Chapter 12
Just Following Orders
A heart monitor incessantly beeped, filling the air with an rhythmic pulse. The sharp, sterile scent was heavy in the steady air.
Two red-eyed individuals sat on operating tables adjacent to one another. Their bodies connected to a network of wires and tubes, linked to machinery that monitored their every movement and vital sign.
“No changes, Isabelle?” Asked the black-haired scientist standing before them.
“Nothing in particular, Professor Levi.” The white-haired woman, Isabelle, answered as she got up. She took the metallic device off her head and gave him a curious stare.
“As you can clearly see, we’re fine, Professor.” The blond one, the man who broke Maria’s door, remarked as he gestured with his hand to move along.
Professor Levi adjusted his glasses and responded, “Routine check-ups are necessary to keep track of your progress, Nero. So far, a few minor things in your biology have already changed.”
“Is that so?” Nero tilted his head.
“Indeed. Your genetic composition is adapting to accommodate the power you now possess.”
“If that’s the case, when can we have our first mission?” He said impatiently.
“The Director actually wanted you to go on one, but we’re urging him to give us a little more time before either of you go out in the field.”
His red eyes narrowed, “Why? We can handle it.”
“Nero, could you try to use it?” The Professor asked.
“Ah…” He blurted out.
“Demonstrate your abilities now. Show me that you can use it.” Professor Levi repeated.
Nero sighed and placed his hands close to each other. He tried to gather power into his palms.
Light flowed outwardly from his pupils, like tides that slowly faded out as it reached the edge of his irises. A restriction that made it appear as if he had flowers in his eyes.
One of the monitors that depicted his brain started to glow, following the glistening pattern of glitter forming inside his head.
— But nothing came out.
The only thing that came out was a small drop of blood from his nose, which he quickly wiped away.
“As much as we would love to record you in the field, Professor Tetsuya said that we can’t afford to risk any unforeseen effects to compromise you.”
“But I’m strong enough to—”
“I don’t doubt your strength, Nero.” The Professor quickly cut him off, “I just want to be certain your new abilities will be an asset, not a hindrance. For now, please just follow our orders.”
Nero cast down his gaze and clicked his tongue, “What about the other two? What were their names?”
“Kaitlin and Grant?” The Professor mumbled.
“Why do they get to go on missions?”
“Because the higher-ups are foolish enough to let them.” The professor grumbled, adjusting the sunglasses that he wore, “We're trying to pull them out of the missions as much as we can.”
Isabelle awkwardly scratched the back of her head, while Nero scratched his nose, feeling a tingly sensation come from it.
“Please be a little more patient, it’s only been a couple of months since you both turned.” The professor sighed, “The agencies aren’t lacking in manpower. I will write a letter, and let Felix Aster take over. It will be a perfect opportunity to analyze him.”
“Felix Aster…” Isabelle echoed and placed her finger on her chin and muttered, “I wonder what the two of them are up to right now…”
A trail of blue light rushed through the dark mountain, emanating from the left eye of a pale white mask.
The deafening blare of engines drowned out the sound of pouring rain as two motorcycles raced across the unfinished roads. Felix, with Maria behind him, maneuvered through the cracked, muddy pavement while their target boomed forward.
At the edge of a veranda in an old abandoned building crouched an unknown woman with a watchful gaze. On her lips rested a cigarette that was dampened by the rain, which she gnawed on in anticipation. The howling wind brushed her brown hair, and her wolf-like eyes focused as the riders below were fast approaching on the winding road.
On the rocky ground, as the motorcycle rumbled, Maria angrily yelled out, “How the hell did he get out of prison?!”
“I don’t know, but he’s going— G’ahk!” Felix growled as Lewis threw black bags towards his direction, slamming against his mask.
“Get back here—!” Maria yelled before a black bag of garbage struck in the face. “Blegh!”
Their motorcycle scrambled through the wet roads, but it was quickly enveloped in a blue light and corrected its course.
“Come and catch me, bitch boy!” Lewis yelled out as he threw another black bag towards them. His motorcycle had several black plastic bags attached to it.
Felix slickly avoided the bags thrown at them, several of which exploded with a fiery blaze behind them. The lone woman grinned as she threw away the wet cigarette and leapt from the surface above them.
He slid off his mask and yelled, “V.V., grappling hook!”
“Grappling hook!” Maria smiled vibrantly as she pulled out her favorite tool.
With a grin on her face, the unknown woman spat her cigarette and hopped out of the desolate building, aiming for one of the riders. Her body silhouetted by a flash of lightning.
Before Maria could fire, the bright sky light blinded her.
The unknown woman landed perfectly on the back seat of Lewis’ motorcycle. “Don’t worry, I got him!” She declared.
“Wha—?!” Lewis yelled out in a panic.
“Is that?!” Felix at the sight of the woman.
The grappling hook sprang out and wrapped around a nearby sign on the edge of the curving road. Maria failed to let go and was suddenly pulled away.
“Vee!” Felix looked back to where his partner was.
“I’m okaaay!”
“Tch, bollocks.” A sharp whir reverberated from the motorcycle’s wheels as he slowed down to turn back.
On the other motorcycle, the woman smirked, “Hey there!”
The vehicle thrashed about as the brown-haired woman reached for the handlebars, but Lewis fought her off by throwing trash bags at her, eventually causing their motorcycle to spiral out of control.
“Marie!” Felix called out to his partner, before getting hit by one of the stray bags on the back of the head, which led him out of control, sliding downhill and completely passing by her.
As Maria got up from one of the potholes, one of the stray bags struck her directly against the side of head. She fell immediately, the side of her head smashing on the pavement.
Both the unknown assailant and the criminal found themselves on a collision course with the woman on the ground.
The unknown woman smashed Lewis’ face with the grip of her pistol and quickly grabbed the throttle, leading the vehicle away from Maria, before hopping out of it.
Lewis, still on the motorcycle, crashed.
Fire burst from the motorcycle as many of the black bags went up in flames. The scent of gasoline and garbage quickly permeated the air.
“I thought he only had drugs in those.” The unknown woman commented as she tended to the scratches on her knees.
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A low groan escaped Felix’s lips, “Urgh…” He slowly opened his eyes and found himself on the cold, hard ground. His vision cleared, and saw the white mask staring back at him, standing against a piece of rubble as raindrops poured across it’s eye and cheek.
He picked it up and groaned as he pushed himself to stand, and saw his motorcycle downhill on the road incomplete road.
But as he rose to his feet, he was met with a sudden jolt of pain shooting up from his foot that nearly caused him to tumble over. His left ankle had clearly been sprained.
Felix then looked around and saw the burning wreckage of Lewis’ motorcycle being doused in rain water, and beyond that was the body of his partner lying unconscious on the pavement.
“V.V?” There was a thud in his chest as panic set in, “Marie!”
In spite of the pain in his foot, he headed towards her. But as he took the first step, the iron-soles of his boots slid down the soaked road.
With determined effort, he got back up and limped every step to his partner.
As soon as he got there, he knelt down beside her and tore the plastic bag away from her face.
“M-Marie?” His voice cracked.
Her eyes jolted open and she took in a deep gasp, before immediately erupting into a violent fit of coughing.
He let out a relieved sigh, “Damn it, don’t scare me like that.”
“I uh…” She responded meekly with a hoarse voice.
“Get up, Vee. We’re not done yet.” He said as he looked over to the fire.
As soon as her throat cleared out and her breathing settled, the black-haired woman looked up at Felix with an unfamiliar, frail stare. “I-I’m sorry … um… Vee?”
She wiped her face. As she looked to her palm, the sight of her own blood made her shudder.
“This isn’t the time for jokes, Marie.” He said without even turning to face her.
“Marie?” She squeaked out.
Before he could utter another word, his expression showed little patience as his mismatched eyes glared at the woman in front of the flames. He placed his mask back on to intimidate her.
“Well, lookie here. If it isn’t the child of stars, Felix Aster.” The brown-haired woman called out.
The dark-haired woman looked around, lost in the events that were going on.
“Are you insane?!” He yelled out as he approached the woman in front of him.
As she came to full view, her appearance became clearer. She stood nearly the same height he was, with dark tanned skin, patting out the scorched edges of her brown hair. She appeared older than the two partners, and on her face, just below her left eye was a barcode with the digits one-two-seven.
“No one lasts in this line of work by being sane.” The woman responded.
“What are you doing here, Renee?” He asked with a defeated sigh, sliding his mask to the side.
“A thank you would be nice.” The woman, Renee, replied.
“Yeah. Thanks. You tried to kill our target.” He scoffed.
“I did not, stop complaining.”
There was a second explosion from the burning wreckage, shooting out the vehicle’s parts into the air. “Ah-oh, damn it… He better not be dead.” Felix whined as he picked up his mask.
”Who is he, anyway?” Renee asked with a head tilted upward.
“That’s classified.”
“Bitch, I swear to god—!” She fired her gun and shot down one of the burning chunks headed towards her.
“Sigh, his name is Lewis Shaw… a mafia capo, and one of the leads to finding their boss. Not to mention he has something we need.”
Still dazed and on the ground, the black-haired girl mumbled, “Felix? Child of stars…?”
One of the motorcycle’s rearview mirrors landed right in front of her, startling her.
There was a crack in the middle that divided her reflection in two. On one side, lit by the fire, she saw the frightened expression of a lost girl looking back. But on the other half of the shattered glass, there was the face of a red-haired woman with an unsettling smile.
Her hand balled into a fist, the fear and confusion in her face contorted into a vicious snarl. In a burst of anger, she crushed the mirror with a fist so tightly clenched that her palms bled.
She smirked and exhaled deeply. “I remember now…”
Maria shook the blood out of her hand and looked upward towards the rainy sky, and in the spaces between the clouds illuminated by moonlight, she saw the stars shining above her. “Right… Children of Stars…”
As Felix and Renee bickered, a loud snuffle could be heard from flames as Lewis had slowly stood up.
“I feel like we should be stopping this…” Felix commented while he stood still and stared.
“You don’t get to call the shots.” Renee sharply responded.
“We’re told not to get high with our own supply…” The criminal pulled out a plastic bag from under his shirt and smashed it open with his head. A white powder showered all over his face as he yelled out, “But desperate times call for desperate measures.”
They continued to stand and watch as Lewis grew violently enraged. He grinned as a white liquid flowed out of his mouth, “Come and get me you shit-eaters!”
Both Felix and Renee stared in dismay.
“Great, now he’s on steroids AND coked out!” She frustratedly pointed out.
With the fires burning behind him, Lewis roared and declared, “I won’t let you destroy what I’ve built up!”
“Tsk, damn it.” The brown-haired woman nonchalantly pointed her gun towards Lewis.
“I just said we have to take him alive—!”
Felix grabbed on to her wrist, yet she quickly pulled her arm back, “Let go of me!”
“Why are you so mad?!”
“Why are you still a whiny bitch?!”
“Huh?!”
“You think you’re hot shit just cause you outrank me now?” She replied sharply.
“What?! This isn’t—We’re just following our orders!”
In a scornful voice, Renee replied, “Just following orders like a little goody-two-shoes? Just like that bitch, Luna?”
“What did you just—” Disdain burst from Felix’s voice. His body simmered with a deep blue glow as both of his eyes lit up with a bright azure.
“Ah yes, the lightshow. Did I ever tell you how eerie that is? It makes the hairs on my skin stand up. You’re just another freak like Luna and David. I’m curious, what did they do to make you a monster?” She sneered.
Azure flames started to crackle around Felix, in bright contrast to the burning red of the fire.
Behind the red glow, Renee continued her verbal assault, “Looks like you’re finally able to make use of your power… How many years has it been? Ten? To think that you’re the first freak and yet you’re the last to learn how to them. Did you just suck that bad or was that Irish cunt just inept at teaching?”
“How dare…” His grip on the gun tightened.
But the tension brewing between them deflated as Maria boldly declared, “Don’t worry, I got this!”
The black-haired woman wore her usual smile, but her body wobbled around, not even able to keep upright. As she rushed forward, Felix reached out and yelled, “Be careful, you might—!”
Though Lewis raised his arms with an enraged glare, ready for combat, the mud beneath Maria’s feet had other plans. “Huh?!” He grunted.
“Kyah—!”
“…slip.”
Maria slammed into Lewis, and the both of them fell straight down the bridge’s edge, and the sound of sludge splashing could be heard from the cliff below.
The tail of the grappling hook suddenly flies upward, and Felix immediately caught and pulled the two up from the edge. As Maria got back to the concrete, she dropped Lewis and started gasping. Felix immediately turned his head, hiding his smirk from her.
Covered in mud, her eye twitched and she flung mud towards him, “Shut up!”
“I didn’t even say anything.” He replied, before letting out a sigh and calming down.
From behind them approached the woman, Renee, and lifted up one of the black plastic bags. “What’s up with all of these?” She asked.
“He apparently mixed up his cocaine bags and his explosives with… trash...” Maria answered.
“How?”
“We caught him during one of his, ugh, sessions.” Felix added with a hint of disgust.
“How are you okay?” Renee asked hesitantly with a startled expression.
“I used this guy as a shield as we fell.” Maria explained as she pointed down at Lewis’ wounded body.
“Harsh.” She chuckled.
Felix sighed, “Renee, why are you here?”
“Following orders. Like you said. I was ordered to assist. I assisted. You’re welcome.” She repeated in a biting tone.
Maria turned her head over to Felix as she pointed at the brown-haired woman, “Someone I should know about?”
“Renee Thompson, an Elite, rank sixteen on the leaderboard.” He explained.
“Ah, so this is her.”
“And who’s the little girl?” Renee interjected.
Felix gestured towards the black-haired woman, “…She’s my partner, Maria Readman.”
“I’m pretty sure she was referring to you.” Maria playfully added.
The woman let out a burst of laughter and placed her left hand on Maria’s head, her arm decorated with black tattoos that said the Latin proverb “Audentes Fortuna Iuvat”, or “Fortune favors the bold.” Topped off by a silver ring worn in her ring finger.
“Damn, this bitch has got some attitude.” Renee grinned.
“Call me that again and I’ll show you some of that attitude.” Maria responded as she slapped away her hand.
“Feisty, too.” Renee smiled widely before placing a tip of the gun on Maria’s chin, “I don’t like feisty.”
Renee’s expression turned cold as she spoke, “Maria Readman, a professional cracker with mixed-up credentials who came out of nowhere, and reached rank fifteen on the Twelve Agencies’ leaderboard.”
Undaunted, Maria kept up a smile and lowered the gun pointed against her, “Renee Thompson, the ex-bounty hunter who caught seventeen wanted criminals, a nice record. It’s a shame you lost one of your legs trying to catch your last bounty.”
“Tch… I heard you both took down Harbinger. Good to know, I hated that posh bastard. Now let me see how much of that is true.”
“Stop it, both of you.” Felix reasoned as he broke the two apart, “Renee, I thought that information was classified.”
“Pfft, classified. Right.” Renee rebuked.
Maria interjected, facing Felix, “Wanna know classified? I heard that she volunteered for Project THESEUS for that sweet cybernetic leg. Go on, tell us. How does it feel being less of the woman you used to be?”
Felix took in a sharp inhale, as he tried to keep the two women at a distance from one another.
“Just, please… Cool your head.”
“What, no thank you? I helped, didn’t I?”
“Thanks for the help. I’ll make sure to add in a few good girl points for you. We still need to cuff him.” Felix pointed to the knocked-out man mumbling on the ground.
“Tsk. If I don’t get my credit…” She snarled as she walked away.
“Take care, now.” Maria slyly waved.
Renee scowled at Maria as she passed by, “You watch yourself.”
A private vehicle had stopped at their location, and a number of black-suited men walked out.
“She was pleasant.” Maria commented as she walked up to Felix.
“A bloody little gobshite is what she was.” Felix blurted out in response. As she left their sight, the light in his right eye faded away, as if to calm down.
“Um, what?”
“Nothing…” Felix sighed, “How did you even know all of that about her?”
“I have some level of access in the info division with my position as a cracker. But what I wanna know is why she’s so angry.”
“She holds a grudge against Luna and David for some reason, and by association, me. Though I’m pretty sure she’s always like that. But it was worse than usual this time.”
“I guess it’s her time of the month.” She chuckled.
“So, did he have a Key Fragment?” Felix asked.
“Unfortunately, our lead turned out to be a dead end.” She turned to him and said, “No need to be so nervous, it’s currently useless the way it is now.”
“Yeah?”
“Think of it like it’s dormant, it will wake up once you’ve collected all five pieces, and no one’s ever been able summon it.”
“Huh?” Felix gave her a puzzled expression, completely lost.
“Forget it, it’s just something I remembered. So anyway, that’s your new mask?”
“Yeah, I got it back in my last mission, what do you think?” He said as he placed it in front of his face.
Maria wiped the mask clean, and from its white sheen reflected her own face. Her cheeks turned red on at the sight of this as she pushed the mask further on his face.
“M-Marie, what are you doing?”
“Ah… my bad.” She let go and her expression turned back to her normal, vibrant smile.
He lowered the mask and asked her, “So what do you think?”
Maria chimed brightly, “It looks good on you.”
“Thanks— Hey, wait…” Felix lifted his hand to scratch his cheek, but stopped and squinted his mismatched eyes at her.
Maria giggled.
Felix hand halted before it could reach his own face, “You’re still sour, aren’t you?”
“What? No.” She snarked.
“Whatever you say, mud bath.”
“Want a mud bath? Here, have a mud bath.” Maria grumbled as she flicked some of the mud at Felix’s face.
“Speaking of baths, you’d probably love one right now.”
“Have another…” She flicked more mud towards him.
“H-hey.”
~