"So who are we waiting for?" Hunter asked.
"Max," Skylar replied.
"Right. He's the one who was undercover at Leinheim, right?"
Skylar's eyebrow furrowed. "You misunderstand me, Hunter. Max is not a b --"
The door slides open and Maxine walks through. "Hey Sky -- oh it's the asslicker!" She pointed to the dark-haired boy.
"You're Max?" Hunter turned to the aqua-blue-haired woman. "She's Max?"
"Yes," Skylar nodded.
'Maxine, Max. In retrospect, that was pretty obvious, why didn't I think of that?'
"Dumbass," Max mumbled.
"Can you two drop it? This is a very important mission and I can't have you screwing it up," Skylar said.
Maxine frowned at Hunter before turning to Skylar and wears a smile. "In front of you are two bags, inside them, you'll find clothes I'll need you both to change into for the duration of the mission; discretion is a necessity. If you're caught, the Alpha Sector will deny any knowledge of your actions or the existence of this mission."
"Got it."
The duo changed into the clothes the director of the Alpha Sector had provided for them before jumping into two separate pods that took them to the surface.
.
.
.
"Please ... One more time ..." Camille whispered to her closed fist before rolling two dice.
Snake eyes.
"Yes!" She jumped elated, pumping her fist.
"You're cheating!" One of the patrons sitting across from her slammed his hands on the table as he rose from his seat, pointing an accusatory finger at the black-haired woman.
"Huh," Camille said, placing her hand over her chest dramatically. "Slander! I'll never do anything like that," she exclaimed.
"He's kinda onto something, you've won the last seven games," another patron said, more calmly than the first.
"What?" She scoffed. "You believe this guy? Nature just loves me, I swear!" claimed the red-eyed woman.
"Then why are you talking like someone who has something to hide?"
"Er ... Dramatic effect?"
"Excuse me, fellas," a staff intervened. "You're disrupting our services and other patrons' game." The staff waved one of his hands around to show that all eyes were on the table.
"Apologies," said Camille. "I was just leaving."
The staff looks at the table and then back at Camille. "Are you sure? We have another game room for lucky winners like yourself, there's much more to win."
"I think I've had enough for today."
The staff nods. "Follow me," he says. "I'll hand you your winnings in the other room."
"Thank you," Camille said, bowing courteously at the patrons before following the staff.
...
Camille walked into a dark alley holding a box filled with money. She had thought against walking through a shady route, especially with such a huge target on her back or in this case, hand, but ultimately decided to anyway as it was the fastest way for her to get home.
The former director heard the footsteps of two behind her - non-mystics and no doubts goons for one of the patrons who firmly believed she cheated in their game.
She could take them without using her mystical abilities and that was what she did. The black-haired woman turned and swung her box, knocking down one of the men who was stalking her.
The other pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots but the nature spirit remained undeterred, closing the space between them before them and knocking him out with a kick to the chin.
"Well, that was easy."
Camille heard a screeching noise behind her but before she could turn, someone threw a gag over her mouth and a bag over her head and threw their arm around her neck, applying a vise-like grip, before pulling her into a car.
'What the --' She thought as her hands were tied together before the grip around her neck was released.
The black-haired woman couldn't figure out who the new group were or their number. She couldn't feel any energy at all, so she knew they had a magic-negating crystal around which meant her powers were nullified.
The car drove for what felt like hours and hours before it finally came to a stop.
Then the bag was removed and so was the gag. "Hunter? You have some really weird kinks," said Camille as her eyes met those of her captors.
[Called it!]
'No one cares about you, shut up!'
"Let me just say, I was strongly against this whole thing," said the sprite.
"Christ on a bike, Gunna; shut up!" Maxine said as she got down from the driver's seat and moved to the back to join the other two.
"This was your doing?" Camille asked, narrowing her eyes at the shifter.
"No, this was Skylar's idea!" said Maxine.
Camille shook her head looking around the van. "You didn't even grab my box. There were millions in there!"
"My bad. I could repay you if you like," said Hunter.
"Look everybody, we've got Mansa Musa over here!" Max said, mockingly.
Hunter frowned but before he could throw out a retort, Camille stepped in. "Alright, knock it off you two," she said. "The last thing I need to worry about is you two not getting along and ruining the plan."
"You don't need to worry about me," said Maxine. "I'm a seasoned agent and a model professional. This monkey on the other hand --"
The red-eyed woman raised her eyebrow at the last comment. "I meant this rookie on the other hand is a noob which is basically a recipe for disaster. Let's not forget what happened when you had a rookie in Dreieck."
"Is that what this is about? You're mad because we couldn't get the job done back there?" Hunter asked.
"Dude. I didn't even know you were the rookie on Dreieck but I guess thanks for letting me know you're half the reason why a piece of shit still walks the earth freely."
An awkward silence filled the environment followed by a tension so thick in the air, you could almost taste it.
"I see you guys have some things to talk about so I'm just gonna ... Go for a walk." Camille carefully slides out of the car and walks out of the Alpha Sector agents' sight.
Neither of the duo spoke for a while, both opting to remain quiet and stare at an empty seat before the spell was broken by Hunter. "I'm sorry," he apologized.
Max sighs before turning to the sprite. "As much as I'd like to have someone to blame for that mission, it's no one's fault really, I'm sure you tried your best to make sure the twins didn't make it to Leinheim ... That's all that matters. You did try your best right?"
Hunter smiles. "If Dreieck was not a factor, why have you been bullying me since we met?"
"First of all, screw you! Second, if I were bullying you, you wouldn't be on your feet right now, and finally, I saw you with Wade and that makes you an asshole by association!"
"That man is loved by literally everyone in Sector 5," the grade A student pointed out.
"Because he's an adulator!" She countered.
"You're just mad people love him more than they do you."
"Great! Another Wade lover on the five."
"At least the hater count on there remains the same: one."
Max narrowed her eyes at the teal-green-eyed boy. "I'll go see if I can find Camille anywhere around." Hunter jumped out of the car and began searching for the former director. It didn't take long for him to find her sitting at the edge of a mountaintop.
"You guys manage to talk it out?" Camille asked. "... or have you killed her and you want help getting rid of the body."
The dark-haired boy froze. "I've already gotten rid of the body, I'm here to off you too 'cause you're a potential witness."
"Can't I be an accomplice?"
"An accomplice that could testify against me in the future? I think not; rule number one of homicide is to make sure there are no witnesses."
"And everybody knows you can't break rule number one," said Camille.
"Exactly!"
The nature spirit sighs. "Get it over with then, at least my death would be another clue for a sexy PI to unravel. I'll be happy if my body would lead her one step closer to the truth."
Hunter smiles and joins Camille on the edge of the mountain. "I'm sorry about Dreieck. Things would've been much different if I hadn't gone for the Retribution girls."
Camille sniggers. "And you believe that too." She said. "Dreieck was bound to fail anyway and that's why Skylar began plotting our future for when that happened. If you hadn't shown your compassion and went to help the Retribution girls, Medea would never have contacted you and the twins would've left Dreieck with the princess. Your choice wasn't what made us move our plan up, it was what helped us realize we needed to."
"I hadn't thought about it like that," said the sprite.
Camille smiles at the Metropolitan School of Mysticism student. The former director shifts her gaze to the horizon before speaking again. "You're special, Hunter --"
"I'm not --"
"You are. And it's not because of your tremendous potential as a mystic or your resilience or whatever, it's because you're new to the mystic world. You've spent so much time with non-mystics you've adopted some of their traits that have become rare in the mystic world. Your humanity is what makes you special, Hunter, and in this cruel world of ours, you have to hold onto it."
----