See chapter 1 for disclaimers.
AN: First off, I'm glad you guys like this chapter.
A sincere thank you goes to:LizaGirl, BAShippy, Sorrow1, Gem, Jenn, WW, Alchemist07, RavensHaelo,wg, and Miracle Angel Summers.
AN2: This time ITALICS are Gwen's narration.
CHAPTER 2: COMPETITION
London, England. Home of the scroll that I'm to steal for my client. This is the place according to the rumors. Ugh, this is the last time I'll take on a client that doesn't know where the goodies to steal are. I already do the hard work, swiping stuff gracefully and all that. I'm suppose to do the frustrating work too?
I've been checking the locals for the information on the whereabouts and it led me here. The bar. According to them, someone knows where the Sweet Whispers from Death here. What the hell is this scroll anyway? I could've asked my client but asking for unnecessary infos is not healthy for business.
I doubt that this piece of worn-out paper is worth much in the supernatural market. But then again, no one ever paid me 25 million dollars for a paper.
As soon as she went inside the bar, the atmosphere completely changed. Once quiet now the air is buzzed with chatter and vibrated with contemporary music. Gwen wasted no time and went to the bar tender. She ordered a simple wine. Waiting for her drink, she took the time to analyze her surrounding. Her eyes combed through the crowd, trying to see if she can spot the person that knows the exact location of the scroll.
To her, all the people look the same. She was going to have to ask people one by one until she finds him or her. It annoyed her to no end.
Knowing that she wasn't the only one after the scroll, she knew that she needed the location fast. She wasn't the only professional thief in the world, and she had no doubt that the others will soon know the location of the scroll. Whoever would steal the scroll, which leads to Gwen failing and having an unsatisfied client on her hands. She can't have that.
She snapped out of her musings as the bartender brought her drink. After whispering a thank you, she watched him go to serve a drink to another lady. She was about to shift her attention to something else but stopped when she heard the words, "Here's your drink Miss Moonstrom."
The name caught her ears. She knew about Joan Moonstrom's reputation. Most of her clients mentioned her as they talked shop. According to them, she was quite the professional. They wanted her services but Joan turned them down so they turned to her.
Being secondary choice to Joan certainly wounded her pride but she moved on. She kept doing an admirable job for her clients. A little competition to her could only prove healthy at best.
But now that little 'competition' is here. They were seeing eye-to-eye. Or at least eye-to-a-not-seeing-Gwen-eye. It complicates things a bit.
Gwen knew that Joan is resident to Rome. Everyone knew at least that much about her. Since Joan is here in London, she could only conclude that she's also after the scroll. Why else would she be here?
As she watched Joan fondle with her drink, an idea slowly molded into a plan in her mind. This plan would take care of everything for her. Finding the scroll, beating Joan to it, it would all be taken care of by her masterful plan. Well 'masterful' isn't exactly the word to describe it because in fact, her plan is quite simple. It's not even new. It had been done thousands of times by others but this fact doesn't null the effectiveness of it one bit.
She would let Joan do all the work for her. Joan would find the location of the scroll and then go on about stealing it. Of course, she wouldn't know that it would all be for Gwen. She would follow Joan to the scrolls location and watch her steal it. Once she gets her hands on the scrolls and exits, she would be jolted out of her consciousness -literally. It would only take one touch from her to ground a human being unconscious. The only thing left to do is to grabbed the scroll, give it to her client, and get paid.
It's the perfect plan. Joan would most likely have no clue what, or precisely who, hit her so even if she decided to make time for payback, she would have no idea who to dish it too. Even if by some chance she knew, she would already be in a separate country from her by the time she searches for her.
Knowing her plans will definitely work, Gwen let all her worries and fears wash away. She melted in her stool and simply observed Joan drink.
This job isn't such a downer after all. I barely have to lift a finger to get that scroll.
It's weird. I can't help but feel that this seems way too easy. Maybe I'm misjudging Joan's capabilities. Hmmph, it doesn't matter if I am. It wouldn't shock me. I doubt that she has electric touch or anything special. The only time that something didn't go according to my plan is when I was stealing the Axis of Pythia. Angel and his buddies were trying to steal the thing too. In the end I still got the Axis but Angel went after me to take it. I learned about vampires that day.
Veering off memory lane here, I doubt that Joan is anything 'freaky'. She doesn't look like one. She has reflections and she definitely isn't trying to avoid skin contact which proves she's not like me. She's nothing special. The scroll is as good as mine.
TO BE CONTINUED....
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Short chapter, I know. I really just wanted to introduce Gwen Raiden here. If you guys are already wondering about the Scoobs, they'll be included in the story in chapter 4.
Please let me know what you think via reviews. I'll try to update as soon as I can.