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Bio Forge Master (Rewrite) by Throwaway1971

Books » Private Rated: M, English, Romance, Words: 137k+, Favs: 57, Follows: 75, Published: Dec 12, 2023 Updated: Mar 15, 2024

29Chapter 25: Interlude: Bad News

Bio Forge Master

Interlude: Bad News, part 1

Brad Meadows/Hookwolf

Brad was often thought as a dumb brute by the average knob in the street and generally thought of as a slouch by the rest of the 88 for not using shirts or shoes, his powers were to transform his whole body into a chainsaw, truth is he didn't like having to buy clothes every single time he transformed, he had a lot of cash from the stuff they sold and the fight, but it's still annoying having to walk about nude to have to buy clothes

His taste in music (Beetles if you have to know) often got him called a hippy, much to his irritation like he was that one fuck who worked for Escobar. They were willing to accept the Appalachian fuckers that fucked their cousins, endbringer cult adjacents, and the literal remnants of the communist Stasi but God forbid you to listen to any other genre of music that isn't metal or classic!

God, he hated his gang sometimes.

Honestly, he sometimes wondered if any of the fuckers in the 'inner circle' (and yes, he's including Cricket in this) had two brain cells to rub together! He's been working with them for fifteen goddamn years, and no one has ever commented or even realized his name came from the Wolfsangel and not him just called himself a fucking pokémon from Aleph that the Kaiser's brat enjoys watching!

Is it too much to expect that after fifteen years, at least someone would use it to break the ice? But no, it's never really brought up, even the guy from Actual Germany never got it! Because, surprise fucking surprise, the STASI (The secret police working for the Russian interest) isn't exactly well versed in obscure germanic culture which was fucking popular with the Nazi party!

Go fucking figure, amirite?

He looked it up the magic critter once and he had no problem saying that they would've been more fun to fight than the dogs, no skill in that. No, he didn't even like doing the dog fights (hell he had two mean bastards as guard dogs at his trailer and he loved them to death) but the lazy fuckers liked to watch rather than do, and it was one of his biggest cash sources much to his irritation!

Fucking hell he wanted some fucking proper Fight Clubs goddamnit! He wanted to see two fuckers bloody and brutalize each other! Give him some goddamn bloodsport, at least that way he'd never have to worry about Bitch again!

Jesus Fucking Christ, at least she gave him a good fight to make up for these bullshit dog fights. And honestly if it wouldn't ruin his rep, he'd give the goddamn menace all the fucking dogs!

Grumbling to himself he just drummed his fingers along his arm, and nearly sighed as Kreig finally graced them with his presence. Stopping his grumbling he started to pay attention as Kaiser decided to finally call the meeting to order.

The whole inner circle was present, with the exception of Purity, Night, and Fog. Brad actually gave a cheer to Purity for finally ditching Kaiser in the privacy of his own home. The fact that the two brainwashed minions followed her impressed him more than anything, he thought they'd stay and fight and die for the Empire.

Shelving his thoughts for another time Brad focused on Kaiser, drumming his fingers on the table while resting his metal encased head on his right fist. You'd think a guy encased in metal would be harder to read but he really isn't. His tells are obvious if you knew what to look for.

He fidgets a lot (like he is now) when he's nervous.

Seeing him straighten up on his stupid Game of Thrones chair (which he made for himself in every room they have meetings in, the fuckin' Drama Queen) he cleared his throat quieting the room.

"So, has the PRT confirmed that Oni Lee and Lung are dead?" Kaiser asked getting a scoff from Brad, but he didn't do much otherwise.

Seriously, it's all-over goddamn PHO and the Internet. Why waste oxygen asking such an obvious fucking question in the first place!?

"What's the point?" Brad said with a scoff, "We all saw the damn videos, the literal Dragon Meatball on the video and the fucking blue glowing mushroom cloud is visible from here." He added.

"What we need is the obituary, if it's announced by the press, we can confirm it independent of what the government says." Krieg retorted giving Brad the side eye, or so he guesses with that fucking gasmask in the way.

"Again, what is the fucking point? Either they'll go full Blackout mode. Or they'll pull the police force and judges into, and WE will know if that happens. Either way we'll spot any enemy movement, so why worry about the press release?" Brad asked, trying to understand their motives.

Honestly, all he wanted was to go home and have himself a few beers and enjoy some music.

"And wait an entire day till the newspaper releases? No, the PRT will have to answer to a cape committing the execution of an entire gang's parahumans, and to initiate the rounding up of their foot soldiers, they cannot let the gang all disperse, they either need to address the public or focus on their operations on immediately capitalizing on the opportunity!" Kaiser replies in his 'Kaiser voice'.

"Because Hookwolf, the PRT just lost nearly half of its fronts." Krieg said slowly, making Brad wordlessly snarl at him, "That means we're the biggest target gang in the Bay! Which means they'll be able to free up more manpower and focus even more on us! Without the Merchants we would already be in a state of war, even then the cleanup will only last so long, and it's not like we can call Lung's death as glory to the white race."

Brad scoffed, "There's nothing we could've done about it, this Esper came out of nowhere. We'll do what we've always done; adapt. We just traded a city destroying brute for a city destroying shaker, the situation still remains."

"Incorrect, the documents we've managed to purchase suggest that the subhuman has publicly stated he wishes to travel the country." Krieg replied simply.

It took Brad a minute to chew on that information, "Oh." and really what more could he say to that?

"Exactly, we will be in a complete power vacuum, one that forces us to expand our territory into an Asian area, which will take massive resources to cleanse, and I have no doubt there are outsiders already circling and smelling opportunity…" Kaiser said, power vacuums were dangerous things in the game, especially in Brockton Bay.

A power vacuum had the effect of being able to make entire gangs move, it had taken the Teeth from Brockton, and it could well make them come back.

And no one wanted to deal with the Teeth or their maniac of a leader! It is an abomination that not even the Nine choose to fuck with.

"Okay, so things are worse than expected. But we dealt with this when Marqu-"

"Uppercrust is in town." Kaiser stated cutting Brad off, and even he could see that was significantly worst, the Elite had enough money that they'd be nearly impossible to remove, not due to direct force but because the PRT knew going after them was long and costly, and they owned all their building, paid their taxes, and crossed their Ts while dotting there Is.

You tried to fuck with the Elite, they'd kill you and the courts would side with then one hundred percent of the time because they had money and lawyers, and it wasn't like their own members had a good time in the justice system either way with swastika tats.

Hell, there was this one story where Uppercrust straight-up gentrified a villain out of an area out of sheer spite. And for that alone Brad respected the hell out of the guy.

"Fucking how though!?" Brad exclaimed, "How the actual fuck did he get here so fast, the fucking Rage Dragon only bit it what… two fucking hours ago!?" Uppercrust couldn't have gotten here that fast even if Strider was doing the transport!

"As it happens, he has been in town today to make an appointment with Dr. Patches, his clinic opens tomorrow, that he is in town during the largest power vacuum in over a decade is entirely the worst luck we could possibly have." Krieg stated matter-of-factly.

"No, the presence of Uppercrust might be a problem, but I still believe that the situation could change back, several of the suspected ABB businesses were buying, and there is a chance the ABB acquired a new Tinker." Kaiser said with what he almost confused for a hopeful tone, "We also noted that the Blitz has been hacked, so that might have been them."

"Honestly I must give you credit Hookwolf, I never expected anyone to fall for such obvious bait." Krieg said Brad always personally thought the idea was incredibly stupid, a triple bluff, making obvious fronts as bait for enemies and to take the heat of their legitimate important businesses.

Brad found the entire idea frankly stupid, like what the fuck kinda moron buys computers from a place called Blitzkrieg computers or glass panes from Krystal Knight? The fact that it actually worked legitimately infuriated him, not that he showed it and just accepted the compliment from the gasmask-wearing fucker.

"We can still salvage the situation, we only need to pay attention to Uppercrust, NOT ATTACK HIM, and make the city be as unfriendly and economically unviable to him as possible!" Kaiser commanded.

One of the soldiers came into the room "sirs I'm incredibly sorry to interrupt but we have urgent news"

"Oh fuck now what?" Brad thought, and he was fairly sure everyone else was thinking something similar.

Tattletale

Standing in front of a mirror nude while waiting for her bathtub to fill with water, a bowl of pomegranates ready to be snacked on, Lisa couldn't help but think that Patches did quality work and that it was a favor well used!

There was something truly strange about eating pomegranates in a bubble bath, individually these actions were considered unimportant, however, when brought together they were truly the definition of decadent.

And goddamnit Lisa felt like she deserved some decadence!

Looking at her leg, she couldn't even see any signs where Patches had to remove the melted leg of her costume and then surgically remove all the burnt flesh until only bloody red muscle was exposed. She would've been in agony if not for whatever wonderful, wonderful drugs he injected her with, in fact she watched curiously as he worked on her leg.

Whatever fuckery Patches had going on didn't extend to his actions, so her power gladly fed her details of what he was doing. Granted it was all fucking Greek to her, but she appreciated it regardless. It kept her from freaking out.

Shaking her head, she went over to turn the water off and after repositioning her bowl of pomegranates then she slid into the bubble filled tub, fully intent on relaxing and thinking over the shit show that happened.

Honestly, the absolute best thing to come out of everything was that they survived, and Coil actually gave them a sizable bonus on top of their regular fee. But the absolute mindfuck of this entire shitshow?

Lung, the Dragon of Kyushu. Famous for fighting Leviathan to a standstill, squaring up against the entire ENE Protectorate and winning, and unifying all the Asian gangs into the ABB… was dead. Along with his personal assassin Oni Lee.

The gang had existed for nine years, following the capture of Marquis, there was a brief and violent chapter in BB's criminal history that ended with Lung consolidation of the smaller Asian gangs. The city had been surprisingly stable ever since, either killing or absorbing new capes, with very little in terms of map changes, and incredibly stable cape politics.

Lung was so influential that he managed to do the impossible and made the northern part of a city the poor and criminal zone rather than the south, a complete inversion of the natural human order and a statistical abomination in the eyes of many, including her.

But Lung being dead was an objectively good thing for the city, it made people richer, it removed pressure for the PRT, it made so many millions of dollars actually entered the economy as protection rackets ceased.

It was also good for the Undersiders if they could get the territory, as the E88 would likely have to get a lot of resources poured into it, and it was so obvious even the PRT would be able to snipe them when they entered the area.

Like a turtle poking a head out.

Not to mention it was also good for real estate, the death of a major villain always boosted the prices of property in an area around them, she wouldn't be surprised if all properties in Brockton Bay had already gone up an average of a hundred dollars in the two hours since he has died.

It was also a relief that the giant cloud of Cherenkov radiation (not really) wasn't actually radioactive, and had already mostly dissipated, apparently it was some weird effect with slowed time that made the blue color of oxygen be more visible, apparently oxygen was a faint cyan blue, and the time effect somehow messed with that. Who knew?

And now lying in her tub relaxing and eating fruit… she wondered just what will come of this in the future. It wasn't everyday a gang lost all its capes at the same time.

"Well, at least Bitch likes Patches now." She thought with a faint giggle, remembering how he told her to either bring her dogs gradually to him or to take him to her shelter so he could help them.

Honestly, she wondered if Patches did that just because he's a nice guy or because he knew that would firmly place him as an ally in the dog-like teens mind?

Alec as always had flirted with the doctor, she gagged when her power told her he was becoming more and more genuine about it in the end, Alec always had some weird sexuality, so it's entirely possible that he does want to (HURL) sleep with Patches.

No thanks for her, she might be suffering the dry spell from the depths of Hell, but she didn't think surgical scars and stitchwork was sexy. Plus, the thought of just what he did to himself made her skin crawl!

Brian was miffed about losing his leather jacket but became fine with it when the doctor promised him another one that was better quality, apparently, he was used to bailing out his brother. Besides, Patches said the jacket would be more protective that what he was wearing, so Brian was sold there.

She barely remembers it, his drugs were fantastic, they even helped her headache until he flicked her nose and told her to stop using her power or she would have an aneurysm, she closed her eyes for a bit. Honestly, she thought he was being paranoid, she felt fine, but he was the doc after all.

Leagues better than that sawbones Coil would've sent them to.

And she could clearly see the thing about being "brother from another mother" thing was utter bullshit, but she was too high off her ass to call them out (or care really), especially since they apparently were extremely close, but also only recently acquainted somehow.

It was at that moment her cell rang. With a groan she reached over and grabbed it before flipping it open and pressing it to her ear while shoving her irritation to the depths of her mind.

"What's up? " She asked, already knowing who had the balls to call her when she made it perfectly clear to the rest of the gang she was going to relax and if any of them called her she would take extreme pleasure psychologically and emotionally tormenting them.

"Tattletale." She really wanted to curse when she heard Coil's voice.

[Extremely Concerned, Majority of Short and Long Term Plans Disrupted, Needs Consultation Desperately]

"I assume you already know, so, analysis." He demanded.

What the fuck had happened in the ten minutes she decided to take a bath?

Bakuda

She heard it but she didn't believe it, why should she believe the babble of powerless simpleminded minions anyway? They didn't have the intelligence to contribute anything worthwhile and should simply obey their superiors (namely her) so when she heard the peons whispering about Oni Lee and Lung being dead, she punished them for their ignorance!

Honestly, this presented as much of a boon as it was a problem as she lacked practical experience in the area, she tried to find scientific studies on crime, but they were all aimed at preventing them, not creating more crime. She thought she could reverse the inputs, but there was no guarantee that would bring her results.

At least she had primary sources all around her, shame many tried to oust her when Lung died (which she still believed to be bullshit at that time), but their corpses did contain several elements useful for making a bomb.

Low housing prices, lack of social mobility, high unemployment, were apparently those were important factors to get more crime, no idea if it got her more money or power though.

But when she saw it starting to make its rounds on PHO, she started to believe there may be more truth to the rumor than she initially believed. Not that she would apologize for disciplining the minion, they weren't to be seen! They were only to listen and obey their intellectual superior!

But when that video finally popped up… well that settled it.

The Dragon of Kyushu and his pet killer were dead… that meant she was in charge!

Yes! No longer would the Dragon stifle her creative process or curb her more ingenious ideas! Already plans to implant micro-bombs into the heads of every ABB member started forming in her mind, what better way to enforce loyalty than a constant death threat? Sure, she might have to blow a couple dozen minions up to get the message across, but the idiots practically grew on trees so she could get more!

In fact, maybe she could abduct people and do it as well! If she got enough, she could take over the entire city! The PRT pussies and the Protectorate dogs would never fight civilians, especially when she could remotely detonate them on a whim!

In fact, she already had an idea to implement a deadman's switch, tied to her heartbeat to detonate all the bombs as a final fuck you to the entire city and world that dared deny her genius!

As she laughed, she saw the minions shake and she relished in their fear!

Yes, soon this whole city would be hers! And there was no Lung to force her back in line!

"You! Get me more materials!" Bakuda shouted at one of the minions, "We're going to show this fucking city we're not toothless!" If the minions could've seen the grin that spread across her face, she didn't doubt for a moment they would abandon the gang wholesale.

Not that she'd let them, and if they tired, they'd just be the first examples!

This gang had a new leader! And she was going to remind this city why they should fear the ABB!

"Um... boss? we kinda have a problem at the docks…" One of the minions said in a timid voice.

Bakuda sighed, "Fine. What's the problem, then?" She asked.

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