Black Market Merchant

"Where do you think you're going?!" The person up above them yelled.

"Run for it!" Derrick shouted and the kids started running as fast as they could.

They all turned and tried to run back the way they had come from earlier. There was an audible thump, as something heavy landed on the ground behind them. Then the sound of heavy footsteps quickly approached them. Stealing a glance, Hanna turned to see a hand reaching right at her!

"Ahhh!" Hanna screamed as the hand grabbed her by the back of her shirt.

The boys turned back at the sound of her scream, only to see that Hanna was being hoisted off the ground by the assailant. Hanna kicked and struggled to break free, but it was no use!

"What were you doing in there, Hanna?" The person said. It was a woman's voice and Hanna knew it.

"A-Aunt Lisa?" Hanna ventured breathlessly.

"Yes, it's me." Lisa said putting her down.

"Don't scare me like that!" Hanna shouted, but felt relieved knowing they were safe.

The boys were preparing to attack the person but stopped once they realized everything was alright. As they quickly recognized the lady from the arena. Though how she was here was a mystery to them.

"It's Aunt Lisa?!" Fred gasped in surprise.

"How did you find us and get over that wall? Were you not just inside?" Bill asked completely confused. Once again, the children heeded what the biggest of them said. They voiced out a flurry of questions at Lisa.

Lisa chuckled and held up her hands to quell the noisy children. "One at a time please."

They steadily quieted some and Hanna finally got a chance to speak. "Why were you in there fighting?! Aren't you trying to find my parents killers?"

The mood suddenly turned more somber. Lisa's playful expression relaxed, and she let out a sigh. "I am and will continue to do so, Hanna. It's taken me a lot longer than I realized. You saw how big that building was, but there are even more buildings full of gangsters on the other side. There are also far more people than I realized, and my original plan once again changed. I'll explain the rest to you I detail later, but first I need go back to get Sadie."

"Who is Sadie?" Hanna asked, though she still had her doubts.

"A friend." Then Lisa answered turning to the others. "You all better head for the closest wall exit. One of you asked how I got over the wall. Just watch me."

Lisa had a faint smile on her face as she turned towards the building behind her. Its roof was two and a half meters high, only half the height of the gangsters’ wall. Giving a slight crouch, Lisa gave an effortless jump. To the awe of all the children watching, Lisa landed atop the building’s roof, then immediately turned, and jumped over the wall!

The children burst into excitement.

"Woah! What just happened?" Fred yelled.

"How could she do that? That's not humanly possible!" Jillian exclaimed.

"She was carrying all that stuff on her back too!" Henry noted.

Bill just stood there with his mouth agape, looking towards the area Lisa had disappeared over. The rest all chatted excitedly in total amazement. They now had even more questions to ask her now.

Then Hanna recalled what Lisa said. "Hurry guys let’s get over to the exit!"

The children agreed and headed quickly off.

…

Lisa had landed on the other side of the wall with ease. To her right were the unconscious bodies of the two guards from before. Luckily, she had noted that this spot was in a blind zone from the cameras scattered around the building. Looking around she saw that no one had yet noticed what had happened back here.

"Good." Lisa thought to herself. "I don't want to deal with Xander at the moment."

The two men, however, were not dead. She had come up behind them and knocked them out before they could alert anyone. So, in order to cover things up she went over to the wall to create a solution. Finding an area that looked loose, she ripped off a large metal bar and a sheet of rusted roofing. She placed the bar on the back of the two men's heads and then wedged the roofing metal over the hole. Unless someone tugged hard at the roofing, the hole would remain completely covered. The men would wake up confused and find nothing, but the metal bar that supposedly fell on their heads. They probably would be too embarrassed to report this incident, so leaving them alone would be fine.

Satisfied that everything was in order, Lisa headed back to Sadie and Nicky. They probably were not getting along at the moment. As she rounded the corner, sure enough, they were yelling at each other. It seemed that her victory over the Skinner had given Sadie some new found spunk.

"You'll see. We will be better than anybody you put up against us!" Sadie yelled pointing a finger at Nicky. Then noticing Lisa returning, she turned away with a huff. "Come on Queen. It's time we leave!"

Without saying a word Lisa looked at Nicky for a moment. Nicky stared coldly back, arms crossed, and a smirk was plastered on her face. Lisa rolled her eyes and followed after the angry Sadie. Catching up to Sadie, Lisa she couldn't help but chuckle.

"I take it you two were not having a nice chat?" Lisa ventured.

"No. I don't want to talk about it either." Sadie huffed.

"Alright." Lisa said not wanting to prod any further. "By the way, when we get outside, there's going to be a bunch of kids looking for us."

"What? Kids. Why?" Sadie asked surprised. Immediately her mood changed.

"It's complicated, but technically I am trying to keep an eye on one of the girls, Hanna. You'll meet her soon." Then Lisa quickened her pace. "Come on, let hurry and meet them before they get into more trouble."

A bit confused Sadie didn't reply. Rather, the two quickly headed for the exit. Taking a glance over her shoulder Lisa could see the sun was just receding behind the mountain. It wasn't long till dark.

"Better hurry and get these kids out of here and back home to their parents." Lisa thought to herself.

They were let out by the those guarding the entrance without any trouble. It seemed that her gamble had paid off and those guards were indeed to embarrassed to report the incident. They were standing back at their post with crestfallen appearances. Leaving the compound behind, they walked a few buildings down the road when Hanna and the rest of the children appeared by coming out of an alley passage.

"There you are." Lisa called to the children. They apparently been running this whole time and needed a moment to catch their breath. Several of the collapsed onto the curb side, panting and tired from the run.

"We… finally found… you." Derrick said puffing heavily.

Lisa chuckled. "Sorry to cut this short, but we need to keep moving towards home. It will be night soon and your parents will worry. We can talk on the way."

"Umm, who are they, exactly?" Sadie asked peeking out from behind Lisa's coffin.

"Well, this one here is Hanna." Lisa said putting a hand on Hanna's muddy red hair. "Hanna, this is Sadie."

"Nice to meet you Hanna." Sadie said reaching a hand down towards the little girl. Hanna was sitting on the ground trying to catch her breath.

"H-hello." Hanna replied quietly and took Sadie's hand. Sadie then pulled her up on her feet.

"So, tell me, who are your friends?" Lisa asked looking the rest of the children over.

Hanna pointed each one out by name and Lisa greeted each one warmly. They all politely said hello, except for Chase. He had other things on his mind.

"Are you an alien or something?!" Chase rudely interrupted everyone.

"No, I am not an alien. I'm human just like the rest of you." Lisa chided. She expected this kind of reaction.

"Chase! Be more respectful to your elders." Clair said smacking him on the back of his head.

"Are you calling me old?" Lisa said giving the tall blond girl a sideways look.

"No! I didn't mean that. S-sorry Miss Lisa." Clair replied quickly.

Lisa broke out into a smile. "Ha-ha, it's alright I am only messing with you."

The rest of the children started to bombard Lisa with further questions and comments. Seeing that they wouldn't be getting anywhere at this rate, Lisa waved them on to follow her. Lisa tried to answer as many questions as she could as they walked. Lisa and the rest soon got ahead of Hanna and Sadie who were walking at the back of the group.

Hanna was still thinking everything over. About what Lisa was doing in the gangster’s place and why she might have been fighting. Then she recalled what Lisa told her, 'collecting intelligence is the best thing to learn'. Right next to her was a good source of intel, Sadie.

"Um, Miss Sadie." Hanna ventured. "How long have you known Lisa?"

Sadie was lugging her suitcase, which luckily had wheels. Yet it kept getting caught on cracks in the old road and was making the trip rather annoying. However, despite that, she replied back to Hanna. "Only since this morning. But considering every that's happened it feels like a week."

"Really?" Hanna said sounding slightly surprised. "Why are you two together?"

"Well it's due to my new job. I am going to be Lisa's Match Fighter Manager. To be her manager, I have to be with her to record the fights she ends up getting into." Sadie replied.

"Why does she want to be a Fighter?" Hanna asked genuinely curious.

"Well…" Sadie said thinking back. "I actually never asked. I assumed it was for the same reason as many others, for money and fame. But it doesn't seem like that's the real reason." Sadie said looking at Lisa talking with the other children. "There seems to be more to her than we might know."

Hanna was watching Lisa as well. "I agree." She replied. In fact, she even wondered why Lisa was so adamant in helping her. There wasn't anything that appeared to be in it for her. She was just some random girl Aunt Lisa came across.

They had gone several blocks and had just arrived at the Market area of the town. Many of the shops had been folded up and put away for the night. Many vendors were loading up carts and bags of their wares, all in preparation to take them home for safe keeping. They were nearly through the area, when a familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey there. What are you doing out here?" Everyone looked to see that it was John coming towards them from a side street.

"I was just coming from your place and didn't see you there. So, I was just on my way home." John said coming out onto the road to join Lisa and the kids. When he did come out, he noticed Hanna and Sadie, whom were further back and just catching up.

"Hanna, what are you doing out here?" John asked eyeing Sadie suspiciously. Sadie had a nervous expression seeing his strong gaze and glanced at Lisa. Lisa gave a nod, signaling it was alright.

"We were out playing." Hanna quickly replied. She needed to say something before the others ratted her out to John that they were messing around the gangsters. "We just happened to run into Lisa and her friend, Sadie."

"H-hello, I am Sadie Blake, I am Lisa's new manager." Sadie replied, still somewhat nervous and extended her hand to John.

John still looked at her suspiciously but took her hand and firmly shook it anyway. "Pleasure to meet you."