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The sound of gravel crunching beneath her feet filled her ears. Arms pumping at her sides, she jogged on the gravel trail through the park. She had been at this for a while now, so her overly large white shirt was saturated in sweat. Her black spandex shorts clinged to her legs comfortably.

It was early morning, so the air was cool, comfortable. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, letting her see a rather beautiful shade of blue. The sun had risen over the horizon, bathing the park in early morning light.

With her hair pulled into a high ponytail, Videl jogged down the trail. It was part of her regimen and she never missed a day if she could help it. It gave her time to simply be, to let all the worries and stress of the world be locked away, if only for a little while.

Life was unpredictable. When Videl had been a little girl, she had wanted to be a doctor. The ever expanding catalog of medical dramas had made sure she had no shortage of daydreams where she saved people's lives. A cancer patient here, a shooting victim there, she would ease the ills of all that came to her. That dream had faded as she grew, being replaced with law enforcement. At the time, she had fallen under the belief that instead of trying to rescue people from pain, she could prevent it as a policewoman on the front lines. Even now she didn't regret that choice.

"Welcome to Orange Star Police Academy, cadets!" the drill sergeant barked. In two rows, all of the cadets stood at attention, staring straight forward as the drill sergeant paced in front of them. Videl was in the back row, arms pressed at her sides, her pressed uniform fitting her body and a hat sitting snugly on her head.

"Today, you have the honor of joining the Orange Star Police Department. For the the next three weeks, you will learn about proper police procedure, you will follow department protocols as dictated to you, and you will not violate any of the rules, regulations, and laws that you will be entrusted to uphold. There's a reason why this is called 'Hell Week,' ladies."

Keeping a straight face, Videl resisted the urge to snort. Considering this training was going on for more than a week, it was ironic that it would be named as such. Still, she would get through this training and earn that badge that she and the rest of her classmates strove for.

And she did with flying colors. Top grades in her class, second in shooting, and other accolades fell at her feet. She had gotten through the training no sweat.

Yet, she had been unprepared for the stress of the job. At first she had been burdened with the horrors that mankind could inflict upon itself. The dark-haired woman had stood valiantly against that tide of senseless hate, but soon it overwhelmed her. She grew bitter with each case she took on, the hours of work and towering stacks of paperwork.

And then she shot someone.

Videl pressed her back against the wall, her gun held up in both hands in front of her face. There was a doorway next to her, wide open. Somewhere beyond it was a crazed man, who had taken to shooting anything and everything in sight. Two people had already been gunned down. The paramedics were practically foaming at the mouth to get to them, yet the presence of the gunman kept them at bay.

Focusing on her breathing, Videl kept herself calm despite her rapidly increasing heart rate. This wasn't her first rodeo in this situation, but it didn't make it any less nerve-wracking. She had seen plenty of friends and fellow cops gunned down in this situation, no matter how many times they had practiced the scenario in simulations.

Steeling her nerves, she took a step to the door, spinning around and pointing her gun through the doorway. There was a wall to the right, which caused her to lean that way, turning to face her left. She found a normal-looking family room with chairs and couches and a TV. No one was there so she stepped into the room.

Up ahead, towards the back of the room and to the right was a hallway. Cautiously, Videl made her way to it and repeated her actions. The hall was clear, but at the end was a door. The gunman had to be there. However, before she could take another step, a loud roar filled her ears as the door exploded towards her, pieces of wood flying into the air. Taking cover along the wall just before the corridor's entrance, Videl cringed as her ears rang from the blast. Just great; this psycho had a freaking shotgun.

"Who the hell is out there?!" a man shouted as she heard the door was swung open, heavy footsteps pounding on the floor.

"This is the Orange Star Police," Videl answered, loud and clear. "Lay your weapon do—"

She never got the chance to finish her warning as she heard the easily-recognizable sound of the gunman pumping the shotgun. Diving to the floor, Videl covered her head with her arms, just as the wall she had been leaning against exploded, sending pieces of wood and sheetrock falling onto her.

"Goddamn pigs!" the man roared as he stormed down the hall. "I told you to leave my ass alone! You're gonna die, bitch!"

Immediately, Videl rolled onto her back, just as the gunman appeared out of the hall, he pumped the shotgun again and turned its barrel to face her. It seemed as if time had stopped right there for the dark-haired woman as she laid on the floor, fear welling up inside of her and robbing her of her courage. Her brain shut down as the only thing she could possibly focus on was the opening of that shotgun's barrel.

It was purely reflex that she got her gun up. She hadn't even noticed her finger squeezing the trigger or the loud blast of her handgun. She was faintly aware of the man instantly dropping to the floor, his head thrown back and shotgun falling from his grasp. It was several minutes before she even realized what happened and by then she was still lying on the floor, breathing rapidly as the gunman lay unmoving before her.

Just the very thought of that first shooting, that first kill had made Videl increase her pace. Her beating heart pumped faster in response as her breathing grew louder. Never mind it had been in self-defence, that had she not pulled her trigger and shot that crazed man with a shotgun, that it would have been her picture on the front page as the latest officer to be slain in the line of duty, it still left a void inside of her. Even now she could remember the public outrage against her, the suspension that was forced upon her by her superiors until she was cleared.

She had fallen into a dark place after that. It was weeks before she had smiled at someone, that she hadn't stared at her reflection in the mirror and wanted to break it into a thousand pieces. When she had returned to work, receiving a warm welcome by her friends and co-workers, her spirit had been lifted, although for all too short of a time.

Soon, she found herself involved with many more shootings. Some were clearly unavoidable while others… weren't unavoidable, but she hadn't cared. It was one less monster on the streets. She still believed that even now. Unfortunately, her lieutenant couldn't stomach her more final methods and suspended her once again.

It was shortly after that she had been approached by someone that shared her views. Videl had been skeptical at first, but the offer that was presented to her had been very tempting. More than tempting actually, considering she accepted. Of course, just because she had accepted the offer didn't mean she had the job. She needed to pass an interview.

Of course, that interview later because her first assignment.

The car came to a stop on the side of the street. From her seat, Videl could only see the long line of connecting buildings. Looking past the driver, she could make out a flower shop, a real-estate agency, and a deli across the street. Glancing to her blonde driver, she gave her a look that showed she was very unimpressed.

"We're here," the woman said as she turned off the car engine. Opening her door, she climbed out of the car, slamming it shut behind her. Dubiously, Videl followed her lead as she got out. She made sure to grab her duffle bag, hanging it by its strap over her shoulder.

The dark-haired woman had been told to dress casually, which she had done. Jeans, a T-shirt, and she had been ready to go. She hadn't bothered doing anything about her hair, thankfully being quite short. She had half-expected the woman that picked her up to be disapproving, but her purple jumpsuit indicated that she really didn't care. Said her name was Hasky when they introduced each other.

Following Hasky, the two of them made their way up to the real estate office, where the blonde woman pulled out a key and inserted it into the door lock. With a twist, she unlocked it and pushed the door in, a bell ringing as the corner of the door hit it. Walking in, Videl immediately began checking out her surroundings, finding it to be just a simple office. There was a sitting area to the right and a couple of self-made cubicles using shelves to the right.

Hasky closed the door behind them, locking it. "You don't look too busy here," Videl commented.

"It's the weekend, what did you expect?" the woman retorted as she made her way to the back of the room. Videl followed her towards a small hallway in the back. At the end of it was a keypad, but Hasky didn't go to it. Instead she raised her set of keys again, putting one into the lock on a doorknob to a door to their left. The door open a moment later and the two women walked through the doorway.

To Videl's surprise, she found herself in an elevator. Once Hasky shut the door behind them, she hit a button labeled "B2" and two metal doors slid in front of them until they met each other. Soon, they began to descend. Videl felt nervous as this turn of events, shifting on her feet as she looked between the elevator doors and this Hasky lady.

When the elevator stopped, the doors slid open, revealing a rather bland-looking hallway. Videl was underwhelmed by its appearance. Moving forward, the two walked down a hallway, Hasky confident while the dark-haired woman turned her head this way and that. This was unknown territory for her and she wasn't about to let her guard down. Passing an intersecting hallway, she couldn't help but notice an armed guard dressed in black combat fatigues casually patrolling, a machine gun held firmly in his hands.

Eventually, they came to a door, which Hasky opened for her. Stepping through it, she was half-surprised to have the door close behind her her, yet her guide staying on the other side. Looking around the room she found herself in, she noticed it was a typical office with a desk, a couple chairs, and various decorations she didn't care to look at. The desk was quite messy, a chaotic piling of folders and papers.

And sitting behind the desk was a young-looking, dark-haired man. He looked at her with eager blue eyes, though his face remained stoic. "So you're the firecracker I've been hearing about," he said in a rather smooth voice.

Videl just stared back at him with her own blue eyes. She wasn't sure how to take all of this and she wasn't about to put her neck out on the line just yet.

"Nothing to say?" the man asked, almost taunting her.

"You wanted to see me?" Videl replied. It was the safest words she could think of at the moment.

The man looked at her nonplused. "And what gave you that impression?"

"Besides that woman you sent to pick me up bringing me here? The offer you made me."

"What offer could you possibly mean? I'm drawing a blank at the moment."

That made Videl scowl. "Then what the hell did you bring me here for?"

A smirk appeared on the man's face. "There we go. That's the fire I wanted to see." Waving a hand to her, indicating one of the chairs, he continued, "Have a seat. Make yourself at home."

Still glaring, the dark-haired woman dropped her duffle bag to the floor and strode to the chair, taking a seat. "So what is all this?"

"Oh, just a business. Not completely legal I'll give you, but simple and quite direct. You see," at this he leaned onto his desk, towards her, "I've wanted to make a difference in this world. It wasn't all that long ago that I thought, hey, I can make this place so much better than the current bunch of louts running things. But… as you can imagine it didn't work out that way. No matter what I did, everything stayed the same, which was frustrating."

"So then you decided the hell with everything and struck out on your own," Videl finished for him boredly. "That's how this lame story ends, right?"

The dark-haired man grinned at her as he leaned back into his chair. "Okay, so you caught me. Still, I am doing something rather important."

"And that would be?"

His tone changed, becoming much more serious. "Changing the world."

The rest of that conversation mattered very little now. In fact, Videl barely recalled shaking the man's hand. Father's hand. Her pace began to slow, not because of her slowly growing fatigue, but more of her annoyance. She didn't really understand why her boss wanted to be called by that name, and she half-expected he got off on it. It wasn't hard to imagine that, considering he had several pretty woman calling him that name.

Maybe that was the point.

After her induction to the agency though, things weren't immediately better for her. Her "co-workers"—and she used that term very loosely—didn't take to her.

"So yous the new guy."

Videl held her fire as she stared at the paper target. There was a silhouette of a man with thin lines going through him, dividing him into segments. The dark-haired woman had been practicing her shooting when that obnoxious voice broke her concentration.

Lowering her gun, she turned to face another blonde, although her hair was much more wild than Hasky's. Predatory green eyes bore into her from this new person, which Videl didn't quite like. "And you are?"

The blonde woman had a smirk on her face, full of pride and arrogance. "Name's Wildcat. I'ze the top dog here, shrimp."

Instantly, Videl bristled at that name. So what if she was short? That didn't take away from her skills, which she had clearly shown if she was a part of this outfit. If this was some form of hazing, then she was just gonna have to show how much distaste she had for it. The other woman didn't bat an eye when she noticed the dark-haired woman's anger, instead grinning wider. "Struck a nerve, did I'ze? Better get used to it, girlie."

"My name is Videl," she growled back.

The blonde lifted an eyebrow at that. "That's yous name?"

"It's not any different than Hasky's."

Wildcat snorted. "Oh, I sees. I'ze thinks Father messed up brinin' yous on board. No ones uses their real name, not here. Hasky's a fake name she'ze uses when goin' undercover. 'round here, she's Serpent."

It was Videl's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Another fake name."

"'Course. So tells me 'gain, what's yous name?"

Videl paused. "Father" had given her another name he'd use to contact her for assignments, but she never thought she'd have to use it with the other agents. Perhaps that was for the best if all the others were just as irritating as "Wildcat" here. "Devil."

Wildcat smirked at her before her eyes flickered down to the gun in the dark-haired woman's grip. "Yous any good with that hand cannon?"

Now, Videl wasn't a naturally prideful person, but she was very confident in her shooting abilities. She had actually won a shooting contest at the precinct not too long ago, beating out some of the renowned officers. Smirking, she turned and raised her gun, squeezing the trigger rapidly as she fired her weapon. The bangs of the gunshots bounced off the concrete walls, making them sound much louder. When she lowered her gun, several small holes dotted the center of the target's torso, an occasional hole further out here and there.

Turning back to Wildcat, Videl was pleased to see the blonde looked impressed. "Not bad," she complimented the dark-haired woman.

That's when Wildcat pulled out her own gun and fired one shot. Jerking her head back, Videl saw a new hole in the target's head, right between where a person's eyes would be. "Yous can empty an entire clip into some smuck's chest, and they'ze might live. Put one in they'ze brain, and it's good-night Lucy," Wildcat said, sounding as if she was giving a lecture. "We'ze are only interested in takin' the target out. The quicker, the better. Remember that."

Spinning around, Wildcat then sauntered off, leaving Videl to glare at the back of her head.

Unfortunately, her meetings with the other agents were very similar. It was clear that none of them liked each other, content to share a roof over their heads, but that was the limit. It was actually fortunate that Father advocated placing his agents out in the field, living completely different lives than having all of them hissing at each other in one place. If it wasn't for her having to report back to Father every so often, she would never have returned, content to just sending her updates electronically.

A buzz went off in her shorts, catching her attention. Slowing down her jog, she came to a stop and reached to her right pocket, pulling out her phone. The screen was lit up, revealing a text message from someone called Teacher. "Assignment due in class today. Be on time."

Videl stared at the message before turning the screen off. Shoving the phone back into her shorts, she began jogging again, following the trail still. The path would loop around and bring her back to the parking lot. However, the serenity she had felt previously had evaporated. She had been expecting this message to come in, but she would have prefered it not come during her job. Now she was shifting to work-mode, her Devil persona, and whatever peace she had found was long gone. She was really gonna have to speak to Teacher about her damn timing. She knew perfectly well she'd come here at this time.

With a growl, she picked up her pace.

…

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