The Black Market is A Wonderful Place [Joint Training]

[Deleted]

Having moving in with Mara, Aldwin's life had effectively flipped upside-down. He'd gone from living in a run-down apartment, driving in a ten-year-old truck, and living incredibly uncomfortably, to living an incredibly lavish life now. He had pretty much whatever he wanted, had a brand-new vehicle, and was living the best life he possibly could. That being said, though, he basically sold his soul to her in the sense that he was effectively working alongside her in a business he wasn't exactly all for.

Ah, the good ol' plan of War Profiteering. While not the most legal method of gaining his funds, it was still a way to make a lot of funds. In fact, he was on his way to deliver a shipment of goods at the moment. It wasn't anything too crazy, a few weapons that were swept under the rug from the normal eyes, perhaps a few performance enhancing substances, and some other goods. He tapped his GPS, making sure he had the right location. It was in some alley on 54th street, so certainly a dangerous drop-off, but still, he'd been told the pay was going to be good.

After pulling over on the side of the road, he grabbed a few suitcases and went for a bit of a walk. Should he need to, he was given a smaller gun from Mara if things went to shit. He wasn't sure how to use it, and just having it on him made him nervous. He didn't have any kind of license, so if he was caught by the law, he'd be fucked. Either way, there was still a hope that this whole thing wouldn't be an issue. If all went well, he'd be walking away with a good couple thousand dollars from the sale.

Heading down an alley he'd seen in the text he was sent from the buyer, he looked around for whoever he was looking to meet. They didn't seem to have shown up yet, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did set him into a period of wait until the buyer had actually arrived. He'd received very little information as to who they were, only that he'd be meeting at the time he was given. He pulled out his phone, and looked at the time; 4:45 PM. He sighed, realizing he was fifteen minutes early.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"There's been a hit on the black market. You'll want to investigate and be sure it's not something we want to be watching."

"Aww, what's a little trading between friends?" Shizuka joked with her informant who didn't sound too enthusiastic. "Okay, okay. I gotcha. I'll go look."

It wasn't but a few hours earlier that the Fullbringer had gotten tipped off. Xcution had quite a few dealings in the black market, and with the creation of Team Josai, they were even more involved than ever. Somehow, Shizuka had become an auditor of sorts due to Josai's current barren rankings, but they did at least leave behind some good information. Most of the time, she stayed undetected within the shadows. She'd let the deals happen because then she could keep track of who had what in case she ever needed to steal something back. The additional responsibility had become more common than she wanted to admit, though.

In this particular instance, however, the blonde was playing the system. She had already circumvented the meeting by taking out the random dude who was interested, and she found that there was a sense of anonymity between the buyer and seller. This was good. It was unlikely that this seller would even know who the interested party was, which meant it was a perfect opportunity to interrogate. She would just intimidate the person into staying quiet afterwards.

Dressed in a black hoodie with black leggings on underneath a pair of denim shorts, Shizuka approached the alleyway. Her bleached-blonde hair was tucked away within the hoodie so as to not make it obvious that she was even female. She had a small bag thrown over her shoulder that held nothing but her heels that transformed into her weapon. The shoes she chose to wear instead were basic sneakers. Before turning the corner, she checked her phone. The time read 5:02pm. Good! It was best to be fashionably late, not late late.

The Fullbringer kept her head down and didn't say anything as she walked down the alley. She was careful to watch her feet because, of course, the entire area was just filthy. She wasn't worried too much about her safety, but she was heavily concerned about what the heck she might step in. A shiver ran down her spine just thinking about it. How anyone could stand to constantly be in such a mess was beyond her understanding. But regardless, she needed to woman up.

After stopping perhaps five feet away from the man, Shizuka picked her head up, ripped the hood away to reveal her entire face, and smiled. The man didn't do too much to hide his identity, so Shizuka took a few moments to assess who she was dealing with. He was taller than her by a good bit, like almost a foot, but they didn't look to be too different age-wise. That was a shame. She could tell he had a lot of potential that even he might not be completely aware of yet, but aside from just a slight feeling, there wasn't much else she could sense without him actively trying to flex his power.

"This is probably the worst way to get catfished, but hopefully you're not entirely disappointed." The blonde flipped her hair so it hung naturally instead of stuffed away inside her clothing. She tilted her head as she eyed the gun. "I can also will that thing to never go off no matter how many times you pull the trigger so there's no use in defending with it. You wanna tell me what you're doing with these things?"

[Deleted]

To say that he was taken back from the woman's appearance would be an understatement. He was far from expecting someone like her, and certainly looked to be a bit stunned by the sight of her. His eyes widened ever so slightly, and he quickly cut himself off from speaking before so much as a word even began to come out. Was this woman really looking to buy these kinds of items off of him? Part of him started to wonder what someone like her might actually want these for. She didn't look like much of a fighter. He allowed himself to set down the cases, and held his arms at his sides.

Then, she began to speak. The very second she mentioned anything about 'catfishing', he hand immediately twitched. It was like he was getting ready to go for the gun, but stopped himself as soon as he realized what he was going to do. Violence isn't going to solve anything, he thought to himself, might as well wait and see just what she's looking for here if she's not actually interested. He sighed, and put himself at ease once more over the whole situation.

"I can also will that thing to never go off no matter how many times you pull the trigger so there's no use in defending with it. You wanna tell me what you're doing with these things?" She could what? He'd dealt with spiritual beings before - having being whatever it is that he is, that's fairly natural - but never once had he even heard of the possibility of someone being able to just will a gun not to fire. Who exactly was he dealing with here? "You a cop?" he asked, a somewhat suspicious look on his face. He picked back up the cases, and was more than prepared to make a run for it, should he need to. He didn't expect her to actually answer him, but just from the size difference alone, he figured he'd be able to overpower her if he needed to. 

This whole situation was growing weirder and weirder by the second, and he didn't really know how to keep up with it all. She didn't look like an undercover, which was good, but still, he wanted to make sure. Her earlier comment made it seem like she wasn't, but that could've just as easily been a ruse. He didn't know what to think. Either way, though, he was effectively cornered. He'd quickly lost control over the situation. What was the harm in sharing at this point? Worst case, he'd be arrested, get Mara to just get him out, and the two of them skip state, or even country. It wouldn't be hard to set themselves up somewhere else should the need arise.

"Listen," he began, "I'm just looking to sell a few things for a friend. We need the money, and we're doing what we can in order to get it. Sure, it might not be the best way of doing things, but can you blame us? Being able to make that much, off of something that might have a chance of going south is incredibly worth it, no? So, I've got everything you requested in these two cases. I'm not looking for any kind of fight, I just want the money I came here for, and then I'll be on my way. Sound good?"

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

"You a cop?"

Shizuka snorted, intentionally trying to soften the air around them a bit and ease tension. "What? Ha, no. No, I'm nothing like that. I bet you they wish they could be like me!"

"Listen, I'm just looking to sell a few things for a friend. We need the money, and we're doing what we can in order to get it. Sure, it might not be the best way of doing things, but can you blame us? Being able to make that much, off of something that might have a chance of going south is incredibly worth it, no? So, I've got everything you requested in these two cases. I'm not looking for any kind of fight, I just want the money I came here for, and then I'll be on my way. Sound good?"

The Fullbringer looked this man up and down and smiled as she answered him. He didn't look like a black market dealer, that was for sure. Honestly, between the two of them, she looked more like one than he did. She figured it was best to play the part at this point rather than risk getting got by actual police, despite the fact that she'd be able to run away pretty easily. Getting involved with the law was not a good thing in this type of world with people like her.

"Unfortunately no, that's not good. Is all you want money? Is that why you're doing this? Seriously?" Shizuka grabbed the case with a quick yank, knowing completely well enough that he wouldn't be able to stop the action. She could tell this much - he was weaker than her. So that meant she didn't have any reason to go full-blown Seven Guns on him. "We need to get kids like you out of the street, is what I say even though we look like we're the same age. Anyway, you don't have to be doing this. There are other ways to make money."

So she was basically talking someone off the ledge, but she knew what the black market was like. She understood the dealings. She also knew that it was easy to get on someone's hit list as soon as you sold pretty much anything related to the black market, and this guy was no different. He was on Xcution's list and that's why Shizuka was here in the first place. She wanted to attempt to convince him that there were other options, and one in particular stood out.

"I could offer you some advice, or maybe even a real job, but the longer you do this, the more likely it is that you'll end up dead. Believe me, even my name is in that stupid, notorious bingo book. I can tell you're like me, but I don't know the details. There's a reason why I said what I said and can do what I do." Shizuka, to add emphasis, cinematically snapped her fingers and created a small spark of flames within her palm before extinguishing it by closing her fist. "Haven't you ever wondered what else is out there?"

[Deleted]

"I..." Aldwin started, followed by a short pause, "yeah, I have thought about it. I've thought about it a lot, actually. The more I have, the more I've more or less resigned myself to this kind of life, y'know? I mostly just brushed that stuff off if if I'm being honest; the possibility of a different future, I mean." He sighed to himself. "Look, if you've got some kind of miracle offer, I'm all-ears. And, yeah, you're pretty much right on the money; I've been more or less doing this for the cash."

Having basically surrendered any semblance of control he had on the situation, Aldwin leaned against a wall, and threw his hands into his pockets. He kept his eyes on the woman in front of him. "So, do you have a name, Blondie? And what's someone like yourself making a weapons purchase of this caliber - pun intended - for? You mentioned something about catfishing me, so surely you've got some reason to be here if it's not product, yeah? Might I ask what that is?"

He continued to keep his attention on her. Usually about now he'd be checking in with Mara so that she knew if everything was delivered, but he had some sort of bad feeling about not keeping his attention on her. She felt dangerous; incredibly so. Granted, everything in this damned world seemed like it wanted to kill him since he learned that everything was quite literally not as it seemed growing up.

He made a quick glance around the area, and let out a sigh of relief. Seemed like nobody else expected to be here, so any worry or doubt he had about her not being the one he got in contact with was effectively cleared within his own mind; whether or not that was the case was up in the air, but he felt more at ease with every passing moment. Simply put, arms dealings scared the shit out of Aldwin, even if it was something he didn't want to admit. Even though the transfer here wasn't going according to plan, and he didn't have the situation under even a semblance of control, he wasn't really complaining; especially considering the woman in front of him with a 'natural leader'-esque personality.

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

The Fullbringer smiled. This man was exactly what she was looking for. Younger, impressionable, strong, easy to train. He'd be perfect for Xcution if she could convince him, but that would be her challenge. Her company had a bad reputation, and it's not like Shizuka did a whole lot to fix that. She didn't care. If meant that people were intimidated by that group, perhaps even feared them, and that was enough. She wanted it to be that way. She may have been more approachable as a general rule, but she wasn't about to let something like that sway any opinions. She wasn't weak.

"You caught me! Yeah, I typically have my employees track people like you down and give me some information. I always insist on coming out and matching up with black market dealings because nine times out of ten it turns out there's someone like you doing it. Occasionally I'm wrong, but not often. So yes, I had a bit of motivation for this meeting. I don't want you to feel like you're alone."

Shizuka noticed the man glancing around as she spoke, no doubt making sure they were safe. He had nothing to worry about, but that kind of habit was a good thing. He already had the makings of a true assassin, and even if he didn't want to be one, there were other opportunities. It just depended on his interests. Shizuka mimicked his stance and also leaned against the wall, though wasn't as cautious as he seemed to be. She didn't have as much of a reason for it as he did. Well, not anymore. Not how she was now.

"My name is Shizuka Sanamizu. I'm one of the Seven Guns in Xcution, and I'm the highest-ranked. We're known as Rifles. It's my job to sniff people like you out and either recruit you or encourage you to stop, no matter what that means. I don't really like hurting people if I don't have to unless they're a Shinigami, though. You ever met one of those? Ugh."

The woman rubbed her left index finger underneath her nose to both scratch it and emphasize her dislike for the race. She'd come a long way since her start and even befriended one or two Shinigami, but she wasn't a huge fan. She still didn't trust them and didn't have much of a reason to. They were sneaky in their own ways and she didn't appreciate that. Well, it's not like she couldn't be the same way, obviously, but she didn't want to press that issue. She preferred to think she was guiltless in this strange, spiritual world.

"Anyway, you don't have any reason to worry. No one's going to come here and they wouldn't dare in the first place. I would take care of that pretty quickly, and no, I don't mean by killing them! I would grab you and run, though."

[Ludwig Verrlicht]

Alright I'll be grading this. Aldwin is dead and gone so he gets nothing.

Sana: between you and Paste ya'll did 32 paragraphs. Thus ya get 160 TP.