Xenoverse-Side Story 1: The Panther and The Nevermore

Jalen sighs as he sit back in his chair in the Bad Company Bar in NYC....Site of where hardened mercs and newcomers eager to prove themselves come.

It's been a good 2 months for the 21 year old merc when he started and so far, he haven't gotten any business going despite showing off his skills. As evident by the amount of people scared off of the panther-fauna since he came in here, with his Buster Sword-That he made personally- resting next to him at the table.

In times of money, those who can't compete in the tourneys(Whether lack of skill, interest, or anything) often take up the 2nd oldest profession in the world. That which is the way of the sellsword-Mercenary.

There are many kinds of jobs for Mercs, Oftentimes they are asked to kill someone for money, but they are other ways such as Escorting, Retrieving, Guarding, and more...

Due to how society look down and is scared on the idea of Mercenaries despite said profession not being illegal(Which shows how the governments of each nation REALLY views on them), The people who come to these hideouts are often disguised so that word of them coming here won't get out to taint their reps...which is helpful since most of the 'customers' here are often important people in politics and fame.

And to prove said point...here comes some people cloaked as they head over to some of the mercs looking for help. One of them, a heavy set man with sweat pouring down his forehead, walk over to Jalen and sit down across from him.
[Listen boy, I am in dire straits here...I owe money to some former associates of mine and I have an idea that they will be coming to my house tonight....I already have a merc there, but one more wouldn't help, right?] Jalen just roll his eyes, no doubt this guy made a deal with a mafia member and now he wanna save more money by not paying the guy... "5000G" [5-5-5K?!?] "Take it or leave it, pal...." He smirks as the fat bastard huffs before him..before slamming down an address card to his home with a scowl [You better be worth all of this...be at my house no later than 9PM or you won't get pay!!] With that, the man leaves out as he wipes his sweaty forehead...Jalen leans back and sighs...his tough guy act going away as he check the card out on the table..flipping it over and back.

"(Boy, one of these days, Imma just quit this and go clean....)" Jalen pick up his sword and head to his home...Once he's there, he begins to pack his stuff-Walkie Talkie, some ration, and his mask, a nice, black and sleek panther mask that hides his identity. Checking over his Buster Sword, he place it on his back and head out to the address as he lock his home up and begin to walk there through the metropolis that is NYC(New Ylisse City.) While he's there, he can see many advertisements for the upcoming tourney-Twister Cup- Showing off many Drivers and their Blades. "(One day, that'll be me on there...Just you all wait.)" Releasing his clenched fist...he continue to walk on to the destination, his tail wrapped around his black cloak as he wears his mask..

Eventually, he arrives there at about 8:45PM...the mansion is simply quite fancy, No doubt the man has used plenty of tax-payer money to support his wants rather than his needs. As he approaches the gates, Jalen look and see a Red Motorcycle behind it.  "Must be the other merc here..." He knock on the gates and it opens up for him. The lawn is fucking huge for him to see with a giant fountain in the middle, making him walk around the damned thing. "Geez, a bit much, don't you think..." Standing before the door, he knock on it..seconds later, it's opened for him to walk in.

Jalen is escorted by a maid to the room where his cilent and other merc is at....he is shown to a door that he open up for him to walk in...it's a fairly simple room with the design of a private quarters, clashing with how fancy the rest of the mansion is outside of this room. The client-Who Jalen now know as Mr.Goldstein- is sitting behind a desk wearing a very fancy looking brightly color that clearly clashes with his other clothing...As for the other person in the room. They are sitting down in a chair with a mask that Jalen can only described as a raven's head with very long black hair sticking out like a bird's feather. She(Jalen assumes it's a she with the hair and manner of sitting in the chair) is wearing a red jacket as she turn back towards him and glare..the 2 mercs stare at one another as she turns away and back to Mr. Goldstein as Jalen sits down next to her.

[Good, you're finally here! Now here's the deal...I'll go sleep in my room tonight while you 2 go and keep guard over me! Shall I see the sun come tomorrow, you both get paid!]
The woman next to Jalen shifts in her seat

|I want double for this....I was told that I would be working alone here...| She crosses her arms under her breasts with an annoyed motion. "(Oh, a Lone Wolf kind of Merc....figures)" Jalen never really get upset with working with others , understanding that certain jobs need more than one merc...Nevertheless, he roll his eyes at the arrogance of this woman as Goldstein wipes his sweat off of his forehead..

[Now listen here....]

|Nevermore|

"(Guess that's her codename here...Shit, I gotta think of something!)"

"I'm Panther."

"(Smooth....)"

[Nevermore and Panther! I'm going to my room now! I'll let you 2 decide on how things will run tonight...] And with that, Goldstein wobble his way out of the room...leaving Jalen with Nevermore here alone.

NM stared quite intensely at Jalen who gets up and head to the door. "Well, staying in here all night won't do us an-" |I'm sorry, but who the fuck made you the boss between us?| Jalen stops and had to stop himself from sighing as NM gets up and walk past him to the door, bumping into him along the way..Jalen roll his eyes and follow her out of the room. "Don't you think that you're being a bit uncooperative with all of this?" |I have no time to be all 'nice and friendly' with other mercs...|

"(Oh man, what a badass....)"
NM stops and turn towards him with a swing of her sword suddenly, Jalen instantly block it with his Buster Sword...both of them stare at one another...Jalen with an annoyed look behind his mask and NM with a interested look..

|Hmph...Seems you do have some skill in you....|

"You could had fucking asked me, ya know?"

|Like you could be telling the truth...But whatever.| NM place her sword back on her back and walk off. |I have the northern section to myself, you go and handle the southern section.| Jalen crosses his arms and tilts his head.. "And who made you boss?" |Me, when I got here before you.| Nevermore walks away and head to the front parts of the mansion. Jalen shrugs and head towards the southern part.

The night went on without much issues...turns out that Goldstein overestimated how much the Mafia saw him as an annoyance and sent not much bandits out to him with 10. 5 of them heading to each section. Jalen smirks underneath his mask as he have slayed 2 of the 5 before him already...

^DAMNIT, WHAT IS A FURFAG DOING HERE!??!^ +I DON'T KNOW, CALL THE OTHER GUYS!!!+ The 3rd one does so, but get no response. {TH-THEY'RE NOT ANSWERING BACK!!!}

"(Seems like Nevermore took care of them allready.)" Jalen correctly assumes as he finish the last 3 off with relative ease...ending with his sword stabbing the last guy through a tree...as he pulls out of him and swing his tool to wipe the blood off, he turns to see Nevermore behind him .

|....|

"So I imagine you had no issues on your end, huh?"

|.....|

Jalen shrugs, figuring that she don't like to talk much

"I guess you would like to switch things...I'll head to the nort-" |I wish to fight you, Panther.| Jalen stops, he was walking past her when she suddenly speak up. "Err....Why?"

|Don't ask stupid questions...| She shakes her head and turn to him slightly. |I'm just curious on where we stack up against each other....Aren't you?| By now, she  had walk up to him, she is at his height (5'10) and is gazing at his eyes through her mask. "....Maybe one day...For now, we have a mission to handle." _Jalen walk off as he head to the Northern section of the mansion, Unaware of the gaze Nevermore was sending to his back. |(We'll duel one of these days, Panther...)|

"(What an odd woman, 1st she wish to have nothing to do with me...but now all of a sudden, she wanna be all combative..Man, this is probably the last I see of her so who cares...)" The rest of the night goes off without any other disturbance as the sun rises up...The 2 mercs are in the room once more as Goldstein counts their money up, Jalen hiding his jealously with Nevermore's bag being much bigger. [Annnd that's all! Thank you 2 once again! I'll be sure to call you 2 up if I need some help!] With that, he dismiss the 2 and they leave out of the mansion...As they close on to the gate, NM turns back to him.

|....So, what's your name?|

"And why should I tell you?"

|....Good call, but relax...I'm just curious...|

"...."

Jalen sighs..

"Jalen." |Last name?| "....Pruett."

|....Now your face..|

"Oh come on...."

NM taps her foot on the ground...Jalen groans and slowly reveal his face to her...He can't see it, but NM is blushing very slightly as she stares at his cat-ears...

"Well...you got what you  wanted...so I suppo-...!!!" Jalen look on in a very shocked manner as NM suddenly reach up and rubs his ears... ".....The hell are you doing?" NM seems to realize what she's doing as she pull back fast. |...Sorry..|

"....I'll be seeing you." Confused and embarrassed, Jalen walk off out of the lawn and past the gates....Beforelong, he hears a Motorcycle coming up behind him and drive very slow next to him...

"..The hell you want now?"

|The walk back to the city is very long...|

".....I know, how else you think I go-"

|Let me give you a lift.|

Jalen stop and give her an annoyed look

"Listen here...I don't know you, and you don't know me...we're just mercs...I understand the concept of being nice to one another, but there gonna be a day where we may cross paths as enemies an-...." He suddenly stop speaking as NM takes her mask off. Jalen wasn't expecting to be staring at crimson-colored eyes with a gorgeous face that was smirking at him.(edited)

"....."

|Raven Branwen...Now c'mon...Let's go get something to eat|

"...im not hungry..."

Jalen's stomach disagrees as Raven smirk at him...His ears fall flat on his head in embarrassment...

He sighs and hop on the back and hold on to her as she revs up..

|...We won't ever have to fight each other so long we take missions together...| "?" Jalen look up at her in a shocked manner as she drives off.. |But, we will still be rivals in terms of training partners..|

"Allright...That's cool with me."

|It better be.|

Raven smiles as she hears Jalen scoff yet rest his head on her back and fall asleep...

|(This is the start of something interesting between us...)|

[Present Time]

Raven  sit at the bottom of her personal boat as she let Neo drive them to the shores of NYC for their mission...she is looking up at the ceiling as she holds a locket with a pic of her and Jalen in it...
Before her is her Motorcycle from back then and the Buster Sword resting next to her on the couch along with a laptop she sits on it and reflects back on the past. Just then she hears footsteps as Roman comes down to tell her.(edited)
{Hey, we're just now arriving, so what's the plan?}

|...|

{Hey Raven,  I said, wha-}

|Shut it....The plan is that we know thanks to my hacking laptop here the address of Jalen's...you guys go find a spot to attack the house...I'm sure Jalen isn't home....So you leave HIM to me...|

Raven get on her Motorcycle and revs it up as Neo dock the boat on the shore...

|(Jalen...you get one chance to come back.....if you don't....Then I guess i have to do my fucking job, huh?)|