wink. "Make me. Hookerbitch."

Cracking his neck, Brad feels a grin grow on his face as he nods Mikey towards David. The smaller man gets the hint and starts dragging David out, some other guys coming out to help the process along.

Arena clear and crowd waiting with bated breathes, Brad, no, Hookwolf takes a step forward. Only for Hannah's voice to sound out once more, the barest twinge of nervousness hidden in it.

"No turning into a murder blender though, right? Just some good ol' fisticuffs, no need to turn me into a piece of modern art right?"

Hookwolf lets out a huff, vaguely insulted she would imply that he would even need to flex his powers to such a degree to best her.

"I don't need to do that to kick your ass."

"I'd really rather you do other things to my ass, if ya know what I mean." She gives him a conspiratorial wink, which he ignores, moving towards her at a steady pace, his voice blank as he responds.

"I'm going to break your face now."

"Okie dokie."

Hookwolf dashes forward much like David did, only much faster and with even more weight behind it.

Credit where it's due, Hannah doesn't keep up her oblivious act from before, instead simply side-stepping his punch with a wide smile on her face.

He chains his first attack into a second with his left, which she parries wide with one arm, the other snapping forward into his bare chest, but he steps into it, reducing the power of the strike to basically nothing.

As she recoils from the strike, he lashes out with a kick. Yet this time, she mirrors him by bringing her leg forward into the blow, stopping it before it can gather too much force. Unfortunately, she failed to account for the difference in weight, and his leg pushes hers back, causing it to slide behind her as she fights to keep her balance.

Capitalising on her mistake, Hookwolf pushes her harder, striking out with both his arms and legs with specifically targeted blows to keep her as off balance as possible as he starts to push her back.

And eventually, his blows that she was merely barely dodging start grazing her, as he never lets up the pressure. Yet even as they continue, he gets this...this feeling, instinct, that she is holding back.

He feels it with every exchange, like she's pulling her punches, slowing herself down. But he merely attributes that to her refraining from using her power and nothing more, something that causes his respect for her to grow a little.

That respect doesn't make him hesitate however, as he soon pushes her hard enough that he manages to land a solid hit on her shoulder, the force sending her spinning to the floor.

Hookwolf doesn't let up, knowing that she won't stay down long. He's proven right as she practically bounces back up right away, lashing out with a wild right that Hookwolf handily avoids, grabbing her forearm with one hand and flipping her bodily over him.

There is no mercy as he slams her into the floor front first, visibly knocking the air from her lungs. Before she can get her bearings, Hookwolf drops onto her back, straddling her and pulling her arm up and around, pushing it with an amount of force just short of what would break it.

He feels Hannah's body squirm for a few seconds before relaxing under his grip, clearly resigning to her loss, and watches as she turns her head to the side so she can look up at him with one eye, her smile never having left her face.

"Looks like you've bested me~. What now? Shall you have your wicked way with this fair maiden~?"

He pauses at her words, both of them ignoring those around them, before a smirk grows on his face. "You say that, but you don't sound all that put out by your loss."

"Eh, I'd have preferred to win. Then I'd have had my wicked way with you~. But beggars and choosers and all'at."

He gives her a sceptical look that she seems to see through his mask as she pouts once more.

"Don't judge me," she says, "I know what I want."

"And what you want, is me?"

"Well, why not? No need to sound so pessimistic, you're strong, got hella muscles and all but exude masculinity. As a purely straight woman, you hit all my spots~. So whaddaya say? Wanna commemorate our fight my ravishing me to your heart's content~? I surely can't resist, after all, no matter what you do to me~."

He considers it, mulling the idea over in his head for a moment. Then he feels Hannah start rubbing her pert ass against his crotch and makes his decision.

Picking her up like she weighs nothing, Hookwolf swings her over his shoulder, making her squeak lightly, and gives Mikey a simple nod before walking out of the ring.

About an hour later sees Hannah and Brad lying together under the covers of his room, sweaty bodies huddled together. Brad is lying on his back, idly playing with Hannah's hair as she snuggles up to him, her ample bosom pushing against his hairy chest.

Hookwolf is no stranger to taking a woman to bed for a good fuck after a good fight, but he can easily admit that Hannah is the best he's ever been with.

Even just ignoring her technique, she is the perfect masochist to his sadist, as evidenced by the rough bruise starting to settle in around her neck.

They simply lie there for a while, just enjoying the post coital bliss together in a comfortable silence, filled only by their heavy breathing.

Eventually, Brad breaks the silence. "You're a cape, right?"

She lets out a little amused huff, looking up at him with a wry smile. "Parahuman. I'm a parahuman, not a cape. I've no interest in playing the game, thank you very much."

"That so?" He rhetorically asks, raising a brow, his mask obviously discarded earlier, "what do you do then?"

"Hunky men, of course," she immediately answers, before rolling her eyes at the look he gives her. "You've no sense of humour. Well, I'm quite simple, really. I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, incredibly curious, and a little bit horny. So what I do is pretty simple; I look for strong capes, though not too strong, fight them, then maybe fuck them, and then trade some information."

"Trade for information? You a broker then?"

"Nothing quite so official. More like you tell me what's what with you and yours, answer my curiosities, and in exchange, I'll freely share anything I know that might be relevant to you. Simple, right?"

Brad spends a moment simply looking into her eyes, finding them to be full of a childish sort of wonder, the kind that simply wants to explore and just see. It makes him believe her words. She doesn't give him the vibe of of some snaky schemer or plotter or anything.

"What is your power, anyway?" He eventually asks, making her smirk.

"It's actually pretty similar to yours, just downgraded really." As she answers, she raises an arm and Hookwolf watches it transform into a thick wolf's paw, nails turning into claws. The next moment, the hand changes again, turning into a ping pong bat, then a bident, before reforming as a simple hand.

"I can manipulate my body a whole bunch, but I can't change the way anything looks, texture and the like. So while I can turn my head into a wolf's like you do, it looks really freaky 'cuz it's not like I grow hair or anything, I just stretch my face into the shape of a wolf's, it's real freaky so I don't like doing it."

"And I can't convince you to join me?"

"Maybe you can convince me to join your bed, but not your war."

"Fair enough," Brad says, finding that he respects her opinion enough not to push the matter.

"Now that that's out of the way, will you indulge my curiosity?"

"Sure, within reason."

She bobs her head, "I never expect anyone to answer questions like that, I'm more just curious about how gangs and stuff work as a whole. So, have you gotten in any fights over territory recently? And if so, with who and how'd it end?"

Smiling at her genuine curiosity, Brad spends the next half hour indulging her, answering most of the questions she asks. Over the course of the 'interrogation', he comes to realise that Hannah has a decent brain in her head, and he starts to be even more careful with his answers.

Most of what he tells her is just stuff that anyone can find out through public reports, but she seems happy to be able to hear about it all from a first person perspective. He makes sure not to give any revealing information away, and she thankfully doesn't ask probing questions, nor does she push, further convincing him of her innocence.

Eventually however, her questions come to an end, and after another short silence, Brad speaks up again.

"Your turn, tell me what you know."

Hmm, sure!" She chirps, seemingly delighted by the conversation, "lemme think a sec'."

Brad finds the way her face scrunches up in thought rather cute, but he's already spent, so he doesn't do anything about it and just waits for her to speak up.

"Let's see... I hear that Lung wants to make a push into the Trainyard, presumably to get back some dignity from when he got bested by that Hero girl by burning some Red Heart capes. I don't know if it will go that well for him though."

Her first sentence and already the information she's providing is proving to be valuable. He already knows Kaiser is going to want him to chase Hannah down once he tells him everything she's going to share.

Not that he's going to be proactive about that. Until the order is given, he has no reason to do anything to Hannah.

"You don't think Lung will be enough to face those Reds?" Brad asked, understandably sceptical.

After all, whether he was beaten by a kid or not, he's still Lung. And it's not like the kid took him on mano a mano. Brad has fought Lung on a few occasions, he knows not to take The Dragon lightly.

"Nah, though it depends. The Red Hearts aren't really like the typical parahuman gangs these days, they're more like old-school mafia. Which is to say, they don't play games. If Lung goes in without Oni Lee to run interference, then he just won't have the time to build up. If he goes in with Oni Lee, then the Hearts don't stand much of a chance, though that all depends on Ten, 'cuz no one really knows how good he is in a fight."

Even more valuable information to have, though Brad has no idea how she came across it all. Yet, in the end, it's not really all that pertinent information. The Empire has long since been pushed out of the Trainyard, so there's not much they can do with this information.

"Other than that, have you heard about this new-ish drug, TGT?"

Brad tenses momentarily, looking down on her with an intense gaze.

"Guess you have then, huh?" She rhetorically asks. "Well, I've heard that it's fallen to Love Triangle to handle the distribution of it. From what I gather, they get a batch of the drug and then disperse it to some dealers who sell it."

That in itself isn't that valuable intel, but Hannah isn't done yet.

"But from what I hear, Love Triangle has had a falling out and split three ways. Now each of them has taken up residence in separate buildings across the city, basically claiming a street each for themselves. I don't know about the other two, but I hear that Scissors is somewhere around Fletcher's Street, South end of the Commercial District."

"Interesting," Brad says, contemplative.

"Yeah, but that's about all I know that I think you'll care about."

Brad grunts an acknowledgement, but his mind is busy thinking.

Eventually however, he gives up on that. Thinking isn't his job, that's what Kaiser does. He'll just tell Kaiser what she's told him, and let his Boss handle all the planning, like always.

As for right now, he feels like he's recharged enough, and there is a beautiful blonde laying naked against him.

There's really only one thing any respectable man in his position can do.

All in all. A good day.

---

A/N: He~llo! Dear readers!

Wrote this chap without wifi, if there are annoying errors, lmk.

Also, didn't write smut because fuck you, only one smut counter has been bought, and it's being saved for a later chapter with two specific characters. Also, fuck you in general, every day I feel like I'm closer to writing smut without being bribed.

Frankly, it's probably only my lack of wifi that stopped me from writing the sex scene out in this chapter, so join me in cursing my ISP (Internet service provider) Maybe if we get enough people cursing them (POPtelecom; curse them) then something will happen.

Also, how long do you think it will be before I get banned for writing the n-word, even tho I've only done it once?

(4)Advanced chapters on pat.reon, link in description and profile. Also, join the discord with this invite code! Pj3Dttwses