"8-ball, corner pocket." Said the billiards player as he pointed his pool stick to the pocket in question. He lined up his shot and hit que ball into the side of the pool table, travel between two other balls, and hit the 8 ball which sent it into its chosen pocket.
The man pumped his fist as the ball went in, "Yes! I win, pay up!"
His opponent, grumbled at first, took out his wallet and paid the man his winnings. "You're too good for me, where'd you learn to play like that?"
"Oh I get around a lot, so I pick up a few tricks every where I go." He grabbed the money out of the man's hand and held it above his head, he turned towards the bar, "Hey! Barkeep! Another drink for me!"
The bartender was wiping off the counter and looked up towards the man, "You know, you have a tab you haven't paid yet Axl, how's about doing with your money huh?"
The young British man, Axl Low, had long blonde hair that was covered with a bandana around his head. Axl waved his hand back at him, "Oh come on! You know I'm good for it, just look at the killing I'm making here!" He waved his arm around the bar, "No one here has beaten me, and I challenge anyone to try and take my title away!" Axl looked around the bar and no one really took notice of his challenge, failing at getting attention, he walked over and sat down at the bar. "So, where's that drink?"
"You'd better pay this time or I'm going to have to kick you out."
"Yeah! Yeah! Less talking more poring!" The bartender turned around and began to make Axl's drink.
"Why do I keep wasting my money like this?" Axl began to think to himself, "It's getting harder and harder for me to get money. I can't even hold a job because of my stupid time-slipping problem! I have to resort to quick cash solutions like this to pay the bills." The bartender turned around with Axl's drink, as he reached for it the bartender kept it just out of his reach, he had his other hand out.
"Money?"
"Sheesh! Alright already!" Axl handed him the money for the drink and took it, drinking it in one shot. "Ah, that hits the spot," He looked back up at the bartender, "Does anyone good come in here to play? I feel like I'm taking candy from a baby."
The bartender began to clean one of the glasses left on the bar, "Well, there is one guy I saw in here that looked like a professional player. But he keeps to himself and I never really see him play with anyone." He put the glass down and pointed to a corner booth in the back, "He's over there."
Axl glanced over where the bartender pointed and could make out a man with white hair and an equally white suit on, he was reading a book and had a strange looking case on the floor next to him. Axl put his glass down on the bar, "Well, I guess I'll go and have a little chat with him." He made his way over to the man.
Axl walked next to the man and saw that his hair covered his face, it had a weird eye symbol dyed into it. He chuckled a little at the sight of him, "How do you read with a hair cut like that?"
The man continued to read, he flicked to the next page as he ignored Axl.
Axl sat down across from the man in the booth, "Hey buddy, it's rude to ignore me, didn't your mother ever teach you any manners."
The man put his book down and combed his hair back, revealing his face. He had bright blue eyes and a slender black face. "I grew up without a mother. Now leave me alone."
"Geez, don't get all defensive, I'm just trying to get your attention." Axl looked down at the case and tapped it with his foot, "What's in the case? It looks like a pool que case."
The slender man was a little irritated as Axl touched his case, "You guess correctly."
Axl smiled, "So that means you play billiards right? How's about a game?"
The man picked his book back up, "I'm afraid you're out of my league, go play with someone else."
Axl let out a little laugh, "Oh come on, you can't be that bad, having a custom stick? Why won't you play, are you intimidated by my skills?"
This time the man closed his book, he crossed his hands and stared hard into Axl's eyes, "Obviously you've misunderstood me, I'm saying I'm better than you."
Axl smile faded a little, "You wanna bet?"
"Name your price."
"500."
"Done."
The man stood up from the booth and grabbed his case and made his way over to one of the pool tables in the bar. Axl jumped out of the booth and made his way over to man, "The name's Axl by the way, what's yours?" He held out his hand.
"Venom." The man said, not returning the gesture. He opened his case and revealed a two parts of a pool que that was white with a blue tip and handle, Venom assembled it and held it in his hands.
Axl lowered his hand and walked over and grabbed one of the sticks off the wall, "Man, what's this guy's deal?" He asked himself. By the time he turned around the man had already set the table. "Wow, that was fast." Axl walked back, "Since I'm nice, I'll let you break."
"That would be a big mistake."
"Man this guy's really arrogant!" He thought, "No, I insist, it's your honor."
Venom shrugged his shoulders and lined up his shot, he looked around the table a little, finally as he was making his shot he said, "8 ball, right side pocket."
"Huh?" Axl started to say when Venom made his shot. All the balls started to fly around the table, many of them started to go in the holes. Axl watch in awe as he noticed all the balls were going in the hole, except for the que ball and 8 ball, which now, ricocheted off the side, hit each other, and caused the 8 ball to fall into the right side pocket, leaving the que ball in the center of the table.
"Holy crap." Axl said as he dropped his stick onto the ground.
Venom looked towards Axl, "I told you that was a bad mistake, but unless you could do that, which judging by your reaction you cannot, you'd have stood no chance against me even if you went first." He held his hand out, "five hundred was the bet."
Axl shook his head, "Ok Mr. Hotshot, how 'bout we double our wager and play a different game." He took out two sickles connect by a long chain from under his jacket, "You game?"
"Once again, that would be a big mistake."
"Why you!" Axl began.
"Axl!" The bartender shouted, "Your not going to start another bar fight are you!?"
"Don't worry about me barkeep," He looked back at Venom, "Now defend yourself!"
"I am." Venom said as he held out his pool stick as a weapon.
Axl released his fighting stance, "You're going to fight me with a stick?" He began to laugh, "Oh that's rich!"
"Don't be so quick to judge!" Vemon said as he lunged towards Axl, swinging his pool que.
Axl quickly dodged, "Woah! You're not kidding around!"
Venom spun around a waved his hand in the air, as he gestured his hand, a pool ball appeared in mid air. He hit it with his stick causing it to fly towards Axl.
"Shit!" Axl jumped behind the pool table as the ball smashed into the wall, going all the way through.
At this time, most of the people in the bar were running to safety from the bar fight. The panicked people were knocking over tables and chairs as they scrabbled for the door. "Oh! Now look what you've done to my bar!" The bartender complained as the fight continued.
Axl still crouched under the table, "Ok, I've underestimated this guy, he's really good at fighting too." He lifted his head and saw the man make a second ball and sent it straight from him, he rolled to the other side as the ball smashed through the table and into the ground. "Really underestimated him, what next?"
Venom jumped across the table and confronted Axl. A small blue vortex started to form at Axl's feet, "Ah, not again." He was sucked into it, vanishing from the bar. Venom jumped back a little and looked around the bar. He couldn't sense him anymore, was this some kind of trap he thought?
"He's gone." The bartender said to Venom, "He does that every so often, just ends up disappearing for no reason." He made his way over to where people knocked over chairs in their escape from the fight and began to turn them back up, "It's really annoying too, he'll do it when I'm pressuring him to pay." He finished setting the chairs back, "So, you going to pay for what you did to my bar?"
Venom let his guard down and just stared at the bartender, and started to take apart his pool stick, "Ok, I'll take that as a no." The bartender started to pick up the mess and looked up and saw a man standing near the entrance, "Well it good to see I still have one more customer left, can I get you anything?"
"No thanks, I came to for him." The man pointed at Venom, "You're still the same after all these years, Venom." The man walked closer to him, "It's been a long time."
Venom finished packing his pool stick into his case as he looked up at the man, "Yes it has, Janus."
Janus walked made his way over to one of the booths and sat down, "Come, sit down with me, let's reminisce."
Venom walked over to the booth and sat across from Janus, "Why are you here? You left the assassins a long time ago."
"Oh come on, can't a student look up his tutor after seven years?"
Venom just stared at him blankly, "There's more to this then just visiting."
Janus pointed at Venom, "And that's what I liked about you, you could always tell when someone wasn't being completely truthful."
"Just answer the question, why have you come?"
"Well, to be blunt, I have a contract for you."
"Surely there are other assassins that could do the job."
Janus shook his head, "No, this requires a special touch, someone of your skills."
"What's the target?"
"A member of the Jellyfish Pirates."
"I don't kill little girls, unless of course you're talking about the captain?"
"No, and you won't have to kill her, we just want you to kidnap her."
Venom raised an eyebrow, "Who's we?"
"That's none of your concern, will you do it?"
"I don't baby sit."
"And you won't, we just want you to bring her to near by location and hand her over. We're willing to pay you your full fee."
"Money doesn't interest me."
"I thought you might say that," Janus started to pull out file, "So I thought you might find this more interest." He held up the file, it said 'Zato-1, Top Secret' on the front.
Venom looked curiously at the file, "What is that?"
Janus sat the file on the table, continuing to hold it down with his hand, "A file that tells the location and whereabouts of your missing leader," Janus shrugged, "Or what's left of him."
Venom reached for the file, "Let me see that."
Janus took the file back, and shook his finger, "Uh-uh, not until you agree to contract."
Venom sat back and thought for a moment, "Alright, full payment, only if the information on Zato is correct."
"Oh it is, you can trust me on that," He handed the file, along with another one and a phone, to Venom. "In there gives you all the information for the mission and the phone is for us to contact you to give you the current location of the Mayship and updates." Janus took out another file, "And, if you succeed you'll get a bonus." He showed the file, this time it said 'Millia Rage, Top Secret' on it. He flashed it in front of Venom long enough to get his attention and took it back, "Only if you succeed."
"I don't fail. You'll have your girl, you can count on that." Venom said as he put away the files and phone given to him. He stood up and picked up his case.
Janus looked up at him, "I know, that's why it had to be you, you don't believe in failure." Venom took his leave, "We'll call you with the details shortly!" Janus said as he made his way out of the bar.
Janus continued to sit at the booth, he heard a beeping noise, he picked up his phone and answered it. "Janus here...Yes, he did take the bait...... He couldn't resist it after I showed him the files......Yes, my plan is going smoothly, with any luck the Gear will be ours......Alright, come pick me up then, we need to get going.........Ok, see you soon Gregory."
He put the phone away and he clapped his hands. "Oh, bartender! I think I'll have that drink now."
The man pumped his fist as the ball went in, "Yes! I win, pay up!"
His opponent, grumbled at first, took out his wallet and paid the man his winnings. "You're too good for me, where'd you learn to play like that?"
"Oh I get around a lot, so I pick up a few tricks every where I go." He grabbed the money out of the man's hand and held it above his head, he turned towards the bar, "Hey! Barkeep! Another drink for me!"
The bartender was wiping off the counter and looked up towards the man, "You know, you have a tab you haven't paid yet Axl, how's about doing with your money huh?"
The young British man, Axl Low, had long blonde hair that was covered with a bandana around his head. Axl waved his hand back at him, "Oh come on! You know I'm good for it, just look at the killing I'm making here!" He waved his arm around the bar, "No one here has beaten me, and I challenge anyone to try and take my title away!" Axl looked around the bar and no one really took notice of his challenge, failing at getting attention, he walked over and sat down at the bar. "So, where's that drink?"
"You'd better pay this time or I'm going to have to kick you out."
"Yeah! Yeah! Less talking more poring!" The bartender turned around and began to make Axl's drink.
"Why do I keep wasting my money like this?" Axl began to think to himself, "It's getting harder and harder for me to get money. I can't even hold a job because of my stupid time-slipping problem! I have to resort to quick cash solutions like this to pay the bills." The bartender turned around with Axl's drink, as he reached for it the bartender kept it just out of his reach, he had his other hand out.
"Money?"
"Sheesh! Alright already!" Axl handed him the money for the drink and took it, drinking it in one shot. "Ah, that hits the spot," He looked back up at the bartender, "Does anyone good come in here to play? I feel like I'm taking candy from a baby."
The bartender began to clean one of the glasses left on the bar, "Well, there is one guy I saw in here that looked like a professional player. But he keeps to himself and I never really see him play with anyone." He put the glass down and pointed to a corner booth in the back, "He's over there."
Axl glanced over where the bartender pointed and could make out a man with white hair and an equally white suit on, he was reading a book and had a strange looking case on the floor next to him. Axl put his glass down on the bar, "Well, I guess I'll go and have a little chat with him." He made his way over to the man.
Axl walked next to the man and saw that his hair covered his face, it had a weird eye symbol dyed into it. He chuckled a little at the sight of him, "How do you read with a hair cut like that?"
The man continued to read, he flicked to the next page as he ignored Axl.
Axl sat down across from the man in the booth, "Hey buddy, it's rude to ignore me, didn't your mother ever teach you any manners."
The man put his book down and combed his hair back, revealing his face. He had bright blue eyes and a slender black face. "I grew up without a mother. Now leave me alone."
"Geez, don't get all defensive, I'm just trying to get your attention." Axl looked down at the case and tapped it with his foot, "What's in the case? It looks like a pool que case."
The slender man was a little irritated as Axl touched his case, "You guess correctly."
Axl smiled, "So that means you play billiards right? How's about a game?"
The man picked his book back up, "I'm afraid you're out of my league, go play with someone else."
Axl let out a little laugh, "Oh come on, you can't be that bad, having a custom stick? Why won't you play, are you intimidated by my skills?"
This time the man closed his book, he crossed his hands and stared hard into Axl's eyes, "Obviously you've misunderstood me, I'm saying I'm better than you."
Axl smile faded a little, "You wanna bet?"
"Name your price."
"500."
"Done."
The man stood up from the booth and grabbed his case and made his way over to one of the pool tables in the bar. Axl jumped out of the booth and made his way over to man, "The name's Axl by the way, what's yours?" He held out his hand.
"Venom." The man said, not returning the gesture. He opened his case and revealed a two parts of a pool que that was white with a blue tip and handle, Venom assembled it and held it in his hands.
Axl lowered his hand and walked over and grabbed one of the sticks off the wall, "Man, what's this guy's deal?" He asked himself. By the time he turned around the man had already set the table. "Wow, that was fast." Axl walked back, "Since I'm nice, I'll let you break."
"That would be a big mistake."
"Man this guy's really arrogant!" He thought, "No, I insist, it's your honor."
Venom shrugged his shoulders and lined up his shot, he looked around the table a little, finally as he was making his shot he said, "8 ball, right side pocket."
"Huh?" Axl started to say when Venom made his shot. All the balls started to fly around the table, many of them started to go in the holes. Axl watch in awe as he noticed all the balls were going in the hole, except for the que ball and 8 ball, which now, ricocheted off the side, hit each other, and caused the 8 ball to fall into the right side pocket, leaving the que ball in the center of the table.
"Holy crap." Axl said as he dropped his stick onto the ground.
Venom looked towards Axl, "I told you that was a bad mistake, but unless you could do that, which judging by your reaction you cannot, you'd have stood no chance against me even if you went first." He held his hand out, "five hundred was the bet."
Axl shook his head, "Ok Mr. Hotshot, how 'bout we double our wager and play a different game." He took out two sickles connect by a long chain from under his jacket, "You game?"
"Once again, that would be a big mistake."
"Why you!" Axl began.
"Axl!" The bartender shouted, "Your not going to start another bar fight are you!?"
"Don't worry about me barkeep," He looked back at Venom, "Now defend yourself!"
"I am." Venom said as he held out his pool stick as a weapon.
Axl released his fighting stance, "You're going to fight me with a stick?" He began to laugh, "Oh that's rich!"
"Don't be so quick to judge!" Vemon said as he lunged towards Axl, swinging his pool que.
Axl quickly dodged, "Woah! You're not kidding around!"
Venom spun around a waved his hand in the air, as he gestured his hand, a pool ball appeared in mid air. He hit it with his stick causing it to fly towards Axl.
"Shit!" Axl jumped behind the pool table as the ball smashed into the wall, going all the way through.
At this time, most of the people in the bar were running to safety from the bar fight. The panicked people were knocking over tables and chairs as they scrabbled for the door. "Oh! Now look what you've done to my bar!" The bartender complained as the fight continued.
Axl still crouched under the table, "Ok, I've underestimated this guy, he's really good at fighting too." He lifted his head and saw the man make a second ball and sent it straight from him, he rolled to the other side as the ball smashed through the table and into the ground. "Really underestimated him, what next?"
Venom jumped across the table and confronted Axl. A small blue vortex started to form at Axl's feet, "Ah, not again." He was sucked into it, vanishing from the bar. Venom jumped back a little and looked around the bar. He couldn't sense him anymore, was this some kind of trap he thought?
"He's gone." The bartender said to Venom, "He does that every so often, just ends up disappearing for no reason." He made his way over to where people knocked over chairs in their escape from the fight and began to turn them back up, "It's really annoying too, he'll do it when I'm pressuring him to pay." He finished setting the chairs back, "So, you going to pay for what you did to my bar?"
Venom let his guard down and just stared at the bartender, and started to take apart his pool stick, "Ok, I'll take that as a no." The bartender started to pick up the mess and looked up and saw a man standing near the entrance, "Well it good to see I still have one more customer left, can I get you anything?"
"No thanks, I came to for him." The man pointed at Venom, "You're still the same after all these years, Venom." The man walked closer to him, "It's been a long time."
Venom finished packing his pool stick into his case as he looked up at the man, "Yes it has, Janus."
Janus walked made his way over to one of the booths and sat down, "Come, sit down with me, let's reminisce."
Venom walked over to the booth and sat across from Janus, "Why are you here? You left the assassins a long time ago."
"Oh come on, can't a student look up his tutor after seven years?"
Venom just stared at him blankly, "There's more to this then just visiting."
Janus pointed at Venom, "And that's what I liked about you, you could always tell when someone wasn't being completely truthful."
"Just answer the question, why have you come?"
"Well, to be blunt, I have a contract for you."
"Surely there are other assassins that could do the job."
Janus shook his head, "No, this requires a special touch, someone of your skills."
"What's the target?"
"A member of the Jellyfish Pirates."
"I don't kill little girls, unless of course you're talking about the captain?"
"No, and you won't have to kill her, we just want you to kidnap her."
Venom raised an eyebrow, "Who's we?"
"That's none of your concern, will you do it?"
"I don't baby sit."
"And you won't, we just want you to bring her to near by location and hand her over. We're willing to pay you your full fee."
"Money doesn't interest me."
"I thought you might say that," Janus started to pull out file, "So I thought you might find this more interest." He held up the file, it said 'Zato-1, Top Secret' on the front.
Venom looked curiously at the file, "What is that?"
Janus sat the file on the table, continuing to hold it down with his hand, "A file that tells the location and whereabouts of your missing leader," Janus shrugged, "Or what's left of him."
Venom reached for the file, "Let me see that."
Janus took the file back, and shook his finger, "Uh-uh, not until you agree to contract."
Venom sat back and thought for a moment, "Alright, full payment, only if the information on Zato is correct."
"Oh it is, you can trust me on that," He handed the file, along with another one and a phone, to Venom. "In there gives you all the information for the mission and the phone is for us to contact you to give you the current location of the Mayship and updates." Janus took out another file, "And, if you succeed you'll get a bonus." He showed the file, this time it said 'Millia Rage, Top Secret' on it. He flashed it in front of Venom long enough to get his attention and took it back, "Only if you succeed."
"I don't fail. You'll have your girl, you can count on that." Venom said as he put away the files and phone given to him. He stood up and picked up his case.
Janus looked up at him, "I know, that's why it had to be you, you don't believe in failure." Venom took his leave, "We'll call you with the details shortly!" Janus said as he made his way out of the bar.
Janus continued to sit at the booth, he heard a beeping noise, he picked up his phone and answered it. "Janus here...Yes, he did take the bait...... He couldn't resist it after I showed him the files......Yes, my plan is going smoothly, with any luck the Gear will be ours......Alright, come pick me up then, we need to get going.........Ok, see you soon Gregory."
He put the phone away and he clapped his hands. "Oh, bartender! I think I'll have that drink now."