Handler XX: Stock Maestro

"GRENADE!"

Theo shouted, pulling Trent back.

X jumped away on her corner, taking cover.

Theo jumped forward and kicked the grenade, rolling it.

It exploded the next second as it rolled back.

"Fuck!" He hid back, glancing at Trent,

"That the stars it wasn't cooked"

X rushed back and opened fire.

The sound of that explosion would certainly draw the attention of the others.

Fuck.

"Thank you" Trent pushed Theo aside slightly and shot towards the Men.

"I deserve a raise" Theo fell down, hands to the ground, laughing.

Seriously...

That's what he's thinking right now— panting like that?

Trent pulled the pin off one of the smoke bomb canisters and threw it.

The men were already in confusion after the stunt Theo pulled, but they seemed to have survived that.

"Shoot... Kill those bastards..."

"Medonian?" Theo crouched behind him to listen more.

The footsteps seemed to have increased.

"I don't think we have more bullets than they do" X shouted, reloading her gun.

"She's right" Theo pulled his gun's magazine out.

Trent turned to him and exhaled.

I'm pretty sure I've got a high chance.

"I'm going in"

"W–What?" Theo shot him a stare.

Are you crazy?

"What are you doing?" X asked as he stood up,

"Cover me" he smiled at her, raising the rifle

This is incredibly dangerous.

But they seemed to be disorganized right now.

Here goes.

He shot the head of two that were closer and fired at the others, hiding in a corner.

As soon as they heard the thud of the bodies, X and Theo rushed out and shot at the others following behind him as he stood up.

The Men rushed up the stairs, shooting.

"S–Shit..." Theo grunted as a bullet hit his leg.

Fuck.

Trent turned to him.

"Take cover"

He turned back and fired at the others running up the stairs

"I'm out" X said throwing her gun at the remaining men.

Shit.

There's only 3 shots left and Theo flung threw gun when he retreated back.

He must've ran out of bullets too.

"Retreat" X whispered,

The Men ran up the stairs noticing that they stopped shooting.

Fuck.

Trent grabbed the gun ready to swing like a bat.

Theo shifted further away.

Damnit.

Marie had two guns, yeah?

Trent exhaled, gripping his gun as he heard two shots.

He turned to X after a few seconds.

What's that thud?

They readied their weapons as a footstep drew closer.

"Fuck" the person dodged as he swung his weapon.

"Marie?"

"Yeah" she scoffed, turning to the bodies on gen floor.

"You owe me your life" she laughed as she pulled the cloth mask she wore.

How did she get downstairs?

Theo exhaled, laying on the floor as he realized it was her.

Fuck...

I thought I was going to die.

"I thought my heart was going to explode" he laughed, grabbing the cloth on his heart area with one hand.

"Oh stars..." He continued laughing, with one hand on the air.

"You're overreacting" Marie chuckled,

"Who's she?" X walked towards them,

"01. Year 73" Marie turned to her,

"She's my partner" Trent chuckled,

What a relief.

"How did---"

"I'm an agent, not some princess" she scoffed looking at his hand.

"That was your option?"

He scoffed, dropping the gun.

"Was she at the main auditorium?"

X asked, glancing at Theo.

"Yeah— how did you get there?" Theo turned his head towards them

"I jumped"

"What?"

"I heard an explosion and when I peeked through, there were only 4 people guarding the hostages"

She took down 4 armed men?

Wait.

"What about the entrance and gates? We need to deal with that"

"I already did" she laughed,

"Woah" Theo sat straight, amazed,

"You're more badass than I thought"

"Well... Thank you?" She curtsied, chuckling.

Definitely.

She's the number 1 of her set for a reason.

Trent glanced at X as she bent down and arranged her bag.

She was a great help, wasn't she?

"Uh..."

"...yeah?" She looked up,

"Can I talk to you for a moment after this?"

She looked at him for a while, expressionless.

"Alright— 5 minutes"

Marie dialed her phone as she watched them,

"Hello, can you hold out a bit---"

"We've sort it out" she interrupted.

"You have?... Wait—"

"That's right— we faced most of the guys inside while she took out the others" Trent cut in

Anton fell silent for a while in disbelief.

"How many were they?"

"I took 6 out— subdued 1" Marie answered,

"There were about 13 bodies when---" the body at the other corner caught her eye,

"14... That's a total of 21"

"With the 2 you shot?" Theo asked, forcing himself up.

"That's great work guys" Anton sighed, "We had to work procedures since there were tons of important people. How's Umber?"

X glanced at the direction of the room,

"He's fine"

"That's good— the support should be there soon"

"We'll be leaving" Trent huffed, pulling the mask from his face.

"Let's go talk money, Cap..." Theo grabbed his shoulder

"Thanks a lot, Theo" Anton said,

"You can bill him as much as you want" he laughed, hanging up.

That old---

"You heard that?" Theo laughed,

"You need to get treated. Let's wait a bit and leave" Trent supported him with his shoulder.

"There's no need— everybody's left" Marie walked towards Theo, supporting his other hand with her shoulder.

"I'll take care of Umber" X glanced at them

"About our---"

"I'll visit you soon" she nodded, walking past them.

"You want to employ her?" Theo whispered, eyes scanning her as she walked past.

"Yeah"

Marie glanced at her.

She seemed decent.

But, what's with him and dangerous people?

"Let's go home first"

"I guess I'm sleeping at your mansion tonight" Theo laughed as they walked off.

________

Theo grunted as Marie stretched her hand to support him out of the car,

"The right treatment at the wrong time" he chuckled,

Trent glanced at him, closing the door.

"You whine too much"

"You pay too little" he scoffed,

"I need to get---"

"12 million ain't little" Trent muttered as he supported him,

Theo shot him a glare,

"That's the second time you've said that— 1.2 isn't 12"

"I'm your employer" he chuckled,

"If I say it's 12, it's 12"

They gasped, staring at him,

"You're paying 12 million?" Marie asked, turning her head back as Mia rushed out.

He just hummed, with a smirk.

"You're not answering, Cap"

"S–Sir" Mia called out as she drew closer,

"He's injured— Get him cleaned up. There's first aid, yeah?"

"Yes, Sir"

"Ans---"

"Give him the contract too" he released Theo, passing him over.

"She's my lawyer— make sure to act well" he mused, walking off.

"You---" Theo grunted,

"You've gotta recover if you want to get paid"

"You're really paying 12 million?" Marie asked as they walked away.

"Yeah— to the main people"

"Does that include me?" She teased,

"I could transfer you a hundred right now if you want" he replied with a grin.

"I'm sure you would" she scoffed,

"Look out for when I sue for divorce" she laughed walking off

He stared at her as she walked away.

She did very well today.

And she was...

Unbelievable, Trent...

He scoffed, shaking his head.

It's not real.

He pushed the door of the drawing room open. Was he still here?

"Xander?"

Xander jolt up as soon as he heard his name. The files on his face scattered around the place.

"S–Sir..." He stretched to pick them up,

"You should get a proper sleep" Trent told him, scanning through the room

"I wanted to get all these together and make it ready for investors in case we need to present"

"There's no need"

"Huh? I th---"

"I already secured the investors we'll need" Trent chuckled, turning away,

"R–Really? How many?"

"2— worth more than a thousand"

Xander stared at him for a while.

Only 2 investors?

Did his rich snobby friends snub him?

Trent glanced at him before walking off. Of course he'd be confused.

Don't worry, Man.

They're definitely going to come.

______

She hung up her phone as soon as he walked into the room,

"That was Anton" she shook her phone, sitting down on the bed.

"What's the update?"

"The intruders are from the same group as the people that tried to kill the Princess"

What?

The same people?

"What was the motive?"

"Apparently, they'd been cut off by their employer and needed money to flee as far as they could— the gala was the perfect spot for hostages"

Oh.

The Prince and other backers must've withdrawn support.

"They sure snuck in without difficulty— the gala should've had security" he scoffed.

"They did arrange security. Some ran away while the others were wiped out"

"That'll be a problem for them" he muttered, turning his phone on.

20 million on Centient stocks to fall.

Let's hope for some compensation.

Money to soothe my broken heart.

"I think a new car will calm my nerves" he chuckled as he turned the phone off.

"Just buy a chopper if you're going to splurge" she scoffed,

"Maybe I will" he laughed, walking into the bathroom.

What a crazy night.

I hope Diana's okay.

He exhaled sharply as he shut the door.

_______

"Fuck!!!" He growled as his phone's ringtone woke him up.

"Turn it off..." Marie grumbled.

Who was it? He picked the phone up.

"W–What?"

10:24 already?

Over 12 hours of sleep?

He gulped, sitting upright to answer,

"Hello..."

The person remained silent for a while

He glanced at the phone.

Wasn't this---

"What sort of voodoo did you use?"

Oh?

Would you look at her?