Chapter 4 - Transaction

'Broken girls blossom into warriors.'

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Managing to get a new mission for herself, Bella trudged out of her bathroom, her towel in hand as she continued to rub her hair dry. Withdrawing her hand from her head, she stood in front of her bed, where her outfit for the day-- or the night was laid. The clothes she was to wear were the usual: a black top paired with cargo pants of the same color, all topped off with her washed crimson leather jacket she wore almost every time she went on missions. One could say it was what completed her outfit.

After putting on her clothes of choice, she made her way towards the floor length mirror situated in her room. She pulled her long hair into a neat bun, leaving few curled strands to frame her face. Bella decided to wear minimal make up for the night. She was going to do business, after all. The woman applied eye liner, managing to make a wing that somehow made her look more intimidating than before. And even though it cannot be seen, Bella applied blood red lipstick-- one that was not so easily smudged as it was going to be covered by her mask in a few.

The assassin had received a tip earlier about a transaction to be held by the docks. The chances of it being a weapon trade was far bigger than being one of drugs. Bella took it upon herself to check whether the tip was indeed true. And if it was, the woman had plans to interrupt.

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After a couple minutes of walking, Bella had finally reached the area where said transaction was to take place. She had parked her new motorcycle a few blocks away, as the noise of the vehicle was likely to catch the attention of those around it so the best choice was for her to make her way to her destination by foot. Not wanting to be seen, the woman hid herself behind one of the tall crates as she waited for people to arrive.

Bella's head perked up upon hearing car engines coming close before halting to a stop.

Carefully, the woman peeked beyond the crate to see three cars parked by her left, one car was situated in front of two. Bella can only assume that whoever was in the car at the front was leading the group. The woman's attention shifted once she heard more car engines coming close, parking themselves by her right.

Both groups were now facing each other, leaving space in between them.

Seconds later two men exited from both leading cars of each side, coming to meet at the center, right in front of the crate Bella was hiding in.

The man from the right had a tall figure, was blond and had fair skin. The man from left, however, was not as tall as the other but was tall enough for his height to be considered greater than average; he was a brunette and had tan skin, leading Bella to a conclusion that he was likely to not be American.

The woman's brows furrowed as she observed the two melting into a conversation., trying her best to hear as much as she can. There was word that this transaction was a big one, some speculations even stating that high-ranked gang members were present. That said, the woman wanted to hear and gather as much intel as she can before interrupting the trade.

A couple moments after the 'leaders' conversation, more men from each side exited their cars and stood behind their 'leader', as the woman had assumed.

Bella put on her mask, making sure that it covered her face just as three guys from the left started unloading a crate. She stood up, revealing herself from her hiding spot. The woman placed her hands on her hips as she whistled, catching the men's attention, whose eyes immediately darted to her figure.

"Boys." She acknowledged, starting to walk towards them with a smirk.

Her guns were tucked securely in the waistband of her pants. Two knives situated themselves in holsters located on her thighs, a set of bullets were kept in the hidden pockets of her jackets, ready for it to be used conveniently. Her weapons were not much, though it was enough for her to kill people she needed to get rid of, and in this case, it was about two dozens.

"Who are you?" The man from the right asked curiously, his voice sharp.

"Who are you?" The leader from the right barked.

Bella sighed. 'Here we go again.'

"Why do people ask me that often?" She complained, though she can't really blame them. The woman was one to wear masks when she went on missions so her identity was not known to many.

"You're messing with something big, lady." The man from the left side snarled.

"And you guys clearly don't know who I am." Bella laughed, finding their threat amusing. The men clearly did not recognize her being Red, despite her known reputation.

The men pulled out their guns just as the woman did, swiftly pulling them out from behind her. She eyed her opponents, silently counting how many people surrounded her. 

"Let the killing and bloodshed begin." She said to herself, aiming to kill all twenty men as she shot the first bullet straight on a man's chest.

And just like that, it had rained bullets.

Most had guns, a few brought knives which may be convenient on Bella's part. Although it does kind of make sense if they were trading guns. The woman's first priority was to take down those who held guns. They were a nuisance for her, as they were able to attack at a much longer range. 

Bella pulled the trigger of her gun continuously, swiftly and efficiently killing people point-blank. After the tenth pull, her pistol clicked empty, leading the woman to scoff out of mild frustration. She quickly got rid of the empty magazine, throwing it to the side before pulling out her spare kept in the pocket of her jacket. Without breaking a sweat, the brunette placed the new magazine in place before she continued on 

After those who held guns where down, the woman started to deal with those who had knives. She scrambled to put her gun back in its holsters, quickly pulling out her set of knives before dodging a blade being swung at her.

Mustering great strength, she stabbed the man who had attacked her, successfully embedding her knife into his chest before pulling it out and kicking him away. Noticing a presence behind her. Red crouched to the ground as she turned around, sending one of her knives flying and into the center of a man's chest. The assassin pushed herself up from the pavement, launching herself towards another person, jumping on his shoulders before slashing his neck. The sudden spurt of blood towards Red's cheek told her that she must have hit a vein.

She threw punches, kicks, and slashes continuously, as if she wasn't running out of stamina. Her training from the academy proved to be efficient and useful; their training regimes weren't one to be looked down upon. For Bella, the first couple months basically felt like hell.

The woman felt a sting on her right bicep, a cut now present on her skin with her blood flowing down her arm and onto her elbow. She glared towards the culprit, feeling more irritation rather than anger.

'Oh, you shouldn't have done that.' Bella ran towards him, bending down to stab the man's stomach.

She turned around, feeling her mask being pulled from her face abruptly. Not wanting anyone to see her face, Bella sent a roundhouse kick towards the guy's temple, making him unconscious. She stood up straight, taking a look at the bodies that surrounded her.

The leading car from the right sped off, fortunately forgetting to retrieve their shipment. She turned towards her left, seeing the car still parked where it was before. The woman froze upon seeing a pair of eyes looking at her.

Gray eyes.

A man with steel gray eyes stared into her, as if he was looking into her soul. His orbs were looking at her with a blank expression, observing every detail of her face. Though their was a quick of emotion Bella had missed. She wasn't able to see the faint expression of recognition that flashed amongst the man's eyes.

"Shit." She spoke, remembering that her face wasn't covered, leaving her identity to be seen. She grabbed her mask on the floor and quickly put it on before looking up, only to find that the car already had started to speed away.

This was great. Very. People had seen her, they now had a face for Red. And it was far from great news, obviously. Bella can only blame her carelessness for what had happened. Besides, gray-eyed man wouldn't even had time to see who she was if she had only put her mask on the moment it was pulled off.

Regardless, it had already happened. So unless the man who had seen how she looked like remained quiet, her identity was now exposed to everyone. It's not like she can remove her face from the man's memories.

Bella sighed, pulling out her phone before dialing a number. She pulled the crate of the shipment open as she waited for the person to pick up the call. Inside the box was guns that, she could only assume, costed thousands of dollars. It was a loss for the dealer, that was no question. They had lost a sum of money, guns, and men-- seeing that the assassin took them down.

"Come quickly at the address I texted you, I have guns you'll like." She informed once the call was picked up, before ending the call quickly and making her way back towards her bike.