The plane descended slowly, cutting through the night air as it approached their destination. The hum of the engines was the only sound filling the cabin.
"Felix?" Maria called out. The agent slowly opened his eyes, barely rested, "We're here. Are you ready?" She asked.
He glanced out the window and saw the darkness of the night, "Yeah… I'm ready." He clutched his four-leaf clover under his shirt.
The plane descended in a clearing just outside the city.
Maria stepped down and stretched out her arms, dressed in a black cat suit, adorned with an array of belts and straps that carried her limited equipment.
Outside was a dense woodland.
Felix set his iron-soled boots on the ground and took a deep inhale. The air was thick and hazy, and explosions could barely be heard from the distance.
Nearly his entire body had been covered in a thick black trench coat that was left open in the middle, on his collar was a strip of metal with both points shaped like arrows.
The faint blue light from his left eye stood out in the evening darkness.
With a weak voice, he muttered, "China…"
His eyes narrowed, and his fist tightened. The cool evening air filled his lungs.
They marched through the thicket, the sounds of the city grew louder with every step forward.
As an alleyway came into view, Felix crouched behind the bushes, scanning the shadows. But he was caught off-guard by how Maria pulled out a grappling hook, swiftly swinging through the buildings.
Felix blinked, then followed. He quickly climbed through the old windows and crevices. When he made it up the building, a Chinese dragon kite flew overhead, pulled by a drone.
The dusk sky was filled with excitement and color, as the loud sound of bangs, clangs and crackles could clearly be caught in every direction.
"A festival?" He asked as the flurry of lights reflected in his eyes, "Enjoying the fireworks?"
He looked at her, the wind brushing her hair.
"Well… " She responded vaguely, pointing forward.
The whereabouts of their targets were supposedly unknown, but standing atop the buildings, it did not take long for them to discover what they were looking for.
In the center of the excitement stood a wide, twenty-story office building. At its front was a tall metal gate with only one entrance. Though the town had buildings, none came close to as tall or as gaudy as the one in the center.
"Now why would a skyscraper need a guarded gate?" She asked.
He glanced over to her and replied, "Unless they're hiding something worth protecting."
They exchanged smirks before jumping off and moving on ahead.
Lanterns swayed above, while banners fluttered in the breeze. Both of them walked through the streets, their dark outfits sticking out like a sore thumb, while everyone in the crowd dressed in vibrant red and gold, with minor tinges of jade-green. Some of them even wearing decorative masks lined with yellow markings.
Maria walked with a lackadaisical smile, humming. Felix walked slowly behind her, his eyes scanned the surrounding stalls. Several of the stands had logos of Golden Lion Pharmaceuticals, as well as the other organizations from the alliance — all of them vandalized and covered with trash.
Rows of food stalls lined the streets as the two walked through the crowds, only to stop at a particularly small stall with a red bird standing on two intersecting arrows shaped like an 'x'.
Felix knocked on the wooden counter, "Excuse me."
The man inside the stall glanced at the two agents, hanging on the walls were festival masks, trinkets and other knick-knacks, "Anything you like, anything you see, all only a hundred."
"You're a robin, right?" Felix asked, "We're from the agency."
"We need the word, word bird." Maria added.
The man turned around and with a grumpy tone replied, "There're a lot of agencies."
Felix pulled out from his pocket a small golden pin with a lion and symbols engraved. "Felix Aster, and this is Venom Vanguard."
She nudged his ribs, "I told you to use V.V."
"Right… V.V."
"Golden Lion, huh? I take it you two wanna get in that big building over there?" The man responded as he pointed towards the structure with his chin.
"How'd you know?" Maria asked.
"Another Elite Agent came by earlier, lookin' for a way in, same as you. Requested me to scout the area. Left a while ago after I told 'em there was no other way in."
"From which organization?"
"Confidential, but not Golden Lion. Looks like you're both on the same mission. Tough luck, place is crawling with guards. Can't even see it from above. They shoot down my surveillance drones whenever they get too close."
"Is that so?"
"You'd think the mafia would be more reclusive." Maria expressed her disbelief as she looked at the building.
The robin scratched his chin, "It got renovated just a month ago. According to sources, it was funded by some corrupt politician who wanted to line his pockets. Made it bigger and faster, with cheaper materials. As if this country wasn't already full of ghost towns."
"Thanks for the info."
"Before you go, care for a mask? Only a hundred."
"No thank you."
"Then, how about taking these with you? On the house." He said, reaching out to give him a pair of sunglasses.
"What? Why?"
"Might want to hide those eyes of yours, Black Cat. You're already dressed in all black, might as well complete the set."
"You know who I am?"
"Black hair, glowing blue eye. Wasn't too sure at first, but once you showed me your badge, well, I didn't need an introduction. Word goes around in the Robin Network. Anyways, better to be safe than sorry."
"Thanks." Felix answered as he took it.
"Got anything for me?" Maria perked up excitedly.
"All out of freebies, I'm afraid." The robin shrugged.
Maria waved goodbye to the old merchant and followed Felix. As he put it on the sunglasses, he saw the red dot flickering in the distance. The private jet has left. They were on their own.
Further down the main road, the festival's energy strangely subsided, only interrupted by the occasional pop of fireworks. The streets were still busy, but the area surrounding the building was noticeably more guarded.
The two of them circled the perimeter. Searching back and forth, down every nook and cranny. But no matter where they went, eyes seemed to be everywhere. Security cameras swinging back and forth.
Felix climbed up the tall fences and peaked through, where he saw armed guards patrolling every angle, and from behind the tall concrete walls, they would be easily spotted and shot down.
The only way in without immediately getting shot was through the main gate.
Sorry Chief, but from the looks of things, I don't think we'll be able to keep a low profile.
"…So, how are we supposed to do this?" Felix muttered, hiding in the shrubbery next to the wall.
"We go in, you protect me, I get what we need, we get out. Easy peasy." Maria nonchalantly explained as she brushed her hair to the side.
"Mhm. If only it was easy peasy."
"I have an idea." Maria picked up a stone, saying, "Saw this in a movie once." She took a few steps away from the wall.
His eyebrows curled suddenly, responding, "Did you just say a movie?"
She then chucked the stone above the iron gate.
"Why did you think that would work? What's wrong with you?!" He silently shouted under his breath.
With a thumbs up, she whispered back, "A great, many things."
"Argk!" A loud voice erupted, "WHO THREW THAT?"
"Let's go check."
With her ear pressed against the wall, she heard the voices from inside.
"Sounds like their on their way here." She smirked.
"That worked? WHY DID THAT WORK?!"
"Go hide." Maria gestured for him to stay put, rushing closer towards the gate.
"V.V., wait, what are you—?!" He reached out to grab her.
But when the gates opened, he begrudgingly resigned.
Both of the agents continued to stay hidden in wait for the two guards to leave the camera's field of vision, Maria walked out and revealed herself while Felix kept to the shadows.
Two men in pale, grayish brown uniforms stepped out. One with a twitching eye, and the other with a rotund body and round cheeks.
Maria stood there, waiting as they closed the gate.
"A tourist?" The twitchy-eyed guard blurted out, with a red mark on his forehead. He turned to the rotund guard next to him, who shrugged.
"Are you the person who threw that rock?" The rotund guard asked.
"Rock?" Maria repeated, feigning ignorance.
"Don't play dumb with me!" The twitchy-eyed guard shouted, and Maria stepped away.
She frowned, taking another step back, "I don't know what you're talking about!" Next to the walls, closer to the shrubs.
"Who else would have thrown it here!"
With every step she took back, he took a step forward, moving closer towards the bushes.
"It's a festival!" She yelled.
"No one would do something stupid like this! No one but an outsider!" His eye twitched.
A firework whistled in the distance, soaring towards the sky
"Who are you? Are you with the intruder?!" He moved closer, his eyes angrier.
She slapped the twitchy-eyed guard, leaving a red-mark on his cheek.
In response, he growled and pulled out the pistol on his hip, only for his rotund companion to grab him by the shoulder.
But as he gently lowered the firearm, Maria made a break for it.
"Wait!" The two of them ran after her.
Behind by the bushes, Felix's fingers twitched for a moment as she ran by him. One hand over his mouth, hiding the sound of his breathing, while the other on the trigger, waiting.
She stopped and turned around with a wide grin on her face, waiting for the other guards to catch up.
Every step they got closer to her, the higher whistling firework rose, until finally…
— BANG.
A colorful red blaze painted the sky, and both guards collapsed to concrete as soon as the rushed through him.
"Why were they speaking English?" Felix stepped out of the bushes.
"Why did the robin?" She retorted, pulling a leaf out of his hair.
"He's an informant."
"This guy's a sentry."
"That's not how this works."
"And yet that's how it was." She shot back with a smug gaze, "Sometimes things just don't make sense."
Forced to concede, he groaned and wiped his face, "I… point taken. So, what now?"
"Now, disguises." She crouched down and began unbuttoning the guard's uniform. But she paused as she inspected the unconscious body.
"Hm, there's… no blood?" She turned her head towards Felix, "You didn't kill him?"
"I use an energy gun. My mentor taught me avoid unnecessary killing." He said, looking at his cobalt gun.
Her dark eyes narrowed, studying his expression, "Huh, you don't say?"
Noticing this, he looked at her with a curious glance, "Don't worry, I always carry a pistol in case if I have to." He tried to reassure her.
She smirked, throwing a pair of pants at his face, "Right. Now put these on quickly."
The two quickly wore the uniforms over their gear, buttoning over their outfits.
"Good thing he was fat, you can still wear that coat underneath the uniform." Maria giggled, wearing the button-up over her catsuit, "Calm your nerves. We're going through the main entrance."
Felix gulped in response, adjusting his sunglasses. His heart raced as the large reinforced gates opened with a thick, metal hum. Uncomfortable thoughts started clouding his vision, but he couldn't let them linger. It wouldn't take too for the rest of the guards to notice them being gone for too long.
The two agents walked through the main entrance, their bodies flickering in the cameras.
Inside appeared to be a wide, half-finished construction site circling the building.
A cold-sweat dripped down Felix's face as he scanned every guard from behind his dark lenses. Eight in total, standing close to the entrance.
He glanced over to Maria, from the corner of his eye that her expression remained calm. She looked confident in his eyes. No, that wasn't the right word. To him, it almost looked like she was excited.
Unpleasant thoughts intruded into his head with every step forward. It was impossible to make his movements look natural with the trench coat underneath the guard's uniform.
Did the discomfort come from the hot and humid air, or was it the guard's uniform worn over his gear. Several layers of fabric must have been suffocating him and stifling his movements.
The closer they got, the tighter it felt.
Bright lights caused him to blink rapidly. The sound of fireworks felt like explosives drawing close, like gunfire.
They made it a third of the way. There was less than ten meters left towards the entrance, there was a security camera mounted on the wall, watching their every move. Ahead of them was a glass door. The first hurdle was almost cleared, and yet…
"You there!" A guard shouted, cutting through Felix's cluttered thoughts.
He approached the two operatives, squinting at them and inspecting their appearance and uniforms.
"Y-yes?" Maria replied, feigning meekness.
"You both…" The guard shifted his attention to the man with sunglasses, who tensed up in response.
Not wanting to make eye contact, Felix's eyes darted to the other guards patrolling the construction site. He felt the weight of their attention on his shoulders.
He tried to keep his breathing steady. But as the guard looked him in the eyes, he saw the blue glow hiding behind the sunglasses.
A bead of sweat rolled across his cheek as his heart pounded. His hands trembled beneath the stolen uniform, curling it into a fist that crackled with a blue electricity.
"Who are—?"
Above them, a firework lit up the sky with iridescent particles.
Time slowed down as a red streak flowed through the air. Maria's knife had been drawn, and the guard's question died in his throat as it cut open.
Red droplets sprayed all over the two operatives, staining their stolen uniforms.
Time resumed as the blood splattered Felix's face, snapping him out of his daze. He swiped the gun hanging from the dying man's belt before he dropped to the ground.
The other eight guards came rushing forward.
He lined up his shot, instinctively aiming at the closest guard in front of him. It was a perfectly centered at the guard's head.
As soon as he saw the panic and fright on the man's face, he froze, unable to pull the trigger. The guard's expression hardened in response, taking advantage of his reluctance to kill.
The first shot was fired, signaling to the rest of them to pull out their weapons.
"Grhk!" A hole tore through the stolen uniform as he got shot in the shoulder.
"Felix?!" Maria glanced at him worriedly, before quickly avoiding a bullet coming her way.
"I'm fine!" He yanked out the shell lodged in his black coat and retaliated, immediately taking out the guard who shot him.
His tune changed after getting shot, emptying the pistol on the surrounding guards, his shoulder throbbing with each recoil.
Guards fell down one after the other.
She gave an understanding nod and crouched down. Her arms slipped behind her stolen uniform and she pulled out several more knives clasped between her fingers, launching them in a dozen different directions.
All of her knives perfectly shot into the guard's throats.
There was no room mercy. Here, it was kill or be killed.
The klaxons rang loud. The glass door locked, and the industrial shutter of the rolling grille began descending on the entrance.
With an excited grin, Maria rushed towards the crowd of uniformed men, slicing every one she came across. A black silhouette slithering through the sentinels.
Felix took a slower, more standard approach, sliding behind guards and grabbing them by their necks. Forcing his human shields to move quickly, dropping them as they died, and rushing to grab another. All while swapping pistols with every new hostage he took.
As the two of them carved a path of blood forward, a new group of sentinels rushed from the facility.
Firearms were aimed at the two intruders heads. Dozens of bullets flashed from every direction, and the scent of gunpowder filled the air, turning this frenzy into a deafening blur. But the two pushed through, avoiding the gunfire as much as they could while mowing down the men standing in their way.
Sparks flew as a stray bullet struck the pistol out of Felix's hand.
The shock ran down his fingers, but he whipped out his cobalt gun and continued to fight.
He swung his ornate gun like a baseball bat, striking away the hot lead aimed at his head, all while he orbited around Maria, keeping her from getting shot. His mission was to protect her — he did not forget that.
"Back up, we need back up at the front gate!" One of the sentries called out through the radio. "It's the intruder! We caught the intruder! There's two of—!"
The radio shattered as Maria threw her knife at it, yelling, "Get inside before the other guards get here!"
They were trapped halfway and could not afford more trouble.
"You have to get in there, first!" Felix suddenly recoiled as a stray bullet struck the sunglasses. It's shards scraping across his face as it fell to the ground.
Little by little, their stolen uniforms were torn apart, revealing parts of their true outfits underneath.
Trapped in a monochromatic barrage of bright flashes and black bullets. The only color was the pale yellow from the muzzles, and the blue light radiating from Felix's eyes.
Another stray bullet then grazed at her cheek, which she quickly clutched as it bled.
Noticing this, Felix quickly wrapped himself around her, shielding her from the shower of lead.
Stuck halfway down the path, Maria's eyes widened as she watched the bullets bounce off his black coat. She instantly realized from his pained expression that, though it was bullet-resistant, the impact still took a toll on him.
She scowled, grabbing him by the arm and tossing him towards the entrance, "Get your ass in there!"
The beads of sweat that filled Felix's face were swept off as he was thrown across the air. He bent his body, stretching his legs forward and instinctively hopped on the heads the guards standing in his path.
In the air, he relentlessly fired a pistol against the glass-door, shattering it. And as he hopped on the last guard's head, he braced for impact, crashing head-first through the broken doorway. His body rolled across the scattered shards as he squeezed underneath the descending rolling grille.
His body continued to roll against the concrete and into the tiled floor, before slamming to a halt against a decorative fountain, causing it to flicker on.
Still outside, another wave of sharp knives soared across the area, which forced sentries to duck, providing Maria a path to run through. As she raced to the entrance, one of the half-dead guards on the ground caught her by the leg, causing her to stumble.
The fountain's water splashed against over Felix's face, and his mismatched eyes shot open.
Inside, his limited light source shrank as the shutter descended. He quickly rushed back towards the sound of gunfire.
"V.V.!" Felix shouted, sliding across the cold tile floor.
With his face pressed against the ground, he watched with his blue eye as she fought just to get back up. Slicing through with her knife. But just as she was back on her feet, one of them struck her back down with the back of his gun.
A pack of guards swarmed around her, carrying rifles, ready to fire.
She persevered, slicing through each enemy, injuring most and dispatching a handful. But every bullet that struck her took its toll. Her movements quickly grew dull and stiff, each slash slower than the last.
"Venom!" Felix called out and pushed the rolling grille back up.
His arms shook as he pushed the wall of iron up. His elbow pressed against the concrete, and his palms could barely fit the thick iron wall, struggling to keep it from closing shut.
One of the guards noticed and fired his pistol at him.
The bullet landed on the ground inches shy away from his face, causing Felix to reflexively let go and let the metal hatch to descend.
Maria saw this and retaliated, sliding in and between the many guards.
With a shrill scream, she attacked the man who shot at Felix, forcing down the knife from above the man's skull down to the rest of his body.
Though the rain of gunfire drowned out any other noise, the thin sound of squelching flesh and splattering blood caused them all to cease fire for just a brief moment, petrified by the sight of a man's top half sliding down to the ground.
Despite all of the sentries having a clear, point-blank shot directly at her head, they were all hesitant to pull the trigger. Staring at the bisected body, they froze.
Their faces filled with terror after witnessing what she had just done. But she staggered, and dropped the knife in her hand.
It's metallic clang signaled their attention. She was surrounded, and the first one aimed.
Fireworks lit up the night sky, outlining her blood-stained face in its radiant colors. Yellow, blue, red and orange all flashed behind her as she shot Felix a smile.
With a dozen clicks, all of the guards opened fire, and the industrial shutter closed.
A wall of metal was now blocking his view completely, keeping him in darkness with only dim green lamps illuminating his view.
"No!"
Unable to see the outside, he got up and struck the wall, only to recoil in pain.
He took a couple of steps to the side, clutching his aching fist. His back leaned against the wall, gradually slid downwards.
The security camera in the center of the ceiling stared intently at him with a glowing red dot.
With a pained grunt, he picked out a shards of glass lodged in his body. The uniform that he stole were now in tatters and covered in holes.
Felix then picked out a lead bullet out of his shoulders, with an irritated look, he flicked it towards the camera, cracking it.
The only source of light was the faint blue glow from his left eye.
Alone and agitated, he let out a deep, heavy exhale. His eyes closed for a moment. Each breath sliding between his teeth, filling up his lungs. With his head pressed against the wall, he shifted his gaze to the left, where the fountain was. He had made it inside the facility.
To his right was the sealed entrance. There was no going back.
He got on his feet and supported himself against the wall. He took one step towards the fountain, one step deeper into enemy territory on his own.
And yet, the hum of gunfire persisted. She was still out there, fighting.
"No." His fist tightened, turning around.
Felix pulled out a gun from under his coat, a black pistol, and fired against the wall.
The sound of gunfire rang through the entrance as he successively unloaded all of it's ammunition. He paused to exhale, noticing that it had not even left a dent.
He clicked his tongue and grabbed a magazine on his hip.
But before he could reload, an explosion erupted outside, and shock waves rippled from where he stood.
After the boom, a silence followed. He realized that the symphony of gunfire had ended.
All that was left was the uneven sputter of the fountain, and his expression shifted to desperation.
He dropped his things to the ground and struck the iron wall, "I can't!"
Once again, he recoiled. But this time, there was a dent in the wall.
"Do this!"
He ripped off the uniform and struck again, harder this time.
"Without you!"
He grabbed his wrist, he could feel the blood pulsating in his hand. Yet he glared deeper.
Her words suddenly echoed in his head.
As long as you're around, what do I have to worry about?
Blue sparks radiating from his fist, and his frustration and fear boiled over.
"MARIA!"
A loud bang echoed. Blue particles scattered, lighting up the darkness for a brief few seconds.
He took a step back, clutching his throbbing fist. The impact from his strike left a large bent crater. Light seeped through from the outside, but it wasn't enough.
Pain radiated from his knuckles down to his wrist, his face twitching. With grit teeth, he picked up his pistol and magazine, and turned around. "… I'm sorry…"
But as he started walking away, another explosion followed. Unsettling rumbles ran through the entrance, quivering above his head and beneath his feet.
Felix looked back and saw more cracks in the iron-wall. It was immediately followed by another explosion.
"... What?" He loaded his gun, squinting as glowing glitters came rushing through gaps.
A final explosion came blasting through. An iridescent burst of particles that broke open the gate.
From behind the golden firework stood a black-haired woman, with a sweet, cheerful smile on her face.
He lowered his firearm, and his expression filled to the brim with disbelief. "Maria?"
She crawled through the hole, wiping her face with a freshly stolen uniform, "Yes?"
"How… did you survive?"
"Let's just say a rogue firework came to my rescue. Or a couple of them at least." She beamed cheerfully.
"I don't think fireworks can…" He sighed and conceded, "Right, sometimes things just don't make sense. At least, when it comes to you."
"I'm glad you finally get it." She patted his shoulder.
"Argh!"
"My bad, sorry…"
"It's fine…" Still in disbelief, he was just happy to see her. A wave of relief washing over him, "I'm just glad you're alright."
She picked out a bullet stuck in black coat, "Bullet-proof, huh?"
"Ah, yeah… it protects… more than just a vest." He stammered, "I was afraid I was gonna have to do this alone."
"I'm pretty sure you don't have my mad hacker skills." She put on another stolen uniform. "Now put this on." She threw another uniform over his face.
"Right…" He grabbed it.
As she buttoned it up, she smiled, "Don't worry. I won't leave you, partner."
"Yeah… I'm glad." He scratched his cheek. With a deep exhale, he put on another blood-stained uniform and started marching forward, "Then, let's go, partner."
She nodded and walked beside him.
The two operatives made their way into the building alive. Behind them, the camera buzzed silently, its fractured lens still fixed on their figures.
Inside a dimly lit surveillance room, a man in a top hat stood over three corpses.
His face illuminated by the flicker of broken screens, watching the two of them. He held up a damaged data drive against the screen, and grinned.
~