Chapter 14

Predator and Proditor

The two agents, Felix and Maria, stood in the hallway behind the chief’s door. Still wobbly, Felix knocked and asked “Permission to enter.”

“Granted.” The chief’s voice called out.

As the dark, wooden door opened, they saw two red-eyed guests sitting on one side of the table.

A blond young man sat silently with his face placed on his palm, and a silver-haired girl sipped from the bottle in her hand.

With a cigarette in her mouth, the chief sat atop of her table, the light outside behind her outlined her body and lit up her orange-tinted glasses, while her hand was placed atop a letter. Her assistant, Murphy, was stationed behind her with his arms behind his back.

She blew out a puff of smoke and asked, “So, how was the fight?”

Felix stroked the back of his own head and groaned, “The back of my head still hurts like hell…”

The chief smirked ever so slightly, “Unfortunate. That kick to the head must’ve cost you a few brain cells.”

“He doesn’t have enough to work with as it is.” Maria added, much to Felix’s chagrin. “Still… the way she fought in the end… it was like an unhinged animal.”

She remembered as she watched Allison go berserk against Felix, blow after blow with unrelenting speed and force before finishing the battle as she took him down.

“Is that so?” The chief’s eyebrow raised slightly at the comment before dismissing it entirely with quick efficiency, “Sit down, allow me to formally introduce you to—”

“Wait, why does she have a milkshake? I want a milkshake! Can I have a milkshake?” Maria faced Felix as she pointed to the silver-haired girl.

“Marie…” Felix responded with an annoyed sigh.

“Excuse me, may I have milkshake?” Maria approached the well-dressed man and asked.

“Certainly, Miss Readman.”

“Barley tea for me, please.” The blond young man added.

“Understood.”

“Sigh… Coffee, you know how I like it, Murphy.” Felix flashed a gentle smile.

“Yes sir, they will arrive as soon as they are prepared.” Murphy’s soft voice proclaimed as he exited the room.

“I hope we didn’t seem rude.” The silver-haired girl pouted, twiddling her fingers.

As the two agents of the Golden Lion Agency sat down, the chief pushed up the bridge of her glasses, “A-hem. My assistant is not your butler. Now…”

Felix raised my finger before the chief could utter a single word, “Okay, before you say anything, are we gonna have to team up the two of them?”

“No, you are going to handle their job.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” He sighed in relief.

“Why, do you have a problem?”

“They were the ones who made me fight her to begin with…”

“But wasn’t I the one who…” Maria pointed to herself.

“Felix, Marie, this is Nero Miles and Isabelle Castella. They’re from our sister agency, Frontier Industries.” The chief explained.

“The Blue Phantom and the Venom Vanguard. It’s so nice to meet the children of stars—” The silver-haired girl’s excitement spilled out.

“Technically, the professor refers to all of you as the children of stars.” The papers in the chief’s hands suddenly flew over their heads as she tossed them.

Felix stood up to catch the papers, but his hands paused in the air as thin trails of red light flashed above him. Most of the papers suddenly vanished with a creasing sound.

“Hmph.”

Felix heard a satisfied grunt from the other side of the table.

He looked down and saw Nero’s eyes were gleaming with bright crimson, in his right hand were the pages that had vanished. As the last page fluttered in the air, Felix swiped it away before Nero could even lift his arm.

“Hmph.” Felix grunted as he looked down on Nero.

Nero’s smug smile vanished and his face became unnerved with an irritated grin. Felix sat back down and placed the last page on the table.

“I’m surprised the unfollowable Blue Phantom was so slow.” Nero remarked while counting the pages in his hand.

“Why not try this again? I’m still feeling sluggish after fighting the person you ran away from.” Felix immediately shot back.

The air between them burst with friction from both ends. While the two young men sneered at each other, their companions were clearly dissatisfied with how they were presenting themselves. Maria nudged on Felix’s rib, while the white-haired girl, Isabelle, tugged on Nero’s ear.

“Glad to see you’re all getting along marvelously.” The chief interrupted, “As for the mission, they’re already in your hands. These two are new, so we’re holding them from the fight before we’re sure they’re ready. The same way Professor Tetsuya did for you.” She said as she looked at Felix, expecting him to understand.

“When will we be ready?” Nero voiced out.

“That’s not up to you.” The Chief sharply answered. “Unlike most Elite Agents, you lot are not expendable.”

Felix smirked ever so subtly at the familiar conversation that he’s heard probably a dozen times before. Only this time, he was not on the receiving end of the lecture.

“I actually have a question…” Isabelle tilted her head.

“Hm… what is it?”

Stolen story; please report.

“Weren’t both of your eyes blue back then?”

“Oh, um… y-yeah… I’m just… I’m still waiting for it to change completely. So… new to the agency, huh? So how is it?” Felix asked while looking through the papers, avoiding the topic.

“We’ve only been here for six months, but it’s been alright so far.” Isabelle replied.

“Six months, huh?”

“Why, how long have you been working here?”

“My whole life.” He answered with a hint of hesitation

“Ah, o-oh…” She awkwardly lowered her head in response.

“Don’t sound so surprised, Isa. Training often takes a whole lifetime.” Nero added.

“As expected from someone who claims to have served five years in the marine corps.” Chief crudely interjected.

“Huh?” He turned his head.

“Your documents are sloppy and all over the place, and has questionable credibility.” Chief sharply explained.

All of them looked at him like he was caught and cornered.

Isabelle, who was his assigned partner, had the widest eyes opened. Clearly, the girl was startled. Felix scowled a little more than usual, while Maria had more curiosity in her expression than dismay.

“What’s the big deal? The twelve agencies are here to give people second chances, isn’t it?” Nero whined.

“Second chances to those we can trust. To those we can make sure are trustworthy.”

“Tsk.” He clicked his tongue in response and looked away.

Maria scratched her arm upon hearing those words.

“Moving on.” The chief placed her hand on her chin. “As you can see in the documents, Frontier Industries has requested our assistance in apprehending two very dangerous criminals.”

“Is it Jackal or his Fangs?” Felix interjected.

“Jackal? Like the terrorist?” Isabelle gulped as she asked for confirmation.

Nero raised his eyebrow and responded, “I thought they were already taken care of?”

“Jackal himself is still at large. But it’s unlikely that he or anyone associated with him will be there. Still doesn’t mean you can let down your guard. We believe they are people who are affiliated with Lewis Shaw.” Chief answered.

“Oh god damnit.” Both black-haired agents groaned in unison.

“Among them, we believe there is a traitor. Rank forty-nine, agent Petrichor, Jason Rivers,” The chief continued.

“Another one?” Felix muttered under his breath.

“So who is he and what’s he about?” Maria asked.

“Nothing special about him. But he is skilled at what he does and obeys orders. The problem is that we haven’t been receiving updates from him for a while, and he appears to have falsified some reports. His recent movements have been questionable as of late, and we have reason to believe that he’s been leaking private information to certain individuals, and…”

“And?”

“According to an anonymous tip, there’s a possibility that he may have a Matrix Key fragment. If he is a traitor, then he’ll be there.”

Isabelle turned her head and asked, “Matrix key fragment?”

With arms crossed, Felix remarked, “I saw one of his fights during training once. He won’t be a problem.”

“If this is all there is to it, then why are they here in our headquarters?” Maria pointed her fingers toward the two who sat across them.

“Right, I believe the two of you had something to say?” Chief said to the two.

“Y-yes… um. See, how do I put this.” Isabelle nervously added, looking to the chief before turning to the sharp-eyed young man beside her, “Nero…”

“Hrnng…” Nero grumbled. “You do it…”

“Ugh, fine.” Isabelle stood up, facing both Felix and Maria, and humbly bowed.

“The both of us came on behalf of our agency, Frontier Industries, to formally request the both of you to take this mission in our place.”

“What?” Felix’s eyes furrowed, while Maria’s widened, both in curiosity.

“It’s as she says. This mission isn’t ours, it’s theirs. And it’s up to you both whether you want to accept. This is how Frontier Industries would like to uphold their trust.”

“Whoa, we have a choice this time?”

“In these times of chaos, this opportunity might help build ties with our sister agency. The twelve organizations thrive on favors for one another, after all.” The chief stated.

“Felix?” Maria asked.

Felix paused, giving a moment of thought before ultimately replying with a satisfied smirk written clearly on his face, “We, Felix Aster and Maria Readman, graciously accept your request.”

Isabelle let out a gentle smile in contrast to Nero’s exasperated sigh.

“It’s settled. Isabelle, we’ll go over the contract later. The mission will begin in six hours. As of now, your targets have are hauled up in this building.”

“How do we know they won’t change locations?” Maria asked.

“They haven’t moved in the last forty-eight hours, so we can assume that their location is a last resort.” The chief uttered as she lit another cigarette. Her face distorted in the stream of haze and smoke, but her ruthlessness was clear in her voice.

“And unless they have a private jet, there is no place they could escape to now that a robin’s nest has formed around them.” Felix added as he looked at the papers.

“You have two hours to prepare, in the meantime, I suggest you all get to know each other.” The chief spoke in a sly voice.

“They’re espers, right?” Maria commented.

The chief’s smirk faded as she responded, “What… how did—”

“I told you to skip the foreplay. He broke my door with a pillow the other day. A pillow.”

“I—Mhm, yes. These two are the results of Professor Levi Ripley’s hard work, with the help of Doctor Tetsuya of course. According to the two of them, these two are some of the new generation stage three espers.” The chief admitted.

“Stage three?” Felix mumbled out with a look of disinterest, still being the only stage four ‘esper’.

“Right, they should be able to surpass Maria’s level here.”

“Really, you really think that?” Maria scoffed at the chief’s remark.

“Nah, clearly we’re above you.” Nero snidely responded.

“I’m sorry for him.” Isabelle chopped Nero on the forehead.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with him.” Felix added.

“Funny. I didn’t expect the Blue Phantom to be such a shrimp.” The blond man then taunted.

Felix glared at the proud Nero, before sighing. Not humoring his provocation, he tried to push the topic along, “So, third stage, huh? I’m a fourth stage and um… and my mentor was actually a second-stage.”

“Really?”

Maria pouted and placed her chin atop her hand, “Luna, right?”

“Y-yeah… I only thought to say it now. So, you two were the only ones who survived in your batch, huh? Must’ve um… must’ve been a rough experience.” Felix smiled as he looked at them.

“Actually, there were four of us.” Isabelle clarified.

“Only four of the twenty volunteers survived.”

Isabelle quickly turned to the chief and yelled, “Madam Vivian, that was classified.”

“Only four survived?” Felix’s gulped, his face contorted into confusion.

Only four? From… from the Implementation?

“Yeah… going through it was practically hell. I’m pretty sure I came close to dying, but I clung to life and reached for survival.” Nero explained.

Reached… for survival. That’s right… wasn’t I… wasn’t I the only one who survived?

He heard a crackle in his ear, echoes of fire and dust rang loudly.

“Felix… you alright, bud?” A worried voice spoke while Felix buried himself in heavy thoughts.

He clutched his right eye as vignettes began flashing in his mind. Portions of the day where he underwent the Implementation, of when he was trapped between rubble and blood flowing through the cracks.

‘Volunteers’… that’s what the chief said, that’s definitely what she said. Why would anyone ever…?

“Felix?”

His head throbbed, and felt as though it was splitting apart.

What is this? It’s like something’s blocking my memories. There’s a huge wall that I can’t get through. But why would anyone volunteer, when I was… when we were… we were trapped in that hell. It doesn’t make sense.

The vision of a hand reaching upward was a sight seared deep into his mind.

His breathing became heavy. Both of his eyes began to glow a bright blue as the sharp ring grew louder. He clutched his head as a hand pulled him out of his sudden outburst.

“Felix!”

Felix suddenly gasped, his chest tightened as he desperately tried to breathe, he stammered “Ah, uh…”

He looked up, and through his blurred vision, saw Nero wearing an unnerved expression. As he turned, Isabelle’s face was even paler than normal and her mouth covered with both her palms. Even the chief, who normally kept a composed exterior, had her back against the window behind her desk.

“You were making a scary face…” Maria tugged on his sleeve with a wide worried expression.

A knock on the door broke the silence, and as Murphy entered with tray in hand, the heavy atmosphere lightened ever so slightly.

Felix stood up, his face dripping with sweat, “I’ll just… I’ll just go prepare my suitcase.”

“Actually, we’ll just take these…” Maria took the two drinks, her milkshake and the coffee, and followed Felix outside.

As he left, Murphy looked back and his face turned to shock. The ashes of the chief’s cigar fall to the papers on the floor of her cluttered, messy office, like a hurricane swept by.

“We were told that he wasn’t fully awakened yet…” Isabelle muttered.

“… Can I have my tea?” Nero asked.

The chief looked at her assistant and asked, “Murphy, do you think you can take care of all of this?”

Murphy turned his head to look at the surroundings, “What happened? It’s like a storm devastated your office, sir.”

“A storm, huh?” She sighed and slouched on her chair, her gaze cast down, staring at the small red remote in her trembling hand.

~