Careful Not To Break Reality

The logical first stop for the pair would be the gathering for the people that arrived from the Grey Wolf. Being that this space station is located not too far from the boundaries between Grey Wolf and Black Pegasus, it makes sense that more people would be from the Grey Wolf, and hence occupying the biggest space.

Rockhard Bar was a derivation of a once famous chains of Cafe's on old Earth, Rydel distinctly remembering that a chain was about to open near the student accommodation area on back on the Galactic Institute of Science and Technology, though no matter what he would be too far gone to enjoy it. Despite what the name implies, it is hardly a bar. When Rydel and Valerie went near the entrance, the bar was already nearing capacity, and they can hear the music and the shouting that are nearly as loud from the door.

'ID, please.' Near the door, two people stood guard. They were not wearing the Rockhard Bar's staff uniform, and are acting more like the bouncers for any unwelcomed guests in this area, and by unwelcomed, they mean anyone not from the Grey Wolf's.

'We are Wolves.' Valerie said firmly as both of them handed in their ID card towards the smaller slimmer bouncer standing on the right and looked around him and see inside.

'Sorry, mate, its an exclusive here.' He said with a smirk on his face and returned the cards to Valerie, 'The Wolf Pack Company has booked the entire restaurant.'

'But I thought anyone from the Region could get in?' Rydel wasn't expecting this response, 'look, we are just looking to get some food.'

'The bin is right there.' The bouncer was shorter and slimmer than both Rydel and Valerie, though he didn't back down despite Rydel glaring at him, possibly thanks to his much bigger and stronger looking companion.

'Like he said, the Wolf Pack Company has booked the whole restaurant.' Finally, the big guy stepped in and looked down at Rydel, intending to intimidate him.

Rydel looked at Valerie, who winked back at him, indicating that he should follow her lead.

'Well, I guess the fake ID's didn't work.' Valerie said as she shrugged and reached a hand in her jacket. The bouncers were prepared for a fight or a forced entry, however, and the slimmer man reached his hand forward and pinned Valerie's arms, 'guess we have to do it the hard way.'

'It wouldn't be a good decision, lady.' He said with dangerous warning tone underneath his breath, 'look around you, there is hundreds of us, and only two of you. And even if there is no killing on the station, we will sure as hell make sure you suffer.'

Rydel looked at Valerie quickly and saw her effortlessly holding the slimmer man at bay, but not trying to overpower him. When he looked back, he saw the big guy closing in on him.

'You two need to leave, now.'

'Well, I guess we have to go back to the White Hawk empty handed,' Valerie shrugged yet again and casually looked over at Rydel, 'shall we take their fat heads instead?'

Now Rydel is finally starting to get it. Seeing how the Wolf Pack isn't exactly friendly to those that aren't within the company itself despite being from the Grey Wolf's Region nonetheless, they might as well start stirring the pot already, and by speaking the name of one of the gangs from the White Crow's region is certainly one way to do it.

'No, come on...' Rydel is now acting as the good cop to Valerie's bad cop, who started spewing insults after pushing away the skinny guy with just enough force to slam him back into the column behind him and startling him a little. Rydel then held Valerie back and said not so quietly, 'they won't worth much to us anyway.'

'You piece of shit!' The Skinny guy took a few seconds to catch a breath after the impact completely threw him off. The skinny looking model girl couldn't possibly be this strong, and he must have tripped. The shame and embarrassment combined into anger, and he lashed out at them and pulled out the pistol from his side, but before he could fire, the big guy moved into the line of fire and swung his giant fist towards the back of Rydel's head.

'No guns.' The big guy said firmly as he prepared to land a devastating blow to the guy holding onto the foul-mouthed girl who is also carelessly exposing his backside to him. If there was no sign of him defending himself, then he will change the trajectory of the punch to only hitting him in the back, avoiding any lethal strikes. But to his surprise, from the moment his feet touches the ground and his arms are winded up, the guy also spun around at a much faster speed and threw a punch of his own.

Rydel was constantly observing the big guy's every movement, and he responded as fast as he could when the big guy moved. The reaction and movement speed increase thanks to the physiological enhancements took him by surprise still, and he beat him to the punch quite literally despite being the one to react to that attack. In just the blink of an eye, he dropped into a split stance, gathered his power and swung his left fist directly at the big guy's very own fist.

It is about to be a painful clash for him. Rydel thought as his glove rammed into the big guy fist and it completely crushed the digits and then the ligaments connecting the bones without a single hint of resistance. Bloody squirted everywhere and all that was left of the big guy's right fist was a mess of meat and bone. He screamed out in pain so loud that it drew attention of multiple people as he fell back onto the ground and rolled around. Instead of spewing more insults, the smaller guy simply stood in shock and fear as the blood stained on the white tiled floors.

From far away, the sirens from the riot control droids began whaling, and Rydel and Valerie knew its time to call their exits. Before anyone really got out far enough to see what's going on, they have already sprinted far enough away and turned into a side walkway that leads to stairs to the next few levels.

'That should about do it.' Rydel said, 'pitting the Wolf Pack against the White Hawk? Do you know much about their history?'

'White Hawk robbed a few of the Wolf Pack's shipments earlier this year.' Valerie said, 'and just by the fact that anyone from the White Crow's region, particularly those gangs, are being aggressive towards those in the Wolf Pack is enough. Plus, they will most likely think we are just hired guns, and a dirty play like that would make them even angrier.'

'That's true.' Rydel agreed, then he shook his left wrist in surprise, since he didn't feel a single thing during the impact itself, despite how much both him and the big guy threw the punch. The blood from his wrist has already dripped away, as Rydel had learnt a long time ago that the soft metal is also hydrophobic, 'you may now call me one punch man, after that.'

'I am fairly certain that name is taken already.' Valerie said casually, 'now, where should we go next?'

'Level 2, but I am not sure I can do anymore of this without being too suspicious.' Rydel looked down at his outfit, and pointed at the places where the blood stains have left their marks. He is still feeling the adrenaline rush at the moment that he doesn't really feel bad for the big guy, plus with good care and operation, he should still be able to use that hand much later down the line.

'For that, I have the exact thing.' Valerie snapped her finger and reached for spray can from her jacket, 'let's get you cleaned, and go mess more things up.'

The next few hours became a montage of Rydel and Valerie acting like those that are from the various forces taunting and attacking each other, and they always made sure to piss off all those people royally enough and not get caught by the patrolling riot droids. At the end of the journey, they are fairly certain that everyone on the station now hates the pair, but hopefully their hate for what the pair represents in each occasion would take over, and create the d.e.s.i.r.ed effects.

After visiting the Lake and causing a scene, Rydel and Valerie once again fled the scene and went into the side corridors and clean up for the last time. They have made sure to change their outfit each time to make tracking them down much harder to do, and Valerie has just the right kind of tools to add a brand new layer of color to their outfits and some simple make up items that even disguised their appearance.

She was such a master at that to the point where all Rydel has to do is to close his eyes and wait for a minute or so and Valerie would have turned him into a different person. Some shades of his facial features will still remain, but there are enough differences that people would have to look and think quite hard to figure everything out.

'So, do you think we have done a decent enough job?' Rydel asked as Valerie quickly gave his face a quick spray of the solvent water and threw a cloth that Rydel caught with his eyes closed so he can wipe everything off.

'Should be enough to cause quite a bit of tension, I think.' Valerie said as she undid her disguise too, 'we have two days to let everything brew, I imagine some of the people in the lower ranks would seek revenge against each other and cause further conflicts to occur. That should make things a bit easier for us.'

'So you were the pair that has been going around causing all these shit...' Suddenly, a heavily-modulated voice came from the the end of the corridor, and Rydel turned to see a fully armored Aquarian mercenary-looking being standing at there and blocking their exit. From the shape of her body, Rydel realized that it's a female speaking underneath the mask, 'I knew something wasn't right, and you ruined my lunch.'

'Sorry, what are you talking about?' Valerie decided to play dumb first, as she carefully scanend the mercenary's outfits and the emblems printed on her c.h.e.s.t plate. It is for sure that this person is someone from the fourth guild within the Black Pegasus, that of the Mercenaries, but she couldn't think of anyone that wears that emblem. It might be a family symbol, or one from the mercenary's organization.

'Yeah, we are just travellers here to stop by.' Rydel also played dumb and planned his next moves should this mercenary do anything rash. There are many more guilds in the Black Pegasus apart from the more famous pirate's and smuggler's one, and the tier below consists of that of the Thieves, and...Mercenaries. Now he remembered, but back then he didn't really give it any thought.

'You have been to the both levels, to all the restaurants causing a scene to each and leaving right before anyone sees you. Anyone apart from me.' The mercenary continued on, the voice slow and calm, 'I just wanted to get some food in, but now it seems like I have found something more precious. Tell me who you work for and why you are doing that, and I will consider selling you to the highest bidder alive.'

'Is that how the mercenaries always work?' Rydel looked over at Valerie and asked as he switched on his shield generator on his back with a flick of his finger, at where Valerie is standing now, his own shield bubble would be able to protect her if the mercenary decided to pull out a gun.

'Well, it all depends. There is a reason why the Guild of Mercenaries is less respected, with less rules and less regulations.' Valerie answered Rydel's question, all the while ignoring the mercenary. But to her surprise, the mercenary simply waited for her to finish before continuing her threats.

'You can keep playing your game, but now you are mine.' The mercenary said, and then he/she twisted all six of her arms, activating a simply mechanism and causing six blades to appear, 'surrender now or be cut down. The droids won't save you soon enough.'

'Great.' Rydel sighed as he reached back for his trusted mace and said, 'here's your practice for Gold. We haven't rehearsed this yet, but I trust you can figure something out? It's part of what is needed to beat such an opponent.'

'So that's what Aquarian martial arts look like in person...' Valerie can't help but be fascinated by the sights in front of her.

'You scared?' Rydel asked without looking away from the mercenary, who could attack at any moment.

'No, intrigued.' Valerie said, 'I have been training in combat for a long time, but I have never fought an Aquarian before.'

'First time for everything.' Rydel shrugged, 'I will follow your lead? Can you take it down?'

'Just don't slow me down alright.' Valerie said quietly with a determination that Rydel has only seen a handful of times before. Now, she is serious now, without the influence of rage or passion, and she seemed calm and in control. Before she moved, she knew exactly what to do.

And when she finally moved, it was in a fashion that was so fast and decisive that Rydel almost didn't catch it. With the flick of her left hand, she activated one of the many hidden mechanisms within her sleeve and dropped a screen of smoke from the lateral side of her left wrist while simultaneously looking through a lens that was attached to the top of her left wrist. Then, she also activated the mechanism on her right wrist, and shot out a grappling hook from the top of her right wrist. Everything was prepared, practiced a thousand times at least and it all flew together.

Rydel knew exactly what to do now. With the mace in hand, he patiently waited.

The grappling hook disappeared into the wall of smoke that was created by the nozzle and then a metallic cling came from the other side. It connected, and the mercenary was caught by surprise.

'The fish is hooked.' Valerie said excitedly, planted her feet hard in a split stance and retracted the cable. Rydel waited for half a second based on how far the mercenary was standing, taking into the account of how fast the grappling hook left her hand and absolutely launches his mace with all the power he could master and control towards the path of the cable at the perfect time, when the outlines of the mercenary began to emerge from the shadow.

To his shock, the mercenary flew out in a battle ready stance with blades by his side and knocked the mace with an even quicker swing of the blade. The fast travelling mace knocked a single blade off her hand, but having one less blade isn't much of an issue for an Aquarian. Aquarians tend to have a weaker grip than humans, but the extra arms more than made up for that fact.

'You insult me with these lowly tricks.' The mercenary cut away the cable, landed and immediately lunges forward with a fierce strike at Valerie.

'If you think that's all the tricks I have, then you are mistaken.' Instead of taking Rydel's usual advice of keeping a distance, Valerie instead also lunges forward with an equal amount of speed, knocking aside the blades that the mercenary threw at her and kneed right at the middle of her c.h.e.s.t plate.

Rydel heard a loud clang from the impact, and then he saw the mercenary collapsing backwards and losing her balance a little bit. Despite having metal plating protecting her and wearing exoskeletons underneath that, she clearly felt the force coming from Valerie's attack, and there was a dent at the point of contact.

'Sheesh...' Rydel was thankful that Valerie never unleashed that attack upon him, if that happens then it won't matter what Aquarian healing bed he goes on.

'What's the matter?' Valerie pointed the blade in her left hand at the Aquarian, who's taking a second to recollect herself before standing back up again, 'having trouble breathing?'

'You are too fast and too strong.' After a quick moment of thought, the Aquarian commented, 'it seems like we both went through the first stage of the Academy.'

Rydel raised his eyebrow out of surprise, but it made sense seeing how the Aquarian quickly reacted to the mace he threw at her, and how casually she moved. Though it couldn't compare to Gold's movements on the first day of the Absolute Academy, it is certainly faster than Gold's normal movements.

What's with the deadly Aquarian martial artists roaming around the galaxies?

'Well, am I to call you a senior? or a junior?' Valerie wasn't as surprised, considering she was the one that clashed blades with the Aquarian and knew exactly how powerful both of them are.

'Most likely a senior.' She answered before sliding up the armor plating on one of her arms to reveal a severely scarred body, 'I was enhanced when the enhancements were more...radical and effective.'

'Well, it certainly didn't feel that way just now.'

'Don't be arrogant.' The mercenary shot back, 'you will feel the true power now.'

With that, the quick conversation between the mercenary and Valerie ended, and Valerie looked over at Rydel for a little while before saying, 'It is a selfish request, but could you let me take care of this one?'

'It would be a good practice, but I will step in if you are in great danger.' Rydel agreed cautiously, 'be careful.'

'Well, I don't know how you will do that, but whatever.' Valerie winked at Rydel before paying all of her attention to the Aquarian standing right in front of her. Both of them are at least enhanced on the physiological level with operations and replacements, and both of them have trained in close quarter combats, but that does not mean there abilities are equal.

You are only as powerful as how much power you could express, and all the time Valerie spent perfecting and incorporating all of her equipment into her fighting wouldn't be for nothing. Up to this point, she has utilized almost every ounce of her enhanced power to be at where she is now, and now it will be a time to demonstrate her power against an Aquarian foe, one not too dissimilar to her ultimate target, and yet one that's much weaker.

She has to prove to herself that she can take the mercenary down by herself.

And with that, she took a deep breath in, filling her entire lungs with fresh air and energy, and she entered into a battle stance with the blades firmly gripped in her hands, preparing for an intense battle.