Ch14: A good deal of time later.
(Fri, M+8, D+23)
"Hmm." I'm standing in a Dust shop in the commercial district, reading the descriptions of the various types of powdered Dust in stock. 'Nope. Nope. Nope. Maybe. Definitely not. That gives me an idea." I think, reading the description of one. 'Silent Dust: This type of Dust possesses extraordinary noise reduction capabilities. I don't care how, but that'd do nice with Blue Death.' I think, an idea forming as to how to integrate the Dust into my rifle.
"It is surprisingly easy to find Dust shops open at this time of night. Seriously, do you people have any life outside these things?" I hear someone ask the shop owner. 'Warning. Warning. Danger.'
"Get the Dust." I hear him order some thugs.'Shitshitshit. Robbery.' I think, slowly turning to face the front of the store. 'Torchwick. Great.' I think, drawing Pearl from a sheath on my left hip and Marxman from a holster integrated into the sheath. I had taken to carrying at least one sword at all times in the city due to a previous encounter with a group of very determined muggers.
"Hey there kid! Would you mind putting those away, someone could get hurt." Torchwick jests, finally noticing me.
"Isn't that the point?" I ask, raising Marxman and placing a round directly into a thug's leg, causing him to collapse to the ground, writhing in pain.
*Bamf* "Let's take this outside." I say to Torchwick, having bamf'd right in front of him. I kick him in the chest and as I make contact, *Bamf* and both of us are outside.
I follow through with my kick, forcing him back a few steps and putting him off-balance.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!" I laugh maniacally, staring straight at Torchwick while asserting my insanity. "This. Will. Be. FUN!" I continue, holstering Marxman and drawing the C-100.
"Ummm. Alright then kid, no need to get all hyped up."
I then proceed to use the most subtle tactic in my book; charging straight at him, screaming like a madman.
His response was, as one would expect, to stare dumbly for a second, then step to the side, in an attempt to clothesline me with his cane. 'Sucker.' *BAMF* *THUD* I bamf right before actually hitting the cane, reappearing behind Torchwick an almost indefinable amount of time later, conserving my momentum and full-on tackling him.
I stand up, dust myself off and then proceed to to beat the living crap out of the thugs: men dressed in white suits with blue sunglasses and blue shirts/trim. None of whom appeared to have taken more than one lesson in how to use the axes that they were all equipped with. Even taking care not to cause mortal wounds, it was surprisingly easy. Torchwick got up, and then proceeded to flee in what can only be described as mortal terror while I, in order to further reinforce my appearance of insanity, laughed maniacally.
Once the police arrived, I handed off the thugs to them, I was asked to give a statement about what had happened (saying that Torchwick got away while I was subduing the thugs), and then they let me leave. Apparently aspiring hunters/huntresses beating the living daylights out of criminals is in no way unusual. 'Nice.'
"So, how much for a canister of Silent Dust?" I ask the owner of the store, a relatively young man with orange hair.
"You just saved my store from being robbed, it's on the house."
"I can't just take something without paying you."
"Dad! I heard the police report! Are you okay!?" I hear a girl yell from behind me, her voice full of worry.
"It's alright Nora, this kind man over here," The shopkeeper indicated me as I turn to face my favorite soon-to-be-member of team JNPR, "Scared them off." Mr. Valkyrie said.
"I did a bit more than scare them." I say with a smirk, holding aside my greatcoat to reveal Marxman and Pearl in their sheath/holster. "They didn't put up much of a fight though. Shame, really." I say with a disappointed tone, letting go of my greatcoat.
"Nice!" Nora says, "Oh, I'm Nora Valkyrie, and that's my dad."
"Kurt Wagner, at your service." I say with a bow and a flourish of my hat.
A boy dressed in green with a pink streak in his hair stumbled into the shop, evidently exhausted. Most likely due to following Nora.
"There you are slow-poke!" Nora chided her friend. "Kurt, this is Ren." Nora said, introducing me to her best friend.
"Nora." Ren breathed in, "Please don't ever do that again." He said, just starting to breathe normally.
"How far did you run?" I asked, a smirk on my face.
"Commercial district, near the waterfront." he answered.
"That's on the other side of the city." I say, impressed. "I'm impressed."
"Thanks." Ren said.
"So, Mr. Valkyrie, how much for the Dust?" I ask, getting back to the topic at hand.
"I told you, I'll give it to you for free."
"And I told you that I cannot accept it for free. I was just doing my duty as a huntsman in training."
"You're training to be a huntsman! So are we!" Nora said excitedly.
"Sweet." I say.
"I've got an idea dad! In return for the Dust, he trains with us!" Nora said, having come up with a solution.
"I don't have any problem with that." Mr. Valkyrie said, looking at me.
"Neither do I." I say, 'sweet', "Deal?" I ask, reaching my hand out to the shopkeeper.
"Deal." He says, shaking it.
"So." I say, turning to Nora, "When and where? I'm open anytime."
"Be at Torch tomorrow by eleven A.M." She says.
"Torch?" I ask, genuinely confused.
"It's a training academy in the residential district, near Forever Fall." Ren clarifies.
"Thanks! Gotta go, family's probably worrying about how late it is." I say, looking at the watch on my left wrist. "See ya!" I call out, picking up the canister of Dust and walking out. Once I'd gotten a decent distance away from the shop (about halfway to the coast) I bamf'd back home.
"I'm back! And do I have a story to tell!"