Hot air burst out the warehouse as Felix stretched out his arms, crackles of blue electricity flowed out his body, "Looks like I'm all healed up for now."
"You're going in there, are you nuts?! What are you?! Are you a robot?!" The young man frantically asked, confused to see Felix up and about after watching him crash into the rubble earlier.
"Hey… the person you're looking for in there… who is it?" Felix asked.
The young man clutched on his own arm, "Oh, um… he's someone who works here."
"That doesn't narrow it down. If it's someone important to you, it's in your best interest to tell me who he is."
"It's… it's my uncle."
"I see…"
"If you're going in there, then can you find him? Can you save him? He's my only family left."
Felix looked at him and remembered a distant memory, where a silver-haired lady with orange eyes chugged down a pint of ale, "From here on out, we're family, you and I." She drunkenly declared.
Another fire burst out of the building, grabbing both of their attention, "I'll try, but let's see if he's alive first." He nodded reassuringly as he walked closer toward the burning entrance.
He pulled out a worn-out mask and he put it on before heading into the burning factory. Sparks floated towards him as he walked into the burning building.
The agent cautiously navigated through the smoke and between the crates and burning wooden boxes, but as he placed his hands on one of them, he noticed the markings behind the ash. The smoke was thick and hot, and both the concrete floors and steel beams were littered with shards and other materials.
He wiped off the soot and saw the logo of a black bird surrounded by stars. "Cygnus Enterprise." He muttered to himself. The deeper inside, he found blood leaking under some of the rubble. His stomach churned as glimpses of his memories resurfaced. A familiar, fiery sight. But he pressed forward, searching for survivors.
A loud crashing noise caught his attention.
He peeked between the cascading crates and saw an old man in a worker uniform facing against a figure in a copper-brown, mechanical suit.
In the old man's arms was a large, pipe-like weapon, shaped similarly to a cannon, and covered with a glassy circuit pattern.
"You're making this far too difficult. You see this thing's power, don't you?" The man threatened as he aimed his weapon.
"You haven't been very good at wielding it." A feminine voice came out of the armored figure.
"Mouthy one, aren't you? Just give me the suit so I won't have to kill you." The old man activated the weapon and it made a high-pitched noise as its circuitry lit up.
The armored figure rushed up towards the old man with a raised fist, but before she could land the blow — a beam of light shot out from the weapon.
The armored figure raised their guard, but as soon as it made impact, she crashed into the wooden crates, scattering wooden splinters into the air.
"What the hell is that?" Felix muttered to himself.
Slumped against the shattered crate, the armored woman asked, "Wh-why are you doing this…?"
"Because of Golden Lion Pharmaceuticals…" The old man clenched his fist.
Felix's eyes narrowed, moving slowly across.
"I've wasted years breaking my back in this warehouse. Watching prices skyrocket, while my salary stayed the same, all to pay a debt that never drops! My wife died because of this!" The old man shook his head furiously, "But Cygnus Armors will fetch a high price in the black market. It's my ticket out of this hell!"
The weapon let out a loud, high-pitch screech, "My nephew... he deserves a brighter tomorrow!"
As his voice trembled with conviction, Luna's voice echoed in Felix's head.
"... You and I, we're family."
With an uncertain expression, the agent backed away slowly. But as he did, his back struck a piece of furniture, letting it crash to the ground.
"Who's there?!" The old man glanced around before approaching where Felix was.
He fired the weapon once again; the white beam tore through the steel crates.
"Argh!" He yelled. The weapon started to sizzle, and electricity formed and crackled from it. The black barrel began to burn him, and he dropped it to the ground. "Blasted prototype."
He pulled out a pistol and aimed at the armored woman, "Show yourself or I kill her!"
His voice echoed, but there was no response.
The old man fired twice at the armored woman's head. Her head drooped down as walls cracked, and the debris fell on top of her.
Carefully, the old man picked up the weapon again and looked around.
Felix kept his hand over his mouth to keep his breath steady. He extended his hand forward with a focused glare.
"C'mon… work." He muttered under his breath.
A familiar tingle coursed through his veins. Heat traveled down from his shoulder, to his wrist, and out of his palm. His black glove started to glow with a thin blue outline. With a crackle from his hand, a shining blue haze formed from the nothingness, amorphous and transparent, swirling in his hand.
A bead of sweat rolled down his cheek and onto the hand that covered it. There was a muffled excitement that escaped his lips, but he kept his attention on the weapon.
With a determined gaze, he kept his aim solely on the weapon. He waited with a stare as a small blue whirlpool spun in his palm.
All the rocks around his body slowly rose up in the air.
Five seconds passed — But nothing happened.
Or rather, not the way he wanted it to happen.
His concentration broke to take in breath, and the spiraling blue shroud dispersed into ephemeral dots.
All the rocks suspended in the air stopped glowing, and immediately dropped back down.
The clatter of stones and debris quickly caught the old man's attention, and quickly approached where it came from.
As he got closer, he spotted a black cloak and a white mask between the smoke. The old man leapt and fired – another beam burst from the machine, destroying both the cloak and burning a portion of the pale mask, and leaving molten red iron and smoke.
But no one was there.
~