NeoNazo356: The first and only Review that had any questions worth replying to came from one KitsuneDragon, asking- "Do you think he could get arrows with arrow heads with HF tech?" To answer that question, I don't see why not. Blade Wolf, previously known as IF Prototype L-84i, was equipped with springloaded HF knives, so it's fact that High-Frequency projectiles do exist. However, like target-seeking missiles, the operating cost would be quite large, so he'd have to use those sparingly. Can you imagine how much Green Arrow's Diamond-Tipped or Hawkeye's Adamantium-Tipped arrows must cost?

P.S.
Before I forget, in exchange for a bit of advertising of my RWBY story "Giant-Slayer", I promised to do a bit of advertising in turn.

If you're ever looking for a funny Teen Titans fanfic, why don't you try "The Tale of Gecko" by Greywing44. She's pretty good, and this Teen Titans fanfic has a nice twist to it. I won't say anymore 'cause that'd be spoilers.

*MODEL BUILDING*

Bludhaven
September 30, 16:30 EST

It had been four days since Virgil had concluded his business out in the ass-end of Spakone, Washington, and things between him and Athena had been… Well… They never did get around to having their talk like planned.

In fact, things were very awkward between the two of them. Athena did say she'd be happy to talk about their little rendezvous more, and deep down Virgil had hoped it would pan out farther than his previous encounters with the opposite sex… But the moment they sat down to have said talk, the genius-girl choked like that one kid at every spelling bee, before bolting into her room and locking the door with five different mechanisms.

As a result, the two teens on the cusp of adulthood had been unable to speak one word to each other, let alone have a sustained conversation.

'Dammit, Virgil, pull yourself together!' Virgil groaned as he stared up at the ceiling of his room. 'This shouldn't be that hard! Just pull her to the side and talk about what happened like two sensible adults. How hard can that be? After all the shit you've seen, you need a normal relationship in your life, otherwise you'll lose your fucking mind!'

Of course it probably didn't help that after their first attempts at exchanging vocabulary failed, he had a very vivid wet dream about the very girl on his thoughts. The images that haunted his sleeping moments made it really hard to talk to her without his mind taking a nosedive into the gutter.

Don't fuck this up, soldier. Otherwise you'll be a virgin for-fucking-ever.

'And now I'm hearing voices telling me to get laid… Perfect. Just… fucking… perfect…' Virgil groaned, ignoring the fact that Get laid was literally on his to-do list.

*Br-r-r*Br-r-r* *Br-r-r*Br-r-r*

*Breen*

"Hello?" Virgil asked putting his phone to his ear.

"Hello, Vincent, this is Ms. Mayer. I'm calling in regards to the modelling work you did for us a couple weeks ago."

"Alright. Is there something you need?"

"Yes. I'd like for you to come up to our Bludhaven branch tomorrow after work. There are things we need to discuss."

"Sure thing. I'll be there as soon as I can after four," he replied into the phone, the line cutting out a few moments later. "Huh…" he hummed as he stared into the now-blank screen. "Never thought this whole model thing would pan out," he said aloud.

After Leeron had finished touching up his face with makeup, his signature scar had completely vanished, and he looked like a completely different person after his hair had been gussied up. The outfit he'd been asked to wear in front of the camera was a little too fancy for his middle-class tastes, but he must've been doing something right if he was getting a callback.

'Then again…' he thought to himself. 'If I'm only being given this modelling job so I can travel abroad without raising too many eyebrows, that's also a reasonable explanation for this callback.'

*MODEL BUILDING*

Bludhaven
October 1, 16:35 EST

The following morning, Virgil was all-too-happy to get out of the house. Boris still wouldn't let him train in the wake of his shoulder injury, and as such he didn't have much else to do after work other than go back to the Red Light and recuperate. Because of how awkward things were between himself and Athena, and how much the others tried pushing them together like something out of an 80s sitcom, the hours dragged on and on without end.

Also, because he didn't have any friends outside the Red Light or The Bunker, there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it without making up excuses.

'Glad to get out of the house for a few hours,' he thought to himself as he rode the bus to Upper Bludhaven, the dingy shades of the slums soon giving way to the brighter glows of the upper-class neighborhoods. He'd dressed his best, but in comparison to some of the better-off people he'd passed on the way to Gothic Renaissance, he STILL looked like someone who'd been living under a bridge.

The sheer weight of their respective class differences didn't really hit him until he'd gotten off the bus.

Of course, after what happened in the Red Zone, and seeing so many of the upper-crust citizens all turned into flesh-eating zombies without discrimination, that sort of thing quickly lost all meaning to him. In fact, the majority of them weren't even blips on his radar, just parts of the scenery he'd never interact with.

'These people wouldn't last five minutes if some yahoo decided to drop a bio-weapon in their laps,' he thought dismissively as he made his way to Gothic Renaissance. 'If Mercer managed to get to the mainland, this country wouldn't stand a chance. And god forbid someone like Superman gets infected.'

*MODEL BUILDING*

The walk between the bus stop and Gothic Renaissance came and went in a flash. Nothing really stood out all that much, but once he got near the place, he suddenly became hyper-aware of every little thing, like the placement of the parking meters and the cracks in the pavement. And it was really weird since he'd only been by the place one before, yet it felt like his old stomping grounds already.

'Gothic Renaissance might have affordable designer clothing in their stock, but I just don't see myself making this my usual hangout,' he said entering the store. Old habits compelled him to give the whole store a once-over, a leftover from the time he'd spent salvaging whatever wasn't bolted to the ground. The placement of products was slightly different, and a lot of the shelves were now dominated by the warmer autumn shades, some of the displays dotted with clothes that'd be at home at a Halloween party.

It was after he'd finished taking in the ground floor that he noticed someone towards the back of the store trying to get his attention with a wave of her hand.

She was a beautiful African-American woman with a tall and curvaceous figure, long and wavy white hair that fell freely down her back to her waist, and a beautiful pair of sky blue eyes. At the moment she was wearing a white blouse, a long purple skirt with reddish-purple shredded ends beneath bands of orange and turquoise, and tan open-toed sandals. She had accessorized her attire with multiple gold and purple bracelets and each wrist, matching gold hoop earrings, a gold choker necklace, and a single gold anklet on her left ankle. Her hair was held out of her face with a stylish reddish-purple bandana-like headband wrap.

Looking over his shoulder but finding no-one, Virgil turned back to the woman and made a "Me?" gesture to himself. He received a nod in turn, and finding no harm in it, decided to approach the woman.

"Hello," Virgil greeted casually. "Are you a friend of Ms. Mayer's?"

"I am, and you must be Vincent. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," she said extending her hand to him.

"As embarrassing as this is to admit, I'm at a loss as to your name," the brunette replied as he took her hand.

"Munroe. Ororo Munroe," she greeted giving him a firm shake in turn. "I am also a model under Ms. Mayer's employ."

"A pleasure to meet you," Virgil replied politely. From this brief interaction, he could tell that Ororo was a very calm person, carrying herself in a regal manner that other high-class women simply couldn't match. She also came across as a strong, confident, and intelligent woman, holding a certain serenity about her that made him feel very calm in her presence. Not enough to drop his guard, but enough that he felt more comfortable even though he'd just met her.

"Now that you're here, I can escort you to Ms. Mayer," she said leading him towards the Employees Only area of the store. "I hope you don't mind, but I much prefer taking the stairs over the elevator."

"It's fine. I'm not really one for small spaces anyway," the brunette returned. Okay, yes, he knew how hypocritical that was for a guy who'd crawled through air vents like something out of a stealth platformer, but in all honesty he'd rather not find himself confined in small spaces with little wiggle room if he could help it.

In the absolute worst-case scenario, those cramped spaces turned into tasty flesh bottlenecks. And the only remedy for those, was a pump-action shotgun.

Say what you will about Blackwatch, but at least they had good hardware for killing things that was worth stealing.

"So… If you don't mind me asking, how long have you worked as a model for Real Fashions?" Virgil asked. After getting the job offer, he did a little digging onto where he'd be working as his cover, but a great deal of the information about the models wasn't included on the main site, and the wiki pages were hardly a reliable source of info.

"I started out when I was eighteen, a little older than you," Ororo replied.

"I see. I see," Vigil hummed as he nodded. "What's it like working here?"

"Well, you get to travel for your work, and the money is good, so don't hesitate to give some of it to charity. I recommend Environmental NGOs."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," Virgil replied. "So what floor are we going to?"

"Fourth floor," Ororo replied, handing a folded piece of paper to Virgil. "Here's a floor plan. You might need it later on."

"Oh, thanks," Virgil replied, unfolding the paper to learn the topography of the building. 'Let's see… bottom-to-top we've got the Basement, Ground Floor Store, Second Floor Store, Reception/Information/Displays, Food Court, Advertisement & Photo Library, Website Management & Computer Security, Business & Accounting, Photo Studio & Design Galery, Living Spaces, and Re-l's Office. Seems pretty straightforward,' he said to himself as he put the paper in his pocket.

"Well, here we are," Ororo said getting his attention, opening a door with a large 4 to the side of it. Virgil was ushered through, instantly on guard as he walked into a room with the blinds drawn and the lights dimmed. Taking a few steps into the room, the shuffling of clothes met his ears through the quiet, the teen instantly on edge as his hand went to his waist.

*Click*

"SURPRIIIIISE!"

"Son of a bitch!" Virgil cried as the lights suddenly came on and a plethora of people suddenly jumped out, screaming in his face. Whipping out his Makarov pistol in one hand and his Balisong in the other, the screaming went on for a whole different reason, the brunette backing himself against the wall, iron sights bouncing between potential targets as he looked for cover, the room descended into anarchy.

*MODEL BUILDING*

"Well… That was a thing," Yoko sighed a minute later, setting the gun she kept hidden in her ponytail on the table as things calmed down. To be truthful, she'd only whipped it out, out of reflex, and she was now putting her chopsticks back in her hair.

"Yeesh, is the new guy skittish or what?" Vincent asked as calmer heads prevailed. Apparently, the new guy wasn't a fan of dark rooms suddenly turning bright and people screaming in his face, because it took half a minute to calm him down and assure him this wasn't some kind of ambush. The room's other occupants, primarily the models, had demanded to know why he was packing heat, to which "Vincent" told them that he lived in "the bad part of town".

Speaking of which, while far from having the full Real Fashions' roster in attendance, a grand total of four models were now in attendance, interacting with the new guy to varying degrees. The first was Kazkis Hauser, who was explaining that this was a surprise party as congratulations for making the cut, and was now introducing him to some of the other models.

Ororo Munroe was the most-understanding as to why he would carry arms. She wasn't thrilled that a minor had a gun and a knife on his person, but given how short a distance it was between Bludhaven and Gotham, and with a valid-enough explanation, any civilian concerned for their own safety was allowed to carry some form of weapon to protect themselves, within reason.

The next model to exchange greetings with Vincent was Mari Jiwe McCabe, a beautiful African-American woman whose skin was slightly darker than Ororo's, her eyes a light shade of brown, her dark hair cut short. Her attire consisted of a black blouse, a white pantsuit that was all-business yet strikingly casual. She had bone-colored claw-shaped earrings dangling from her ears, but he most eye-catching piece of jewelry she wore was the golden fox totem pendant around her neck, flanked on each side by alternating beads of black and teeth colored white. At the moment she was giving Virgil the rundown of how things worked at Real Fashions, as well as some much-needed advice for the fresh blood.

Then there was Rebecca Carstairs, a beautiful peach-skinned woman with bright orange hair styled up in a ponytail. She was dressed a bit more casually, wearing a red T-shirt that showed off her midriff, a black leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, black skinny jeans, a black leather belt with silver studs, and red high-heeled sandals. She was off in the corner making calls, only giving Vincent a passing glance before going back to the work she was doing. Apparently, Mari and Ororo dragged her in to help make the new guy feel at home, but all Rebecca succeeded in doing was give off the impression that she was self-centered and a workaholic. Nothing wrong with that in the business world, but still…

"Still, it's been a long time since I've seen this kind of sincerity and honesty from a fresh model," Kazkis said to his co-workers with a shrug.

"Oh, where does the time go?" Leeron sighed as he placed his hand on his check. "It feels like just yesterday, little Simon and Nia modeling for the first time as young models, and now they're off starting a family in Metropolis."

"Yeah," Yoko said with a smile. "I'm sure Kamina would be proud of them," she sighed softly, her hand going to her chest as she looked off into the distance. "I miss him."

"We all do," Leeron said putting a hand on her shoulder. "But hey now, enough frowny faces," he said pulling on the red-head's cheeks, making the woman smile. "It's a party, so let's have some cake and drink some beverages!"

"It's barely past five o'clock!" Yoko gawped.

"Hey, it's five o'clock somewhere," Kazkis said with a shrug of his shoulders as he grabbed a drink from the cooler.

*MODEL BUILDING*

'Okay, it wasn't a super-huge party or anything, but I'm perfectly alright with that,' Virgil thought to himself an hour or so later after the party started. Well, it wasn't so much a "party" as it was a group of employees welcoming the new kid to the workforce alongside a small potluck.

'That whole thing about, 'It's not about what you know, but who you know.' might have some merit after all,' he thought to himself as he looked down into his phone, a list of new contact numbers staring up at him from the screen, on top of the ones he'd already put in.

Dr. Zed
Home
Kazkis Hauser
Leeron Littner
Lilith
Mad Moxxi
Marcus Kincaid
Mari Jiwe McCabe
Ororo Munroe
Rebecca Carstairs
Yoko Littner

'Really need to sort out a speed-dial for these things,' he thought to himself before something else occurred to him. 'I still wasn't able to get Ms. Mayer's number, but getting that might be a security risk,'he mentally added. It was one thing to get called, but to be the caller was quite another when it came to information warfare. It meant there were two phones they could bug instead of one.

As he was thinking these thoughts on his way to the bus stop, he happened to pass by an alley where a guy dressed like he'd been living under a bridge jumped out.

"Gimme your money!" he shouted, holding a knife out at the red-eyed teen.

Hours of CQC training kicked in at the threat, and his body went into overdrive. Virgil sped over to the man's left side, his left hand going to the back of his head, his right going to his belt. Bending him over at the waist, he lifted the man by his belt in an adrenaline-fueled throw before dropping him onto his back with a loud *CRACK*, the man wheezing in pain as he writhed on the ground.

"Dude, what the fuck man?!" a guy with a video camera said coming around from behind a dumpster.

"WAH!"

Following that startled yelp, another CQC flashback played through his mind, only this time he wasn't on the receiving end.

Lashing out with a left palm-heel strike to the face, he followed with a right-handed straight to the ribs, a left-legged kick to the side of the right knee, a right-handed slap to bring his hand back down, a left-handed knife strike to the side of the neck, a left-handed strike to push his arm to the side, followed by a right cross to the face.

The two went down in less than five seconds.

'Holy shit… That was awesome!' Virgil thought to himself at how quickly he'd taken those guys down. When the first guy jumped him everything was normal, but when that other guy snuck up on him, everything felt like it was going in slow motion up until the last guy hit the dirt. 'Was that the 'Reflex Mode' that Snake told me about?' he thought to himself as he crossed his arms. 'Why not call it an 'Adrenaline Rush'?'

"Agh! Dude! This was candid camera!" the guy who just got the smack-down last groaned as he held his face. "What the fuck, man?!"

Realizing what had happened, Virgil's happy expression at a job-well-done turned grim as he rounded on the guy who spoke up at him.

"Holding a knife in someone's face is not funny!" Virgil raged at the guy, storming off before someone decided to call the cops and he got blamed for assault.

*MODEL BUILDING*

"And that's what happened," Virgil finished back at the Red Light, Moxxi sitting across from him as he drank a cold root beer.

Now that he was working for a Spec Ops group, while they wouldn't micromanage every aspect of his life –for whatever reason-, he was still expected to meet certain dietary requirements. One such agreement was NOT drinking alcohol until he was twenty-one, or unless it was on ceremony for his "cover". As such, he could no longer drink his troubles away like most men more than half his age.

"Hm. You know, I've seen candid camera gone-wrong all the time, but this is the first I'd heard about it happening to someone I know," Moxxi said with a shrug. Tina's attention span… it went every which way, and at times she could become super-fixated on shows like Mythbusters or World's Dumbest, memorizing what was said and done verbatim. Especially the latter, which she would spend hours going on about.

Especially the ones where people hurt themselves.

"Should I have walked away like that, though?" the brunette asked. "I was pretty steamed at the tone he took with me."

"You said the guy had a cheap camera, right?" Moxxi asked, Virgil nodding his head in return. "Then the way I see it, they were a no-name group trying to make it big on the internet. I doubt they've got a legal department, and guys like that don't press charges most of the time."

"Well that's a relief," Virgil sighed as he finished his drink. "Hit me with another, I need to unwind."

"Isn't there a certain talk you should be having with my daughter?" the woman asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I try, but every time I do, she runs like a scared rabbit and I can't get a word in," he sighed as he let his head fall to the counter.

"Sexual tension's got you wound up like a watch spring, huh sug'?"

"I'm surprised you didn't make some kind of innuendo."

"Hon, there's a time and place for innuendo. When it comes to my daughter… This is not one of those times," she said sternly. For a moment she looked like the ideal image of a responsible parent… if she weren't dressed like a magician's assistant on kinky fun-times night.

Boy, his head went to some weird places.

"What should I do then?" Virgil asked looking back up at her. "If I can't talk to her, how am I supposed to make things less awkward?"

"Take a step back, give her some time to herself," Moxxi said without missing a beat. "Sug', I'm going to give you some advice. Men, they're idiots. Case-in-point," she said jabbing a thumb to her left, Virgil turning his head to the right to see a pair of older gentlemen arguing about the most asinine things. "Women are more complicated than that. We don't always know what we want like men do, and we're more-likely to think things through than men. Because of that, we're prone to over-think things as well, and that can take a lot of time sometimes."

"So I should just… let her go?" Virgil asked.

"Virgil."

That she used his name meant she was being dead-serious, and that he should clean the gunk out of his ears and listen.

"A great love… is a lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all that you think about. And you can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But if you're patient, and you hold still, well maybe… just maybe… it'll come to you," she said sagely.

"Woah… That's deep. Like… really deep," Virgil said, slightly awed by her words. Like the words of someone who'd found the answer to one of life's greatest mysteries and had the whole of the universe spread out before them.

"That's what he said," Moxxi said with a grin.

"I thought you said this wasn't the time for innuendos!"

"There's a time and place for everything, and this… was one of those times."

"And you couldn't have squeezed one out earlier?"

"I should be asking you that," Moxxi said leaning forward, showing off a bit of cleavage.

"Leave my genitals out of this!" Virgil squawked with a red face.

Normally this would be a turn-on… But that woman's genitals are probably a toxic playground... So it's not.

"SHUT UP VOICE INSIDE MY HEAD!"

It was only because he was in Moxxxi's Red Light, where the craziest people from every walk of life in Bludhaven gathered, that he did not receive any odd looks for that outbursts.

*MODEL BUILDING*

This chapter was a little on the short side, a bit dry I'll admit, but what's to come next will be what all of you have been waiting for with baited breath.

Next time on Young Justice: The Hunter… Chapter 19 "Knight and Day".

That should give you some idea what's happening next time… Maybe.