Chapter 2 part 2

Birth of a Phantom

With a sneer on his face, the man stood before them, dressed in a brown vest and an elegant top hat, adorned with a belt strapped with a small bag, and a gun.

Felix pulled out his own gun, “Who are you?”

In spite of his question, it was clear to the both of them that the one who stood before them was an Elite Agent.

“I apologize for my rudeness, please allow me to introduce myself, I am one of the guards here you see.”

“That doesn’t answer my question. Who are you?” Felix reiterated.

“Well, I can’t tell you that, but please refer to me as Harbinger. I was employed recently here in order. I am pleased to make your—” A knife brushed against the side of his head before he could finish speaking.

“Tsk, I missed.” Silhouetted against the moonlight, Maria glared at him. Her palm steadily went down after her attempt at killing him.

“My, how scary…” Harbinger’s nervously laughed.

“And you think we’re gonna fall for that because…?” Maria’s happy-go-lucky tone turned cold and frigid.

“Don’t lie to us.” Felix added, the blue light in his eyes lit up his face in the darkness.

He shrugged his arms and feigned ignorance, “My, please enlighten me, whatever could you—?” But as he did, another one of Maria’s knives dug into his chest.

“I saw every record of every employee here. What kind of guard slaughters their own men?” She commented with a low, disgusted voice.

“Harbinger, he said…” Felix pondered.

Maria tilted her head in curiosity, “How foreboding. What about it?”

“I recognize that name codename… Rank twenty-seventh, a veteran. He was said to have went MIA months ago.”

“Then he must be the agent the robin told us about. Uploads complete, by the way.”

A soft laughter came out as Harbinger stood back up, brushing off his coat as if nothing happened, “I see my reputation precedes me… so you both are also from the twelve agencies, I take it?”

“How are you still alive?” Maria spoke in startled tone.

“Bullet-proof vest.” Harbinger answered

Felix pulled out his gun and fired, only for the man to hop back and dodge his aim.

“How rude. From what I can tell, you and I are on the same mission, so perhaps we could all hit up a trade?” He suggested as he pulled out the dagger burrowed over his vest and took a few steps back.

“And what would that be?” Felix asked while his gun still pointed towards him.

“If you please give me a copy of the information, then we’ll all be able to get out safe and sound.”

“You wouldn’t happen to have a drive on you?” Maria asked as she showed him the large metal flash drive.

“I do… but after going through the guards…” Harbinger replied as he pulled out a broken flash drive from his vest pocket.

“Well, that sucks. We gathered the data, but only have one drive.” Maria said as she put the drive in her back pocket.

“True, but I can’t come back empty-handed.”

“Yeah, how about you get your own and not bother us?” Felix stated.

“Hmm…” Harbinger put his hand on his chin, “Would you please be so kind as to tell me your codenames?”

“What for?” Maria asked sharply.

“Codenames let the other party know what they’re dealing with. It’s part of the treaty to let an unwilling party go unharmed.” Felix elaborated while Maria readied herself for combat.

She turned to him and replied, “I’m surprised you know this.”

“I’m surprised you don’t.”

“Please forgive me, but I need that drive.” Harbinger explained as he drew his gun.

With both daggers in hand, Maria took her stance, her fangs in full view.

“Harbinger, engaging.”

“Venom Vanguard, engaging!”

Maria kicked the table towards Harbinger, which he in turn, jumped over and aimed his gun towards her, but before he could even plant his feet on the ground, she closed the space between them.

The edge of her steel blades clashed against his gun before he could shoot from the chrome-colored gun gripped in his hand, forced to use it to as a shield, unable to take aim against her relentless barrage.

Forced back by Maria’s overwhelming speed, he quickly hopped away.

As he did, Felix fired his gun from the behind the glowing data servers.

“The Venom Vanguard, the serpent who kills with a single cut, with blades laced with neurotoxins that could kill an elephant in minutes. Disabling someone’s motor functions is quite a scary gimmick for a little girl.”

“So you know who I am, yet you’re not backing down?” Maria boasted and threw another knife towards him.

The two danced with gun and blade while they attacked each other with words.

“For an Elite Agent to prefer fighting in close quarters is rather odd.”

“It’s rather odd for an Elite Agent to be mouthing off the way you do, and yet here we are!” She yelled as they clashed.

Harbinger then ducked as a bullet passed through his way, “My, my, you sure lack presence. If it weren’t for your glowing eye, I’d have taken you for a ghost.” He said as he glanced at Felix, before jumping away from Maria’s knife.

Felix fired from behind of the servers as Maria launched her knives.

“So, may I… whoa… please ask for your code name?” Harbinger asked while avoiding their attacks.

“…Ch-Child of Stars.” Stood behind the server, Felix accidentally let’s his first thought slip out of his lips.

“Child of…? That sounds oddly familiar.”

Felix replied with a sharp scowl as he reloaded. As the Harbinger stared at Felix with a confused look expression, Maria’s blades quickly sliced through the air, leaving behind a trail of light that he narrowly avoided.

In response, Harbinger began to act cautiously. He lets down a rain of bullets towards her. But she moved as quickly as he aimed.

Felix began to feel a strain in his arm, the bandage that was wrapped around it began to feel warm. He took a step forward, lifting his arm once more. But before he could return to the battle, his body froze as his eyes followed a grenade that came in his way.

Yet before it could fall, it was caught in the claw of Maria’s grappling hook.

Maria’s improvised weapon danced perfectly to her will. As it whipped up and down, it forced Harbinger into the defensive. He was cautious of both the bomb whip, and of Felix, who had been shooting from the rear.

His eyes widened as the bomb he had been evading began to beep.

“Get down!” Maria yelled.

But Felix quickly fired at it, thrusting it towards Harbinger’s direction just seconds before it exploded.

The ceiling crumbled, and the floor collapsed below them. The glass walls all cracked, while the servers all shattered by the debris. The loud boom echoed throughout the lower floors, alarming the security and narrowing their search.

The three agents were thrown afar by the blast, as it left a large crater on the floor near the entrance of the room.

Felix’s head started to feel light as blood leaked out from his head. But as he tried to drag himself up, he found himself unable to move forward. His arm was trapped inside the shattered remains of the server, and buried under the rubble of the ceiling.

“…I hope this counts as minimum damage.” He lamented as he struggled to lift up the debris off of his arm. His gun was on the floor, a few feet away from him, where he couldn’t reach.

Harbinger stood up with a clear pain to his movement, but as Felix could barely reach the tip of his gun, Harbinger had already aimed his at his forehead. Felix closed his eyes, then Harbinger fired — with a loud bang, a splatter could be heard over the ground.

He opened his mismatched eyes to see the silhouette stood right in front of him.

“I’m pretty sure… you’re the one supposed to be protecting me… Felix…” Maria mutters softly with a smirk as blood drips down from her face.

“M-Marie…” Felix cracked out a whimper as her blood dripped over his face.

As she fell beside him, his ears began to ring.

Harbinger walked towards the two of them and took the drive from Maria’s back pocket, calmly placing it in his vest.

Marie?

Marie, come on… get up.

You’re okay right? Stop kidding around… Come on…

You’re a little too heavy, you know that?

Get up… come on, get up. Marie…

Harbinger looked towards the two with a curious expression and walked toward him, “Felix? Felix Aster? So then… you must be the ‘Black Cat of Ruin.’”

He started panting as his body began to boil from within, “I’ll kill you!”

“You’ve been doing a terrible job at that.”

Felix growled as his arm ripped and gashed open, his skin and flesh pulled apart in a desperate bid to strike the Harbinger’s face.

Harbinger’s knees buckled. His face reddened, and a red stream dripped out of his nose. But he looked back at Felix with and said with a grin, “Was that supposed to be a punch? Please.” He struck Felix back, causing him to bounce off the ground.

“No hard feelings, but no loose ends. Please forgive me.” Harbinger said as he cocked his gun and slowly pointed at the groveling young man, who was facing down on the ground.

But as he was about to pull the trigger, Felix leapt forward and kicked his hand upward, causing him to fire toward the ceiling.

“What the hell?!” Taken by surprise, Harbinger clutched his throbbing arm and looked back at him.

Felix lowered to the floor and stood on all fours, a stance reminiscent to a wounded animal, with a limb rendered useless.

He stared at Harbinger like a predator staring at his prey, taking one small step at a time.

“Is this why you’re called the Black Cat?” Harbinger asked with uneven breaths, and quickly aimed at him.

Felix leapt out of the way and bounced around the room, jumping from one server to another. Left, right, left right, leaving cracks on the black glass, getting closer to his enemy. Harbinger grew more irritated the more this went on.

But when he finally closed the gap, however, Harbinger aimed exactly where he would be and fired a round straight at his head. A sudden small blue flare burst from Felix’s face and his body slammed against one of the black pillars.

Blood poured from Felix’s face as he let out a weak cough.

“Still alive, huh? Time to put this kitty down once and for all.” Harbinger said as he pointed his gun one more time. As he pulled the trigger, however, there was nothing but a hollow click. He had run out of bullets.

“Tsk…” He grabbed Felix by the neck and slammed him against the wall, pinning him there by the throat, “This is the strength of an enhanced human? This is supposed to be the pinnacle of human strength? What’s so special about you?!”

Felix sucked in air between his bloodstained teeth, caught between them was the bullet, which spat the bullet at his face.

Harbinger squeezed Felix’s throat tighter, to the point where almost no air can get through, “Please, elaborate to me how a novice like you, the poster boy of Project ASTRAEA, reach rank thirteen?!”

Felix grappled against the hand on his throat with the one arm he could still use. His face swelled and turned redder as he struggled. Sweat dripped over his mismatched eyes, blurring his vision.

My rank? What does that have to do with any of this?

Small, ephemeral blue sparks sprung from the wound in Felix’s other arm.

As his consciousness slowly faded, he heard Harbinger’s comment, “Who would have thought that the Nocturne’s little brother would turn out to be so pathetic?”

As he uttered those words, Felix’s mind turned into descended, and turned blank.

He’s right, I’ve done nothing to earn my place… It's probably nothing more than the whims and expectations of the higher ups.

But who cares?

I’m up there because I have to honor something.

I will rise higher—

And you’re in the way.

A sharp slash whipped against the wind, followed by a dull wet thud on the ground.

Felix’s arm was raised upward, set ablaze with a fiery blue haze that poured out from the wound.

Harbinger’s eyes slowly descended to where the sound came from, where he saw something familiar wrapped in a sleeve, leaking with blood.

“Huh?” His voice broke into fright as he realizes his arm had been cleanly taken off.

When Felix’s feet reached the ground, he went into a violent coughing fit. His wounded arm stopped bleeding as the muscles in his arms weaving back together, and was slowly covered in new skin.

He took in a crude inhale and got back up. The rubble began to shake, and the bits and pieces of everything broken started floating.

Harbinger’s eyes were drawn back towards the blue light. Stood in front of him was the same agent with the same raven-black hair, with crackles of electricity weaving and surging around his body, forming a burning dome of brilliant blue fire that slowly spiraled around him — it was as if a star formed around his body.

Harbinger’s mouth trembled at the sight of this, “Wh-what?!”

Felix gazed with eyes full of fury, and the blue star burst — instantly slammed Harbinger through one of the black pillar servers. His body went into shock.

He tilted his head up to meet Felix’s eyes. Stood above him was the man he had taunted, wrapped in cold blue rage, with the slightest, faintest smile on his lips.

With slow aching steps that lifted up the rubble around him, Felix approached Harbinger with a fierce glare.

“P-please… spare me…” Harbinger pleaded weakly.

“Why would I do that?”

“I’m just doing what I… was ordered to.”

“Ordered to? By who? Why did you disappear from the agency? What are you after?” Felix snarled as he shot out a flurry of questions.

“He took everything… He said he’d give it back… if I did what he told me to…”

“Who?!”

“Julius…”

“Julius who? His full name, from where, what does he look like?”

“He has blond hair… wears a suit… and hides his eyes… I don’t know anything else.” He mumbled in a barely audible voice.

“I see.” Felix picked up his gun and sneered, “If that’s all you can offer me…”

“Please… d-don’t kill me…”

“No hard feelings, but no loose ends.”

Harbinger started cackling, “I see now…”

“Huh?”

“Julius, I see it now…” He looked up at Felix with tears in his eyes, reflecting the glowing aura that he emitted, “… the one he’s afraid of… you’re the one he’s afraid of… Felix Aster!”

Blood splattered out of Harbinger’s mouth as he laughed out maniacally and fell to the ground.

Felix stepped back in disgust and shock at the sight of the broken man.

His hand started to jitter as he aimed at the man, but before he could pull the trigger, a memory intruded in his head. One with a soft smile, and a warm ember glow. The words echoed in his ears, “You’re a good, kind person, aren’t you?”

The blue haze that enveloped him dispersed, and his smile faded along with it. He looked to the side and clicked his tongue.

“You’re an Elite Agent… have some pride, damn it.” With a disappointed sigh, he fell to the floor.

Harbinger let out a soft chuckle and closed his eyes, turning completely silent.

Felix sat on the floor and pulled out the broken pendant of a four-leaf clover, and stares at it longingly.

This… wasn’t the grand battle I thought it was…

A moment passes after he stared him down with pity, but his expression changed as he suddenly heard the loud thumps of footsteps from below.

“Ugh… arrghh…” A sharp, breathy grumble came out from behind Felix.

“M-Marie…? You’re alive?” Felix rushed towards her with a panicked expression.

“You know, you fail as a bodyguard…”

“You… were shot… in the head, how are you alive?” He took a moment to process his words.

“I told you, nothing leaves a scar on us!”

Felix stared blankly at her as Professor Tetsuya’s words echoed in his head;

“There’s more to that than what you know… and there will be so much more when the time finally comes. You… and the rest of them.”

“So much more…” He muttered, but snapped out of it as he saw blood pour down her head as she staggered over. He quickly caught her as she fell and worriedly said, “We need to get you out of here…”

“I’m glad…I saw everything, your eyes, your speed, and your look just needs a splash of oomph to it.” She suddenly stops as she covers her mouth with both her palms, followed by a squeal of excitement.

“I just… tore off a man’s arm… and this is what catches your attention?”

The churning in my stomach… I could barely talk as it is, but the fact that she stood in front of me, cheerful and unharmed, raised my discomfort to a level I couldn’t wrap my head around.

“This sight isn’t really new to me… but your eyes.” As if back to normal, she spoke with a step in her voice.

“My eyes?”

“Both of your eyes are glowing. You’ve taken your first step.”

“… Huh? Both?” He muttered before letting out an excited grin, Maria watched silently with a smile of her own, like a proud parent.

“Wait, no, we should get you to—”

She wiped off the blood and got back up, “It’s fine, I’m fine. I’m alright.”

“I see… I’m glad you’re alright, but keep quiet. The guards are looking for us.” He smiled and let out a relieved sigh before returning to his normal, serious expression.

“And?” Her voice turned silent.

“He might’ve killed off most of the guards, but the explosion must’ve ticked the remaining ones off. It won’t take long till they get here.”

“Um… What do we do with him, then?” She went over to Harbinger’s and got the drive back from his pocket.

“He’s no longer a threat. Just leave him be.”

“I still think we should get rid of him.

“I’d rather not kill when it’s not necessary.”

“He might survive long enough for them to interrogate him.”

“…Fine, you do it.” Felix averted his eyes and stared out through the window wall. But as the sounds of footsteps and voices rooms got louder, he quickly turned around to see the cocking of a gun.

“No bulletproof vest gonna save you from this.” Maria whispered coldly to herself.

“Wait, no! Don’t use a—”

As she fired, Harbinger’s life ended there. Yet her shot echoed to the lower floors and lead the guards to a single area.

“I heard a gun fire!”

“It came from up there!”

The voices of the guards flurried in as they rushed towards their location.

“Why didn’t you use your knife? I thought they were your specialty!”

“This just seemed easier!

“Why didn’t you use a silencer?!”

“It was the only piece on me!”

The rushed clacking of footsteps made Felix nervous. The adrenaline that was pumped in him was just about to fade and his consciousness had slowly begun fleeting, but as he maintained his breathing, he pressed on with the priority of escape.

“Did we get what we came here for?”

“Yeah, everything’s in this drive.”

“Then we have to go.” Felix grabbed onto Maria’s arm.

“Huh?”

“We can’t go through that door, we’ll be surrounded.”

“What do we do?”

As Maria asked, the rest of the guards suddenly stopped and stood in shock. Frozen and sickened at the corpses left behind by the Harbinger.

Keep the damages to a minimum.

“Damn it, why did I remember that now? We’re improvising, get your grappling hook.”

“Grappling hook broke! It exploded with the grenade!”

His eyes darted around the room looking for a way out, but there were no ventilations, nor other ways out. As the security are about to get to the door, the anxiety started to set in.

Felix quickly picked up Maria in his arms, “Now’s a good time as any to test the limits of our abilities!”

“Wh-what are you—?” Her expression was flushed with a mix of both shock and fright.

“How high could the top floor be?” He then dashed towards the window with Maria in his arms, shattering the glass with his iron-cladded heel. “Hold on!”

“Freeze! Whoaaa!” The guards burst open the door and nearly fell off the edge of the room where the crater was.

All that greeted them was the dry air of the festival was left blowing in through the window, along with the shattered remains of the glass walls and the sight of fireworks from the outside.

*

Felix held Maria tightly as the winds pushed against them, his cloak fluttered chaotically to the powerful winds that blew below them.

Their reflections from the building’s windows fell alongside them, and the colorful fireworks in the black skies outlined their silhouettes.

He thought he had steeled himself for the fall. But as soon as he made contact to the roof of the next building, a massive tingle crawled up from his feet that slowly made its way through every fiber of his body.

Shock had locked him in place, and the gnawing numbness ate away at him. The blood vessels in his body felt like they were about to burst, and Maria’s tight hold on him didn’t make it any easier.

To him, it felt like an eternity before he was finally able to move a finger again, and a little longer just to take a step forward. He began to move slowly, one step at a time.

“F-Felix…” Maria opened her eyes slowly, her voice shook.

“What?” Felix answered with jittering teeth.

“Your eyes… are shining.”

“You said that earlier…”

“Gnarly.”

“Did you just say gnarly?”

“I know what I said.” She smiled.

Felix let out a sigh of relief as he stopped.

With her, I felt like I lost my sense of urgency.

It wasn’t until a loud thud could be struck the metal roof that Felix started to move again. The two of them looked with horrified expressions as they saw a hole in the roof that wasn’t there when they landed.

The sense of urgency came back as a bullet ripped a lock out of my beautiful black hair. Without turning back, I sprinted.

More rounds flew few and far, but all were aimed in the two’s general direction from a sniper positioned from where they dropped off.

“Persistent gobshites.” Felix clicked his tongue.

He picked up the pace and ran across the rusty steel roof panels, leaving only a ghostly blue trail behind him.

“F-Felix… s-slow down… I can barely see where we’re… I’m gonna be sick…” Maria’s cheeks puffed as she looked back.

“Bear with it for—”

“Stop! Side mission, blend in the festival!” Maria pointed out to the festival going down below them.

This girl who has been spouting random nonsense gave a barely decent idea.

As the two fell from the roof, Maria rummaged through the garbage and tried to make a make-shift disguises. She raised her palm in front of Felix and demanded for his coat.

“Hope you don’t mind, but we’re going to have to disguise ourselves. Put this on.” She said as she handed him worn out rags.

“It’s fine… this kind of reminds me of when I was…” Felix suddenly presses his palm over his eye a he feels a sharp sting in his head.

“Mhm… What is it, what’s wrong?”

“N-never mind… It’s nothing.”

The fireworks echoed across the sky while the two agents walked in circles through the crowds, shaking off their pursuers as they head toward a particular street.

Knocking on the stall, Maria softly exclaimed, “Robin, we need disguises. We have coin!”

“I’m an informant, I don’t have anything like that. But I do have...” The man said as he took pulled out something from on his shelf.

“Ta-da, superhero masks!” The old man smiled and handed them two masks, one pale white with blue markings and the other gold with red markings.

Felix expression was full of dismay, but as he glanced to Maria who continued to stare downward, he jested, “Look, Marie, we’re superheroes.”

“We’re not heroes.” Almost instantly, she replied frigidly, but as she turned to look at him, her tune changed “Mhm… that’s actually a good look for you.”

“I’m wearing a mask.”

“Exactly.” Maria commented.

The two turned their heads over to the side where they heard footsteps from the distance.

Several guards then came out of the corner, and uniformly approached the stall. The man in the middle walked up and looked down on the robin.

“Is there anything I can do for you gentlemen?” The robin asked nonchalantly.

“We’re looking for two people, one man, one woman. I believe we saw them coming this way…”

“I believe there are a number of couples out this out here tonight, sir.”

“I’m not playing games.” He slammed his hand against the wooden counter, “The two of them went through here wearing what appeared to be rags from the garbage.”

“Oh, those two? They bought two hero masks a bit before you got here. They headed straight over there.”

“Masks, huh…?” The guard inspected the old man’s stall. “Which one?”

“Sorry sir, I don’t have any to spare, but one was red and the other was orange.”

The head guard raised his eyebrow as he inspected “Surround the town, the two of them are wearing red and orange masks. Look for anyone suspicious. If we don’t find them, it’s your head.”

The two agents crawled out from under the robin’s stall.

“Thanks a lot, old man.” Without looking behind, Maria quickly ran.

But Felix turned around and spoke, “I’ll be sure to credit you accordingly.”

The robin smiled, “That’s not gonna be a lot of credits…”

Felix’s eyes widen before changing into a smirk.

The festival continues, and the two agents saw the sights as they walked around, making their way through the crowds. And as they made it to an uncrowded area, Maria lifted a manhole from in front of them before pulling out a transceiver from under their guises.

“Here it is.”

“What is this?”

“Our escape route. One where they won’t find us.” She said as she turned on the transceiver.

The two jumped through the manhole and took off the rags that they wore. The brickwork was mossy, and the air was moist and murky.

It didn’t really do much, but I kept the mask on to ignore the stench.

Felix followed her through the dreary passages of the canal. “Do you actually know where we’re going?”

“I studied the routes all through out from when we were still in the jet, and I saw everything and memorized the potential pathways.” She explained, raising her finger upward.

“You did?”

“Yeah…”

“How?

“The tunnels, they speak to me.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Felix asked half-jokingly.

“A great, many things.” She snickered back.

“I’m just messing with you, anywhere through these routes lead to the outside, we just gotta avoid getting shot again…”

“Haaa…. You really make no sense to me.” He replied, letting out an unhinged laughter.

“Thanks.” She smiled in response.

After everything I went through with her, I really didn’t know how else to respond anymore.

At that moment, the transceiver finally connected under the sewers. A static blur noise sounded before Maria spoke.

“This is Maria Readman.”

“Maria Re—. Th— is HQ, do you copy?” A voice answered through the transceiver

The replies were filled with static feedback, the sound of sewer water continued to flow.

“We read you. The mission is complete. We need an extraction.”

“Roger— What———coordinates?”

“Somewhere in the sewage. I don’t know the specifics, but we should be somewhere North East from the festival.”

“Roger that, can you make it to point Gamma on your map?”

“Understood. Over.” The transmission ended and she placed the transceiver on her side.

After that, Maria used a holographic map to navigate them out of the sewage and freeing them from its foul stench. The two climbed out of the manhole, and as they took off their disguises, Maria whispered something under her breath;

“Phantom.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t have an official codename yet, right?”

“Hm yeah?”

“How about ‘Blue Phantom’? It really suits you! Your style, your speed, those unfollowable movements!”

She squealed out cheerfully as the wind blew from behind her. Her smile silhouetted against the light of the helicopter that came to pick the two up.

“I don’t think ‘unfollowable’ is a word.” Felix replied as he took off his mask.

I didn’t really have an argument. It sounded tacky, but it’s better than being called ‘the child of stars’, or an omen like Black Cat of Ruin.

“You know what I mean, just register your code name as that! That plain mask, and those glowing blue eye—s…” her happy tone quickly vanished as she turned to face him.

Felix’s soft smile also vanished as he realized what her expression meant. He reached for his left eye. The glowing blue eye he had had turned pitch black once again. Leaving him with only a single blue iris.

Their hair brushed and bounced from the strong winds below the helicopter. She gave him a soft, understanding smile before boarding the helicopter.

He sighed and boarded after she did, his expression turned solemn as he quietly accepted it.

As they ascended into the sky, the winds became colder. Felix covered her with a blanket as he watched her fall asleep.

He scratched his cheek, and took a sharp inhale, “Hey… about your question earlier.”

“Mhm…” She mumbled.

“…The reason why I want to be number one… is because my mentor, Nocturne, she…wanted to become number one.”

“Oh… why’s that…?”

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something she told me to do… but…” Felix reached for under his chest

“If I didn’t become number one, then I’d feel like I let her down.”

“Is that so… well, I have a goal now myself…”

“And what’s that?”

“To… reprogram you…” She said as she drifted off.

“And how do you expect to… ah…” He stopped as her head fell on his shoulder.

He smiled before he could finish his thought, as he saw that she had already fallen asleep.

**

Four hours passed and already Maria was deep in slumber while Felix tiresomely continued to write his report on the way of their return. As the chief reads his report, she lets a small smirk.

The two agents arrived in the dead of night, and after they had received minor treatment for their wounds, they were ready to go to sleep, until…

“Widespread panic, destruction and public and private property, and a death toll of over forty people… all for this.” The chief stood sternly, her orange-tinted glasses reflecting with an opaque white glow as she stared at the flash drive.

The exhausted duo were both summoned to the chief’s brightly lit office. Maria, who was still half-asleep, stood restlessly. Felix on the other hand no longer had the strength to care for what the chief had to say.

“Splendid work.” Chief crushed the flash drive in her hands.

“Why would you—?!” Felix burst out.

“You destroyed their data center during the fight, right?”

“Uh, y-yeah…”

“Good. The world has no business knowing the contents of this drive.” She explained as she dropped the crushed pieces onto the ground.

Maria’s shoulders dropped as she sighed, “Ah, that makes sense.”

“Now, as for the both of you. Not only were you were able to successfully complete the mission, you were also took down the ex-agent, Harbinger. You both did better than I expected.”

“We are humbled by your words, sir.” Felix stated.

“Thank you for your praise, madam Chief.” Maria replied with a yawn in her tone. “But… ex-agent?” she added after her drowsy response.

“We had reason to believe that he was feeding intel to other organizations outside of the allied agencies. When the higher-ups planned to question him upon his return, he suddenly went MIA.” The chief’s volume grew lower as she speculated to herself, “Still, he wasn’t a computer cracker, so how did he expect to get the intel?”

“I see. I’d like to know more, but… with all due respect, the two of us would like to get some rest.”

“Of course, but before that, an announcement; given how this well this went, the board has come to the decision to assign the two of you as partners.”

“Excuse me?” Felix asked in a startled manner.

“You wot mate?” Maria blurted out.

“Of course, this isn’t set in stone yet since I still have paperwork. And just because you’re partners, doesn’t mean you’ll always be on the same mission.”

“Y-yeah… great… did you even read my report?” Felix bit his lip, preventing his emotions from spilling out.

“I’ll have none of your sass, Felix. That will be all, dismissed.” The chief said as she returned sitting on her desk.

As the two agents walked toward the door, Felix suddenly stops and signaled Maria to leave first. She nodded quietly before letting out a yawn and walking away.

“What is it, Felix?” The chief asked while she lit a cigarette.

“Remember when I said that I didn’t care for codenames, and that call me whatever you liked?” He said as he touched the skin beneath his left eye.

“Indeed, Child of the Stars.” The chief answered mockingly.

“It seems that I… may have ignored its purpose. I might change that… as well as request a small modification to my outfit.”

“Oh, and what would that be?”

“Give me a white mask, something that looks um… “Cool.” And… as for my codename, I think it should be Blue Phantom. Oh and maybe an adjustment… a smaller grappling hook.”

“Hooo? What’s with the sudden change of heart?” The chief’s mocking smirk turned to a proud smile toward Felix.

“She may have been a headache, but despite being a terrible agent, as well as all the nonsense and shortcomings she brought along with her, it all felt… fun.”

That girl… she was really unprofessional and was difficult to deal with at times, but… the silliness she brings with her... alleviated… some of the weight. And in her own right, she was equally as terrifying as she was scatterbrained.

But I guess to put it in a way, being with her was… nice.

“Is that a fact? Truth be told, when I told the both of you to minimize the damage, it wasn’t you I was concerned about.” The chief said with a slight grin.

“You mean…?”

“Indeed, you were just the one who reacted first. Anyhow, your requests sound simple enough. I’ll have it done.” The chief responded as she blew out smoke from her mouth.

Felix scratched his cheek, “Thank you, chief.”

Against the corridor outside the Chief’s office, the shorthaired young lady eavesdropped on their conversation, clutched her chest as she let out a warm smile.

Before Felix could reach for the knob, however, the chief let out another puff of smoke and spoke, “You know, Felix. I think that Luna would be proud of your results.”

His lips curled ever so slightly, forming a subtle smile, as he clutched the pendant underneath his shirt.

“To be honest, I don’t think she would’ve given me passing marks after what happened.” He cheerfully said as he exited the room.

Now feared as the Golden Lion Agency’s greatest weapon. Codename, Blue Phantom, now registered.