Black Market Merchant

Lisa stretched her thick thigh muscles and let out a sigh while rubbing a bit of dust from her eyelash. The fight was definitely a lot hard than she would have wanted it to be. It almost felt like to her that she might be losing her edge. A man of his caliber wouldn't have lasted half as long if she had fought him back in World War Three.

"At least with my Advance Armament: Stage 1, no one can detect its activation." Lisa thought to herself. "Plus, I didn't use all my tricks either. My boot knives are still unknown, as well as some of my other skill sets. Still, it would have been nice not have to activate my Armament to fight."

She looked around at the others in the room. Benny was happily un-wrinkling several bills he had won from the bets. Sadie was viciously tapping away at her tabloid. She was probably updating Lisa's statistics, skills for reference and probably trying to find a willing fighter for a future fight. The MFA was definitely a good choice to sign up for, for the moment anyway.

However, it was Hanna that drew her attention the most. Hanna looked unexpectedly sad.

"She should be happy, right?" Lisa thought.

"Hanna, come here." Lisa said patting the floor next to her.

Hanna slowly slid off the bench and sat down next to Lisa. She slouched against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest.

"What's wrong? Are you not excited that your parents are being avenged?" Lisa asked as she scooted a little closer.

"Kind of." Hanna mumbled. "It's just that, well… that man wasn't really responsible for killing them. He was just there to drag us around. Was I responsible for getting him k-killed?"

Lisa felt her heart ache slightly. This was a hard question. She herself had asked this many times over in the past. Was killing another person, regardless of the reason or meaning, right?

"The easy answer is: Yes, but no, at the same time." Lisa replied after a brief pause. "The hard answer is different to everyone."

"How so?" Hanna asked turning to look at Lisa.

"Well, for me killing was kind of easy at first." Lisa replied slowly. "Many years ago, I was in the military at a young age. My country was fighting in a great war, where practically everywhere there was some kind of fighting going on. My job was to kill, to kill anyone that would dare harm our families back home. So, I had a purpose, a reason and some commander telling me it was ok to follow through. But after a while, I started to realize that what I was doing was so easy, it was actually becoming hard." Lisa paused and took a sip of her water.

"I could pull the trigger, kill my target and move on. Only something stuck to me, the faces of every person I killed was burned into my mind. I could draw them right now if I could. I was ending a life. I was seemingly right for doing it, but it still felt wrong. Like was it really mine to take?"

"So, what did you do?" Hanna asked. "You still kill people."

"Yes, I do still, but I choose why and how." Lisa replied. "In war you should kill the soldier and spare the civilian. One day I saw my own forces killing innocent civilians for fun or out of frustration and I tried to stop them, but I was too late. They were reprimanded for it, but that was all. That was then I knew, only those that deserved death, should have it. I had seen more than enough evil to know that putting them down as truly a favor to the world. Those that didn't deserve death, however, should be helped."

Hanna made a face and scratched her head. "I'm not really sure I get it. How does that help me?"

"Look at it this way. You were wronged by them. They killed your parents and as such deserve to be punished. Of course, it doesn't have to be death, they can be punished other ways. However, you never told me to kill him. I wanted to help you avenge your parents. It was my choice to kill, not yours. That includes Golem too." Lisa said while she put a hand on to Hanna head softly. Then looking Hanna in the eyes Lisa said, "You are not responsible for his death. You are free from that burden."

Hanna, upon hearing these words, felt the pressure on her chest lighten considerably. It was as if her own guilt was being washed away by Lisa's kind words. Yet she still could help but still feel a little bit bad about the killing.

"I guess that helps." Hanna said giving a weak smile as she kept thinking Lisa's words over.

"Good. It's a hard concept to understand. I'm still trying too as well." Lisa replied.

Just then there came a knock at the door. The handle turned and door started to slowly creek open.

"Um, excuse me?" A male voice timidly called out. "Is this where Queen is?" At that same moment Zane's head poked into the room. Seeing Lisa sitting right next to the door looking up at him, Zane let out a sigh of relief. "Finally! I had gone to the wrong door three times already. At the last one, a guy chucked a chair at me."

"Ah, Zane. Glad you're back." Lisa said getting up from the floor. "I was wondering where you went off to. I didn't see you in the crowd."

"I decided to talk to that guy you pointed out and well, I made the bet with him." Zane replied coming into the room, and he left the door open behind him.

"Well, that's great!" Lisa said patting him on the arm. "So how much did you make?"

"I have nine hundred dollars!" Zane replied excitedly pulling out the money from his pocket.

"I knew you could do something that simple. You made even more than I expected you to make. You might have a talent for this." Lisa said taking the money to count it. "So, I guess we can get going now. Everyone ready?"

"Um, not quite yet." Zane replied.

"Why not?" Lisa asked eyeing Zane. "Did you get into trouble somehow?"

"I don't think so." Zane replied slowly. "I met with the man, Mr. McMathers, and he invited me to join him for the fights at a private booth. So, I went with him and it turns out he is very rich and so were all his friends there too. They called themselves betting men or something like that. They were impressed by your fight and wanted to meet you." Then he pointed into the hallway. "They’re right outside."

Lisa raised any eyebrow. "Why do they want to meet me?"

"They wanted to hire you to represent them for their companies in Match Fights or something like that…" Zane said with a shrug. "I said that you could give them an answer. Sorry for the trouble."

"They are company owners?" Lisa said excitedly walking out into the hallway. Then thinking to herself, "This might actually turn out better than I thought. Zane might have just brought me a ticket to getting the money I need!"

Standing just outside were four richly dressed older men. At first glance they seemed to be the stuffy snobby types. It was their reaction to Lisa that immediately dashed all such thoughts.

"Ah, there sure is. The woman of the hour. I am Dino McMathers." McMathers said approaching Lisa with a smile while extending his wrinkled hand for a handshake. The other three also broke out into smiles and straightened up. "That was a splendid Match you did. Rather impressive. My colleagues and I would like to offer you a proposal. Care to listen?"

"Perhaps." Lisa replied taking his hand to shake it firmly. "What is it?"

"Let me explain that." The richest dressed of the men said coming forward. His neon purple jacket was quite striking and kind of ridiculous, but clearly worth more than anything Lisa owned. "Before my friend here bores you any longer, let me introduce myself. I am Mr. Cline, Owner of River to Gulf Shipping Co. I am based out of Moab City and conduct trade along the Gulf California and the south western Americas."

"And I am Rich Rotters." The red-haired chubby man said interrupting by excitedly stepping between the two. "I own Farm Mech Industrial. I specialize in farming and construction mechs for civilian use. Though the company is still new, FMI is growing considerably well. One day I hope to be making Mechs just like Titanium Technology Corporation, though with less humanitarian harm of course."

Then it was the taller, slim man that introduced himself last. "I’m Charles Goodman. I own Sandstone Winery and Associates, along with the Sensational Sensations Fragrance perfume line. I hope you have used or heard of our products before; they are top quality."

"It's nice to meet you all." Lisa said taken aback by their straightforwardness. She kindly shook hands with each man in turn. "What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Well, our proposal it that we wish to hire you." McMathers replied before the others could get in their comments. "We saw how well you conducted your fights and want you to represent us to fight in Match Fights. You could consider us your sponsors, so to speak."

"Really? You want me to represent you four?" Lisa said a bit surprised. "Don't you think that with me being so low ranked that it won't help you all much. Besides, don't you already have Fighters to represent you?"

"Yes, we do have other Fighters." Mr. Goodman replied. "It's just that, as betting men, we would never miss out on a chance to increase our odds."

"My friend here is right." Mr. Cline replied in turn. "We would be foolish to let such potential talent get away from us so easily."

"Well, I am glad that you see me as talented, but what would being hired by any of you entail? Would I have to leave this town?" Lisa asked turning to glance at Hanna who was watching from the doorway behind her.

Lisa also noticed the Benny and Sadie were also watching what was going on. Sadie appeared especially excited and was bouncing up and down on her toes, while judging her expression behind her tabloid. From her reaction, Lisa could guess that this opportunity was likely incredibly good.

"Most likely." McMathers replied with a nod. "Fights that we would be challenged to be in happen all around in many places. Arenas like this are a rarer thing to find in these parts. Really all a Match Fight needs are Fighters, Managers and witnesses."

"I see." Lisa said giving it some though. "I hope this won't be an inconvenience to you all, but I would like to think things over. I am tired from the fighting and need some more time to collect my thoughts."

"Oh, that won't be any trouble at all." McMathers replied. "I plan on staying in the area for a few days." Then he leaned forward to whisper, "I trying to hide from my wife." He the chuckled and leaned back.

Lisa let out a grin. "That's understandable."

"The same goes for us." Mr. Cline said. "We all came together and planned on leaving after noon tomorrow for Moab City. The Market here occasionally has something's we might find interesting and we visit often."

"Yes, it's hard finding an unsanctioned area such this Mad Dog compound that we can peruse items of interest with such ease. The three governments have been cracking down a lot lately on our trade, including our legal ventures." Mr. Goodman said shaking his head.

"Alright then. I guess we can meet up tomorrow there, in the Market." Lisa said looking around at the four men.

"We have a deal." Mr. Cline said giving a light bow. "We shall see you then."

The four men then turned to leave the hallway and Lisa turned to grab Zane around his neck in a one-armed hug.

"You are one lucky man!" Lisa said with excitement. "I knew I felt your potential when I first saw you."

"W-what do you mean?" Zane asked. He was surprised by her getting so close to him and felt his face get hot, which was totally unexpected.

"You survived your fight, survived the river, survived your wounds, made me money and now you have given me a shot at some really good money! How can you not be lucky?" Lisa said pulling him into the locker to join the others. "I was right to have you work for me."

…

Xander was still watching the cameras and saw everything that had taken place. It wasn't anything special. He had seen businessmen, like those four, try scouting potential Match Fighters before. Nothing they did even seemed suspicious.

"Perhaps I am over thinking things." Xander mumbled. "But I am not convinced yet. She didn't go with them or sign anything. Meaning she might have an alternative plan in mind. I just can't shake this feeling that she is going to be trouble."

Then he turned to leave the security room.

"Perhaps Jackson can find out more for me." Xander said giving a chuckle. "He sure is easy to trick into telling me what I want.”