Chapter 16

A great, many things

Felix was on the brink of collapse while dragging himself in search of Maria. He supported himself on the walls to keep upright, while a current of blue electricity streamed from his wounds, slowly patching himself back together.

He took a deep inhale; his breathing was slowly starting to steady.

Suddenly, a chain of explosives was set off from the lower floors. The entire hallway he stood on rumbled, and he nearly staggered, and would have fell on the floor had he not tightly clung on the walls.

As soon as they halted, he pushed onward to the source of the sound as he slowly got faster.

Desperate screams echoed from inside the parking lot, followed with the sound of consistent fire. Shells one by one fell to the ground after consistent fire, yet a knife still danced and twirled, its black exterior illuminated by the ghostly green glow of the lights.

“Wait, stop! I’m on your side!” A voice screamed out.

A figure dressed in black and riddled with knives walked back and pleaded with a frightened expression.

“Are you done with your attack?” A silhouette walked closer.

“Please! Stop!”

“No more explosives or bullets?”

“This was a mission! Stop!”

“It doesn’t matter… at this point you’re really just collateral.”

“Disengage! DISENGAGE! THE TREATY—” Desperate screams echoed in the halls of the empty lot.

Blood streamed down from Maria’s face, seen through the blurry vision of a broken man on death’s door.

As she put her hands on his body, his arms and legs twisted in ways that the body shouldn’t; Like cloth that was wrung tighter and tighter until it bled.

He thrashed about in agony, left to right, right to left, while clinging tightly onto his fleeting consciousness. Yet his loud screams turned smaller until they were only soft squeals.

With uneven breathing, Felix arrived at Maria’s location, “M-Marie, are you alright?” He asked, but all he could see was a blurry figure ahead. It was a vague silhouette, but he could tell that it was the body of his partner that was in front of him.

“Of course, I am.” Maria responded with ragged breaths, which confirmed to him who it was.

He dragged himself closer, and the damage became more visible. His hazy vision began to clear up, and the effects of grenades and explosives could be seen all around the space.

Felix found himself standing in an indoor parking lot and spoke, “I… heard a lot of explosions from here, so I thought that you might have been in trouble...”

“Aw, look, he’s worried about me.” She looked to him with a cheery smile, her face was covered in blood.

“Your face is…”

“Oh, don’t worry. From the looks of things, you’re the one in bad shape.” She answered as she wiped it off.

“I see, so then—” As he got closer to her, his tongue halted as he took notice of the figure on the ground. Felix’s contrasting eyes focused on the strange figure lying down on the ground. “Wh-what— is that... agent Petrichor? What happened?”

“He tripped.”

“I-into your knife?”

“… Yeees.” She said in a long, drawn-out voice.

As he took a step closer, the sickening sight became clear.

The disfigured, mangled limbs of the ex-Elite Agent’s, turned and twisted.

It took a moment for it to sink in.

Whether it was from the pain of almost being riddled with bullets, or from the sight before me, my hands shook slightly.

I needed to compose myself.

Yet as Marie turned to face me again with the man’s blood still on her cheek, I felt my skin go cold.

Killing people should be natural to us, but this is…

The blood dripping from Marie’s face wasn’t from a struggle — It was from a one-sided massacre.

Agent Petrichor’s body was mutilated beyond recognition, and yet she had an unfazed smile the entire time.

Felix swallowed the bile that crept up his throat while he tried to force out words through his throat, “What… what is wrong with you?”

The flickering green light of the underground buzzed eerily as she answered in a soft voice. “A great, many things.”

The wideness of the indoor parking lot made her quiet, cheery voice echo. A cold-sweat dripped down Felix’s face.

Killing should be all too normal for people like us, people of the agencies, agents and criminals alike. But… this...

Felix moved his gaze away. Maria’s own eyes widen for a moment as she realizes.

“S-sorry if this looks awful! I guess that I just turned out better with knives than he was with guns, and well, I might’ve gotten carried away~” She remarked with a scatterbrained smile, with her eyes closed and her tongue stuck out.

He could not find the words to respond with. Though she tried to deflate the tension with her words, Felix was unable to peel off his gaze from the mangled corpse in front of him.

“Anyways, we need to keep on our guard. Apparently, there’s a Jackal’s—”

Three shining bright lines traced through the thick air, Maria ducked the attack, but was suddenly sent flying.

Felix cried out as Maria crashed against one of the concrete pillars. “MARIE!”

“You don’t have time to worry about someone else!” A voice yelled out as a fierce strike grazed through Felix’s coat.

Felix escaped a devastating blow.

As he looked up, he saw a hulking mass of muscle towering above him, wearing a torn red shirt and pale blond hair spiked in the middle. In the man’s arms were mechanical claws that were decorated with the shredded edges of his black coat.

“To be defeated by some brat…I thought Elite Agents were supposed to be in a league of their own.” The man said as he looked over at the corpse of Agent Petrichor.

“Y-you’re…” Felix stuttered as he pulled out his mask from under his coat.

Could this be the guy Marie was talking about?

“You can call me Beast.”

Breathing heavily, Felix once again put on his mask, “Bentley Wallace East… Also known as Beast. A high-ranking member of the mafia.”

“I see my reputation precedes me. So, you’re also one of those Elite Agents?” Beast grunted as he stood before the Blue Phantom.

With his leg steadily upright, Beast towered over the two agents, cracking his knuckles. His muscles ached to test their strength, but his mind kept his movements cautious.

Felix lowered his hand to the ground, with one arm hanging in the air, arching his back like an animal.

The rubble shook, and a voice spoke, “Felix.”

“Huh?” The two of them glanced over to her.

“Two legs. Not four.”

Beast glanced towards Maria with a grin on his face and said, “You’re real sexy, so I’d love ta’ spare ‘ya. But you killed my friend over there. So I gotta kill ya, it’s nothing personal. I’m a wolf, and he was part of my pack, see—”

“Spare us the gimmick, mutt.” Maria interrupted him with a sharp glare, her body buried under the rubble. “Save us the trouble of capturing you, already, dumb mutt.”

Felix fired his gun as Beast’s face contorted with anger, but he was able to slash away the bullet with his claws.

His eyes suddenly furrowed with uncertainty and rage as he thought to himself;

The girl’s on the ground, but I didn’t feel a thing when I hit her. Was she that light, or…? As for the runt over there, I didn’t hit him at all. He shouldn’t be able to move with the trail of blood he left behind, much less avoid my slashes. Just what in the hell are these two?’

Felix drew Misery from the holster under his cloak, shooting Beast with energy pulses. Beast continued standing strong, barely pushed by the attacks.

“That the best you’ve got?!” Beast charged towards the phantom with his arm swung behind him, but his claws crushed only the pillar the phantom leaned on.

Felix continued to shoot him while he darted around, not letting Beast get close.

As the two chased each other, Felix reached for his other gun, aiming at Beast with the hollow rounds of Agony. But before he could even aim, the Beast closed the distance and landed a foot straight to his stomach.

Felix coughed out blood and was tossed against the grimy, concrete floor. Yet with shaking arms that barely supported him, he was able to push himself back up. Beast stood before him, and placed his gun against the back of the phantom’s head.

“Felix, get up.” Maria’s sharp demand echoed. “If you really want to be number one, then you have to be able to beat this guy first.”

‘If I want to be number one…’

With those words, he heard Luna’s voice echo from his buried memories, “Felix…get up. Every time you fall, you get back up.”

As Beast pulled the trigger, only a silhouette remained on the ground. As he turned around, he saw the phantom appear standing behind him.

‘Then to surpass him…’

A blue sphere spiraled in his chest, swelling deep as it grew larger.

‘Then I have to be…’

In his mind formed the silhouette of David, looking back at him from the distance with a sharp gaze.

‘Stronger!’

There was a large space once again between them.

His pale white mask fell to the ground, and rolled until eventually it stopped.

With a lowered head, Felix stripped off his black coat, revealing the blood-stained bluish teal shirt underneath. “You know… I’ve been having an awful day today.”

His body was full of dark bruises and dripping with blood, he wasn’t even able to keep standing straight as he kept wobbling around.

Beast grinned and replied, “You and I bot—” Felix kicked him in the face.

“As I was saying… Because I’m having an awful day, to blow off some steam, I’ve decided to break you.” Felix declared with a wide grin; his voice dripped with a hint of depravity.

“What was that?” Beast glared and blew blood out of his nose.

“I thought dogs were supposed to have good hearing.”

“Fuck you just say?!”

This kid shouldn’t be able to move, much less fight. And yet he’s still standing, like he’s completely unharmed…

“I’m done with today. But for your sake, I’ll give you ten seconds to grovel and apologize like the dog you are.”

“What was that, you little shit?!”

Blinded by rage, Beast lifted Felix by the collar, but what remained in his hand was the tight grip on his own claws, as he saw the silhouette of the phantom standing multiple feet away from him.

“How did you—?!” His arrogant tone faded as the red on his face became evident.

“Heh… Come on, what’s wrong “Beast?”

A chase resumed, but Beast was no longer the predator.

With every motion, he left a ghostly blue trail. Beast’s claws clashed with the phantom’s guns. Striking and slashing, but each time the beast got close, the phantom suddenly vanished.

Appearing right behind him, Felix asked, “Where are you looking?”

“DON’T FUCK WITH ME!”

Beast rushed towards Felix, but everything suddenly turned pitch black. “AGKH!”

The dim green light flickered from the ceiling as he opened his blood traced eye, “Wh-what the, why am I—?”

Rubbing his forehead, Beast felt a liquid warmth flow from it. When he had brought his hand to his line of sight, it was covered in blood. Beast looked and saw the trail of light emanating from the phantom’s eyes.

Fighting this fucking brat head-on isn’t gonna work. I need something to catch him off-guard. Beast thought to himself.

Clutching the ground, Beast grasped the debris as he stood up and wiped the blood that dripped from his head. He took his stance, and once again rushed towards Felix.

The Phantom answered in kind as he faced the enemy head on.

They rushed towards each other. The phantom effortlessly avoided the Beast’s upcoming blow, and replied with his own attack. But before it could land, Beast grinned and unclenched his fist, flinging dust and grime from his hand and into his opponent’s eyes.

With a blue trail, the phantom retreated into the shadows.

After rubbing off the dirt from face, Felix’s eyes sunk as he became increasingly agitated. The grin Felix had turned sour. The flickering green lights obscured his face in the darkness, contrasted by the blue hues that radiated from his eyes.

“What the hell?” The Beast uttered as the sound of blood caught his attention, followed by the clinking of metal falling on the ground.

“It appears my hands were stronger than your claws.” Felix lifted up his arm, displaying the broken shards of Beast’s metal “claws” lodged into it.

Beast let out a guttural screamed as he looked at his arm. An intense pain rushed through it as he found half of his forearm snapped in half.

Felix whipped his arm, casting out the blood and shards that were lodged in it. His footsteps then echoed throughout the parking lot as he calmly approached, looking down on the self-proclaimed beast.

“What’s wrong? Aren’t you gonna use the claws you’re so proud of?”

Felix laughed. A faint blue light began to radiate all over his body.

“What… what are you?!” Beast cried out in agony, clutching his mutilated arm. His heavy breath turned into a deep gasp as he looked up at the man-made monster who stood before him.

“You see, there’s a reason I’m top dog, and it’s because I’m better than you.” The Blue Phantom held his white gun an inch before Beast’s forehead.

There was a second of hesitation, as Beast’s expression reminded Felix of Harbinger’s frightened face. But the words echoed in his ear, “You were only prolonging his suffering.”

“Now tell me, do you know what it means… to be an esper?”

As blue light radiated through the dark eyes of the phantom’s white mask, the Beast’s blurry vision saw only the reaper stand before him.

I see now… This damned brat… is Death himself.

After Felix pulled the trigger, Beast fell to the ground.

A second after, Felix followed and collapsed straight down to the concrete. The accumulated pain finally took its toll while streams of blue electricity begin to manifest all over the cuts and bruises on his body.

Maria strolled over and squatted down next to him. Her face perched between her hand, “I’ve never seen you act like that before, where did all of that come from?”

“Well… I was trying to picture the strength to overcome this, and well… you came into mind at the last moment.”

“Ah… I’m flattered.” Maria said with a flushed, red face. “So now that the adrenaline rush faded, how was your first real victory?” She said tauntingly as she pressed her index finger on his face.

Felix pointed towards Beast’s body, and when she glanced over to look at the man’s head, she was surprised to see it was still fully intact. “You didn’t kill him?”

“I ran out of bullets.” He huffed as he glanced at her, “Hey, how are you unharmed?”

“Yes.”

“That’s not an ans—” Felix’s eyes widened at the sound of footsteps. “Who’s there?!” He yelled as he raised his gun towards the shadows.

“If he’s still alive, then I hope you don’t mind us taking him back with us. He’s fairly important, you see.” The unknown man said, with eyes facing opposite directions, carrying in his hands what appeared to be a long cylindrical object made of metal.

“Over my… dead body…” Felix huffed out. There was no chance that he would let his prize, the Jackal’s Fang, slip out of his fingers.

But as he pulled the trigger on his black gun, his expression suddenly turned to shock as he heard only a hollow click. The gun had run out of ammunition.

“That’s fine, I could spare a minute.” The cross-eyed man said as a high-pitched noise began to ring from his arms.

Suddenly, a pale white stream burst out of the machine in his hands.

Felix reached out his right hand, enveloped in a blue haze. But the haze that could stop a hail of bullets was thinned down quickly, and in less than a few seconds, Felix was tossed through one of the pillars.

“Felix!” Maria quickly rushed to his side.

“Blasted thing wasn’t on full-power…” The unknown man muttered as the machine in his hands began to shake. Random bolts of static began to spark around it.

“Stop. You’re gonna break the thing.” Another figure walked out from the darkness, and placed his hand onto the other man’s shoulder. It was a young man with bright orange hair and a tattoo of a star beneath his eye.

Through Felix’s bloodied face, he whimpered out, “Mo… ritz…”

“Who are they?” Maria asked.

“H-He’s…” He could barely utter, unable to get himself back up.

“C’mon, we’re retreating.” Moritz said.

“What are you saying?! We can take them out right here, right now!” The unknown man said to Moritz as he tried to charge the weapon again.

“Dumbass, if that guy had the power to stop a blast from that thing, then it’s likely that woman does, too. And if you hadn’t noticed, she hasn’t gotten hurt since she got here.”

Maria turned her head to them with wide, vicious eyes.

“So you’re… one of the mafia?” Felix mumbled out. There was a heavy ringing in his ear.

“Nope, I’m just here to make sure the mafia, particularly Mister Beast and Mister Oscar here, doesn’t double-cross us.” Moritz shrugged his arms in response.

Felix grits his teeth for a moment and asks, “Us? Moritz… who are you?”

“Who me? I’m just a regular ol’ college dropout, and… also one of Jackal’s Fangs.” He grinned slyly.

“So, he’s—Felix?” Maria yelled as Felix shot back up. His body enveloped once again in a thin shroud of blue began emanating from his body.

“The last… of the Fangs!” Felix viciously growled.

“Wrooong! I’m not the last of the Fangs… I’m a new member!” Moritz put both of his index fingers to the ends of his lips to form a smile.

With each aching step, Felix pushed himself forward.

He shakily lifted up his right arm to point his white gun. He noticed that his gun was exactly where it should be, but not held with the hand that was supposed to carry it.

Only a bleeding stump covered in burnt skin and flesh, and the fiery blue haze keeping the gun up in the air.

“Looks like you should get that fixed up.” Moritz smirked.

Felix’s confused expression quickly turned into a furious rage, and growled at the two of them.

Yet before he could take another step forward, his body lunged back into the ground.

“Felix? Felix, Felix!” Maria cried out as she held him in his arms.

There was a sharp ring in his ears. His mismatched eyes fixated on the gun in Moritz’s hand.

“For good measure.” Moritz muttered out and blew the smoke out of his pistol. “So, it looks like your superpower has a limit. That might be important information.”

But his gleeful demeanor vanished the enemy in front of him started to glow, “Huh?”

Beside Moritz, Oscar asked in disbelief, “What the hell is going on?”

A shroud of hazy blue fire spiraled around Felix. Streams of electricity surged out of his body, violently going out of control.

Felix’s nose started to bleed out.

Moritz watched with an agape mouth before quickly deciding, “It’s time to go.”

Felix watched as Maria kept calling out his name. Her desperate cries were blocked by the intense ringing in his ears. His vision blurred to the point where he could barely recognize her.

The fires formed into a dome, as if shaped like a star. The ground beneath him cracked into the shape of the spherical force.

As the man, Oscar, aimed at Maria’s head, his gun was suddenly flung upward against his will by a transparent, azure force. The two men were suddenly thrust against the pillars and dropped to the ground on all fours.

Oscar coughed out, “Wh-what?! A star?”

“So that’s what Julius was warning us about… fucking monster.” Moritz said as he wiped off the drop of blood on his nose, slowly getting back up.

Waves of transparent, crystalline psychic power pulsated from Felix. His body appeared to start glowing from within.

Moritz went forward to the two of them, but Maria’s glare forced him to take step back.

“Get away!” Maria yelled as she looked at the two.

“You’re not in any position to—” Oscar yelled out as he reached for the mechanical weapon on the ground.

A knife suddenly went through his arm, “GRAAAAHK!”

Once again, the man fell back to his knees and clutched his bleeding hand.

“Stay away from us.” Maria said in a cold, spine-chilling voice.

The air was filled with a sudden, crushing intensity. With Felix in her arms, she glared viciously at the men. A deep and intense blood lust poured out of her and froze the two men stiff.

Overwhelmed, Moritz forced his mouth to speak, “Let’s go…”

“Huh?” Replied Oscar.

“If you value your life, let’s go…” He repeated. Though petrified with fear, the two criminals did not take long to get back up.

Moritz pulled out a deck of cards from his coat and made them scatter, multiplying endlessly until it covered up the both of them, before breaking into digital fractals and fading away. All that remained from the two was a single red joker card on the ground. They were gone.

Maria grabbed Felix’s glowing red hand, it was as if it was like a bag of boiling water, “Felix. Don’t worry. You’re strong, I know you’ll get through this. I’m here, bud.”

Felix could only hear the sharp ring in his ears that gradually grew louder. The panicked cries of his partner could barely be heard as his own consciousness fleeted.