Chapter 25: New Competition

Setting: Liberia

Violet was in the district of Fortuna where the criminals dwelled. She was sitting in a pub where she sat at the bar, waiting for her client to meet with her. Violet ordered herself some tea as she waited for whoever she was supposed to meet and she was only able to take two sips before her potential client showed up.

"Hello, you're one of the freelancers, right?"

Violet turned around to see who was talking to her. Violet's client was an old man with a very long, grey, friendly mutton chops. His moustache grew into his beard which was frazzled, making the man look like his face was covered in hair, like a feral cat. It was really distracting and she was trying her best to be professional and look the man in the eyes. He took the seat next to her and she stared at his facial hair, wondering how long it took him to get it in that state.

"I am aware of your team's reputation. I am also aware you are fond of remaining anonymous, keeping your stronghold's location a complete mystery, never contacting past clients for favors or other jobs, and the most popular of your secrecy, never revealing your name and the random aliases you use for clients in order to keep information from leaking on both sides. Speaking of which, would you do me the honor of coming up with-"

"Mr. Whiskers," Violet said without thinking.

Violet mentally cursed herself for blurting that out. It was not a name she made for him, it was an insult and she said it.

"There goes our money," she thought, though the next thing she heard was the old man laughing.

"Ahahahaha… Mr. Whiskers, how appropriate. It does fit me quite well," Mr. Whiskers said after a few chuckles. Violet was relieved Mr. Whiskers had a man who could take a joke.

"Yes, well, what kind of job did you want us to do?" Violet asked.

"I've been trying to start my own dust company here in Vacuo. There are many sources of dust in Vacuo that have yet to be discovered and I want to find them all, eventually becoming the sole proprietor of dust to the kingdom," Mr. Whiskers explained.

"What about the Schnee Dust Company?" Violet questioned since they were the top dogs in the dust trading game.

"Thanks to the incident at Beacon Academy-"

"Thanks?" Violet questioned in her mind as Mr. Whiskers continued.

"-trading dust between kingdoms has been forbidden in order to keep the peace. Unfortunately for our kingdom, resources are scarce throughout the land, settlements come and go daily, except for the Vacuo kingdom itself and this place, for however long it can stay afloat. I want to build a company exclusively in Vacuo that both excavates and sells all the dust the kingdom has to offer."

"…I see." she responded dryly.

Violet didn't know how to feel about Mr. Whiskers' ambition. Monopolizing on the recent tragedy seemed immoral, but she wouldn't mind there being a place where she could actually buy dust for herself. Since trading dust was temporarily illegal, she's been forced to purchase them from the black-market area of the Bazaar or steal them from the foes she fights. Doing this might actually help her in the future.

"What do you need the freelancers to do?" Violet asked.

"So far, my company has been able to establish its first base of operations. We have already begun collecting dust crystals, but the progress has been slow because finding them is very difficult and dangerous because bandits have been targeting my building. They've been raiding all the dust my employees have excavated, leaving us with very little and making it impossible for my business to start. We're planning another excavation at a potential site and I need you and your fellow freelancers to guard what remains of the dust we already have until we return. If the last of it is taken again, it may be the end of my company."

"Guard duty? We can manage that," Violet answered, accepting the job.

"Really? Thank you very much!" Mr. Whiskers was happy to hear Violet would do the job. He reached into his pocket to bring out some Lien. He handed it to Violet.

"This is only a small amount. You'll receive the rest when you complete the mission. I'll send you the location of where my building is, so head there as soon as you can," Mr. Whiskers instructed before getting up and leaving.

Violet pulled out her scroll to inform her boys about the mission so they could prepare to move out.

Setting: Mr. Whiskers' Dust Company

Team VRSZ drove to the destination Mr. Whiskers gave them, leading them to his company building where dust was stored, sorted, processed, and eventually be sold to the public. The building was three-stories tall, and there wasn't much to the interior since it was new, so it was mostly empty, but it housed a large door which Violet guessed was the entrance to the dust vault that they were tasked to safeguard. Mr. Whiskers and his expedition team already left the building in the team's care and they guarded the place until their return.

"So, you called the man Mr. Whiskers?" Zelts asked Violet as they walked around the building.

"…Yeah, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing," Violet answered feeling a little embarrassed by the name.

She pulled out her scroll and pressed several buttons. "I was able to sneak a pic of him if you want to see it."

Violet showed Zelts the picture and he started laughing, but covered his mouth. The man's face was too much for him and his chuckles were getting through his hand. The laughing was contagious as Violet started snickering herself.

The other two freelancers stood on top of the building to get a good view of the surrounding area. Silver used his marksman eyes to check for any incoming threats and Remus did the same by using the scope in his bionic eye. Silver looked over at Violet and Zelts, wondering what they could be laughing about while they're on the job. Remus kept focus on the job and scouted the area, but he didn't see anything for a while until something entered his line of sight. Someone was walking toward the building.

"Silver, someone's-" Remus stopped informing Silver when he got a good look at who it was.

"What did you- huh?" Silver turned over to Remus, but he used Checkpoint to teleport away.

"Hey!" he shouted as he watched where he teleported. He saw that there was someone else there and Silver immediately changed Fenrir into sniper mode. He didn't know what Remus was thinking, but he was prepared to take this person out if he noticed any funny business. However, while Silver looked away, someone else was approaching from his backside.

Remus teleported to the desert in front of the person of interest. His face showed a concern expression before he asked, "What are you doing here Azura?"

Azura stood before him with a disdain look. Vividly upset that he was talking to her so casually after their last encounter. She was silent for a moment, trying to quell her hand equipped with her elemental staff. She needed to stall him for the plan to succeed, but luckily, she didn't need to buy time for long since her associates were already on the move.

"I'm here on a mission; steal the dust from that building," she responded coldly.

"But… we're here to guard this place," Remus responded sounding troubled about their predicament, but Azura didn't feel the same sentiment.

"Perfect," she thought before swinging her staff at Remus, hitting him in the head and knocking him a few feet away.

Silver saw this and was about to shoot her, but someone attacked him from behind. He was kicked in the back and nearly knocked off the building, but he grabbed onto the ledge so he wouldn't fall. Someone walked over to him and Silver saw that the person was none other than Grayson.

"Hey dumb-dumb. Bye dumb-dumb," Grayson said as he kicked Silver in the face, knocking off the building.

Silver was more upset that Grayson got the jump on him than falling, since he used Gravity to slow his descent. He separated Fenrir to dual gun form and aimed one at Grayson, but was met with three of his fire dust bombs. Silver cursed to himself for falling for a simple ploy before the bombs went off. The sound of the explosion caught Violet and Zelts' attention, leaving their blind spots vulnerable to another intruder.

Behind Violet and Zelts was Alexandrite, who slammed her massive lance at the ground between them, knocking the both of them away. Zelts fell into the sand and Violet landed on her feet as she saw the large woman. Violet quickly threw some knives at her and Alexandrite used her lance to deflect them, but the fire dust in the knives went off, surrounding the woman in flames. Zelts got up and Violet was going to tell him to check on the vault, but changed her mind when she noticed Alexandrite was unharmed when the flames died out. Her body was covered in red crystal that protected her from the attack. Female warrior lunged for the freelancers, but Zelts stood in her way with his Heart of Gold. She collided with the shield and the force was enough to push Zelts back a couple feet. Alexandrite's body was pressed against the shield, allowing her to swing at his left side with her lance. The attack worked on the unsuspecting Zelts, who was knocked off his feet and pushed into the sand. He and Violet realized she was a serious threat.

Silver crashed into the sand below after being engulfed in the explosion, thankfully his aura protected him from any serious harm. He immediately got up because that explosion created a large hole at the top of the building. Using Gravity, he jumped onto the side of the wall and ran up till he was at the hole where he jumped over to enter the building. Silver saw Grayson try to crack the safe open, so he immediately fired at him. Grayson quickly backed away to avoid being the gunfire then drew his broadsword so he could battle.

Remus and Azura were battling each other in the distance. The two of them were relentless with their attacks; striking, defending, and evading each other without missing a beat. Any mistake could change the tide of the battle. Remus teleported behind her to strike with his bladed staff, but Azura quickly reacted by turning around and parrying with her elemental staff. The two held their own against each other until Azura activated the ice dust in one of her arms. It flowed through the staff, covering it in ice and the ice extended past the staff's range. The ice at the tip of the staff formed a spear and extended toward Remus' head, but he bobbed out of the way just in time. Azura used that moment to activate the lightning dust in her other arm and pressed the palm of her hand on his chest, blasting him with a strong electric surge that pushed him a good distance away. When the distance between them formed, Azura immediately used the ice dust in her legs to cover the ground around her in ice.

Azura knew Remus was fast and spreading ice on the ground would reduce his crazy running speed, but she wasn't stupid. She was all too aware of his semblance which was fast as well, but she learned from their first battle how to deal with it. After covering enough of the ground around her in ice, Azura immediately activated the lightning dust in both her arms to cover her upper body and staff in electricity. Remus saw what she was doing and could only think about how she made it more difficult for him and how amazing it was to face a fellow Cobalt in battle again. It was always exhilarating to him. He changed Romulus into its railgun form, deciding to attack his relative from long distance. He fired several bolts of energy, but Azura nimbly evaded all of them.

Throughout the battlefield, it was impossible to determine which side was winning. Silver was doing his best to keep Grayson from reaching the vault, but the task wasn't easy. He never thought about until now, but Grayson was a strong fighter who's gone toe-to-toe with Violet when she was on the run. Silver and Grayson were in close combat with escrima sticks clashing with broadsword. Silver was surprised that Grayson was this skilled, but he didn't let that stop him. He put both his escrima sticks in one hand to block against Grayson's sword and he used this moment to reach into his pocket. He threw sand into Grayson's eyes like a juvenile in a schoolyard fight and it worked. Grayson was blind and he reeled back from the unexpected move. Silver immediately capitalized on this and started his symphony. He used Fenrir to beat Grayson's body mercilessly then used Gravity to grab him and throw him out of the building. Silver was relieved the fight was over, however Grayson wasn't one for happy endings. Behind Silver were a large amonut of Grayson's fire dust bombs and they all went off. The combined force of the fire dust consumed the inside of the building, sent Silver flying with his aura broken, and destroyed the door to the vault.

Violet rushed over to a crystallized Alexandrite as the warrior tried to impale her with her lance. Violet quickly dove down to avoid the lance, though her jacket got caught by the weapon, leaving Violet with her dark purple, shoulder-less shirt. She lost a layer of clothing, but it was worth it when she got past Alexandrite. Violet examined Alexandrite's body and noticed that her joints weren't covered in crystal, showing she couldn't if she wanted to move. Violet quickly acted on learning this and stomped her boot against the back of Alexandrite's knee, forcing her down to one knee, and Violet quickly elbowed her in the back of her head, bringing Alexandrite further to the ground, but Violet felt some pain from hitting the thick crystal.

Alexandrite got up to retaliate, but she, Violet, and Zelts heard the explosion and saw the building nearly destroyed. Violet caught a glimpse of something else, Silver, unconscious and high in the air before he started falling to the ground. Realizing he was in danger, Violet shouted for Zelts to save him while she kept Alexandrite busy. Alexandrite tried to attack her, but Zelts sent a gust of wind her way to push her away from Violet before leaving to help Silver.

Zelts got close to where Silver would probably land then spun his body around with wingblades in each arm, cloaking himself in wind and flew in the air to catch his friend. When he made it to Silver, he caught him with one arm and both of them were falling to the ground. Before they made impact, Zelts swung the only wingblade he could use to send a gust of wind to the ground to slow their descent. Zelts tucked and rolled when they hit the ground and saw Silver was alright. He carefully laid Silver on ground, outside the battle to make sure he doesn't get hurt any further. Feeling that his would be safe, Zelts ran back to return to Violet's side.

Remus was still trying to hit Azura with his railgun, but she dodged every shot he blasted her way. Azura froze more of the ground as she made her way to Remus while her upper body was still surging with electricity. However, the ice stopped after a certain distance because Azura overexerted the dust in her legs. She couldn't use them for a while, but that didn't matter to her since she skated on the ice to close the distance between them. Before she attacked him, Remus changed his railgun back to staff mode and extended the blades on each side before clashing with her. The electricity running through her body ran its way to Remus' body, gradually hurting him, but it wasn't enough to stop him, so Azura decided to amp it up. She increased the amount of lightning she was discharging to very high levels and it surged out of control, consuming Remus and Azura in a large electric blast. Remus quickly teleported away and the lightning ceased, leaving Azura alone on the scorched earth. She was on the ground and out of breath, but relatively unharmed. Remus teleported a far distance away, but he the effects of the electric blast was running through his body and it was shaking. His aura finally broke and he fell in the sand due to fatigue, leaving Violet and Zelts as the only freelancers left in the fight.

Alexandrite tried to slash at Violet with her lance, but Violet jumped out of the way and threw a large amount of fire Enigmas at her, causing a big explosion that pushed Alexandrite back a couple feet. That attack was able to break through the crystal armor on her chest and left arm, showing Alexandrite's semblance wasn't impervious. Alexandrite could admit to herself that she liked Violet for her cunning and strength. Her thoughts her disrupted when Violet suddenly vanished on the spot. Alexandrite didn't know if this was trick or the desert heat casting a mirage, but Violet was officially gone. The female warrior walked around to find her until she saw Zelts standing a distance away with Violet reappearing next to him.

"Ready?" Violet asked Zelts and he nodded.

Zelts swung his wingblades to create a massive tornado and sent it Alexandrite's way. She was engulfed by the twister where she was lifted and carried by its current. Alexandrite used her semblance to replace the pieces of armor she lost, covering her chest and left arm in blue crystal this time. While she did this, Violet threw all the Chesire's Enigmas she had with lightning dust into the tornado and the dust activated within. The lightning inside crackled and surged throughout the tornado, creating a dangerous lightning storm inside that blasted and struck Alexandrite multiple times. This move was Violet and Zelts' team attack; Petal Storm: Thundercracker.

The thundering cyclone didn't cease, but Alexandrite was spit out, with most of her crystal armor broken off, and she fell to the ground. She was in pain, but conscious as she slowly got up to see the two freelancers ready to finish her, though she saw something else coming toward her and she smiled. Dashing through the sand was Grayson on his dust-cycle with several vials of dust attached to a holster wrapped around his chest. He quickly zipped through Violet and Zelts to get to Alexandrite.

"We got what we came for. Let's go get Azura," he told Alexandrite who quickly got on the back seat of the vehicle.

Grayson smirked triumphantly at Violet before leaving. This was her first time actually seeing him here and her eyes widened when she came to a realization.

"Shit!" she cursed before running straight for the vault.

Grayson drove over to Azura who was on her knees and exhausted. She wanted to go over and end Remus, but she felt Alexandrite's large hand grab her arm. Azura was hoisted onto Alexandrite's lap, much to her displeasure, and Grayson drove all three of them away from the area.

Violet made it to Mr. Whisker's building and ran to the vault. The door was busted open from the explosion and she could see that all the dust inside was gone. She took a good guess that Grayson stole it all when she and her team were busy fighting. Zelts picked up Silver, who was still unconscious and in pretty bad shape while Violet recovered Remus, who was too tired to stand or walk on his own.

"This was a mess," Zelts said as he and the rest of the team waited for Mr. Whiskers' return.

They were inside the Fantasia with Remus and Silver in the back while Violet was in the driver's seat and Zelts was in the passenger's seat. They reviewed with each other what they each experienced, except Silver who was still knocked out.

"It's my fault," Remus managed to say through a dry throat. He wasn't feeling great about losing to Azura or leaving his post so easily. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it. You win some, you lose some. Right Violet?" Zelts asked Violet, but she didn't respond.

She was contemplating everything that happened in this mission and came up with one thought.

"We failed,"

Team VRSZ failed their mission, they were beaten by Grayson and his new associates stole the dust and nearly beat all of them. Violet was angry that Grayson's group bested them, and that her team wouldn't get paid in full after everything they've been through. She was also very aware of the intense animosity between her and Grayson, which begged the only question she had; "When will Grayson and VRSZ clash again?"

Team VRSZ isn't known by their clients as Team VRSZ. They're called by their occupation; Freelancer. The only ones that call them Team VRSZ are their friends.

After abandoning Greyhound, Silver has grown into a better person, though his criminal tendencies have not completely subsided. He's known for mugging lowlife criminals for money, making shady deals for rare items he could sell in the Bazaar, and other things. His teammates are aware of this, but he prefers if Bianca remained in the dark about this because he didn't want her to lecture him. Actually, Bianca has been keeping some activities of her own from Silver, but it'll come to light in a future chapter.

Violet and Zelts' team attack Petal Storm is Violet sending a swarm of knives through one of Zelts' tornadoes to rip enemies to shreds, but there are several dust variations used throughout the series. Hellfire (fire), Diamond Dust (ice), and Thundercracker (lightning).