An old Soulless Soul [Plot | PV Avy]

The soulless… it had been quite a while since he even heard that name and now, he was getting involved in something with them again. Well, this time, he was on the other side though. Those assholes…

That morning...
It hadn't been that long since Jet had seen the blonde girl but he answered quite fast to her request for help anyway, always happy to see her. Apparently she had managed to bust her Jetski and stranded herself on an island. He almost couldn’t wait to tease her about it really, but he refrained from doing it over text, he didn’t want her to get angry and change her mind about getting his help. Still, he chuckled for a while as he went there. He rent a small motor boat to get there, using the coordinates she gave him to find the island. He could have gotten a Jetski himself for fun but since he had to bring in tools and parts, the boat was necessary.

Once he got there, repairing her motor-cycle/Jetski wasn’t too hard. He brought enough parts to make sure he had everything and he had the needed items. There was obviously some banter that ensued while he did so and it quickly developed in a small spar. Well they did both want to continue their previous fight, a secluded island sounded like a good opportunity. The fact they were both in minimal summer clothing, him in swim trunks and her in her own swimsuit had nothing to do with Jet’s perpetual smile though… nope, nothing at all.

Unfortunately, it seemed fate didn’t want them to ever finish a spar since they were interrupted again. This time though, it was a bit more serious. Three guys attacked them out of nowhere. At least, nowhere for Jet. His vision was pretty bad at the moment since the morning sun was pretty bright and right in his face. Not that he said anything to Avery though, didn’t want any favor treatments for it. Thankfully, the three attackers weren’t much of a problem for the duo of hunters. Jet managed to ensnare one of them, the other two having either escaped or were incapacitated by Avery.

“Alright buddy, I’m going to ask once, then I’ll tighten this chain a little bit. It would be in your best interest to talk before all those pretty little blades start shaving more than just your clothes and hair. Who sent you?” Jet had a pretty dangerous look on his face at that time. He actually had some idea of why they were sent after him. The research papers he had requested had arrived and what they contained implied that the accident that gave him his conditions and made his sister a paraplegic wasn’t an accident at all. It was the kind of thing that could reopen the investigation on the event and potentially ruin the life of whoever orchestrated the sabotage, enough to motivate said person to hire some hitmen.

“You know full well that I won’t talk. It’s bad for business you know?” The assassin smirked, either confident or feigning it.

“Hmmm, probably, but what business would you have without arms?” Jet started to tighten the chain on him, the blades starting to cut skin. The assassin was visibly gritting his teeth at the feeling, but Jet had to give it to him, he didn’t show any other sign of pain. “You do seem resilient. Well it’s ok, I have other ways.” Using his semblance, Jet felt around his captive and grabbed on the metal electronic parts of the device in his pocket. “Lets see what your scroll has to say.”

The assassin debated himself a bit, but all it did was deepen his wounds. Jet on his part hacked into the electronic communication device and found a few entries. They were anonymous but he wasn’t Peri Scone’s prized assistant for nothing. Using his own scroll, he ran a few programs to trace back the location of the person communication with him. With no surprise, he found that the hit was ordered by someone from Mistral, but what did throw him off guard was what he managed to find when he cross referenced the sender’s ID on the web. He found a lot of entries on a site that was used by a group he knew all too well : The Soulless.

All form of amusement he might still have had was gone. Jet looked at the assassin and showed him the symbol of the group that appeared on his scroll, telling him he now knew who employed him. Well, there goes client confidentiallity, it was clear in the face of the assassin that whatever information he still had wasn't worth losing his arms. “No more playing around… Talk.”

Shifting in his seat, restless, Jet though back to his younger days. The Soulless used to be a street gang, a Syndicate, that mostly just wanted to get the slums under control. Gang wars are a bad thing, uniting them would at the very least stop the violence between the residents. Well, Jet had to agree he was pretty naïve when he joined, he was what… 14, 15 years old? He had just survived through a bad experience and he wasn’t in the best place mentally speaking, so the prospect of peace in the slums wasn’t the main thing that got him to join, he just wanted to fight and rebel. Had he known what he now knew, things would have been quite different.

The assassin didn’t really say much that he didn’t know, mostly that he was hired by the lipman of a lipman, nowhere near the real culprit. But he did confirm that The Soulless wanted him dead because of evidences that were unearthed about a sabotage they did ten years ago. The date and circumstances matched; The Soulless were behind the whole accident at the Dust Research Laboratory.

He and Avery had caught the earliest flight to Mistral, which was a day flight so they would arrive in the early evening, something Jet actually liked. The less light there was on their arrival the easier it would be for him to spot anyone following or spying on them. They must know that they were coming after their assassins failed, so they might be waiting for them. The commercial flight was a bonus, they wouldn’t strike in such a crowded public situation it wasn’t their style, at least it wasn’t when he was part of the gang.

Avery stared outside the window of the plane silently, making out the lights of Mistral underneath as the plane neared its landing. The darkness of the night outside made her uneasy but that wouldn't stop her from pursuing the idiots who dared steal something from her.
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Earlier that day...

"Wooh! This is life!" Avery laughed as she held a tight grip on the cable connected to her jetski running on autopilot while balancing on her ice board, allowing her to water ski and wakesurf to her heart's content. She had spent the entire morning playing in the beach and enjoying the sun and the last thing she expected was her jetski overheating and creating a mild explosion in the middle of the ocean.

Fortunately, there was an island nearby. Unfortunately, she had to dive in the ocean's depths to retrieve her bike's parts. By the time she collected everything, she was exhausted and her phone was almost out of battery, allowing her to send only a single call to Shades guy before it died and she was left stranded in an unknown island.

The repair didn't take long and the two even managed to spar afterwards before they were interrupted by uninvited guests - three assassins who Avery noticed primarily targeted Shades.

"A premeditated attack like this means there is a why and a who. Speak." Avery stated calmly, spinning an ice dagger in hand after having separated from Shades and subdued the other two who tried to escape. They were on the ground bound in ice from the neck down and they proved to be so harmless that Avy didn't expect one to use fire dust hidden in his ring to escape the entrapment and lunge at her neck.

Avery moved to the side and the perpetrator managed to grab her choker instead. Due to her spar with Shades guy, she had the accessory on its lowest setting, allowing the culprit to easily reach it, rip it off and take it with him as he fled. Avery went in pursuit but just before reaching the airship, fire dust was used to block her way, effectively stopping her in place as she felt more vulnerable than ever faced against her elemental archenemy without an armour.

"Well shit," Avery murmured as she returned to Shades guy, a hand on her nape. "Please tell me you got something. A location at the very least." She glanced at Shades then at the assassin. "I... need something back."

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Avery strolled out of Mistral's airport dressed in an all-black sleeveless turtleneck midriff and high-waist jeans. Rubbing her eyes as she wasn't able to get a wink of sleep throughout the plane ride, she surveyed the surroundings and found she actually had no idea where to go. "So, where to? And do you have a plan? I'm more of the spontaneous type than the planner type, you see, so can't rely on me with those."

As they got out of the airship Jet started to look around for familiar faces. The sun was mostly down and in their back anyway so his vision was pretty good as he surveyed the crowd. He didn’t think there would be any, they weren’t that dumb as to send people he knew, but general posture and antics could give them away. He knew they were observed at the very least, they must have known they were on their way somehow. He did hear Avery’s question but didn’t answer for a moment, frowning internally since he couldn’t spot any signs of his old gang. “This way, there’s a motel down the street.”

He didn’t wait for her answer and started to walk forward. The motel in question was very close to the airport, nice quality lodgings for travelers and such only a few minutes of walking at a brisk pace from the front door; an obvious place. Jet went to the front counter and asked for a room beside an unused one, claiming they were waiting for friends and that they would take the other room. Well Jet was waiting for “friends”, but definitely not in the way the lady was understanding it.

Jet had barely said a few words, to the blonde girl that was along for the ride, which was very uncharacteristic of him, but he had a few reasons for it. Mostly, he was mad. Not at her of course, but he couldn’t get out of his head that those he used to call partners, friends, were responsible for the accident that almost killed his sister, almost blinded him and changed so much in his life. Not all of it was bad, but the way they welcomed him with open arms knowing full well who he was and what they did to him and his family sickened him. All the memories he had of his time in the gang, good or bad, were replaying in his mind, wondering how much they were probably laughing behind him at how he was trusting the ones he should be hating the most.

Another reason for his silence, was that he was certain they were being followed. He didn’t need to spot the person, he just knew, he counted on it. Entering the room, Jet started throwing his few luggage around, took out a bottle of alcohol from the mini-bar and poured it in a glass that was offered. He went to the bathroom and started the shower then went back. He used his scroll and called the phone in the room. Jet picked up the call and made sure that it stayed on while still looking like the phone was off. “We were followed, this room is a bait, we’re switching to the other one.” Checking out the window in the back, Jet made sure there wasn’t anyone. There wasn’t a backyard per say, the motel complex was arranged in a square and the back door was leading to the center of it, limiting any visibility to the other customers only. Considering they flew straight to Mistral on the same day of the attack and went straight to this motel on arrival, Jet was pretty certain they didn’t have the time to set up any form of permanent surveillance. From what he remembered from the gang, their response time sucked as every member were scattered. Anyway, the chances that they expected them to arrive that fast after them was slim to none, so other than a lookout at the airport, it would have been deemed a waste of resources to pull a full group on site when there was a big chance Jet would have stayed in Bellmuse to plan things better. It’s what he would have done before, which is why he didn’t.

Opening the back door, Jet quickly went to the one on the side for the room he knew to be unoccupied. The lock was a regular mechanical one needing a key, but Jet’s semblance made it pretty easy to pick it, barely needing to put his hand on the lock and align the pins. He made sure Avery was with him and went inside, locking it back. He opened the light on one of the smaller lamps, so Avery wouldn’t just stumble around the dark, the drapes were thick enough that low lighting wouldn’t be seen. It probably wouldn’t matter but might as well take all precautions possible.

“Sorry about that.” He said it but didn’t really look like he was. He wasn’t really, but habits are hard to ignore, even when mad. “Since it’s my old gang I have an idea of how they work. They won’t send assassins again, we’re on their territory so they’ll send their own heavy hitters. Well, I say heavy hitters… they’re thugs, nothing more really, but they’ll have unlocked aura. If all goes well, we won’t even need to fight them. They’ll storm inside when they hear the shower running, thinking we’re off guard. Once they see we’re not there, they’ll which we will hear since I’m still in communication with the phone in the room. Most probably they’ll decide to report back and we can follow them, or say something that could lead us to their hideout. If they talk about doing anything else, we go in, beat the crap out of them, and get the location. That’s as much of a plan I could come up with during the flight. I know they expected us to pop up, probably later but they probably have their own plans which makes it hard to plan anything bigger for now, so spontaneous is probably what we’ll have to go with anyway.”

Jet had put down his scroll on speaker mode on the bedside table, the steady sound of the shower the only thing coming out of it for now. Standing at the door so he can look through the peephole, the black haired guy sighed loudly, deflating a bit from his rather tense mood. “Well for now, we wait…” Looking back at her momentarily, a thought came to him. “What is it exactly that they took from you? I mean it must be pretty important for you to come all the way here with me to get it back.”

That's not much of a plan, Avery thought as the guy suggested they proceed to a motel. She followed him in silence though feeling a little awkward at his unusually quiet behaviour. Was the situation that serious? In fact, why was he being targeted in the first place? It suddenly occurred to Avy that she went with him without fully understanding the situation. She had been too distracted of her unease that she failed to ask him of details during the flight.

Inside the room, Avery didn't have the time to flop down on the bed when she noticed his odd actions. Her senses then raised in alarm when he mentioned they were followed. "We were?" she muttered in disbelief, taking a brief glance at the door. As soon as they moved to the next room, she threw her backpack on the bed and took out her laptop.

Avery settled on the couch and proceeded to type away while listening to his briefing. She nodded a few times to acknowledge his plan but then paused at his last question. The blonde glanced at him with a raised eyebrow before going back to her task. "If you haven't figured that out by now then no need to concern yourself."

Once done, she placed the laptop on the bed, the screen showing cctv feeds of the motel's hallways, elevator and lobby. Avery might suck at every life skill possible but computer security was her forte; a grey hat at its finest. She stood up and opened her backpack as she started to gear up for combat.

"They won't go back to their hideout just to report. They have scrolls for that plus they'll most likely continue running around town looking for you," Avery stated as she fastened her waist and gun holster. A small click and both ankle straps for ammos were in place as well. She finished by tying up her hair in a ponytail before returning her gaze back at him. "So unless you have another plan, I guess we're stuck with the beat-and-interrogate strategy."

Jet could only nod in appreciation at her hacking the security camera feeds around so they’d have a visual instead of just sound. She did it quite fast too so that was good to know she was skilled with that. On his side, Jet might be a programmer but he’s been more focused on programs development and AIs, cryptography and other hacking skills, he was dreadfully slow at them, making it impractical in a situation like this.

He shrugged at her dismissal of his question. He guessed it was the choker she was wearing before, it’s not like he missed the fact she didn’t have it anymore, but he didn’t know what it was or why it was that important. Maybe it was a heirloom or just something of sentimental value. It didn’t matter anyway. They were going to wreck the Soulless gang and she’d get it back while he’d put an end to those assholes.

“Well, unless they changed their ways, they don’t use scrolls much since they can be stolen and stuff. But you’re right, I shouldn’t assume too much from past experience. If they do report by scroll, let’s wait until they’re done before we charge in.” With a smirk at her last statement, Jet looked at her sideway. “I prefer it that way anyway. I need to vent and anyone from that gang is a valid target for it.”

Jet hadn’t looked away from the laptop screen, looking at the video feeds. He saw a couple of late customers but no one suspicious. Jet was actually wondering if he had just been paranoid about being followed. “I don’t know how long we’ll have to…. Wait. Well there they are.” Because things never happen when you wait for them, the moment he was about to do something, two guys showed up on the camera approaching the room next door. They weren’t very subtle either, moving slowly, almost tiptoeing and even placing an ear on the door. Really, suspicious was an understatement. “Well, at least they don’t seem very competent. That hasn’t changed too much from what I can see.”

Soulless was a gang, most of the members were typical thugs and very few were what you’d call professionals. There were some that were very dangerous and very efficient, but they were barely a handful. Those two were definitely not part of those elite. Jet raised an eyebrow as he watched them clumsily pick the lock. Idiots, had they been in the room they would have heard them fumble around with the lock. He guessed they must think the shower sound would cover it, making Jet tick at how the trick worked only to force them to wait longer for the duo to manage to unlock the door. Casting a glance at Avery, he rolled his eyes. Well, he was wearing sunglasses so she probably didn’t see, still his facial expression said enough.

Once the two thugs were in, they had to rely on sound only since there was no camera inside the room. The sound was actually pretty faint, the open phone not being having that strong a microphone. They heard a gunshot then people cursing. They probably shot the shower curtain trying to hit whoever would have been there and were now mad that they were tricked. Listening on the voices with his scroll on speakerphone, Jet waited for an indication of what they would do.

“…told us not to underestimate him. He’s going to be pis… …at we missed him. We should… …after him, I don’t… … me ba… … nother failure.” The sound was bad and a lot of it wasn’t intelligible since the shower was still running.

“Calm down… … down the str… … … thers, he can’… …ar.”

Sighing, Jet got up, obviously not very patient at this moment. “Fuck it, I can’t get whatever they’re saying. Let’s beat it out of their skull. You take the back I take the front so they can’t escape.”

Walking to the front door, Jet opened it and went to the room with the two wannabe gangsters, waiting a few seconds. Lifting his right foot, he inhaled and kicked right next to the doorknob counterbalancing with his whole body to give the strongest strike. Just inside were the two men, looking surprised. “That’s how you fucking storm a room you pansies.”

With a swing of his right arm, his chain shot forward between them, forcing them to scatter. A flick had his blades swing sideway to the left catching a surface cut on the guy’s arm which was holding a shotgun, making him miss his shot. Getting in, Jet slammed the broken door back to close it. “Please try not to faint too fast, it’d be boring.”

Avery sat back on the couch, placing an elbow on the armrest and her chin on her knuckle as watched the video feeds from the laptop.  

"You know, of all people, I wouldn't have expected you to be part of a gang. Well, you do look the part, though you could've at least joined a decent one. This is just painful to watch," the blonde-haired muttered as she watched on the screen the horrendously unskilled 'assassins' not even bothering to be inconspicuous. They only sent two?

Avery kept fuddling with her turtleneck absentmindedly as they soon relied on the voices from the speakerphone for information. Her eyes shifted to the guy when he stood up and stormed out of the room leaving her no choice but to follow suit. Languidly, she went out the back door and towards the other room, pausing for a moment in front of the knob as her fingers played around her high collar still. She closed her eyes with a sigh.

Don't think about it. It's not a big deal. The girl reminded herself, admittedly feeling vulnerable without her upper armour on. The sound of gunshot soon emanated, snapping her out of reverie. She took out one of her golden guns and opened the door, immediately locating the shotgun and firing a single bullet towards its barrel to send it out of the person's grasp. Without a moment's notice, she fired two more rounds on that person's right arm and leg before aiming it on the other thug. A flick of a switch turned on the laser guide of her weapon simply for intimidation purposes as she raised the light so it now pointed in between the person's eyes.

"As you can see, we're not the most patient of people. So before this gets... bloodier, I suggest you answer his questions. Mainly the usual stuff, you know, where your hideout is and all that." Avery said in a bored tone, using her free hand to close the door behind her before settling on a seat while still keeping her aim.

Something didn’t feel right. The level of incompetence of these guys was astonishing and if they were chosen to go and catch him, they should have been some of the heavy hitters. Even if they weren’t good at the cloak and dagger stuff, there’s no way the higher ups underestimated them enough to send only those two wimps. They seemed to have their aura unlocked since none of their attacks actually draw blood, though the guy Avery shot is probably sweating bullets thankful that she stopped before his aura was out. Aura or not, they were too easy to neutralize.

Letting his chain rattle on the ground as he moved, Jet made his way to the thug who still had his weapon, the one being kept in check by the blonde’s gun pointed at his head. There was just enough dust in the air to make the laser pointer actually visible in the air a little. They probably didn’t expect her to have this level of fighting too. Well, surprise!

Jet made sure to keep the unarmed thug in his field of vision so he wouldn’t have any dumb idea like attack him from behind… That being said, he still tried just as Jet was taking the other guy’s weapon from his hands – what looked like a pretty simple sword. Not even looking at him, the Hunter student simply stopped his charge with his foot at face level, making the would-be attacker run straight in his extending leg, his lower body still moving forward from the momentum and making him fall down on his back. The kick actually managed to break his nose through the aura protection.

Jet ignored the now injured guy and looked straight in the other one’s eyes. His scar showing around his sunglasses could look pretty intimidating when he had his serious face on. “Do you know who I am?”

“Ehm… You’re Jet Jeyson… They called you the Grue.” The guy’s voice trembled slightly.

“Ah yeah, I hated that name. Can you tell my friend here why they called me that? She doesn’t know.” Jet had a wicked smile as he asked.

“Well… Wraith spread that name for you because, like the Grues in old video games, you struck when it was dark, especially in pitch black rooms… We… We’d turn off the lights and you’d go in and beat the crap out of them since they couldn’t see you… But I’m not afraid! You never killed anyone!” His bravado was visibly forced, he knew that it as a weak argument.

“Maybe… But you talk like you were there when I was so you must have seen the state these guys were in. Alive, but god did they wish they weren’t!” Jet was satisfied when he saw the guy gulp from memory. “You know, I’ve changed. I’m not as violent now. But… you guys had to trick me. You know why I’m here now? Why I suddenly decided to come back to say hello?” A nod was all he got as an answer. “Yeah, you were there, I’m guessing you know all about it right? After the “accident” in the Research Lab, you took me in, telling me we’d make sure the rich people couldn’t play around with the worker’s life anymore giving unrealistic deadlines and forcing dangerous experiments to be done without proper preparation. That was the official reason everything blew up, but I now know the truth. I’ve dug deeper and found out it was sabotage. Of course I didn’t know who did it, though I was going to find out, which is why you sent those assassins after me!”

Jet had been screaming at the guy, he just couldn’t help it, just like he couldn’t help gut punching the guy with as much force as he could. Since they left Bellmuse he tried to keep his anger down, trying not to blow up, but his mind had been ruminating about everything, remembering all the times he was told they would change the world and make those responsible pay, when in the end, he was helping the very group responsible. Oh most of those he hurt actually deserved it, but he couldn’t help but feel remorse. The guy in front of him was even there at the time! Right now, even though he was just a grunt, he was there, in front of him, and he represented everything that went wrong in his past, he was the face of everything that was done to him. He had to vent and since they weren’t even strong enough to fight back, he didn’t even get to do it by beating them up. So he ranted and screamed and reveled in the “I’m royally fucked” expression he had put on the guy’s face.

Jet looked around and spotted Avery. That calmed him on the spot. Not because of any sentimental or corny bullshit, it just reminded him of why they were here and what they were doing. He had lost it for a moment and just let loose every ounce of anger he had accumulated. Right, they had actual questions to ask and he wasn’t the real cause of everything, just one more pawn like he used to be. Well, at least he seemed primed to talk now. “I take it you understand that any of those less violent changes I was talking about are out the window when it comes to you guys right? Still, I’d rather the people actually responsible pay instead of you little puppet. So, will you answer me?”

“YES! Hideout is still under the smoked meat factory in the industrial district, we didn’t move since it’s too expensive to get a new front.” He was talking very fast, but Jet didn’t care much about that answer, he already suspected, even though it was nice to know he’d be fighting on known territory.

“Yeah yeah, that’s all good but that’s not what I want to know. I know Wraith couldn’t have sent only you two to get me. He’s an ass but he’s not dumb enough to underestimate me this much. What is waiting for me when I get there?”

“I wasn’t told the details, you said it yourself I’m just a puppet! All I know is that you arrived way earlier than expected so they dispatched the first people available to tail you and capture you if you were vulnerable. We saw you enter the Motel with an unknown girl you came with then heard the shower, we assumed you were in it… both of you, since there wasn’t anyone inside the room. That guy you knocked out activated heat vision lenses to check the room. He said there was nothing except residual heat and a big blob of heat from the shower steam that we thought was masking the people inside… We reported that info to HQ and they told us to get you.”

Jet threw an amused glance at Avery. For a moment he pictured it, he couldn’t help it. It also reminded him that she had lost something. “As pleasing as the idea is, I honestly don’t care about that part. Did you see the assassins come back?” A nod. “One of them brought back something, a choker probably. Do you know what happened with it?”

“I think it was to be sent to the Leader. No idea other than that.”

Jet looked at Avery again at that, at least they knew they could track it. “Alright. Now what were you supposed to do once you captured us?”

“Call it in and wait for further instructions. The leader is gathering the strike team but I don’t know the next step.”

“What is known of my friend here?”

“Not much. She’s still mostly an unknown. All we know is that she can use ice and guns, that’s all the hitmen said about the girl they saw on the island, we don’t know all she can do with that ice.”

Jet believed him. It sounded much like Wraith to say nothing. The guy believed in only giving enough information for the specific task of each person, need to know basis. In any case, their HQ knows that they went in, they’ll be expecting either a call, or assume we neutralized them. He gestured to Avery to ask any question she might have and once she either did or signaled she didn't have any he turned back to the thug. “Call it in. And leave it on speaker phone. Just tell them we weren’t there, that we somehow managed to slip away.”

He did just that. He pulled out his scroll and called someone, saying they failed and no one was in the Motel even though they didn’t see anyone leave. The only words said by the voice on the other end was “Report back to HQ”. Sighing, Jet shrugged at the lack of new information. Looking at the guy, he shrugged again and knocked him out with a right cross to the head. He didn’t want him to hear what he and Avery will say.

“Well, I believe him, in the fact that this is all he knew and that he told the truth, but we have no way of knowing if he was told the truth himself. It’s fishy. Wraith, the leader, he’s not the kind to underestimate people. Even naked and unarmed, he knows I could have destroyed small fry like those two easily; there was no reason to send them in just because they thought we were in the shower. So them thinking we weren’t there at all might buy us some time and force them to spread their forces more to search instead of regrouping. Still, now if they don’t report back, they’ll know they were taken out. If we let them report back, we won’t have any leverage on them anymore so they’ll probably report the truth.” The black haired guy sat down on the bed, thinking.

”We have to decide what to do now. Entering the HQ shouldn’t be that hard, I know where it is and where are the entrances. They’ll likely be guarded but not heavily. The factory is a front and they can’t have armed people hang around, so they’ll be disguised as workers but they’ll only be around the check points so not a lot of them. One way in is by delivery truck, which is how they move their teams around town, we could hijack one if we find one, there’s very little security checks for those until you’re already inside. Other than that, a hidden door behind one of the machine inside is the main access. They don’t know you so you could potentially pass for a new recruit and pass most security checks except the one inside the base… but you’ll be inside already and can wreak havoc… Or we can just go in guns blazing, to be frank that would probably be the one thing they wouldn’t expect me to do.” With another shrug, Jet lifted his head toward the girl with him. “I’m open to other ideas if you have any.”

Avery holstered her gun and watched from the couch as Shades began to interrogate the thug. The first information she learned was the nickname - Grue, based on his ability to move within complete darkness. Oh look, opposite of her. It would make sense seeing he still wore the bloody sunglasses at night. Then information about an accident, research lab, sabotage, things she didn't understand that was hard to piece together. But one thing's for certain, 'Grue' was pissed, to the point where Avy stood up in case he tried to kill the man. Fortunately, he calmed down and continued with the questions.

Hmm. So that's why he turned the shower on, she thought once the thug finished explaining how they fell for the trap. She noticed the amused look on Grue's face but didn't know what it was for. Perhaps bragging of his ingenuity. The interrogation finished in no time and she didn't ask any questions. She simply listened to Shades' plan but something was nagging at the back of her head. "This might just be me overthinking but I feel like there's something wrong here," Avery began, taking out her gun and spinning it in hand absentmindedly.

"Everything is too easy not because we're one step ahead but because their plan is a mess. It almost looks like they want you to go to their base for an ambush. I wouldn't be surprised if all of his men are inside the HQ instead of 'searching' for us. If so, we're severely outnumbered. And unlike grimms, they're not mindless. We can't use the police. We also can't use the information that you know when you were a former member because the leader is aware of that and would most likely plan a direct counter."

Avery scratched her cheek, clearly unsure. "So how about two points of entry? One of us can go in guns blazing to create a diversion while the other sneak in and head straight for the leader. Since you know the HQ layout more than me, you can sneak in and find your way faster. And I would think you'd want to settle unfinished business with him personally."

Jet smiled at Avery’s mention that things weren’t right, they definitely agreed on that it seemed. She was perfectly right in saying that it was too easy and it would be the kind of thing Wraith would do, not waste resources searching in a whole city when he knows the final target. Better overwhelm the opposition with numbers where they are certain they will be.

“It’s definitely a trap, that I have no doubt. To be frank, I’m pretty sure those two were sent to feed us the information they wanted us to have. And you’re right about the police, the gang has people in it and others paid off to ignore any calls about them. I never knew where they got that level of power over the authority, I never really stopped to think about it to be honest.” Jet lightly poked the knocked out guy at his feet with the sword he took from him, both for fun and to make sure he was still knocked out. Looking a bit closer at the weapon, he saw that it had a Dust dispenser, so good thing he didn’t get to use it.

Nodding at her proposal, the black haired guy placed the sword on the side. “Yeah, I agree. We can safely assume that they’re expecting us, so both going straightforward would only get us overwhelmed without any benefits other than maybe making enough ruckus to force the corrupted police to investigate and potentially arrest them… then again, almost as much chances that we get arrested instead. Only question now is when we should do this. I’m tempted to say as soon as possible. If they really didn’t expect us to arrive in Mistral this soon, maybe they’re not yet prepared, waiting might allow them to have more traps ready. Then again, they’re expecting us now, since they know we’re here, so there is also the chance we could catch them unguarded by waiting longer, they’re no military organization so most members have about zero patience. You’re the unknown to them though so it’d be better to follow your judgement. As you said the leader knows me, so he can predict my movements better than yours.”

Jet checked both guy’s scrolls again, having picked them up at some point. Hacking into them wasn’t that hard, his own scroll had a program he wrote perfect for it. Wraith did keep all communication as brief as possible. No texts other than a request to report in, no voice mails left, scroll’s memory wiped clean every week… yeah, he wasn’t going to get any info from them, but he still kept them in case they received something and he saw that they still reported status through text so he could send one to gain more time.

Jet stood up and stretched a bit. “I think your idea is the best. I have an idea of how to enter without being seen and without using one of the entrances. Seeing as you’re the only one with actual guns, you’re the perfect person to go guns blazing. As for when, I’ll leave that to you also. The factory is about a thirty minutes car ride from here. That means they’ll expect those two to report in in about thirty to forty-five minutes. More than that and they’ll expect a status report. I can text them with his phone to buy us some time, but they’ll know soon enough that we beat them up. To be frank they’re already expecting us right now anyway so I’m wondering if we should even bother being cautious about them knowing we intercepted their team or not.”

Jet thought back at her mention of him wanting to settle the score himself with Wraith. “Also… I do want to confront Wraith personally. We used to be friends, well, comrades. At least I considered him so. He was a mentor, he taught me quite a few things that served me well and still do now, but even with that he was manipulating me. I’m sure now that they were planning to use me as the face for their more ambitious actions in the future considering… wait… I actually never explained what that did right? Crap, I know you’re here for your choker but I should have explained why you got dragged into this to you before.”

Passing his fingers in his hair, Jet sighed. “Long story short, my sister was a researcher for Dust uses and they were close to a breakthrough in energy production, something pretty revolutionary. Something went wrong in the last experiment and the whole thing blew up. I was there in visit, so was my sister participating in the experiment. I managed to open the blast doors to let everyone trapped inside out and safe, but I got a full face of Dust cocktail and my sister who tried to shield me went into a coma for a few years, then woke up paraplegic. That’s also how I became allergic to Dust and hypersensitive to light, the nerve paths around my eyes mutated somehow from all the Dust they had inside.” Jet shrugged there, his own condition didn’t bother him anymore, he got used to it a long time ago.

“Anyway. Recently I got back the research papers and through some luck, I discovered that it wasn’t an accident from lack of preparation, it was pure sabotage. I was close to knowing the culprit, but the assassins attacked and literally gave me the answer. My old gang did the sabotage. Why, I don’t know. To get public favor for their cause? I joined them afterwards actually, the incident happened when I was twelve and I joined when I was about 14. They told me, and I naïvely believed, that they were fighting to make sure the rich people wouldn’t treat the workers like expendable people. Remember, at the time, everyone thought the incident was caused by the research being pushed for an unrealistic deadline from the higher ups and the lack of preparations caused the instability. So for years I was working for the same people who were responsible for what happened, thinking I was working to prevent things like that from happening.” With a dry laugh, Jet shook his head. “Talk about being gullible, right? I’m wondering if I’m more angry at them for manipulating me, or at myself for being so dumb.”

Clearly, Avery was relieved the guy agreed to her thoughts. At least she knew she wasn't overthinking. But now the question was either to wait or head in as soon as possible.

"I think going now would be best," she said while fiddling with her gun. "It'll give them a false sense of security by thinking we fell into their trap. They're on high alert and they anticipate us so they'll jump on the first opportunity they find... which is me, the diversion. By the time they realise what's going on, it'll be too late. You'd have confronted the leader by then. At least, that's what I think."

The blonde listened as he explained his connection to the gang leader. Then mentioned her choker. Oh right. She had almost forgotten. Admittedly, she only went with him to get the device back but the more she learned of the situation and his relation to the gang, the more she didn't realise she was doing this to help him.

After hearing the whole story, Avery couldn't help but clench her jaw. Horrible. It was like fate's cruel humour with him in the centre. No wonder he lost his temper earlier and he wasn't his usual self. She couldn't even ponder how he could still maintain his calm. "You were fourteen - a kid who knew nothing. You just happen to fall victim to one of the predators in this world. At least now you can show them they messed with the wrong cub, with the current you being on top of the food chain and all."

"Do me a favour and take a picture after you've busted his face. Just hearing the story is enough to annoy me for days, seriously." She grumbled and stood up to open the backdoor since all her things were still in the other room. Taking a brief glance at him, she gave a small smile. "You can't do anything about your past but you can do something now. My psychotic uncle tells me revenge is one of the most satisfying feeling ever. And it's best served cold~"

With that, she excused herself and went back to the other room. From her backpack she took out and wore a black long coat containing ammo's lined inside. She'd need all the firepower after all.

When Avery started telling him about how he was just a kid and all, Jet let himself fall backward on the bed, his arms spread on each side of his body. She was right, but it didn’t make it hurt less really. Maybe he was overestimating himself by thinking he was a smart kid that should have seen this coming from a mile away, but even now he couldn’t find anything in his memory that could have pointed him to the truth. He smiled though. If he wasn’t in such a funk he probably would have been surprised at how nice she was being right now. At the moment though, he just appreciated the words. They didn’t miraculously make him feel alright but he did feel somewhat lighter.

He didn’t say anything until she left; somehow he felt it would ruin the moment and her perfectly theatrical pep talk exit. See? He was already thinking about stupid stuff, that was a good sign. Picking up the scrolls of the two guys, he looked through them again and stopped at a message he spotted before. It was the only one sent by Wraith himself if he believed the signature tag at the end. It was the order to go in the motel room and capture them and not to underestimate us. “Yeah, you want us to charge in? You think you can prepare a trap for us? You shouldn’t underestimate us either, bastard.”

Getting up, Jet proceeded to slap himself very hard. “Ow…” That being done, Jet used the bed sheets to bind the thugs together with some creative twists and knots that would make sure they wouldn’t be able to move until they got to the HQ. He really did a number on them if they didn’t wake up yet... He kept their scrolls too, in case some communication came on the way. Finally done in the room, he left a bunch of Lien for the door on the counter and got out that same broken front door then into the other room where Avy had gone to prepare her stuff. Jet didn’t bring much so he was essentially ready. With a much more characteristic smile, though still with evident traces of his less than happy state on his face, he looked at his teammate. “Let’s go, don’t want to give my revenge dish the time to warm up.” One step toward the door, he paused again. “Also… Thanks for what you said. It’s a good thing you’re here too. You have good insight and I know I can count on you if needed, but you also kind of remind me I’m not alone and I can’t be reckless… Well, considering your part of the plan, reckless might be the right word. You sure you’re up for that? I mean, you can probably beat most of the gang in your sleep but some of them aren’t pushovers, the strike team typically had people on the same level as Hunter students and they may have become stronger. I’m not saying you can’t do it but, don’t overdo it either, retreat if it gets too much. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask, I'll answer to the best of my memory, but I don't know that my knowledge of anyone's abilities would still be accurate. Anyway, I'm the one wasting time again. I’ll be sure to get your choker since you’ll be doing the hardest part of the job, then maybe you can tell me more about it while I show you my victory selfie with my foot over Wraith!”

Once out of the room, Jet took out his scroll and debated calling a cab but wondered if the Soulless might not have planted someone there too, since it was obvious he’d need transportation. Actually, his mechanical skills were something he developed more after he left the gang. They saw him arrive without any mean of transportation so they would probably assume he’d call a taxi or hitch a ride, but he had another option. He eyed a bunch of cars parked around the Motel. “Well… I’m really gonna need to volunteer at some homeless shelter or something after all that or karma is going to hit me hard.” Walking toward one, he caught something better in the corner of his eye. With a wicked smile, he looked at Avery. “If you’re going to charge in like cavalry, let’s get us some stallions.” Walking a few more meters, Jet stopped with a big smile in front of a row of sportsbikes, cruisers and even choppers. Apparently that Motel was popular with the biker’s gangs as there was quite a few. Walking to a nice black one of the same type as his own, he quickly found the ignition wires and had it running in a few seconds. “Well, you can either ride we me or pick one to follow. If you don’t know how I’ll show you how to hotwire it so you can use it for a quick getaway.” Scratching his head, he pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from the pocket of his jacket to write a note, weighting it down visibly under a rock on the parking spot, the note saying : ‘Sorry, urgent matter. If you call the police tomorrow, they’ll have them back in one piece...probably… ^^'' ’

Too hot. Avery groaned after having tried the coat on. In the end, she couldn't use it and simply settled with bringing her backpack along for the spare ammo. She was about to go out but paused to listen to what he had to say.

"Hmm? But isn't stealth the most annoying thing ever? My job is not to beat them up; it's only to keep them chasing. You, on the other hand, have to sneak in undetected, incapacitate anyone in your path, avoid security cameras while you manoeuvre inside, then defeat the leader and let everyone know. I don't even know how you can pull it off but since you agreed, I figured you'd find a way. If you want us to switch roles and take the easier job, feel free." Personally, she preferred the less stressful job but she didn't mind either way.

Once outside, Avery glanced casually at the cars parked outside the motel. From down the corner there were different types of bikes all of which weren't of interest to her. Deathwing is more handsome. She thought snidely. "I'll ride with you. I don't feel like volunteering in a homeless shelter," she told him. Technically, she didn't steal it if she was simply a passenger.

Avery settled at the back of the bike the guy chose, making herself comfortable by sitting sideways while waiting for him to show her how to hotwire it. She folded her legs and drummed her fingers on her thigh idly. "You know, this will sound like an odd request but..." she looked at him. "Can I see your driver's license?"

Jet waved off the idea of switching job off. “Nha, I have to do this. You seem faster than me when it comes to pure hacking but I did program a few things on my scroll that will take care of the camera issues. The rest is pretty simple till I get to Wraith. I know the layout so it’ll be easier for me too.”

Jet shrugged when Avery decided to ride with him. Her reasoning was amusing, but it did give him an idea of her honor code so it was nice to know even if it might just be a joke. Jet didn’t feel too bad about it though. Part of it was from his focus on the matter at hand, the immediate necessity to have a vehicle that wouldn’t be traced by the Soulless and the simple fact that he was willing to compensate the person, planning on leaving a bunch of lien with the bike to cover damages and inconvenience when he turned it in to the police. Really, it was like he was renting it… without asking first. Well, not like karma would care about any of these excuses he was thinking of to make himself feel better, but maybe it would be balanced by potentially exposing a criminal gang and righting some wrongs.

After Avy sat down on the bike, Jet got to work, explaining to her the process. Finding the ignition wire, unplugging the connector and making the bridge between the connector’s slots with a separate wire. The whole thing lit up the electronics of the bike as if he had turned the key in it and a simple push on the engine start button got it running. Before he could get on himself she asked to see his driver license. It was a strange request indeed but he didn’t mind, so he got the license out and handed it to her. “Not confident in my driving skills? I’m no professional but I’ve ridden my own bike in these streets quite a lot.”

Settling in front, Jet couldn’t help but smile in appreciation at the close proximity he found himself in with the pretty blonde. They didn’t have any helmets though so no crazy shenanigans or trying to show off. Not wanting to waste more time and a bit warry that the engine sound could wake up the owner of the bike prematurely, Jet started to move and was out of the parking lot pretty soon.

The drive was pretty uneventful. It was late so almost no traffic. He kept to the slower city roads, avoiding the highway which didn’t make it much faster anyway, and stopped a few blocks from their destination. “Here is a good spot I think. That building over there has a fire access all the way to the roof. We can set up there and observe the factory some to try and get an idea of what is waiting for us. It’ll also give me the opportunity to give you any info I feel will still be relevant and probably hasn’t changed.”

Parking the motorcycle close by, Jet entered the alley beside it and had the ladder down quickly with a flick of his weapon. As he was climbing, thoughts about how the vantage point might be bugged or monitored crossed his mind so he picked out his scroll and ran an app he made that would detect any form of transceiver close by. He was glad he detected nothing for now and it stayed the case even when on top. “Alright, everything seems clear. The factory is down there. I can see perfectly since it is dark but if you have trouble you can use my scroll night vision camera, picture is decent quality. Anyway. Main entrance is there. There’s a keypad for the door but since you’re not going for stealth anyway, just shoot it, blow it all up, freeze, melt… whatever strikes your fancy. Typically, there used to be three checkpoints with potentially armed people. One right inside said door, one when you get to the butchering area, and one inside the hidden door behind the giant grinder thing… you can’t miss it. Since it’s late and since they’re expecting us, there probably won’t be much non-fighter employees, if at all. I can also see a few guards around the place outside, that’s new and probably specifically for us. I’m expecting they’ll charge at you the moment you make some noise. That means you will have to attack before I can sneak in the back.”

Scratching his head a bit, he turned to look at Avery directly. “Other entrances are possible but they’ll be expecting you in those more than the front door actually. In terms of people, the only one I can warn you against is Wraith in case your distraction drags him out. Think long coat and weird skull mask, two short shot guns as weapon. Semblance makes him all smoky and allows him to pass through walls… you probably get why he has that name. If you see the guy, well you can probably decide on the spot what you want to do depending on the situation… Any idea on how you could send me a signal if that’s the case? I’m thinking fire alarm but, you might start that with your gauntlets anyway.”

"Not confident in my driving skills? I’m no professional but I’ve ridden my own bike in these streets quite a lot."

Avery blinked and simply took his license without a word. Her, of all people, worried over her safety? It's akin to a skydiver afraid to fall. She waited for him to settle in the bike before taking a quick look at the card - at the photo of him without glasses, and to the main reason she asked for it in the first place. Jet Jeyson. She read. Jet... as in plane.. plain.. yeah, cause he's so plain.. plane.. Jet. Okay.

"Here." Avery returned the card thereafter. Unfolding her legs, she took her out her phone with one hand while her other arm slid around his waist to keep herself from falling off as he drove. She scrolled through her contacts and stopped at a particular name before typing up a step by step instruction to send. Once the two reached their destination, she followed him to the roof, needing to use her phone to illuminate the way and had to borrow his scroll to see the meat factory from a distance.

The blonde listened intently to the information he shared and frowned at the part about the boss. "Ayy, what a cheap semblance," she murmured with a pout as she could already visualise how the insect would be able to go through her bullets as well. "As for the signal…" From her backpack, she took out an earpiece and placed it on him. "Unlike you, I came in prepared. We can keep in contact through this. You can also use my laptop to hack if you wish," she said as she placed her own inconspicuous device and left her laptop to him.

With the necessities taken cared of, Avery stood up and took a few of steps away from the ledge of the rooftop. "Alright. I’ll go on ahead and enjoy myself. Break a leg, Jet." She gave him a playful salute before running forward and jumping off the roof only to land on her ice board which darted fast towards meat factory. Her guns morphed to their flamethrower gauntlets and used a max power recoil punch to blast through the warehouse’s roof, surprising everyone inside and already incapacitating a few from the fallen blocks. Just as Jet predicted, the fire alarms triggered… along with the sprinklers.

Avery’s maniacal laugh resonated inside as she manoeuvred on her board, easily freezing everything and everyone in her path as well as open firing at people with long range weapons. She had a moment’s notice before a grenade dropped in front of her, the explosion knocking her off her board. Landing on her feet, she quickly regained her bearing and sprinted out of the large room, into a hallway and inside janitor’s closet. She held her breath as she heard footsteps outside looking for the intruder. The corner of her lip curved into a smile. This was fun. This fun was what she lives for. Kicking the door open, she fired at the idiots whose backs were now exposed and continued her havoc.