Chapter Text
Luz adjusted the gun on her shoulder as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She reached up, tapping the headset she kept in her ear before adjusting the range on her scope.
“What’s the digs, Owl Lady?”
She heard a chuckle on the other side as her handler started to give her the rundown of her mission. “Easy enough target. Guy runs one of the smaller crime families around town. Take him out and the family crumbles with infighting. Keep it simple, Little Light.”
Luz rolled her eyes as she saw a few cars pull up outside the building she was watching. “Why’d we have to go with that as my handle, again?”
“Because ‘Luzura’ is too much like your actual name, kid.” Luz heard the shuffling of paper as she waited patiently for her moment. “Now, remember, you need this contract to go off without a hitch. That WitchChick kid is pulling ahead of you.”
“Ugh.” Luz rolled her eyes.
She had never met this ‘WitchChick’ person, but the two were in constant competition. Jobs done, contracts completed, all with little to no complications, those were the things she prided herself on as an assassin. The organization they worked for, Blight Security and Strategy, wanted to promote ‘healthy competition’, so they started a leaderboard where everyone was judged on these exact criteria.
Luz had quickly risen to the top of that leaderboard through all her hard work, but so did this ‘WitchChick’ person. Now all the handlers were betting on who would keep the top spot, and though for others it was just a fun competition, Luz had taken the competition to heart. She had been trained by the Owl Lady, dang it, and she knew she was the best. Plus, at the end of the month whoever was top of the leaderboard got a huge bonus and first dibs on contracts.
Before she could think about it anymore, movement caught her eye. Exiting the building, she spotted the mob boss, Tibbles, walking without a care in the world. She smiled to herself, taking a deep breath, and then very gently…
A loud bang echoed off the buildings as she pulled the trigger, her target dropping to the ground. “Got him,” Luz mumbled to her handler as she quickly gathered her things.
“Good! Now get out of there.”
Luz rolled her eyes at her mentor, quickly jumping from roof to roof before scaling back down to the street and rushing into the crowd. She lifted off her owl-themed mask and pulled her hood tighter around her face, blending into the crowd of the city as she walked to her extraction point. All she needed was a couple more clean jobs like this, and she would easily jump over WitchChick. After walking a few blocks and periodically checking over her shoulder, she saw the company car that would take her to safety. As she plopped into the back seat, she hummed to herself with a smile, imagining Odalia Blight’s face when she finally managed to take over that top spot.
The massive tower that was Blight Security and Strategy stretched far into the sky as Luz’s car dropped her off. The building felt like a home away from home, considering how much time Luz spent here while modifying her weapons, touching up her armor, and training in the gym. She shrugged the strap of her bag further onto her shoulder as she walked through the door. Excitedly, she ran over to the monitor that listed the top ten assassins and scanned for her name.
Second.
Huh?
She looked up and saw WitchChick sitting above her, somehow even further ahead than she was when Luz had left for this job. Dejected, Luz turned around with a huff, ready to go finish her paperwork when she heard someone (or someones) calling her name.
“Luz!”
She turned to see her friends rushing toward her. Gus, a tall lanky male with dark skin who looked completely out of place in a building full of assassins, and Willow, a shorter, well-built girl with dark hair, who may as well have been the human equivalent of a tank.
The two themselves were field operatives, but they never competed for the leaderboard. They were one of the only groups that existed in the building. As a pair, they were the two that were sent in when you needed a place wholly razed. Shock and Awe, both earned their nicknames by being devastating on the battlefield, which stood out starkly in contrast to their happy, carefree personalities back at base. On Luz’s first day of training with the company, Willow had thrown her clear across the room and felt so bad about it that they ended up getting dinner that night to make up for it.
Luz was super excited to have friends (something she hadn’t had in YEARS) but might have been slightly more excited to never be on Willow’s bad side.
“What’s got you looking so down, girl?” Gus asked as he went through an elaborate handshake with Luz.
Willow elbowed him in the side and nodded her head toward the leaderboard. “Looks like WitchChick isn’t slowing down anytime soon.”
Luz grimaced. “I really thought I had them this time.” She sighed, running her hand through her hair. “Oh, well. Next time, I guess. How have you two been?”
Gus’ eyes sparkled. “I got to test out some of my new tech! We were sent out to take out a small terrorist cell, and I completely wiped their base’s power in one go!”
Willow smiled, stretching her arms. “After everything went dark, I got to use the new weapon Mr. Blight cooked up, knocking down a three-story building with one shot!”
“Oh, wow!” Luz looked at them with wide eyes and chuckled nervously. “I always forget how terrifying you two are.” She hefted her bag over her shoulder again and smiled. “Wanna tell me more over lunch? Once I drop this off, I’m free for a while.”
After swinging by the armory and putting her weapons and armor away, Luz made her way to the cafeteria on the third floor, where Gus and Willow were already sitting at their usual table. After grabbing a bite to eat, Luz sat and listened excitedly as the pair talked her through their last job.
“So, after hijacking a few of their screens and blasting music with a dancing Emmiline, I cut their power right before Willow blasted a hole through the floors!”
Luz laughed at the imagery. Emmiline was Gus’ pet chameleon, and he used her visage for both his mask and his antics. The idea of him blasting disco into a terrorist cell’s headquarters while bombarding them with a dancing chameleon had her holding her sides as she giggled.
Willow rolled her right shoulder, wincing slightly. “Yeah, that Gun Mr. Blight made has some kick to it.”
“Only because your shoulders are so small!”
The trio looked toward the new voice, all three rolling their eyes once they saw who it was: Boscha. Pink hair tied back in a high bun, obnoxious war paint on her face despite the fact they all wear masks when they’re deployed, and an air of superiority around her that made her completely unbearable.
Willow sighed. “What do you want, Boscha?”
The pink-haired girl smirked, turning her attention toward Luz. “Just wanted to let Little Light here know that she’s slipping, and I’ll be taking that top spot soon enough.”
Luz just rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say, Boscha.”
Seeing that she wasn’t going to get a rise out of the group, Boscha just shrugged, the smarmy grin never leaving her face as she went to join her friends across the room. “Watch your back, Noceda. You never know what might hit you.”
Luz immediately turned to Willow. “Hey, Wills, don’t listen to her. Your shoulders are crazy.”
“Thanks, Luz,” Willow laughed. “What about you? I saw the hunt for first is still giving you a bit of trouble.”
Luz huffed, moving the leftover food on her plate around. “Every time I feel like I’m closing in, WitchChick is always a step ahead. I don’t even know what they look like!” She leaned back, staring at the ceiling. “But I will take them down.”
“Well, then I’ve got great timing!” A loud smack made the trio jump as they looked up to see a tall, older woman with a huge mane of grey hair that could only belong to one person: Luz’s once mentor now turned handler Edalyn Clawthorne. The Owl Lady. She smiled down at the trio, a gold fang glinting in the light as she held an envelope in her only hand. “Got a new mission for you, kid, and if this one doesn’t put you up at the top, I’ll buy you dinner for a week.”