Mission_1: Police Badge
An almost pitch-black establishment lit only by neon lights of varied colors ranging from angry pink to blinding purple and filled with half-naked women and drunken men, most of which are sprawled comatose on the floor, greeted Lack-Two as he stepped in, the pungent odor of alcohol and vomit filling his nose. The boy had to stop for a moment, and reflect.
It was at times like these that made him reconsider the decisions he makes in life.
The tall, burly man walking silently behind him suddenly grabbed the boy's shoulder with his beefy hand, and though the boy may have gone through worse over the years, he can't help but admit to himself that the jolt that had passed through his system was real, and it was that of fear. The bouncer, though friendly-looking, can simply snap his neck in two easy movements, and he didn't come there for that reason.
Although that option is still available depending on how the tables will turn. Literally.
"Find anyone you like?" the tall, burly man asks, his eyes journeying around as well. Lack-Two had to swallow back the shudder running its way up to his throat, just so he could speak.
"Her," he said, subtly pointing with his thumb to a fairly tall brunette—almost as tall as he was—who was a bit busy fixing her top.
The tall, burly man smiles knowingly, eyebrow upturned.
"Good choice," he comments, letting him go brusquely, leaving his side to make his way to where the said girl was standing.
Lack-Two rubbed his shoulder begrudgingly.
Frankly, what the girl looked like—or what she can do, for that matter—mattered very little to him. He just needed a girl—any girl—but since he was given the power to choose, then might as well choose the one that's less… offensive.
The boy clears his throat as he tried to avert his gaze at one older woman who had to stop dancing for a moment to give him a wink.
He wanted to get the fuck away from there soon.
The man with the beefy hands shoves his way back to him, and gestures for him to follow. Lack-Two gulps hard, and with the right amount of courage, his legs started moving robotically after the man, letting him lead the both of them through the sea of intoxicated men and women.
Lack-Two makes it a point not to have any form of contact—most especially eye contact—as he treads the dangerous path that is this strip club at one of its peak hours.
"Here we are," the man announces as they reach a well-lit door that screams "Room 8" in neon colors. "The complementary Private Dance room you ordered."
Lack-Two gives his eyes another thirty or forty seconds to get used to the blare of the light, but otherwise, he nods. He watches as the man opens the door for him, taking in the last of his remaining words.
"…and if you're going to have sex on the table, please have the manners to at least put the glasses aside first. We're running short on wine glasses, and we won't get any more supplies until two weeks later." He gives him an apologetic smile.
"We ship them from Kalos, you see."
Lack-Two's eyes journeys through the room's rather lavish design. It was still almost pitch-black and relied on neon lights for illumination, but the shade of pink they used was forgivable. It reminded him of that Goth Barbie birthday theme one of his nieces had some years ago—fuzzy, pink, and empty, just like how he remembered it.
"We hope you enjoy your stay, Sir. The dancer will be here in a beat."
And with a tip of his cap, he closes the door behind him, leaving Lack-Two by himself.
Yep, this was definitely like a re-enactment of his niece's birthday party.
He sighs. Might as well make something of it.
The boy peels off his jacket and drapes in over one of the upholstered chairs' backrest and sat there. He gives the place yet another examination before leaning forward, reaching for the bottle of champagne and the wine glass sitting next to it, bringing it back with him as he rests his back again, pouring himself a glass.
Perrier-Jouët. Not bad.
Lack-Two lifts the glass to his nose and inhales deeply, a satisfied look in his face. The aroma of liquor brings him back, and the memory of his own home away from work somewhat relaxes him. Takes his mind away, for once.
He was about to take a sip when a knock from the door comes forth, and he looks behind him, a disappointed look in his face.
Looks like he has to forego the expensive liquor for now.
He clears his throat and calls out.
"Come in."
The door opens silently and in came the same girl from before, only this time cloaked in white, the fabric simply dangling over some parts of her body, making her almost visually naked. Lack-Two could already feel the flip in his stomach as she looks at him straight in the eye.
He inhales deeply again as he turns to look away, resting himself against the chair, the glass of liquor sitting stiffly between his fingers. He opted to listen to her gentle footsteps as she walks towards him and was generally shocked when he felt her hand land gently on the chair's backrest, where his jacket was idly resting.
From the corner of his eye, he watched her move—softly sliding her hand down to his shoulder as she stepped forward. She lets it rest there for a moment as she raises her other hand, and started lifting some of the fabric away.
Lack-two remains calm as he focused not on the warmth of her hand against his thin shirt, but on the smooth surface of the wine glass' bottom that rested on his frozen fingers.
The signal should be there any minute now. He just hoped that the girl would still have enough clothing on her before that. This isn't the kind of entertainment he'd want on evenings like tonight.
He stiffly lifts the wine glass to his lips, trying to give off a look of nonchalance despite the slight tremors already crawling along his rested legs. She seems to take it as a challenge, and lets the slow, fluid movements suddenly transform into sharp and snappy ones. In a blink of an eye, she has already climbed on his lap, one knee resting on him while the other leg remains dangled, a few inches away from between his.
Lack-Two remains unperturbed, returning the intense gaze she was giving him with an uninterested one. He slowly puts the glass away, giving her room to near her body to his.
And near her body she does, teasing him with her heat. He just watches her, moving only in minimal actions, as if he was challenging her.
The girl leans forward even more, letting her bare skin brush against him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, nearing his face to him. But, still, the boy remains unperturbed.
He tips his head to the side and takes another sip, fully ignoring the girl's attempt, making her land her lips to the sensitive patch of skin underneath his ear. Lack-Two felt the warmth of her breath run through his skin for a brief moment, but the feeling was gone before he could do anything about it.
Amateur, he thought playfully to himself as he returns his gaze to her. He makes sure she was staring into his face and nothing else before he makes a show of biting his lower lips gently and slowly as he widens his smile.
The signal's not showing any signs of coming anytime soon, so he decided a little fun of his own.
"Is that all you got?" he challenges her with a wink. The girl surprisingly looked aghast.
She pulls away from him and backs away, an indecipherable look in her eyes. Lack-Two raises an eyebrow at her, wondering, when she suddenly lifts her hands, and started untying the fabric that covered everything underneath her lower abdomen.
Lack-Two inwardly snorts. This girl was serious.
She was coming near him again, the knot about to be undone, and he just watches her.
Not that he was interested, but he might as well make the most from the money he's paid.
She was about to meet his eyes again, when a loud beeping came from his watch. They both stare at it for a moment, Lack-Two with relief, and the girl with shock. He lifts the watch to his mouth, and speaks.
"Thought you guys would never come."
And with that, loud sirens could be heard from all around the vicinity.
The girl was panic-stricken. Lack-Two smiles.
This was the kind of entertainment he needs.
"I am Inspector Lack-Two of the Unova Police Department, Nimbasa Division, and this is an ambush," he announces, fishing out his badge and flashing it to her. "You, along with the rest of the staff forming this establishment are hereby arrested on the grounds of prostitution, human trafficking, and illegal shipment of foreign paraphernalia. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
The girl looks at him with wide eyes, but other than, she remains unperturbed.
"No use trying to run away, Sunshine, this place is already surrounded. My men have already infiltrated the establishment, and are already in pursuit of the management as we speak."
He reaches for his belt and pulls out a pair of handcuffs. Then, he faces her, and reaches out.
"Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either you take my hand and you let me cuff you, and we walk out of this room peacefully, or we fight." He pauses and gives her a knowing smile.
"Frankly, both are fine by me."
The girl seems to have awoken from a trance.
"No, you don't understand," she finally pipes up, and to Lack-Two's surprise, she actually continues lifting off her clothing. His hand immediately flies to the pistol on his back pocket, ready for a counter. But what the girl fishes out slightly surprises him.
It was a police badge as well.
"I'm here to arrest you, too," she said.
-…-
Sounds of screams and glasses crashing emanate from outside his room, but Lack-Two was undisturbed, his full attention still focused on the girl (who he now realizes to have been wearing a bodysuit all this time underneath all that cloth), a police badge on her hand, declaring arrest.
"That's…" he begins, but was blocked by the girl's agonized scream.
"What the heeeeeeellllllll," she screeched, clawing at her head in frustration. "My first undercover job as a police officer, and it had to be on the day of an ambush of another department?!" She gives out another inhuman screech as she clenches her fist and starts beating her head in frustration.
"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!"
Lack-Two only watched her, feeling a bit lost.
"I-I'm confused," he mutters, relaxing his stance in fear of threatening the already-threatened girl.
The girl stops for a moment, and looks back at him. The two share another silent look, before the girls sighs resignedly, turns to face him completely, and glumly flashes her badge at him once again.
"Unova Police Department, Aspertia Division Officer Whi-Two," she basically spits at him, a disheartened look in her face. "You, along with the rest of the customers within this establishment are hereby arrested on the grounds of patronizing services that involve prostitution, human trafficking, and illegal shipment of foreign paraphernalia. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."
Lack-Two watches her with uncertainty. Then at the window where he could actually catch glimpses of silhouettes running around, and then back at her again.
"Well, this is certainly interesting," he comments, to which the girl replies with yet another frustrated screech.
"This is unbelievable!" she cries. "And this was my first big mission, too! Talk about bad luck! God damn it! God fucking damn it!"
Lack-Two was about to say something when his watch begins buzzing. He lifts it up and listens, nods, and then faces her again.
"We better vacate this building," he says, picking up his jacket. "The ambush is about to end, and all of us have to report in, otherwise, we'll get arrested too. And that includes you."
He throws his jacket at her and gestures her to follow.
"I'll see what I can do in trying to explain this to my superintendent, though you might as well look decent when I do."
-…-
"Ah, Officer Whi-Two, lovely to hear from you!"
Whi-Two's Division Chief flashed a cheerful smile from the other side of the screen. The girl just stared at him with a glum expression.
Some heads turned at the sound of the high-pitched voice, but the girl ignores them all with all her might. She chooses to glue her eyes to the old man beaming from the screen, and him alone.
Eye contact with anyone—especially if they were male—will put her to pieces. That's how traumatized she was.
"May I be the first to congratulate you on a job well done! I heard that you were present during one of the Nimbasa Division's ambush last night! How reliable of you, officer!"
The glum expression in Whi-Two's face grows even worse as she drops her gaze in annoyance.
Where was the "reliable" in having an inspector from another division lie his way to saving her ass from further embarrassment, all because she chose to act on her own in the most inadvertent of times?
Even until now, she still couldn't help but feel like she was supposed to be offended with the wink that inspector gave her when he said "you've already paid for my efforts in full".
A shudder ran through her spine that she had to suppress in front of her superior.
What did that inspector mean by that?
"Anyway," her superintendent continued. "I take it that you're currently in the Nimbasa Headquarters?"
She nods. Stiffly.
"Good! I've been meaning to give you the good news in person, but I don't think it would be practical if I were to ask you to go back here in Aspertia, and then travel back again there in Nimbasa."
To that, the girl raises a brow.
"What do you mean, sir?"
The superior beamed even more cheerfully at her.
"Congratulations, Officer Whi-Two," he announces, loud enough for the other policemen in the room to hear. "You are hereby re-assigned to the UPD's main branch, Nimbasa! Effective today!"
"WHAT?!" Her screech was heard from across the hall, earning her a few stares from those working on the other room, as well as those passing by. She had to cover her mouth, and sit back down, but the feeling of shock did not die down.
"R-Reassigned?" she stammers, nearing herself to the laptop's screen to make sure she understood well. "Y-You're reassigning me? Y-You mean, I have to work in this headquarters from now on?! H-Here in N-Nimbasa?"
The chief looks at her innocently.
"For a second there, I'd thought you'd be excited. For one thing, it's closer to your hometown… And secondly, this should be a privilege to division officers? Working for the main branch."
"I-I know that, Sir, but…"
But why here? She makes a mistake of looking to her side, where the inspector from a while ago was taking his break, sipping on his coffee while reading through some papers. He lifts up his eyes and stares at her innocently, and she had to actually pull her gaze away.
She knew it was still too early, but she already hates the way he stares at her. And now she has to work where he works.
"Well, that's not all, anyway," the chief continued. "There's still more."
"There's still more?" Whi-Two spits through gritted teeth, feeling even worse. Somehow, this can't possibly be something good anymore. She is done trusting for things to get any better.
"You're getting promoted."
Whi-Two had to pause for a moment to let the words sink in.
"P-Promoted, sir?" she murmurs.
The chief cheerfully nods.
"It seems the higher-ups were impressed with your performance for the past months, and finally decided that you are practically skilled enough to become a 3rd Grade Detective. That's one rank higher—aren't you proud?"
Whi-Two would be lying if she said she wasn't. She actually finds it exhilarating enough to let the grim feeling from what has transpired earlier to roll over her shoulders..
Finally, she gushed.
One step closer.
Behind her, Lack-Two drops his papers, and to watch her animated movements as she listened to her division officer. He notes the way she tries her best to suppress back her smile, but only in vain, and he finds himself smiling.
"Inspector?" The boy turns his head and finds a tall man standing by his side, looking down at him with kind eyes.
"Sir," he greeted, standing up immediately and performing a salute.
Lack-Two's superintendent laughs good-heartedly.
"So stiff and formal, aren't you, young man?" he comments, and then lifts his gaze to the girl behind Lack-Two.
"I see that Officer Whi-Two is finally settled in?"
"Settled in, sir?" Lack-Two repeats, finally putting down his hand and turning to Whi-Two, who was then bowing gratefully at the laptop screen, mumbling a multitudinous amount of 'thank you's' to her chief.
"You won't be disappointed, sir!" she was saying, a relieved glint flashing through her pastel-colored eyes. "Rest assured that I will prove to the board that they're decision was, in fact, spot on!"
Lack-Two senses a movement, and he returns his gaze to his superintendent who was already making his way to the girl. The older man finds his place behind the girl, narrowly missing Whi-Two's fists as she shoots them triumphantly into the air.
The girl looks behind her abruptly, pale with fear.
Lack-Two had to suppress the urge to laugh.
"Quite the jumpy one, aren't you, dear?" Lack-Two's superintendent smiled. "That's good. We need a more vast variety of characters in this department."
"E-Erm…" was all Whi-Two could give as a reply.
The man faces the screen and acknowledges the presence of Whi-Two's chief.
"Pleased to see you again, Colonel Rikhard," he greets, nodding slightly at the division officer.
"How fares the Aspertia Division?"
"Ah, Superintendent Aldin! Good to see you out of your office during working hours!" the other replied cheerfully. "Aspertia is fine, all fine. The new recruits are all very reliable, as you are about to witness for yourself."
He gestures at Whi-Two with pride, but only to realize too late that his most prized rookie wasn't in her most crowning moment at all.
Whi-Two stared at Superintendent Aldin with so much awe that Lack-Two couldn't help but finally burst out a chuckle at the way her mouth was the same shape as her big, bulging eyes. Aldin had to reprimand him gently.
"I take it you are Trooper recently gone Detective Whi-Two?" he asks kindly, giving her a warm smile, but Whi-Two was unmovable.
This is him, she thought to herself wildly. Unova Police Department's Superintendent in the flesh… Superintendent Aldin! Oh, God fucking damn it, Whi-Two, where are your manners?! Salute! Salute, you little bitch!
And salute she did, in the most awkward and ungraceful way possible. Another chuckle escaped Lack-Two's lips.
"S-Sir!" she almost screamed at him. "P-Pleased to finally meet you in person, Sir!"
"Quite the jumpy one," the superintendent chuckles before returning his gaze to the rather apologetic Rikhard.
"She's the rookie you've been telling me about, Colonel?" he inquires with a smile.
"Ah, that she is! This is Detective Whi-Two—she may not look like the best outside of duty, but I assure you, she's one of the most well-trained and multi-skilled Troopers here in Aspertia. You've seen her records…"
"Yes, indeed, I have," Aldin agrees, eyeing Whi-Two from head-to-toe. "Solved 23 cases in one week—she almost beats the record of one of our best." He gestures at Lack-Two, who was watching Whi-Two with amusement.
"What do you think, Inspector?"
"Quite a remarkable record, Sir," he answers, transitioning his expression smoothly and accordingly. "And I dare say she lives up to it, as I've seen her in action just shortly before. I have nothing much to say of her performance."
He catches Whi-Two's attention momentarily, and he seizes that opportunity to give her another wink.
The urge for the girl to strangle him was strong.
"You must be the one they call 'Mister Perfect'," Rikhard chimes in, looking to his side to where he thinks Lack-Two was standing. Whi-Two drops her salute to move the laptop, and let it face the boy.
"Ah, yes! It is you, Inspector Lack-Two! Pleased to finally see you in the flesh, sort of. You really do look as young as they say."
Lack-Two nods politely.
"Pleased to meet you, Colonel."
Rikhard faces Whi-Two.
"Look alive, dear," he tells her. "You are standing in the presence of two of the most well-known names in the whole history of the UPD—the highest-ranking officer alive, Superintendent Aldin, and his protégé, the youngest policeman to have ever reached the rank of Inspector, and currently in charge of the Special Undercover Unit of the UPD, Inspector Lack-Two!"
"Y-You're…" Whi-Two mumbles, but thinks against continuing, and just simply salutes, to which Lack-Two salutes back, a small smile on his face.
"I assume our beloved rookie is in good hands there in your department?" Rikhard asks.
"But, of course," Aldin replies. Then he faces Whi-Two.
"Welcome aboard, Detective."
Whi-Two's wide blue eyes grew even wider with excitement.
"T-Thank you, sir!"
Aldin smiles and nods at her, and then faces Lack-Two.
"Inspector," he calls. Lack-Two straightens up.
"You know the protocol."
To that, the boy's shoulders dropped slightly as he did a double take at his Superintendent.
"Sir?" he clarifies.
Aldin just smiles at him.
"Come now, my dear boy. This girl is supposedly the cream of the crop from where she came from. What better way to make use of that potential than to put her under one of the best there is? Don't disappoint me now as your former mentor, Lack-Two…"
"B-But, sir…"
He steals a glance at Whi-Two, who was watching the exchange with confused eyes.
"Uhm," she begins.
"Detective," Aldin explains. "Here in our ranks, we follow a special mentor-mentee system, especially for the newcomers. They will be more often than not assigned to work on the same missions, and this will act as the newcomer's rather long period of orientation."
He places a hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Lack-Two here will be your mentor. From now on, he will be responsible for everything that happens to you, until he deems it unnecessary. All your questions and concerns will be always directed to him, unless the circumstances require asking someone else. Are we clear?"
There was a long and eerie pause before Whi-Two was able to give out an audible, half-hearted "yes, sir".
Lack-Two watches her with the same expression.
"I take it that you'll do a marvelous job knowing your exceptional skills in dealing with people, am I correct, Lack-Two?" He faces the boy.
"Can I rely on you for this assignment, dear boy?"
The boy falters for a moment, but he lets it go professionally, and gives a salute, ignoring the pool of emotions playing across the girl's face as she watches him part his lips in accordance.
"Sir, yes, sir."
-Mission_1 Status: Accomplished-
Please don't expect quick updates. You've been warned.