"I told you, asshole. Call me Amy!"
The deal had gone so far south the temperature had dropped. Guns were being clutched on both sides of the standoff. Amy could see a sniper up on the top of a gantry of the warehouse they were in. A huge, heavyset man was reaching for a large briefcase, which she could only assume had a weapon in it. If they lost the goods, Junior was going to be pissed.
Amethyst Xiong readied her axe. If her hunch was right, the Fargo's had never meant to honour the deal, and were looking for an excuse to pick a fight.
"Now now, Amethyst. It's very simple, don't let your temper get away on you. We just need better product. These crystals recently… eh, they're just not up to standard, you know?"
"Shut up. They're the same stuff we've been handing off to you for years. And you never complained before now"
She reached to her back and detached her round buckler shield.
"I reckon this is your new boss, isn't it? Adrian whatshisname? When we kick your asses outta here, let him know he's made a mistake"
"Now now, Amethyst. That sounds dangerously like a declaration of something we would both like to avoid. Before things go any further, how about we all step down a notch?"
Amethyst hadn't gotten to be one of the right hand women of Junior by being his daughter, as many assumed. In fact, for the majority of her time as an employee, both she and him had gone on completely unaware of their connection. It was only after her promotion and blood sample taken after an accident that he had realised one of the many fleeting girlfriends had borne his child. She had started at the bottom of a cut throat orgainisation, and if there was one thing she had learned it was to go with her instinct and never back down. She wasn't about to start now.
"No. Our deal is we give you dust crystals and you give us Lien. If that deal is done, you should have told us before we smuggled it out of the mines and lugged it here"
She switched her axe to its sawn off shotgun form and she pointed it at the big man.
"Now where the hell is the aformentioned Lien?"
Amy noted her own men were drawing their weapons. The usual mix of cheap assault rifles and flashy Katanas. If she had to guess, only about half of the crew would know how to use them. She was regretting not bringing the Malachite siblings. They knew how to handle themselves in a fight.
"Heh. You know, Adrian said that if it was you who turned up there'd be no compromise. Guess we do this in plan B"
She caught the subtle nod he gave to the sniper, and decided to shoot first. Bringing her shotgun to draw, Amethyst pulled the trigger and fired off a specially modifed that round. In the modern days of dust element rounds, few people remembered the old methods where pellets of metal were fired. Low power fire dust, packed into a shell with small metal pellets. Result, a spray of iron death sent straight at her rather large target. Clearly not expecting her shot, the 'negotiator' was thrown backwards, his aura barely absorbing the blow. Those shots were expensive as hell, but they shredded barriers like a glutton to chocolate.
In the momentary confusion that followed, Amy ducked behind a crate. Following her lead, her men did the same. Some were better than others at picking a spot, however, and Any noticed with dismay that these of her men were taken out with three cracks from the sniper. But she couldn't stop now. Never back down, never stop moving. For every one of hers, she would take three of theirs. The sniper was the biggest threat on the field. As long as he was there, the enemy held advantage. But any attempt to get close would lead to death. They could rush him, but not without significant loss of life. Thankfully, Amethyst held a trump card.
Swinging her arm in and arc, she hurled the shield out from her cover. Of course the enemy shot at it, but the bullets simply bounced off and didn't affect it. Right on target, the shield landed on the same gantry the sniper was hiding.
"Ha! Little wonder your men are such terrible shots if that is how their leaders aim"
"Oh, I got it right where I needed it, asshole!"
Twisting the bracelet on her arm, the light on it switched from red to green. Her shield was no simple hunk of metal. Within it was a complex military analyst computer, which had… fallen off the back of a truck. It also had an inbuilt light machine gun. From the bottom of the shield three legs telescoped out and stood the shield up on a tripod. From the side of the shield, the muzzle of the internal gun popped out. Rotating on the tripod, the shield turned and faced the sniper, who looked up from his scope all too late. The gun opened fire with a stream of conventional rounds, which hit his aura like a thousand punches. He tried to run, but one disadvantage of the gantry was that there was nowhere to run. Aura depleted in seconds, and then the bullets hit him with no obstructions. Dead before he hit the ground.
From its new elevevated position, the internal computer scaned the area and made a decision. It opened fire on the enemy below. Suddenly, it was them who were ducking cover while her own men stood up and began to systematically kill anyone outside of cover. Amy herself, well, she prefered to get a bit more up close and personal.
"All mele combatants, with me!"
Not waiting to see who was following, she lept over the crate and switched her weapon back to the dual bladed handaxe. Sprinting quickly and keeping low, Amy tackled the first man she saw. Knocking him to the ground, she drove her boot into his chest, smashing the wind out of him and making him drop his weapon out of reflex. An armature mistake. This was probably his first job. Behind the balaclava he was wearing, he probably wasn't much older than her. In a moment of weakness, she hesitated. Then she remembered the three men dead, and brought her axe down. Never back down. The kid had no Aura to block it. At least it was clean, to the head. Ripping her axe free, she jumped behind a crate as one of the enemies noticed her and opened fire with his heavy assault rifle.
They were recovering from the stock, finding spots her shield turrent couldn't hit them. Drawing the fight out, trying to make it last until the police arived and both sides were forced to flee. Amy knew all the tricks. She would have to finish this quick. Upset the balance. Motioning to those at the front line with her, who had to be at least moderately competent to have survived, she yelled out.
"Covering fire! Now!"
Promptly following her order, her men let loose with a barrage of various ammo kinds. Some of it hit, some of it didn't. Point was, it had her enemy hunkerer down in cover. Now was the time to strike.
Amy kicked off from the ground onto her crate, and then made a running leap towards the enemy cover. A few stray bullets from her men pinned off her Aura, but nothing too substantial. Landing cleanly on top of a crate some Fargo grunts were hiding behind, she looked down to see comical looks of surprise on their faces. Not giving them a chance to react, she threw herself down with a slash, cutting one man across the neck. Kneeing the second in the groin, she pressed herself against the crate to avoid a sword swipe, and brought her axe in an upward swing into the jaw of the man who had tried to stab her. Wrenching it free, she smashed the handle of the axe on the man she had kneed, sending him onto the floor in pain. Swaping to sawn off mode, the hilt of the axe twisted down, a trigger extended and the two sides of the axehead folded away to show the dual barrels of the shotgun. Pulling the trigger, the vulnerable man was dead before he heard the bang. Smoothly turning and ejecting the spent shell, she fired again at a man who had come into view. Seems the men on this side were just as rookie as her own men.
Later, she would find it highly ironic this was the moment that she was rendered unconcious by a briefcase.
Aura was a conscious barrier, and the attack had caught her totally off guard. She went down hard, and lapsed into unconsciousness. The negotiator laughed and drew a pistol from inside his neatly pressed suit. Lining up the shot, he would have fired if one of Amy's pesky men hadn't noticed their leader in danger and opened fire with his assault rifle. Immediately dropping behind cover to avoid the shots, he could hear the wail of sirens getting closer. It was long since time to bail.
"Browyn! Do you have the case?" he yelled.
"Yeah. We should probably run now, Linton"
Linton nodded and sprinted over to where his partner in crime was waiting, package in hand. All in all, despite heavy losses, the had just swindled Junior's crew out of several tens of thousands worth of high end dust crystals. He hadn't managed to kill Amethyst, but it was no matter. The police would pick her up, and then she'd be stuck with the blame for everything. All in all, it had actually gone down fairly well. Ducking into the armoured jeep that was their getaway vechile, Linton dissapeared into the night.
"Miss Xiong! Wake up! Damn it, somebody help me carry her. Hey! Don't run away, coward!"
Amy groaned. It was too loud. Sitting up, she held a finger to the lips of whoever was making all the racket. Her head ached. It was funny, because she couldn't remember drinking.
The wail of sirens brought her back to reality. Snapping her eyes open, Amy jumped up. There was a man wearing the typical black with red highlights suit, but he was carrying a large rifle in his hands.
"Don't remember having hardware like that as standard issue"
The man looked at the sniper rifle in his hands.
"Looted it from the enemy sniper. He wouldn't need it"
He stood up too.
"The name's Tristian. Police have the place mostly surrounded, but if we move fast we can still escape to a getaway vechile."
She nodded.
"Lead the way. You know, you didn't have to wait for me. Loyalty doesn't go unrewarded in this organisation"
"I'll be sure to bring up hazard pay once we're clear of the building"
Holding out her gauntleted hand, the high powered magnet in it pulled the shield back to her. Replacing it on its holder on her back, she rushed after Tristian.
They didn't stop running until they were several blocks from the warehouse. Amy casually checked to see if anyone was watching, before disappearing into an alley with Tristian doing the same. Pulling the keys from her jeans she unlocked the car and got in the passenger side.
"What? The left hand woman of Junior can't even drive?"
"Shut up and take the wheel"
Showing his experience, Tristan started the car (An intentionally ordinary looking grey van) and smoothly pulled out onto the road.
"Back to the club, I assume?"
"Hell no. I'm not going back to Dad empty handed"
Pulling out her scroll, Amethyst pulled open the hacking app. Like she said, she knew all the tricks. Like installing tiny tracking chips into all the transport bags. Just in case.
"They're on Leo Drive"
"We won't be able to catch up in this old people mover, I'm afraid"
"There's no need. They're taking a long route to try shake us and the cops, but they really want to head down Sanguine Crecent to their hideout. So we intercept at the rail crossing here"
She indicated to the map on her scroll.
"Get there quick as possible"
"Got it"
The car accelerated, and Tristan put his knowledge of the streets to use, ducking into every alleyway and avoiding every policeman. Amy could tell he wasn't the usual disposable grunt her dad liked to employ.
"So, Tristian. How long have you been working for Junior?"
"Well, Miss Amethyst- "
"Please, I hate that name. Just call me Amy"
"Right then. Well, I've been working for your Dad ever since I was seventeen. So, I'd say about twelve odd years now? Sounds about right"
Amy made a low whistle. To last so long in the buissnes of organised crime was a rarity.
"And still just a grunt? Never tried to go for anything bigger?"
"It's by staying firmly unpromoted all this time that I've lived so long. No offence to you, but we tend to go through our leaders pretty fast"
He pulled a fight turn into a deserted street of only half of its street lights working.
"And as you can see, being on the ground for a decade means you pick up a few skills"
"But not an orignal dress sense, aparently"
"Hey!"
"What? We don't force you guys to all dress the same. You just all choose to wear the same suit and and silly tinted sunglasses"
He took off the sunglasses, reveling blue eyes to match his dirty blonde hair.
"There. Happy now?"
"Ew, no, put them back on. The bags under your eyes make you look real old"
Tristan gave a good natured laugh and put the familiar glasses back on. Finally reaching their destination, he pulled over onto the side of the road.
"So then, youngling, how are we going to stop a heavily armoured, fast moving jeep driven by men who have no fear?"
"Oh, we won't be stopping it. I'll be stopping it. You can stay in the car and provide fire support with your newly aquired gun"
Nodding strangely, Tristan pulled the long rifle from where he had cast it on the back seat and set it up, poking it out the window. Amy stepped out of the car, and put her axe into the holster at her belt. Taking off her fur lined jacket, she stood in the chilly night in the middle of the road and waited for a car full of negotiators to try and run her down. She didn't have long to wait.
In the distance, she heard the rumble of an engine. Breathing in deeply, she held out her arms, almost like she was trying to push something. Tristan watched with a mixture of stock and hilarity. This wasn't her actual plan, right? However, the car got closer and Amy didn't move. Was the idiot actually going to try stop the car with her bare hands? The car shot over the railway crossing, not seeing her in the half light of the street.
"Look out-"
Mere seconds before the car would hit Amy, a change washed over her body. Tristian watched in awe as her clenched fists became coated in a purple gemstone, hardening them. The change spread down her arms, and then presumably continued to take place underneath her shirt. It spread up her neck, and her face became crystalised, like a purple ice statue. Amethyst, Tristan realized. Even her normally black hair changed, becoming thin strips of purple gem. The car saw her, all to late.
It hit her full on. But rather than throwing her backwards, it was the car that got thrown. Tristan watched as the car crumpled in on the front, tilting onto its nose. Amy grabbed it with her hardened hands and pulled up, the car flipping over her and landing in its top. Tristan watched slack jawed as she turned, and slowly reverted back to her normal pale skin. Tristan laughed.
"I can see where the name comes from!"
"Shut up and help me finish this"
Opening the vans door, Tristan pulled the rifle to bear and pointed it at the upturned car. Amy switched to shotgun form for her axe and pointed it at one of the windows.
BLAM!
"Shoot the windows. I want them dead"
Nodding, Tristian lined up a shot with his newfound gun and pulled the trigger. The kick was enormous, but his shot rang true and there was a blood splatter on the window. Pulling back the pin and ejecting the shell, he lined up the next shot on the passenger seat.
CRASH!
The passenger door was thrown entirely off it's hinge and slammed into Tristan, throwing him onto his back. With a roar, Linton burst out of the car, breifcase in hand. Amy reacted, firing a shot straight at the man but he moved faster than she though possible, blocking the buckshot with his breifcase. The shots fell to the road, not even denting it. Tristan shoved the door off him and picked up his rifle, but Linton moved too quick for him and savagely kicked it away, before bringing his breifcase down.
Tristan brought up his hand and caught the briefcase with the aid of his aura, and then tried to push it away. He couldn't. The man had to be inhumanly strong, pushing the case down untill he was pressing Tristan into the ground with it. Laughing, Linton reached with his other hand and undid the clasps on the case.
It sprang open immediately, and from within came hundreds of tiny, twisting tentacles. Some were simply wire with a current passed through them, making them twitch randomly, while some were segmented tubes that reached out with cutting implements at their end. Still others were spindly claws, reaching and grabbing at anything they could. A few of them reached out and pressed at Linton, his Aura barely holding it back.
With a shout, Amy vaulted the car and landed on Linton's back, using the axe to try out him in a chokehold. The man stood up, held his open briefcase in the air, and the electrical cables grabbed onto her and sent a heavy voltage through her system. Letting go , she fell back twitching and Linton followed up by pressing his open case to her chest. The tube arms wrapped around her, buzzblades and sharp blades dragging against her Aura. The electricity coursed through her system, making her scream in pain. She couldn't move, her arms held at her side. Lifting her into the air with his breifcase, Linton laughed again.
"I was a bit dissapointed I couldn't finish you off earlier. Now I get my wish!"
With a sharp crack, Amethyst's barrier broke and the blades rushed towards her skin. With her last rational thought, Amy hardened her body again. A rush of purple gemstone went over her body, and she was protected. The sharp blades couldn't penetrate her new armour, and suddenly the electricity wasn't hurting her. Kicking out with her one free leg again and again, Linton watched in amusement as her attack had no effect.
"You know, while it's amusing to watch you try, all this is doing is delaying the inevitable"
Amy winced as one of the blades chipped through her armour and cut her in the shoulder. Blood leaked out. Desperately, she tried to move out of the grip, but the thin wires and snaking appendages had her firmly held. She cried out in pain when one of the electric wires came into contact with her bare skin.
"But it's over now. I think I'll leave your corpse here for Junior to find. Ought to send a good message-"
BLAM!
Tristan had recovered from his battering, and had fired off a shot. It had gone wide of the head where he was aiming, but it hit the arm holding the open briefcase. Linton's low aura levels were punched through by the shot, and he howled in pain, dropping the case.
Landing cleanly on her feet, Amethyst pulled her arm free of the grasping feelers are grabed her axe. Switching it to shotgun, she slammed it into his chest.
"You're right. Leaving a corpse in the street is a good way to send a message"
She pulled the trigger. The buckshot ripped through him, shredding organs and shattering bones. Switching to axe mode, Amy hacked at the mass that was still grasping her until she could pull herself free. The briefcase shut itself, sealing the tentacles away. Looking over, she saw that Linton was still alive, gasping as air wouldn't come into his ruined lungs. Still in her armour, she put a foot down on head head and applied pressure. He groaned in pain.
"Shouldn't have fucked with us. We're going after your boss next, so…"
She raised the axe.
"Save him a spot in hell!"
The drive back to the club was a quiet one. Thankfully, the dust crystals were still in their case and undamaged. Leaving the wreakage of the car for the police to deal with, Amy and Tristan had gotten back into the van. Tristan had a mild concussion from being slammed with the door, but was otherwise okay. Amy had pulled the first aid out out from under the seat and gotten to work on her shoulder wound. She also had several electricity burns, but she decided to wait until she was back at the club before dealing with them. In the end, Tristan broke the silence first.
"So, that could have gone better. Guess I'll be claiming that hazard pay after all"
"Yeah? Well you didn't do a great job of defending me there"
"Hey, who was who just saved your life?"
"I could've done it myself"
"Riiight, because you were doing SUCH a good job at that"
"Yeah yeah, so you were a bit of help"
"So, I'm actually serious about the extra pay"
"How does a promotion sound?"
"I said I was serious"
"So am I. Tristian, you've gone with wasted talent in our organisation. You've demonstrated tonight you have what it takes to work at a higher level. And being closer to the top, well, it has benefits"
"I already told you- being a big shot is a fast track to an early grave"
"We'll I've survived, and I've been at it for awhile"
Tristan shrugged.
"Mabye. But if it's all the same to you, I think and extra thousand wouldn't go amiss here"
"Thousand?! It's a shame you don't want a promotion, because with thay kind of swindling you'd be a top dog!"
"Well, I've always been good at managing finances. Seriously though, I'l be expecting it by the end of the week"
"Sly. Very sly"
They came back to the club only to find it surrounded by policemen. Amy grabbed her axe.
"Nuts"
Slowing down, Tristan pulled into a side alley across from the bar. Cautiously stepping out of the car, Amy approached one of the policemen.
"What's happening here?"
The man turned to face her.
"You work here?"
"I'm Junior's daughter"
"Right. Well, some girl in yellow came and trashed the place, made a real mess of your security and knocked Junior out. Neighbour called us after the gunshots. You might want to get inside, if you work here we have a few questions"
Indicating to Tristan he should stay back, Amy nodded and followed the office inside. Junior was sitting at the bar, ice pack pushed to his head.
"Amethyst. Good movie?"
"Not really. Got a little to violent, but at least it had a happy ending"
Junior nodded an acknowledgement. He understood the subtext.
"Well then, if you're recovered now might you answer us a few questions?" the police officer asked Junior.
"Sure. I could do that for you"
Amethyst had to smile. If there was one thing her father was good at, it was confusing the police away from him.
"So, how about you tell me what happened?"
"Well, it all started when the yellow girl walked in…"
It was supprisingly easy to get the police to go away. After pinning everything on the girl in yellow, Junior pretended not to be able to identify her. Then, it was a simple matter of not pressing charges. Without a case, the Police pulled away. Junior sighed and looked out at the club, shattered glass and tossed tables littering the floor.
"She really did a number on this place"
"What was she even looking for?"
"Some woman. She showed me a photo. I've never seen her before"
"And then she trashed the place?"
"There was some name calling before hand"
"Sounds kinda like how our little trip went"
Junior shifted in his seat.
"Oh really? And what happened there?"
Amy shrugged.
"They backed out of the deal and tried to take our stuff"
"And how did you respond?"
"They should be finding his body right about now"
"Damn it, Amethyst! I told you, we don't want to bring that kind of heat from the cops at us. Especially now"
Amethyst narrowed her eyes.
"Why? What did we get involved in?"
Junior held the ice pack back up to his head.
"There's an employer. They want to hire our men in a series of high profile robberies all over the city"
"Huh. I guess I'll be getting heaps more work then"
"Well… about that"
Amy bristled.
"What?"
"Look, I've been thinking about things. About you and I, and what you do"
"I don't like the way this conversation is going"
"Could you try and listen? I think it might be best if you stop doing regular work for us. Things are about to heat up"
"Are you kidding me? I just killed a man, and you think I can't handle a bit of heat?"
"I know. That's the problem. I've been… concerned about you for awhile. Killing, drugs, violence, these are things most kids your age never have to deal with"
"You were fine with it when you didn't know we were related"
"It's not just you. I'm thinking of scaling back the Malachite's as well"
"Dad, I'm eighteen. This is when most people my age get a job anyway!"
Junior slammed his fist on the table.
"As your father, I think I have some right to be concerned about your wellbeing!"
"Well you sure as hell wern't concerned when mom died"
Junior went silent, and Amy felt a little had about bringing it up. Never back down, she told herself.
"… Look, Dad. What's it going to take? How old have I gotta be before you see me as able to make my own damn life choices?"
Junior sighed. He reached down into the bag he had at the foot of his stool and pulled out a folder.
"You may think yourself tough, but this new job… it's serious people. Dangerous people. I'd feel safer taking the deal if you wern't in the firing line"
He slid the folder down the bar to her. Picking it up, she read the front.
BEACON HUNTER/HUNTRESS SCHOOL APPLICATION FORM
"Are you being serious right now?"
Junior nodded.
"Go. I have some contacts, old hunter friends who owe me a few favours. You could attend. Get some good experience. When this all blows over in a few years, you come back and I gurantee there's a spot still waiting for you in this bar"
Amy opened the folder and looked inside. Most of it had already been filled out, creating a false past as a private student to a qualified trainer.
"Won't this fall right through under serious checking?"
"Not really. I know the trainer you're claiming to have trained under, he can vouch for you. And, well, beacon applications are pretty easy to falsify"
Amy opened the prospectus. Staged shots of teenagers laughing, eating, sitting in lectures. The sight of that much fake cheerfulness almost put her off right there.
"Really? I mean… do I really have to do this?"
Junior nodded.
"Hey, it's good for long term employment too. People pay big figures to get a huntress on their side"
Amy had to agree on that. Hunters that were willing to hire themelves out to less savoury enterprises were few and car between. The one that she had met was charging a ridiculous rate, but he had been worth it. Heck, she was already pretty badass now. Imagine what she could do with four years of training at the most well known Hunter school in Vale!
"You know what? Sure. I'm in"
"Good, because you leave in two days"
"What! I though there was some kind of interview"
"Nah. I know a hunter, Preston, me and him go way back. You and him have already had your interview"
Amy nodded sagely.
"Oh yes. So we did. Such an insightful one too"
Junior stood up from the bar.
"I know it kinda sounds like I'm getting rid of you, but please don't take it that way. I'm just trying to keep you safe"
Amy laughed.
"Yeah, well go to the corner of Sanguine Crecent and see how much protecting I need"
Grabbing the folder, she walked out of the bar.
Tristan was waiting outside for her.
"So then, how did it go?"
Amy held up the folder.
"Junior was none to pleased about it all. Apparently, we got some new employers who would prefer the police stay as far away as possible"
"Ah. I take it this has something to do with your application to higher education?"
"Well dear old Dad seems to think it might get too dangerous for little precious, so I'm going off to Beacon for four years"
"Ouch"
"Eh, it's not so bad. Might get some good new skills while I'm there"
"No, I mean everyone there is crazy"
"And how would you know?"
"I went to Beacon for a few semesters"
"No shit? How the heck did you end up here?"
"Like I said. It was too crazy, I couldn't hack it. Left after my money ran out, and had to find another job"
"Well aren't you full of suprises"
Tristan chuckled and climbed into the car.
"Care for a ride home?"
Amy shook her head.
"Nah, I'm good. Live right around the corner from here"
"Alright then. See in a few years, Miss Amethyst"
Amy spun around as Tristian pulled out of his park.
"Hey! I told you, didn't I? My name is Amy!"
Tristan laughed again and waved out of the window before driving off. Shivering in the evening chill, she drew her coat tighter around herself. Walking away from the trashed bar, Amethyst Xiong hoped that Beacon would at least he a little warmer.