Felix sat on the floor and let out a deep exhale, exhausted from the battle. He pulled out the broken pendant of a four-leaf clover, and stared at it longingly.
This… wasn’t the grand battle I thought it was…
Blood dripped down his nose, and as he stared at his arm, his veins appeared to be glowing, lighting up his flesh from within.
“Urk…” He winced. His expression quickly changed to panic, as an uncontrollable blue fire burst out, crackling into streams of electricity, “Huh?!”
“Why is it!?” He shot back on his feet, a sharp pain came from the gash in his arm, “Doing that?!”
As he frantically waved his arms up and down, a pair of arms wrap around him from behind.
“Calm down, just calm down!” A feminine voice urged him.
He turned around, and saw the black-haired woman holding him, “Huh? What?! Marie?!”
“Don’t worry. It’s healing you. Your powers are healing you.” Her voice calmed him down.
“M-Marie…? You’re alive?” He asked with complete confusion, sweat pouring from his face.
“Alive and kicking, no thanks to you.” She released him and took a step back, “You know, you fail as a bodyguard.”
A relieved sigh washed over him, “But you’re… you were… I don’t know what to say. I’m just… glad that you’re… Sorry, I’m exhausted.” He scratched his cheek.
“I know. I saw everything. Your eyes, your speed, and your look just needs a splash of oomph to it.” She suddenly covered her mouth, letting out a giddy squeal.
His eyebrows furrowed, letting out a nervous laughter, “I just tore a man’s arm off, why do you sound so… excited?”
“I just sliced a man in half a few hours ago… but your eyes… they’re not something I see everyday.” She watched with a proud smile.
“… Eyes? Both of them?” He echoed back as he slowly placed his hand under his right eye, which was shimmering with the same azure glow as the left.
His attention shifted to the blue haze emanating through the torn flaps of his black coat.
Professor Tetsuya’s words echoed in his head:
The other one will also turn blue in due time. And when that happens, your gifts will finally… oh my, I can hardly wait.
“Wait, no, we don’t have time for this. We still need to escape. Can you still move?” His voice raised with urgency.
“It’ll take more than a bullet to put me down for good.” The dark-haired woman placed her hand on the back of her head, and with an uncomfortable expression, clawed something out.
With a pained grunt, she showed Felix a metal shard between her fingertips. It was the bullet Harbinger had shot her with.
“But damn does it hurt… like… hell...” Her voice weakened as she nearly toppled over, but Felix caught her as she fell, holding her upright with his wounded arm.
She noticed the flesh and muscles in his arm slowly weaving back together.
“We need to get to the hospital…”
“Looks pretty deep, but like I said, nothing leaves a scar on us.” She giggled weakly, before turning into a fit of violent coughs.
Felix stared blankly at her, muttering, “We still need to get out of here.”
“Before that…” She wobbled over to where Harbinger was, and got the drive back from his pocket. “What do we do with him, then?” She asked.
“He’s no longer a threat. Just leave him be.” He leaned on one of the servers that were still standing.
“I still think we should get rid of him.”
“I’d rather not kill…” He lowered his gaze, “Not when if it’s unnecessary…”
“He might survive long enough for the guards to interrogate him.” She argued.
Before he could formulate a response, he heard the distant sound of footsteps and doors opening from the lower floors.
“…Fine. We don’t have much time. They’re almost here.” He conceded.
“Right.” Maria kneeled down to Harbinger’s level.
He looked away, opposite her direction, and stared out the window wall. He watched the fireworks pop from the skyline, hearing the distant thud and crackle that came after.
From beneath his feet, he listened to the footsteps of guards getting closer. Unable to catch his breath, his face grew increasing impatient.
But as the light from the firework faded away, and his glowing blue eyes reflected in the window wall, he saw Maria’s reflection, holding a pistol.
He quickly turned around to see her kneeling down, with the barrel of a gun placed inside Harbinger’s mouth.
The dark-haired woman coldly whispered as her own blood slid across her cheek, “A bulletproof vest gonna save you from this.”
“Wait, no! Don’t use a—”
With a loud crack, Harbinger’s blood painted the servers. But the sound of her gun echoed to the lower floors, drawing the attention of the guards below.
“I heard a gun fire!”
“It came from up there!”
The voices of the guards flurried in as they rushed towards their location.
“Why didn’t you use your knife? I thought they were your specialty!” He shouted in a low voice, trying his best to keep himself not signal their location.
“This just seemed easier!”
“And you didn’t think to use a silencer?!”
“It was the only piece on me!”
While the two of them bickered, Felix could hear footsteps rushing to their direction.
He shifted his pistol towards the door. His hands barely steady. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was dissipating. He could barely stay awake, much less continue to fight.
“I can’t fight… Did we get what we came here for?”
“Yeah, everything’s in this drive.”
“Then we have to go.”
“Right!” She thoughtlessly wobbled towards the exit.
But he stopped her by grabbing her by the arm, “We can’t go through that door, they’re on their way.”
“Then what about through the hole?” She pointed to the blast mark left by the explosion.
“No, there are still guards climbing up. We’ll be surrounded.”
Felix’s glowing blue eyes scanned the room, looking for a way out. But there were no other doors, nor any vents they could slip in through. His attention noticed shattered remains of the onyx table, and slowly shifted his gaze to the shattered servers, and to the gaping hole down the middle.
“Oh… Bollocks.” He cursed the current state of the server room, turning around. His gaze then focused on the shattered window as he had an idea.
Felix pulled out his pistol, shooting the window several times, “Get your grappling hook!”
“It blew up with the grenade!” Maria shouted back.
Outside the door, the remaining guards stood in horror. Frozen and sickened at the corpses Harbinger left in the hall just outside the server room.
“Men, get ready!” The head guard ordered, and the men lined their rifles towards the door. With a nervous expression, the head guard slowly moved towards the door with a key card.
Felix’s heart pounded. He holstered his gun and picked up Maria in his arms.
“Wh-what are you—?” Her expression was flushed with a mix of both shock and fright.
“How high could the top floor be?” He nervously laughed, taking a few steps back.
“No, no you aren’t!” She protested.
“Hope we’re still keeping the damages to a minimum!” With Maria in his arms, he began bolting towards the broken window.
The door opened, and the head guard immediately spotted them, “There they are!”
Bullets started flying in the two agent’s direction, destroying what remained of server room.
“After them!” They chased after the two agents.
“Hold on!” Felix shouted, kicking the window with his iron-clad heel. Maria clinging tightly to him.
But as the guard’s ran through the ruins, the head guard nearly fell into the hole into the center, “Whoa—!”
Shards scattered through the air, and as they all looked forward, all that was left to greet them was the blue firework that decorated the sky.
*
Felix held Maria tightly as they fell down the building. Their black hair fluttered chaotically to the winds blowing below them.
Their reflections on the building’s windows fell alongside them, while the bright and brilliant fireworks outlined their silhouettes, glittering with the scattering shards.
Maria glanced upwards and looked at Felix’s face, illuminated up by the vibrant colors of the that decorated the night. As he noticed this, he gave her a reassuring grin, and her cheeks flushed red with excited.
But their grins quickly vanished as soon as they crashed.
Even though Felix thought he had steeled himself for the fall, as soon as his feet made contact to the roof of the next building, a massive tingle crawled up from his feet that slowly made its way through every fiber of his body, especially to his still-healing arm, which sputtered out blood.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Shock had locked him in place, and the gnawing numbness ate away at him. The blood vessels in his body felt like they were about to burst, and Maria’s tight hold on him didn’t make it any easier.
To him, it felt like an eternity before he was finally able to move a finger again, and a little longer just to take a step forward. He began to move slowly, one step at a time.
“F-Felix…” Maria opened her eyes slowly, her voice shook.
“What?” Felix answered with jittering teeth.
“Your eyes… are shining.”
“You said that earlier…”
“Gnarly.”
He paused for a moment after hearing what she said and shot her a condescending stare. With her, he felt like he lost his sense of urgency.
It wasn’t until a loud thud could be struck the metal roof that Felix started to move again. The two of them looked with horrified expressions as they saw a hole in the roof that wasn’t there when they landed.
The sense of urgency immediately returned to him as a bullet ripped a lock out of his black hair.
Without turning back to look, he sprinted.
More rounds flew few and far, but all were aimed in the two’s general direction from a sniper positioned from where they dropped off.
“Persistent gobshites.” Felix clicked his tongue.
He picked up the pace and ran across the rusty steel roof panels, leaving only a ghostly blue trail behind him.
“F-Felix… s-slow down… I can barely see where we’re… gonna be sick…” Maria’s cheeks puffed as she looked back.
“Bear with it for—” A bullet struck his shoulder from behind, and the two fell from the roof and straight into an alley full of garbage.
Lying over a pile of trash, he grunted, “Urgh… urrghh… huh, what are you doing?”
“Making disguises.” Maria smiled as she rummaged through the garbage. She then threw a make-shift outfit made from worn out rags over him, “Take off your coat.”
“These stink…” He remarked.
She put on one of the dirty clothes and replied, “Yeah, well, I think death would stink worse.”
The fireworks echoed across the sky while the two barely disguised agents walked into the crowds, shaking off their pursuers as they headed toward a particular street.
Knocking on the stall, Maria softly exclaimed, “Robin, we need disguises. We have coin!”
“I don’t have anything like that. But… I do have these.” The man rummaged through his shelf and pulled something out.
“Ta-da, superhero masks!” The old man smiled and handed them two masks, one pale white with blue markings and the other gold with red markings.
Felix’s expression was full of dismay as he picked it up, but he glanced at Maria who continued to stareat her mask, he put it on and jested, “Look, Marie, we’re superheroes.”
Maria’s eyebrows furrowed and her smile slowly faded, like something in the back of her mind resurfaced, “We’re not heroes.” Her voice became frigid and distant, to which Felix flashed her a puzzled look.
She quickly changed her tune as she noticed the change in his expression, “Mhm… that’s actually a good look for you.”
“I’m… wearing a mask.”
“Exactly.” Maria beamed brightly, much to his chagrin.
The two turned their heads over to the side where they heard footsteps from the distance.
Several guards then came out of the corner and approached the stall. The man in the middle, the headguard from earlier, walked up and looked down on the robin.
“Anything I can do for you gentlemen?” The robin asked nonchalantly.
“We’re looking for two people, a man and a woman in dark outfits. We saw them coming this way.”
“I believe there are a number of couples out here tonight, sir.”
“I’m not playing games!” He slammed his hand against the wooden counter, “The two of them went through here wearing what appeared to be rags from the garbage. One of them had a blue eye.”
“Is that supposed to be like, a black eye?”
The headguard grabbed the merchant by his hair and slammed him into the wooden counter. “I said I’m not playing games.”
“Oh, those two?” He answered in pain, “They bought two hero masks a bit before you got here. They headed straight over there.”
“Masks?” The guard inspected the old man’s stall. “Which one?”
“Sorry sir, I don’t have any to spare, but one was red and the other was orange.”
The headguard raised his eyebrow as he inspected “Surround the town, the two of them are wearing red and orange masks. Look for anyone suspicious. If we don’t find them, it’s your head.”
The two agents crawled out from under the robin’s stall.
“Thanks a lot, old man.” Without looking behind, Maria quickly ran.
But Felix turned around and spoke, “I’ll be sure to credit you accordingly.”
The robin smiled, “It better be a lot of credits.”
Felix’s eyes widen before changing into a smirk.
The festival continued, and the two agents saw the sights as they walked around, making their way through the crowds.
As they slowly made it farther into the less populated areas, the sharp sound of a gun echoed through the air behind them, followed by the sound of a body dropping to the ground.
Screams of fear and panic erupted from behind them.
Maria stopped in her tracks with a curious expression, but before she could turn her head, Felix took her hand and spoke, “Don’t turn back now. Just keep moving.” There was a coldness in his voice.
She looked at him and saw the blood stain forming on his back. She simply nodded and followed him.
They both knew who it was, and why it happened. It was simply the consequences of their actions, and something that happens often in their line of work.
As soon as they hit a corner by an alleyway, she let go of his hand and removed her makeshift disguise.
“Over here.” She said as she lifted a manhole cover in front of them.
He walked up to her and asked, “What’s this?”
“Our escape route. One where they won’t find us.” She hopped in.
He followed her into the darkness below. As he landed, the wet splash from his boots reverberated in the tunnels. The air underground was thick, stagnant and moist, pungent with the scent of decay.
Old water trickled down from the pipes above them, like rain dripping to the drains.
The brickwork was covered in the green of moss, illuminated by the limited lights from the dingy old lamps that hung overhead, and the light radiating behind Felix’s mask.
Felix removed the makeshift outfit of worn out rags, but kept the mask on to cover his face. Though it didn’t do much, it was better than smelling the scent directly.
He followed her through the dreary passages of the canal, each step sputtering and echoed, there was a feeling he could slip at any moment. “Do you actually know where we’re going?” He asked.
“The tunnels speak to me.”
“What’s wrong with you?” He asked half-jokingly.
“A great, many things.” She answered as she pulled out a transceiver.
“Haaa…. You really make no sense to me.” He replied, letting out an unhinged laughter.
“Thanks.” She chuckled as she glanced back at him, “Just messing with you, I’ve had my fair share of making quick escapes. Anywhere through here will likely lead to the outside, we just gotta avoid getting spotted.”
He gave her a startled look.
After everything I went through with her, I really didn’t know how else to respond anymore.
At that moment, the transceiver connected under the sewers. A static blur noise sounded before Maria spoke.
“This is Venom Vanguard.”
“Venom—. Th— is HQ, do you copy?” A voice answered through the transceiver.
The replies were filled with static feedback, the hush flow of sewer water echoed.
“We read you. The mission is complete. We need an extraction.”
“Roger— What———coordinates?”
“Somewhere in the sewage. I don’t know the specifics, but we should be somewhere North East from the festival.”
“Roger that, exfil at point Gamma on your map.”
“Understood. Over.” The transmission ended and she placed the transceiver on her side.
Maria used a holographic map to navigate them out of the sewage, “Blue… azure… ghost… poltergeist…no, that doesn’t sound right.” She mumbled to herself as she looked at the map.
He tilted his head, wondering what she was blurting out.
Once they found light piercing down from above, the two climbed out of the manhole.
They took a deep inhale. A wave of fresh, cold air made them feel like they could finally breathe again. Maria whispered something under her breath, “Phantom.”
“Hm?”
“You don’t have an official codename yet, right?”
“Hm yeah?”
“How about ‘Blue Phantom’? It really suits you! Your style, your speed, those unfollowable movements!” She squealed out excitedly as the wind blew from behind her. Her smile silhouetted against the light of the helicopter that came to pick the two up.
“I don’t think ‘unfollowable’ is a word.”
“We could always stick with Child of Stars.” She teased.
“I don’t think now is the best time for this.” Felix replied as he took off his mask.
He then contemplated for a second, giving it just a bit more thought.
It sounds tacky, but I didn’t really have an argument. It was either ‘Child of Stars’ or Black Cat of Ruin. The title the professor insists on me, or being an omen.
The dark-haired woman continued, “You should just register your code name as that! That white mask, and those glowing blue— eyes…” her excitement instantly vanished as she turned to face him.
Felix’s soft smile also vanished as he realized what her expression meant. He reached for his right eye. The glowing blue eye had returned to pitch-black once again, leaving him with only a single blue iris.
“Well, that’s fine. It’ll turn blue soon enough.”
Their hair brushed and bounced from the strong winds below the helicopter. She gave him a soft, understanding smile before boarding the helicopter.
He sighed and boarded after she did, his expression turned solemn as he quietly accepted it.
As they ascended into the sky, the winds grew chillier. Felix covered her with a blanket as he watched her fall asleep.
He scratched his cheek, and took a sharp inhale, “Hey… about your question earlier.”
“Mhm…” She mumbled.
“…The reason why I want to be number one… is because my mentor, Nocturne, she…wanted to become number one.”
“Oh… why’s that…?”
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something she told me to do that… but…” Felix placed his hand under his blood-stained shirt, holding the four-leaf clover necklace underneath, “If I didn’t become number one, then I’d feel like I let her down.”
“Is that so… well, I have a goal now myself…”
“And what’s that?”
“To… reprogram you…” Her last words before drifting off into deep slumber.
With a smirk, he responded, “And how do you expect to… ah…” But he stopped as her head fell on his shoulder.
He smiled before he could finish his thought, as he saw that she had already fallen asleep.
**
Four hours passed and already Maria was deep in slumber while Felix tiresomely continued to write his report on the way of their return. As the chief reads his report, she lets a small smirk.
The two agents arrived in the dead of night, and after they had received minor treatment for their wounds, they were ready to go to sleep, until…
“Widespread panic, destruction and public and private property, and a death toll of over forty people… all for this.” The chief stood sternly, her orange-tinted glasses reflecting with an opaque white glow as she stared at the flash drive.
The exhausted duo were both summoned to the chief’s brightly lit office. Maria, who was still half-asleep, stood restlessly. Felix on the other hand no longer had the strength to care for what the chief had to say.
“Splendid work.” Chief crushed the flash drive in her hands.
“Why would you—?!” Felix burst out.
“You destroyed their data center during the fight, right?”
“Uh, y-yeah…”
“Good. This drive contained a program that was meant to destroy all the data in those servers. The world has no business knowing the contents saved in this drive.” She explained as she dropped the crushed pieces onto the ground.
Maria’s shoulders dropped as she sighed, “Ah, that makes sense.”
“Now, as for the both of you. Not only were you able to successfully complete the mission, you also took down the ex-agent, Harbinger. You both did better than I expected. Even the Director was pleased.”
“We are humbled by your words, sir.” Felix stated.
“Thank you for your praise, madam Chief.” Maria replied with a yawn in her tone. “But… ex-agent?” she added after her drowsy response.
“We had reason to believe that he was feeding intel to other organizations outside of the allied agencies. When the higher-ups planned to question him upon his return, he suddenly went MIA.” The chief’s volume grew lower as she speculated to herself, “Still, he wasn’t a computer cracker, so how did he expect to get the intel?”
“I see. I’d like to know more, but… with all due respect, the two of us would like to get some rest.”
“Of course, but before that, an announcement; given how well this went, the board has come to the decision to assign the two of you as partners.”
“Excuse me?” Felix asked in a startled manner.
“You wot mate?” Maria blurted out.
“Of course, this isn’t set in stone yet since I still have paperwork. And just because you’re partners, doesn’t mean you’ll always be on the same mission.”
“Y-yeah… great… did you even read my report?” Felix bit his lip, preventing his emotions from spilling out.
“I’ll have none of your sass, Felix. That will be all, dismissed.” The chief instructed as she returned to sit on her desk.
As the two agents walked toward the door, Felix suddenly stopped and signaled Maria to leave first. She nodded quietly before letting out a yawn and walking away.
“What is it, Felix?” The chief asked while she lit a cigarette.
“Remember when I said that I didn’t care for codenames, and that call me whatever you liked?” Felix placed his hand on his cheek and touched the skin beneath his left eye.
“Indeed, Child of the Stars.” The chief answered mockingly.
“It seems that I… may have ignored its purpose. I might change that… as well as request a small modification to my outfit.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
“Give me a white mask, something that looks um… “Cool.” And… as for my codename, I think it should be Blue Phantom. Oh and maybe an adjustment… a smaller grappling hook.”
“Hooo? What’s with the sudden change of heart?” The chief’s mocking smirk turned to a proud smile toward Felix.
He placed his hand on his cheek, remembering the warmth of her blood spilling across it as he recounted the events in his mind, and all he could remember was how much she made the mission more difficult than it had to be.
“She may have been a headache, but despite being a terrible agent, as well as all the nonsense and shortcomings she brought along with her, it all felt… fun.”
That girl… she was really unprofessional and was difficult to deal with at times, but the silliness she brings with her alleviated some of the weight. And in her own right, she was equally as terrifying as she was scatterbrained. But I guess to put it in a way, being with her was… nice.
“Is that a fact? Truth be told, when I told the both of you to minimize the damage, it wasn’t you I was concerned about.” The chief grinned slightly.
“You mean…?”
“Indeed, you were just the one who reacted first. Anyhow, your requests sound simple enough. I’ll have it done.” The chief responded as she blew out smoke from her mouth.
Felix scratched his cheek, “Thank you, chief.”
Against the corridor outside the Chief’s office, the shorthaired young lady eavesdropped on their conversation, clutched her chest as she let out a warm smile.
Before Felix could reach for the knob, however, the chief let out another puff of smoke and spoke, “You know, I think Luna would be proud of your results.”
His lips curled ever so slightly, forming a small smile.
“To be honest, I don’t think she would’ve given me passing marks after what happened.” He cheerfully said as he looked at his severely wounded arm.
He exited the room, clutching the pendant underneath his shirt, only to be met with the ecstatic smile of his new partner waiting outside the office.
Now feared as the Golden Lion Agency’s greatest weapon. Codename, Blue Phantom, now registered.
~