(That afternoon)
Just a few clicks across town, situated between two towering complexes in the heart of the Entertainment District, there sat a very trendy looking pub with the name West McLaren inscribed over its entrance. Judging from its stylish layout and real-estate positioning, it was a very rich and upbeat looking establishment, with potted plants arranged according to the spirits of prosperity, an outdoor eating area under a red veranda, gold embellishments, and big windows giving indoor customers a clear view of the streets outside. All in all, the place simply glowed with wealth and luxury, inviting anyone with money and time on their hands to spend their evening with a drink and a good time.
It was here in this high-class, respectable business, with smartly dressed men and women scattered throughout the interior of the complex, that a familiar figure could be seen sitting over by the bar and living out her days of freedom in seemingly ignorant bliss.
The years of peace and tranquility had been extremely kind and munificently fortuitous for this particular woman. Though she'd cut her bountiful blonde hair to a generous, shoulder-length height and sharpened up her appearance to blend into her new crowd, the young angel of chaos looked as fit, robust and healthy as the day she first stepped into the limelight of crime. This was back during the time the Red Ribbon Army was in its prime and all the denizens of the planet were expecting full-scale invasion from the power hungry forces.
The person in question of course was none other than the strong and beautiful Master Thief Hasky, who was currently playing out her day out at the clubs as the centermost attraction at the bar.
Having previously been incarcerated due to her unfortunate encounter with Son Goku years prior, the woman had gone through several notable changes over the past couple of decades. Aside from still maintaining her blonde hair and bewitching good looks, the woman had lost her trademark blue biker jumpsuit and swapped it in for a stunning red, sparkly dress that hugged at her curves and accentuated her long, slender legs, with a backless feature that seemed to go on forever. Aside from having much of her cleavage exposed due to a secondary deep neckline in her outfit, the woman's curly hair was pulled back slightly, revealing a set of diamond earrings, as well as green lining in her eyes and red lipstick outlining her supple mouth.
To complete her outlook, her green, emerald eyes could be seen gazing down into the cold glass of scotch she was now swirling with her delicate fingers. Entranced by the cool liquid and ice sitting inside the clear cup, the woman held it up and took a swig, downing it with a single motion. She sighed when she felt the substance flood through her in a wash of heat, which warmed her stomach, straightened her back, and made her toes curl.
"Ahh…Age 710… now that's what I call a good drink," the woman exclaimed in a silky smooth, posh, English tone of voice.
The bartender, a man wearing a black suit and a prominent mustache, with a martini glass and cloth in hand, chuckled in amusement at the woman's compliment. "I can see you really love your liquors, miss. Planning on drinking anymore tonight?" he asked, at the same time cleaning the drinking glass he was carrying.
Setting her crystal glass down, the elegantly dressed Hasky ran a hand through her locks and looked upon the worker with an enchanting smile. "That all depends. What else have you got for me?"
"Well…" Clearing his throat, the bar runner turned to the rack of bottles behind him and looked them over with a keen eye, "I've got a 700 Red Baron and a 690 John Walter, if those two names tickle your fancy."
The blonde woman looked up in interest, "Oh. That last one sounds good. How much?"
"On the market, a bottle of that costs about fifty thousand zeni," the barkeep promptly and enthusiastically informed, looking back at the former thief to see her grin widen.
Eyes twinkling with delight, Hasky pulled out a wad of cash from the juncture between her breasts and, sensuously removing the clip with her teeth, slid it across the counter towards the barkeep. "I'll take it."
Her offering of money was retrieved without the slightest bit of hesitation. Hand shaking ever so slightly, the well-dressed customer service agent removed the bottle from the shelf and held it firmly between his hands. Being sure to wipe it down for the sake of appearances, the gentleman then placed the showpiece on the counter. Silently asking if she wanted a drink and earning a nod of approval, the man popped the top and, with a skilful dip, poured the woman a nice, cold glass. The scotch sloshed across the ice like a gentle current of gold water, unintentionally drawing the woman closer to the current.
As soon as it was about a few centimeters full, the man pulled away and watched as Hasky took up the glass and held it to her nose. Upon sniffing it, the golden locked woman took a sip and, allowing the liquid to wash over her tongue to analyze its taste and texture, swallowed it and exhaled in relief.
The shiver that ran up her spine drew a gentle groan from the master thief, "Now that's what I'm… talking about." Sheer, unbridled, unadulterated, ecstasy.
When the barkeep smiled and set the bottle down on the counter, he then moved on to carry out his business with the other customers. It was only upon leaving the woman to her affairs that Hasky's alone time at the club was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of an unknown figure. Dressed in a tailor-made suit, a man with slicked-back blonde hair edged up alongside the woman and stood beside her at attention, as if waiting for her to acknowledge his presence.
An annoyed look quickly forming across her face as she held the scotch glass to her lips, Hasky breathed an irritated huff and, after setting down her drink, glanced over her shoulder at the intruder. "Hey buddy, if you're looking for some action tonight, forget it. I've already blown off three other guys who thought it was a good idea to hit on me at this club and I'm not about to stop now. So beat it." She then picked up her beverage again and took another sip. After setting it down a second time and sensing the man still standing behind her, the woman frowned deeply and quickly turned to him. "Didn't you hear me? I said get lo-"
She blinked when she saw that the stranger looking down at her had on a pair of black sunglasses and was holding out a large, yellow envelope to her.
At first baffled by the fact that the guy would be wearing a set of shades indoors at this time in the evening, the woman instead chose to focus her attention on the package he was holding. Quickly recognizing the familiar seal slapped across its lining, Hasky spared the figure a couple of suspicious glances, before voluntarily taking the envelope from him. Upon relinquishing the item to its intended recipient, the man in the suit then wordlessly turned around and vanished into the crowd, no doubt heading for the exit.
Not at all put off by the shady delivery, the blonde woman took a momentary look at the letter. Weighing it in her hand and feeling there was an item of significance inside, she then popped open the seal and slid whatever the paper was holding into her hand. This turned out to be an incredibly thin and lightweight I-Pad, which was closely followed by a small ear bud, which dropped into her lap from the bottom of the letter. Curious, the woman picked it up, examined it, and pushed it into her ear.
Almost immediately after she engaged the device, a familiar voice spoke to her.
"Enjoying yourself, Hasky?"
Recognizing the female on the other end instantly, the blonde woman chuckled and lent back against the bar, "You could say that. Aside from a few pig-headed males in black ties trying to put the moves on me, the night's been quite enjoyable so far."
"Oh, I'm sure it must be awful for you," the person replied sarcastically.
"Oh yeah. It's just dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. My afternoon of kicking back and having fun at the tables is completely ruined. Can't wait to get out of here," Hasky played along, not even bothering to hide the cheeky smirk that formed across her lips. After twirling her finger through one of her golden locks like a love-struck school girl, the master thief waited for a moment before then speaking to the earpiece once again. "But enough about my terrible, uneventful night on the town. What've you got for me this time, Violet?"
"We have a new assignment for you. Did you get the package I sent?"
"Duh. Of course I did. Would we be having this conversation if I didn't?" Holding up the computer pad, Hasky then absently tapped it with the pinky of her glass-holding-hand. After waiting for a few moments as the device's security nodes scanned her, she then watched the black screen light up with the glory of modern day technology. She then waited as the computer went through several hundred lines of code in the blink of an eye, before a folder with a single file opened up. "Who's the target?"
"Young male. Eighteen years old. Currently in hospital. The information in relation to the individual is in the files that we've provided."
"So… am I to assume this is going to be some sort of… conjugal visit? Because I'm going to tell you right now, if he's just some fat, nerd kid from the city who isn't in the least bit attractive, then I'm just gonna have to- oh, hello? Yummy," Hasky stopped midway when she saw the profile of the target in question pop up on screen, who just happened to be Son Gohan. Admiring the boy's handsome face and the contours of his muscular neck and shoulders for the next few seconds, the blonde thief then scrolled down the document when the information on the teen began presenting itself to her in short, snappy paragraphs of text. "That is one deep dish of man meat right there, if I do say so myself."
"Keep your panties on, Hasky. You're not going to sleep with him. The boss wants you to take him out-"
"To an all-night sleep-easy motel with no callers, I hope," the bodacious woman exclaimed while licking her lips.
"As in: kill him, you sex-crazed lunatic. Geez. Can you please take this seriously for just two minutes?"
Hasky giggled at the distress she sensed in her colleague's voice and shook her head, "I'm just messing with you, Vi. No need to get all bent out of shape." Scrolling through the info on the subject, the vixen of a criminal then nodded, "So who is this kid, anyway? What's he done to ruffle the boss's feathers?"
"I suppose this is where I tell you that you're going to find the specifications of this particular mission quite interesting. He's actually part of the same group that you encountered several years earlier when you were hired by Commander Red to retrieve the dragon balls for him. The Z-fighters," Violet finished with an assertive tone of voice. "Remember them?"
This bit of info drew an annoyed groan from the well-dressed maiden by the bar. Even with the priceless scotch in her hand, the news her colleague had to give left a very foul taste in her mouth. "You mean the group with the pig, the cat, the scar-faced rogue and the blue head harlot? Those guys?"
"The very same."
"Ugh. First King Piccolo, then Cell, and now this. Don't these guys ever take a break?"
"Once in a blue moon, I'm sure. But now they're back and they're stronger than ever. The boss wants to find out more about how they operate, so he wants you to go in and take out one of their key members. He's just recently been hospitalized with the heart virus and is taking a nap over at Capsule Corp… courtesy of your employer, master and long-term benefactor."
The blonde grunted at the tasteless proposal, while at the same time skimming over the information on her target. "That doesn't sound like fun at all… taking out some poor kid who can barely lift his head from his pillow. I hate going after sick targets. They don't put up any kind of a fight. Not to mention it's bad sport." She then raised her glass again to take another sip. "Don't know why Kaiser chose me and not one of his other lackeys to take care of something as easy as this."
"You were the number one candidate for the job… and the only person he can trust to follow-through with such a sensitive operation. Not only are you the best stealth agent under our payroll, but you're also Kaiser's most reliable asset, who already has innate experience in dealing with this group," Violet stated, before her tone took on a dramatic shift into seriousness. "I've got to warn you though; the Z-fighters are nothing like the children you fought with over twenty years ago. They've gotten much stronger since the days of the Red Ribbon Army… strong enough to wipe out the entire population of this planet a million times over."
The cool woman with the British accent smiled, "A terrifying group, to be sure."
"But that shouldn't be any kind of a problem for you… what with your mastery over the Mark V Babylon Armor the boss saw fit to assign you."
Hasky chuckled as she tugged on the hem of her dress, which suddenly gave an unnatural shimmer of gold. "Of course. There's not a person alive who can possibly hope to defeat me when I'm clothed in this remarkable piece of hardware. Heck, not even that monster Cell would be able to match my greatness. Master has practically transformed me from the number one thief to a bona fide goddess of destruction."
"Then I guess this assignment will be the perfect test for you… of both your infiltration skills and proficiency at using Kaiser's technology," Violet commented. Once she was certain that word got through, she then moved on to her final bit of information. "Your target is currently lying in the West Wing on the far side of the main complex under heavy guard by the security forces. You should have little problems slipping in, but I advise you proceed with extreme caution. Son Gohan has many powerful friends watching over him, including Vegeta and King Piccolo. You'll have to wait for an appropriate opening to slip in and snuff him out. All the information related to the mission has been uploaded into your tablet. Study it well."
The blonde woman smiled, "Unless the building has gone under extreme renovations over the last decade or so, then breaking in should be a piece of cake. Hell, I'd be able to do it even without the energy altering suit." She then drummed her fingers against her glass thoughtfully as she considered yet another idea. "Still, I sure do hope I get a chance to fight one of these guys somewhere down the line. I'd really like to see what a member of the most powerful group of super heroes on the planet is really made of. It'd be a hell of a lot more fun than taking out some bedridden kid…"
Violet smirked on the other end of the line, "That 'kid' just so happens to be the son of Son Goku." This announcement from the purple haired secretary had Hasky freeze in surprise, a result that the attendant in contact with her clearly heard over the radio link. "You remember him, don't you? I believe he was the same kid who humiliated you twenty years ago and ended up sending you to prison for about half a decade?"
A deathly silence soon rolled over that part of the bar, setting the stage for an incredibly tense moment. It became so unnervingly quiet that the drone of the surrounding establishment soon wasn't registering on Hasky's radar at all, leaving her sitting there with the ice in her glass gradually melting in her grip. Violet actually began to wonder whether she'd accidentally broken her friend with her message.
However, after several seconds of inactivity, life soon returned to the club's setting with a deep breath from the blonde haired assassin. Upon inhaling deeply, the woman then set her glass of scotch down and, after looking down at the I-Pad, a menacing grin then formed across her lips.
It was a smile that promised not only bad news to the Z-fighters, but a lot of pain to the person who would become the receiving end of her wrath.
"Really?" Snickering under her breath, Hasky then locked her foul gaze upon the screen of her computer and spent the next minute taking in the face of her target. "My, my… is it just me… or did this mission just get a whole lot more exciting?"
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