The microphone landed softly in Pistolwhip’s hand, and was shortly raised to his mask. “Reminder. The fight goes until submission, not death.” Then he carelessly threw the microphone over his own shoulder, only it arced perfectly through the small gap between the cage and the ceiling before falling towards the announcer’s waiting hand. Though he almost fumbled the catch.

Big Man had meanwhile charged at the fighter in front of him, body low as though going for a tackle, yet still taller than his opponent. Land Squid responded by showing his power, causing two long whiplike tendrils of red energy to fall from his arms to the floor. One was swiftly whipped out and wrapped around Big Man’s arm, and was then tugged down to bring Big Man off balance.

It only made him stumble, but Land Squid used the opening to dodge the tackle and deliver a sharp elbow to Big Man’s exposed side as he passed. The larger fighter hit the side of the cage, making it bend, while the smaller disentangled himself by making half of the tendril attaching himself to the other fighter disappear.

Lucy saw more than heard the snarl Big Man gave as he spun and leaped at his opponent. It was a huge leap, and Land Squid avoided it by rolling forwards. There were brief flashes of red between the fighter and the ground as he rolled. He ended the maneuver crouched, sending out another long tendril to whip Big Man’s head.

All it achieved was making the head twitch, and left no visible wound. It was about then the microphone finally landed in the announcer’s hand and commentary for the fight resumed with enthusiastic earnest.

“A strong opener from the Big Man! But Land Squid’s maneuverability yields him the first strike!” The commentator shouted over the sudden roar of the crowd. “Big Man will have to focus if he wants to land a strike on this opponent, Land Squid is renowned for being difficult to pin down, and being even harder to get close to.”

As for Lucy, the sudden aggression had taken her off guard, as well as the sudden noise. She was still stunned, halfheartedly covering her face, and only barely keeping up with what was happening.

Land Squid used both his tendrils to wrap around Big Man’s body as the larger fighter attempted another ill fated charge. With a great tug, Land Squid pulled his massive opponent off his feet before dissolving both tendrils.

More red energy formed around his arm, this time covering it rather than falling as a tendril, covering Land Squid’s fist just in time to deliver a powerful uppercut. Big Man flipped and hit the ground with the back of his head first. It was a matted floor, but it still made a great thud, and the whole crowd still collectively winced. The still standing fighter quickly made some distance between them as he whipped out his arm, reforming his tendril.

“Unless he’s showing off!” The commentator shouted. There was a pause as he glanced at Pistolwhip, but he continued after receiving a slight shake of the head. “As a reminder, Land Squid and Big Man are both enhanced. Their bodies can take more punishment than the average joe. Land Squid will have to deliver a few more blows like that before if he wants to win this one.”

True to that word, Big Man had rolled over and was slowly returning to his feet. He had one hand adjusting his jaw, likely feeling for any damage, but Lucy couldn’t see any. Big Man’s scandalously ripped and topless body was as flawless as it had been the moment he had outgrown his clothes.

The fighter spat to the side and glared at his opponent, Land Squid, who was idly twirling his whiplike tendrils. They were short enough at the moment that they didn’t graze the ground on the lower part of the swing, but everyone knew how quickly that could change.

Big Man roared and charged, apparently not having learned his lesson. A tendril wrapped around his leg and pulled him off balance again. This time he landed on his ass.

“Um.” Lucy whispered to Gracia. “Um.” She repeated louder when it was clear she hadn’t been heard.

“Yes, darling?”

“Enhanced?”

Lucy could feel an incredulous glance from the girl next to her, but focused instead on the fight in front of her. Thankfully the lights on the audience had dimmed when the fights began. It made it harder to make out any blushes.

“Do you not know how people get powers?” Gracia asked, keeping her dubiousness out of her voice.

“No, I know that.” Lucy said quickly. “I know the colours as well. But that was the first time I heard of enhanced being able to take more punishment as a rule.”

“Oh, that’s fair.” Gracia paused as Big Man finally managed to land a blow on Land Squid. It was a glancing punch or palm thrust that hit the shoulder, and it sent the smaller fighter tumbling to the ground. There he crossed his arms in front of him, red energy splaying out just in time to block the better aimed blows now raining down on him. “It’s just one of the differences between power vials and natural manifestations. Both give you powers. The former also makes your body stronger.”

Gracia let out a wince as Big Man stamped down on Land Squid’s unprotected leg. The fighter retaliated by wrapping a tendril around Big Man’s neck and escaping by sliding through the larger man’s legs. The tendril around the neck never dissipated, and when Land Squid returned to his feet and pulled, Big Man’s head was pulled halfway towards his groin.

The crowd roared at the reversal.

“I hear it also makes them sleep less.” She continued when the sound had died down enough. “But I haven’t really had the chance to ask.”

“Another devastating blow!” The commentator shouted as Land Squid delivered a two legged flying kick encased in red energy to Big Man’s unprotected back. The huge man staggered forward three steps before turning around slowly. It seemed that the devastating blow hadn’t actually been all that impactful.

Big Man spat to the side and the fight continued.

“Huh.”

Lucy hadn’t made much noise, but Gracia noticed anyway. “Did you notice something, darling?”

“I’d need to see it again.” Lucy said honestly. “If I’m right… what did you mean that you haven’t had the chance? You call Pistolwhip P.”

“Now I’m curious as to this trick.” Gracia leaned forward to match Lucy’s position. “There’s no way Big Man is just a body enhancer. He’s not indestructible like Hope was, and nowhere near as strong too. The cage would’ve broken otherwise.”

“Um.” Lucy wasn’t sure how to bring the other girl back around to answering her question.

“Oh, P’s not enhanced, doll.” Gracia said dismissively. “And I don’t really talk to the other Bad Dogs. They don’t have much time to mingle with the rabble, and they don’t like ‘mixing packs.’” She lowered her signed air quotes and shook her head.

Lucy glanced at Pistolwhip for the first time in a while. In that same moment the villain made a fist with three fingers over his thumb and his pinky under it. The fist was kept level with the unloaded gun on his breast before the moment passed and Pistolwhip was mindlessly ducking to avoid a lashing tendril.

The gesture struck Lucy as done purposefully. She remade the fist using her own hand, fist with three fingers over, and pinky under. Then it hit her. It was sign language. Specifically for the letter M.

Manifested. Pistolwhip was telling her that his power had occurred naturally, that he didn’t have the hardened body that the two fighters did.

He’s been listening this whole time? Intellectually, Lucy had known that. She’d also ignored that in favour of enjoying this strange circumstance she had found herself in, but having the villain chime into the conversation from across the room was still disturbing. Lucy shook herself and refocused on the fight.

If Lucy hadn’t seen Land Squid’s leg be stomped on, she wouldn’t have believed it happened at all. The fight hadn’t slowed down at all for at least three minutes and the fighter was still as agile as he was at the start.

This time she didn’t see how the man with energy tendrils would escape. Big Man had cornered him into one of the corners of the cage and had finally figured out that charging mindlessly would just lead to more bullfighter antics from his opponent. Now he was approaching slower, but still faster than any normal person would approach cautiously.

At the last minute two tendrils snapped out one after the other, one going for Big Man’s face and then one at his stomach. The first did nothing. The second pushed Big Man back half a step. A third tendril shot past Big Man’s shoulder and was caught, only for the energy to dissipate as Land Squid flicked a tendril up. It latched onto the cage and he pulled himself up beyond reach, escaping Big Man right as the larger man drew close enough to attempt a grapple.

“This move is from the comics!” The commentator announced. “Be glad you’re here folks, this section of the fight would get taken down online.”

Land Squid pointed with his free hand at the commentator with a grin, “Won’t stop the deep web!” Then he leaped to the other side of the cage, swinging on yet another tendril. His other tendril slapped Big Man’s head along the way.

The huge man didn’t seem any less angry than he had upon entering the cage. He roared something unintelligible and moved after Land Squid. The agile fighter didn’t make it easy for him, leaping away with supernatural athleticism again and again before wrapping an arm in red energy and punching Big Man when he least expected it.

Eventually Big Man moved to the centre of the cage and fell into something resembling a fighting stance. He spat to the side first, and Lucy became certain of what Big Man’s trick was.

“That won’t work.” Lucy muttered to herself as Land Squid wrapped one leg in energy to deliver a kick to Big Man’s head.

The force made Big Man twitch, but it did no lasting damage. He took advantage of the short space between them to grapple at Land Squid, but the arm he grabbed at became encased in red energy, and the agile fighter was able to yank himself free as the coating dissolved.

“Thought so.”

“Hey darling, P’s pointing at you.” Gracia said. Lucy did not look to check. “It just turned into a thumbs up. Did you figure it out?”

“Big Man’s not so big, I think.” Lucy felt a flutter of uncertainty. “His spit keeps coming out of his throat.”

“Oh?”

“I don’t think his head is in his head.” Lucy continued. “It’s why he doesn’t react when his head gets hit, but the body blows always make him flinch.”

As if to prove her point, Land Squid slid underneath Big Man again and tackled him from behind. Big Man stumbled forward as though the half hearted tackle had done more than the power enhanced aerial kick to the head had.

“So it does.” Gracia admitted, sounding happy. “Good to see my twenty dollars was bet on the right side. Land Squid seems to be figuring it out now.”

The agile fighter was now anchored on the cage wall and appeared to be taking a breather. Big Man was yelling at him to come down and fight, but the part of his face that Lucy could see was expressing the face of a man that just had an idea. From his spot on the cage, Land Squid lashed out with tendril after tendril. He retracted the ones he could, but dissolved the ones that got caught.

Big Man was lashed all over his body twice over, in a mostly random order. Land Squid’s mouth transformed into a tired smirk. He’d figured it out.

Lucy had to wonder if he’d have figured it out sooner if this wasn’t a cage match. Land Squid had definitely been performing for the crowd, which might have taken away from the focus directed to his actual opponent. In the end, Lucy guessed it didn’t really matter.

“Come down here and fight me!” Big Man bellowed for the fifth time.

“I’d much prefer it if you came up here.” Land Squid told him, gathering red energy around a hand held behind his back. “Much more my level where I am.”

Big Man bit down on his frustration somehow and didn’t rise to the bait. Fortunately for him, Land Squid realised he wasn’t coming and eventually dropped down, landing lightly, and approached Big Man while still holding a glowing red hand behind his back. He struck a stance straight out of a kung fu movie, and beckoned Big Man to approach.

The taunt worked. Big Man stomped closer and struck with a mighty blow. A tendril of red slapped the punch off course as Land Squid stepped underneath the strike, and then he struck with his own mighty blow delivered straight to Big Man’s rib cage.

A hush fell over the audience when it became clear that Big Man had stopped moving. Three seconds passed before Land Squid stepped back, and another two passed before Big Man fell to one knee. A long, drawn out moment passed before Lucy realised blood was seeping from his unmarked stomach, then Big Man fell to the ground and stayed there.

The opposing fighter turned to the crowd and raised his arms as his audience roared his victory. Lucy joined in, screaming her heart out.

But the breath in her throat caught when she saw Big Man standing up again, now even bigger than before, towering over Land Squid like a giant. Hate was etched into his every feature, but before he could do anything, and before Land Squid could react to the shouting and pointing crowd, Pistolwhip struck Big Man. Lucy didn’t see where he struck, or even how hard, but Big Man fell to the ground properly this time.

The foot landing on the small of his back made sure Big Man stayed there.

“Big Man forfeits.” Pistolwhip announced clearly in the shocked lull that followed. He spun the pistol in his hand back into a proper grip and smoothly returned it to the holster on his chest as the crowd exploded once more. This time Lucy didn’t join in.

~~~

“That was fun.” Trevor decided, stretching his arms within the security of Pistolwhip’s office. There was an ice pack bound to his leg by means of a bandage, but the wound wasn’t actually all that damaging. “Last minute murder attempt not withstanding, that is. What was that guy’s deal, anyway?”

The now unmasked fighter was speaking to an empty room, but he spoke with certainty that his every word was listened to, and he was right. The closest pair of ears were two gangly men fancying themselves as paid security guarding a locked door, but they were not the ones listening, too busy as they were reminiscing about the fight. It was Pistolwhip, who still stood within the cage at the centre of the underground compound that listened.

He paid attention to the winner of the night. At the same time he also paid attention to the discarded drinks all over the seating. It was sad how few of those bottles of beer were fully drained. Worse, all of them were opened and contaminated with the saliva of other people. Pistolwhip couldn’t well scavenge them all together and enjoy a cold one like that. They weren’t even cold.

The supervillain also paid attention to the stragglers still leaving. Some were speaking on the phone to others that hadn’t made it to the fight, either because of disinterest or simple unavailability, and were agreeing to meet and continue the night elsewhere. Events like these fights were often only the beginning of good nights in town, after all. Most however were simply texting or browsing various news feeds, their night of excitement concluded.

Every word was registered at some level, but Pistolwhip paid particular attention to two girls that each had garnered his attention. The girl who wasn’t named Issey had been an enjoyable distraction for the night. Something to make the routine more bearable. Gracia meanwhile was taking immense joy in saying affectionate things and reveling in the other girl’s flustered reactions. He paid attention as one fumbled over saying goodbyes before the other said that they should take the bus back together.

It was more than common sense or politeness, going by the moment of elation that drew out.

Gracia had been dismissed in the aftermath of the fight. The team that she would be a part of still required more members. Pistolwhip would call for her when she was required. Not before. Even so, he tracked the girl’s movements until she left the range of his awareness. Gracia appeared to be enjoying her current companionship, but she was skilled in honest deception. She could act to the extent that it fooled even his power, and this level of attention was rare.

“You know how I normally split the money, right?” Trevor said from within Pistolwhip’s office. “Twenty percent goes back home. Twenty goes into my bank. Ten to retirement. The rest is in cash.”

Pistolwhip let out a low sound as he finally moved from the cage. It was still the best vantage point for him, but enough of the audience had left he felt safe leaving the rest to the paid workers. His personally preferred loving term for the gangsters Tyr had bestowed on him.

There were a few bugs that had been planted by important seeming doors. He’d get them on a later sweep. It was best if the heroes didn’t understand the extent of his power. The one that ended up near his office wasn’t even placed somewhere that gave good audio of the intended target.

Pistolwhip sighed as he passed the tiny device. This would be a lot more fun if there was an actual surveillance adept on the side of the heroes. Besides, he was wondering how bold the one that planted them would get. Pistolwhip already had blackmail arranged for if he overstepped his bounds and stumbled into something actually sensitive.

“But seriously, what the fuck was up with Big Man?” Trevor asked as Pistolwhip dismissed the lovingly termed security guards in front of his office.

He waited a second before entering. Trevor would be impacted more that way. “Big Man wasn’t so big.” Pistolwhip said, startling Trevor with the words he’d heard earlier that night. “He was holding back as well. That fight could’ve been longer and bloodier.”

“That would’ve been good.” Trevor agreed, pointing a finger when he recovered. “But I was talking about his whole attitude. Us supers come here to show off, not kill.”

“Most.” Pistolwhip corrected as he sat down.

“Point still stands. You get paid once for killing an opponent, and not at warm up nights like this. What happens then is every other fighter teams up and kills you, because you’re a danger and you need to be handled.”

Pistolwhip looked across his desk at the fighter.

“No, I haven’t joined any lynching parties myself.”

“Good. What we do with misbehaving fighters doesn’t sit well with me to start with.”

Trevor’s head went back as his eyebrows went up. “Now that I think about it, where’d he go? I helped him off the stage, but he just kind of vanished after you put my hand up.”

Pistolwhip considered the charged cage containing Big Man’s real body under the fighting arena. There were several cages, all side by side. Enough for every shape and size. Big Man’s small body wouldn’t have much room to move if he woke up before the disciplinary force arrived. Considering only a few were even informed of that room’s existence, Pistolwhip elected not to share that information.

It left a prolonged silence in the office.

“Got it.” Trevor sighed. “I’m not a Dog, so I don’t get let into the kennels. Hey, tell me honestly, is it because my power is red?”

Pistolwhip pressed a stack of paper money onto the desk in front of the winner. “Congratulations. I heard what you said.”

“Welcome.” Trevor quickly tucked the money into an envelope that went into his bag, letting out a sigh that was just as swift. The plates of the costume didn’t leave much space in the man’s bag, but Pistolwhip supposed that those who only saw with their eyes would have a hard time figuring out what was nearly causing the thing to burst. “Until next time.”

“Wait.” Pistolwhip said when Trevor put his hand on the door. The fighter looked back questioningly, but received no explanation. Seconds ticked by, and the straggler wandering past Pistolwhip’s office turned a corner. “Now you may go.”

“For real this time,” Trevor said, “see you.” The door clicked shut behind him.

Pistolwhip’s phone buzzed, making the screen light up for three seconds. The villain knew what the notification was without moving, it was Tyr informing him that he was on his way. It seemed Big Man was getting preferential treatment. Instead, Pistolwhip pulled a different phone out of his bulletproof vest. The compartment did compromise the protection, but with his power the supervillain was fairly sure he wouldn’t need it.

He’d already made it this far, hadn’t he?

The hidden phone was perpetually on silent, but the energy spikes within had shifted during the time Pistolwhip had been refereeing. After inputting a twelve digit password the phone unlocked to reveal a single notification. A message. There were large files listed at the bottom.

Power shipment incoming Thursday. Possible strike locations attached.