When Valerie walked into the station following her successful night hunt, she made her way through the building with the same smile and confident demeanor that she was known for. Even giving a few courteous waves to some of her fellow agents as she passed them by. The day was just like any other, quiet and peaceful for the most part. With the only exception being the few people who were sent out on jobs outside of the city, causing a bit of light ruckus as they prepared to head out.
'I wonder what Aunt Zoe is up to?' The young woman wondered as she turned the corner en route to her aunt's office.
Although the two lived in the same house, they rarely ever saw each other in the mornings. And that was mainly due to the fact that Chief Chandler had to be at the office at an earlier time than everyone else did. Valerie would've preferred carpooling with the woman just to save on gas. However, she had to be the one who helped Lionel, her younger cousin, get ready for daycare before she left. Not that she was complaining, though. She honestly adored the little guy, even if he did get on her nerves every chance he got. But you really couldn't expect anything else from a five-year-old child.
"Well, well, well, look who it is!" A voice caught Valerie's attention. One that immediately caused the woman to groan in frustration.
The tall blonde turned around and suppressed the urge to drag her hand across her face at the person she was looking at. Standing barely ten feet away from her was a woman of average size with light brown hair, dark eyes, and a right arm filled with various tattoos that, in her unbiased opinion, looked like a collage of dogshit.
"Skylar..."
"Oh, what's with that face? Did I do something to upset you?" The senior agent said with a smirk. One that Valerie wanted to punch right off her face.
"No, but I have a feeling that's about to change in the next few seconds."
"What's wrong, blondie? Did yet another guy leave you high and dry for a date? Or did you just get ghosted this time like you normally do?"
"Has anyone ever told you that your obsession with my personal life is kinda creepy?"
"I don't see a problem with just stating the truth."
Oh, Valerie wanted nothing more than to just put this asshole's head through a wall. But doing something like that wouldn't be good for her career. If there was one person in the entire station that Valerie couldn't stand, it was, without a doubt, the annoying creature known as Skylar Murphy. Ever since she transferred into this station, Skylar has had a problem with her. But to be honest, it's not like she didn't see this coming.
The Murphy and McKenna families have had a longstanding beef with each other for years. Longer than either of the two of them had been alive. Mainly because they were so different from each other.
The McKenna family was pretty much comprised entirely of women, while the Murphy family was almost all men. On top of that, both sides routinely accused the other of being blatant sexists whenever the opportunity arose. Valerie had no clue how the beef started, and she didn't really care, but the fact that Skylar decided to actively engage in the drama was a headache she didn't want to deal with.
What was even more annoying was the fact that this walking headache never acted this way towards her aunt. Probably because she changed her name when she got married and had no idea that she was a McKenna until months after the fact. In any case, the whole situation was just a bother.
"So...where you headed off to so early in the morning? Trying to suck up to the Chief a bit more so that you can continue doing your little solo-hunts?"
"That's none of your business."
"I mean, I totally understand, though! You're such a liability around others that working alone is probably what's best for everyone else. Y'know, since you can't control your magic worth a damn. Hey...isn't that the exact same reason why Captain Mubele denied your request to join our squad?"
"Y'know, you talk a lot of shit for someone who walks around here pretending to be a guy. At least I'm not ashamed of who I am as a person."
"Oh, kitty's got claws today, huh?"
Deciding that she was completely over this pointless conversation, Valerie simply turned around and continued the short journey to the Chief's office. The last thing she wanted was to get into a fight with one of her coworkers. Even if the idea sounded oh so tempting at the moment.
"Great talk, let's do it again sometime!" Skylar said with a wave as Valerie retreated down the hallway. Not even given that asshole the satisfaction of a second look.
With that minor nuisance now out of the way, Valerie did her best to forget that the whole thing ever happened. She had no time for petty office drama. Someone like her was simply above such things. After all, it would be bad if the future leader of the DPA were to engage in such nonsense. And she was not about to let some douchebag with a meaningless grudge ruin her day. Not by a long shot.
-(o)-
"Can you put that box of files over by the cabinet?" Chief Chandler said to Valerie while pointing to the other side of the room.
"No problem." The blonde said politely.
Even though she was technically a field agent, Valerie was also the Chief's unofficial office assistant. She spent whatever time she had that wasn't out hunting cryptids helping the woman out with her day-to-day tasks. Most people would've seen this kind of work as a hassle. But for Valerie, it was her chance to gain some valuable experience concerning what it took to lead an entire agency station by herself. Seeing how her aunt operated on a daily basis gave her great insight into how to manage such a unit. And it was kind of fun watching the woman keep everyone in line while running the place like a well-oiled machine.
"Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it."
"You don't have to thank me. It is my job after all."
"Even so, I'm grateful for all the help. I usually shuck most of this stuff off to Mubele so I don't have to deal with it. But since he isn't here right now, I have to actually do it all myself."
"Where is he anyway?" Valerie then asked. "I know he's on some super top secret mission, but he's been gone for months."
"Last I was told is that he's somewhere in the Grand Canyon doing God knows what with some other special agents from around the country. I think the President and Commissioner MacNamara have him hunting down some criminals. But I can't know for sure."
"Wow."
"And that's the last of budget reports!" Chief Chandler said as she vigorously stamped a sheet of paper before pushing it off to the side. "I officially have nothing to do until lunch!"
"Lucky you!"
The older woman then cut a quick glance toward Valerie.
"Since I have all this free time, why don't we head down to one of the training rooms and blow off some steam? I haven't had the chance to stretch my legs in a while since I'm stuck behind this desk all day, and you don't have anything to do right now, right?"
"Fine with me!" Valerie said with a smile. She was never one to turn away from a challenge. And after her run-in with Skylar Murphy a couple of hours ago, she was more than willing to vent out a bit of her anger.
"Awesome! Meet me in room seven in twenty minutes."
"No problem, Boss!" Was all that Valerie said before exiting the room and heading to her locker. More than a bit excited to show the woman how she had improved ever since their last training session.
-(o)-
[Training Room Nine]
"Alright, whenever you're ready!" Chief Chandler told Valerie from across the room.
"Right..." The tall blonde responded with a smirk.
At the moment, the two agents were staring each other down from opposite ends of the training area. While the elder agent was dressed in a simple blue tank top and black sweatpants, the younger decided to go with just an orange sports bra and a pair of grey shorts. When it came to training sessions like this, Valerie much preferred function over fashion. And since she was a wielder of 'fire magic', her body ran hotter than the majority of other people. Thus, the need for the extra ventilation.
As the two waited for the other to make the first move, Valerie wasted no time sizing up her opponent. The blonde had the obvious advantage in size (seeing as she stood a solid four inches over her) and strength (for obvious reasons). However, the junior agent knew better than to assume that would be enough to win.
Not only was Chief Chandler way more experienced than her, but she was also a former member of an all-sorcerer special forces team in the military. Which meant that she certainly had her beat when it came to skill. On top of that, she was an expert when it came to weapons. And Valerie would be a fool to think that she wasn't armed at the moment. Why else would she wear something that was perfect for concealing a firearm or a knife?
Even so, something like that was not going to deter the young blonde. All she had to do was take the woman down before she had a chance to show her hand. Simple.
After a few more seconds of staring each other down, Valerie finally decided to make her move. The young woman quickly dashed forward on her lead foot and went straight for a right jab to the face. But before she could connect, Chandler managed to side-step her to the right and swatted her hand away before attempting a right uppercut.
Hoping to take advantage of his loss of momentum, Valerie countered by hitting the back of Chandler's trailing leg with her shin, knocking her to a knee. But just as quickly as she fell to the ground, the elder agent shot out her left leg and spun back up to a standing position behind Valerie and attempted to force her right hand under her arm.
Valerie barely managed to swim through the attempted hold by dropping her torso down while simultaneously reaching for the woman's extended hand in hopes of being able to throw her. However, the brunette was able to use that momentum to her advantage by flowing with the move and landing on both feet before quickly getting back into her stance and facing her.
"Not bad." Valerie smirked before adopting her fighting stance once again, feeling a sudden rush of exhilaration. Realizing that this wasn't going to be as easy as she thought, she decided to turn things up a bit.
With another good lunge, the blonde got in close before shooting her left leg out with a powerful roundhouse kick. Chandler barely had enough time to throw up her guard before her forearm made contact with Valerie's shin. Taking advantage of her lack of stable footing, Chandler quickly wrapped her right arm around Valerie's leg and tossed her off to the side to get some distance. But Valerie managed to land right back onto her feet.
Immediately after, the kid gloves came off.
The two then erupted into an exchange of kicks and punches. Despite her apparent advantage in speed, Valerie failed to get a solid blow on her aunt while Chandler landed more than a few well-placed kicks to the young woman's thighs and one forceful punch to the cheek. For a brief second, the two backed away from each other to get some space and catch their breath. And in that moment, Valerie decided to do a move that she knew would give her the edge.
Once again, the young blonde dashed towards her target. But this time, less than half a yard away, she dropped her shoulder and gut-punched the woman with her right hand. The second Chandler dropped down, Valerie took the opportunity to jump right above the woman's shoulders. In one quick motion, she grabbed the back of her head, wrapped both legs over her shoulders, and used that momentum to bring her down to the ground. The moment she felt contact with the padded floors, she propped up her knee and shifted into the full-mount position.
"So, do you give up?" Valerie looked down at her aunt while pinning her left shoulder with her forearm.
Instead of a response, what Valerie received was Chandler using her free hand and all of her available strength to pull her in close. In one swift motion, she straightened out her left leg, propped up her right knee behind Valerie's back, and shot her hips straight up. Causing both of them to roll to the left. With their positions now reversed, and Valerie momentarily thrown off guard after somehow being put onto her back, Chandler brought her left knee up to chest height. Pinning down her thigh while using her body weight to hold Valerie's left arm over her stomach, while keeping her right hand above her head.
Just before Valerie could counter by trying a swimming maneuver to break the hold, the brunette planted both feet on the ground and leapt into the air. A move that easily created at least twenty feet of distance between them.
What followed happened so fast that Valerie barely had a chance to register it. With one smooth motion, Chief Chandler reached behind her back and pulled out a pistol from god knows where. Not even wasting a second before firing off four rounds of rubber bullets directly into her niece's chest and abdominal region.
Sorcerer body or not, the consecutive impacts were more than enough to completely knock the wind out of Valerie's body. Causing the young woman to let out a defeated groan before desperately trying to catch some air.
"And...you're dead!" Chief Chandler said with a satisfied smirk once her feet hit the ground. More than happy with how she was able to turn the situation around and achieve a quick victory.
"No –urgh- no fair!" The blonde protested.
"What?" The Chief raised a curious eyebrow. "I never said that weapons weren't allowed. It's your own fault for not being prepared."
"Who the hell brings a pistol to a sparring match?! Plus, you can fly and I can't!"
"Hey now, we all gotta work with what we got. Since I can't use my 'fire magic' anymore, I need something to give me an edge in a fight. Just like how you use those machetes I gave you to compensate for your inability to use your magic."
"Whatever..." Valerie conceded. The woman did have a point, though. Although their circumstances were drastically different, neither of the two had to luxury of being able to rely on their magical attribute when it came to a fight.
While Valerie's issue was simply due to her shitty mana control, her aunt's case was a bit more unusual than hers. About a decade ago, when she was still in the Army, Chief Chandler's mana core was damaged while she was in the middle of a mission. An enemy sniper managed to hit her in the abdomen, and the round took out a chunk of the aforementioned organ. Roughly a fifth of it, if she remembered correctly. And although it didn't affect her body's ability to retain mana, the damage caused her to be unable to manifest her 'fire magic' at all.
"In any case, you've definitely improved when it comes to your hand-to-hand skills." The older woman continued. "The fact that you were actually able to pin me down when you did is enough proof of that. I'd say you'll be able to actually beat me in about...five years or so if you keep progressing at this rate."
"You make it sound like you're out of my league."
"Because I am."
"Sure, whatever...."
"Anyway, you ready to go another round? Or are you calling it quits already?"
In response, Valerie hopped back onto her feet and got into her fighting stance. She'll worry about the bruises that were slowly starting to form on her torso later. She needed to get her payback before it was time to go back to work.
"Bring it on! Just make sure you don't throw your back out this time. You know how brittle people are at your age."
That comment earned Valerie a rubber bullet to the forehead before winding up on the receiving end of a devastating gut punch that almost made her throw up. Needless to say, Valerie McKenna learned a valuable lesson on why it's important to respect your elders.
-(o)-
"What was that?" Maria looked to Sebastian for an explanation after hearing what sounded an awful lot like gunshots.
"The Chief's probably training in one of the rooms right now. I think I saw her and that Valerie girl walking in that direction before I got here." The dark-haired man said in a casual tone without even looking up from his phone.
"You can't be serious?"
"Hey, just be glad that you're not the one getting shot at."
'This place is fucking weird.' Was all that Maria thought before going back to playing her mobile game. Whatever nonsense was going on outside was not her problem. And she certainly wasn't about to get in the middle of it if she could help it. The last thing she needed was to learn what being on the receiving end of a bullet felt like.
-(o)-
Character Profile: Skylar
Name: Skylar Alison Murphy
Alias: N/A
Gender: Male (Born Female)
Age: 22
Birthday: December 14th
Birthplace: Boulder, CO, USA
Height: 67in
Weight: 145lbs
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
Race: White
Magic: Earth
Occupation: DPA Agent
Stat Chart: B
-Physical Strength - 3.5
-Intelligence - 3
-Magic Amount - 4.5
-Magical Control - 4
-Magic Sensing - 4
-Special - N/A
Fun Fact:
-Is known to have an impressive shoe collection.