A trail of blue light rushed through the dark mountain, emanating from the left eye of a pale white mask.
The deafening blare of engines drowned out the sound of pouring rain as two motorcycles raced across the unfinished roads. Felix, with Maria behind him, maneuvered through the cracked, muddy pavement while their target boomed forward.
At the edge of a veranda in an old abandoned building crouched an unknown woman with a watchful gaze. On her lips rested a cigarette that was dampened by the rain, which she gnawed on in anticipation. The howling wind brushed her brown hair, and her wolf-like eyes focused as the riders below were fast approaching on the winding road.
On the rocky ground, as the motorcycle rumbled, Maria angrily yelled out, "How the hell did he get out of prison?!"
"I don't know, but he's going— G'ahk!" Felix growled as Lewis threw black bags towards his direction, slamming against his mask.
"Get back here—!" Maria yelled before a black bag of garbage struck in the face. "Blegh!"
Their motorcycle scrambled through the wet roads, but it was quickly enveloped in a blue light and corrected its course.
"Come and catch me, bitch boy!" Lewis yelled out as he threw another black bag towards them. His motorcycle had several black plastic bags attached to it.
Felix slickly avoided the bags thrown at them, several of which exploded with a fiery blaze behind them. The lone woman grinned as she threw away the wet cigarette and leapt from the surface above them.
He slid off his mask and yelled, "V.V., grappling hook!"
"Grappling hook!" Maria smiled vibrantly as she pulled out her favorite tool.
With a grin on her face, the unknown woman spat her cigarette and hopped out of the desolate building, aiming for one of the riders. Her body silhouetted by a flash of lightning.
Before Maria could fire, the bright sky light blinded her.
The unknown woman landed perfectly on the back seat of Lewis' motorcycle. "Don't worry, I got him!" She declared.
"Wha—?!" Lewis yelled out in a panic.
"Is that?!" Felix at the sight of the woman.
The grappling hook sprang out and wrapped around a nearby sign on the edge of the curving road. Maria failed to let go and was suddenly pulled away.
"Vee!" Felix looked back to where his partner was.
"I'm okaaay!"
"Tch, bollocks." A sharp whir reverberated from the motorcycle's wheels as he slowed down to turn back.
On the other motorcycle, the woman smirked, "Hey there!"
The vehicle thrashed about as the brown-haired woman reached for the handlebars, but Lewis fought her off by throwing trash bags at her, eventually causing their motorcycle to spiral out of control.
"Marie!" Felix called out to his partner, before getting hit by one of the stray bags on the back of the head, which led him out of control, sliding downhill and completely passing by her.
As Maria got up from one of the potholes, one of the stray bags struck her directly against the side of head. She fell immediately, the side of her head smashing on the pavement.
Both the unknown assailant and the criminal found themselves on a collision course with the woman on the ground.
The unknown woman smashed Lewis' face with the grip of her pistol and quickly grabbed the throttle, leading the vehicle away from Maria, before hopping out of it.
Lewis, still on the motorcycle, crashed.
Fire burst from the motorcycle as many of the black bags went up in flames. The scent of gasoline and garbage quickly permeated the air.
"I thought he only had drugs in those." The unknown woman commented as she tended to the scratches on her knees.
A low groan escaped Felix's lips, "Urgh…" He slowly opened his eyes and found himself on the cold, hard ground. His vision cleared, and saw the white mask staring back at him, standing against a piece of rubble as raindrops poured across it's eye and cheek.
He picked it up and groaned as he pushed himself to stand, and saw his motorcycle downhill on the road incomplete road.
But as he rose to his feet, he was met with a sudden jolt of pain shooting up from his foot that nearly caused him to tumble over. His left ankle had clearly been sprained.
Felix then looked around and saw the burning wreckage of Lewis' motorcycle being doused in rain water, and beyond that was the body of his partner lying unconscious on the pavement.
"V.V?" There was a thud in his chest as panic set in, "Marie!"
In spite of the pain radiating in his foot, he headed towards her. But as he took the first step, the iron-soles of his boots slid down the soaked road.
With determined effort, he got back up and limped every step to his partner.
As soon as he got there, he knelt down beside her and tore the plastic bag away from her face.
"M-Marie?" His voice cracked.
With a deep gasp, her eyes shot open, and she erupted into a violent coughing fit.
He let out a relieved sigh, "Don't scare me like that."
"I uh…" She responded meekly with a hoarse voice.
"Get up, Vee. We're not done yet." He shifted his attention towards the fire, putting his mask back on.
As soon as her throat cleared out and her breathing settled, the black-haired woman looked up at Felix with an unfamiliar, frail stare. "I-I'm sorry … um… Vee?"
She wiped her face. As she looked to her palm, the sight of her own blood made her shudder.
"This isn't the time for jokes, Marie." He said without even turning to face her.
"Marie?" She squeaked out.
Before he could utter another word, his expression showed little patience as his mismatched eyes glared at the woman in front of the flames.
"Well, lookie here. If it isn't the Child of Stars, in the flesh." The brown-haired woman called out.
The dark-haired woman looked at her, lost in the events that were going on.
"You… Are you insane?!" He stormed towards the brown-haired woman.
As she came to full view, her appearance became clearer. She stood nearly the same height he was, and appeared to be older than the two partners. On her face, just below her left eye was a barcode with the digits one-two-seven.
"No one lasts in this line of work by being sane." She dryly responded, patting out the scorched edges of her ponytail.
With a defeated sigh, Felix slid his mask to the side and asked, "What are you doing here, Renee?"
"A thank you would be nice." The woman, Renee, replied.
"Yeah. Thanks for trying to kill our target." He scoffed.
"I did not, stop complaining."
A second explosion burst from the burning wreckage, shooting out the vehicle's parts into the air.
"Ah, bollocks… He better not be dead."
"Who is he, anyway?" She asked with a head tilted upward.
"Classified."
"Bitch, I swear to god—!"
Renee raised her gun, and effortlessly shot down a chunk of debris flying toward her.
Felix swung his gun like a bat, deflecting one of the motorcycle's rear-view mirrors, "His name is Lewis Shaw… a mafia capo, and one of the leads to finding their boss. Not to mention he has something we need."
Still dazed and on the ground, the black-haired woman mumbled to herself, "Child of Stars…?"
The rear-view mirror landed right in front of her, startling her.
There was a crack in the middle that divided her reflection in two. On one side, lit by the fire, she saw the frightened expression of a lost girl looking back. But on the other half of the shattered glass, there was the face of a red-haired woman with an unsettling smile.
Her hand balled into a fist, the fear and confusion in her face contorted into a vicious snarl. In a burst of anger, she crushed the mirror with a fist so tightly clenched that her palms bled.
She smirked and exhaled deeply. "I remember now…"
Maria shook the blood out of her hand and looked upward towards the rainy sky, and in the spaces between the clouds illuminated by moonlight, she saw the stars shining above her. "Right… Children of Stars…"
As Felix and Renee bickered, a loud snuffle could be heard from flames as Lewis had slowly stood up. They both turned in unison and saw him rise to his feet, swaying.
"I feel like he's about to do something." Felix remarked.
"Hang on, let's just wait and see what happens."
Grinning like a lunatic, the criminal pulled out a black plastic bag from underneath his shirt.
"Shouldn't we be stopping this…?" Felix commented while he stood still and stared.
"You don't get to call the shots." Renee sharply responded.
"We're told not to get high with our own supply…" He smashed the bag against his head, and a white powder showered all over his face, "But desperate times..."
While the operatives argued, glaring at each other, a violent roar grabbed their attentions.
"I FUCKING LOVE COCAINE!" The criminal screamed, the flames burning behind him, veins bulging and muscles twitching unnaturally.
Both Felix and Renee stared in dismay.
"Great, now he's on steroids AND coked out!" She frustratedly pointed out.
Felix asked with curled eyebrows, "What was that thing laced with? Goliath serum?"
"I won't let you destroy what I've built up!" Lewis snarled, a white powder flowed out of his mouth, "Come get some, bitch boys!"
"Tsk, damn it." The brown-haired woman nonchalantly pointed her gun towards Lewis.
"I just said we have to take him alive—!"
Felix grabbed on to her wrist, yet she quickly pulled her arm back, "Let go of me!"
"Why are you so mad?!"
"Why are you still a whiny bitch?!"
"Huh?!"
"You think you're hot shit just cause you outrank me now?" She replied sharply.
"What?! This isn't—We're just following our orders!"
In a scornful voice, Renee replied, "Just following orders like a little goody-two-shoes? Just like that bitch, Luna?"
"What did you just say?" Disdain burst from Felix's voice.
"Tone down the bloodlust, boy. It hardly tickles."
His body simmered with a deep blue glow as both of his eyes lit up with a bright azure.
"Ah yes, the lightshow. Did I ever tell you how eerie that is? It makes my skin crawl. You're just another freak like Luna and David. I'm curious, what did they do to make you a monster?" She sneered.
Azure flames started to crackle around Felix, in bright contrast to the burning red of the fire.
Behind the red glow, Renee continued her verbal assault, "Looks like you're finally able to make use of your power… How many years has it been? Ten? To think that you're the first freak and yet you're the last to learn how to them. Did you just suck that bad or was that Irish cunt just inept at teaching?"
"How dare…" His grip on the gun tightened.
But the tension brewing between them deflated as Maria loudly declared, "Don't worry, I got this!"
The black-haired woman wore her usual smile, but her body wobbled around, not even able to keep upright. As she rushed forward, Felix reached out and yelled, "Be careful, you might—!"
Though Lewis raised his arms with an enraged glare, ready for combat, the mud beneath Maria's feet had other plans. "Huh?!" He grunted.
"Kyah—!"
"…slip."
Maria slammed into Lewis, and the both of them fell straight down the bridge's edge, and the sound of sludge splashing could be heard from the cliff below.
The tail of the grappling hook suddenly flies upward, and Felix immediately caught and pulled the two up from the edge. As Maria got back to the concrete, she dropped Lewis and started gasping. Felix immediately turned his head, hiding his smirk from her.
Covered in mud, her eye twitched and she flung mud towards him, "Shut up!"
"I didn't even say anything." He replied, before letting out a sigh and calming down.
From behind them approached the woman, Renee, and lifted up one of the black plastic bags. "What's up with all of these?" She asked.
"He apparently mixed up his cocaine bags and his explosives with… trash..." Maria answered.
"How?"
"We caught him during one of his, ugh, sessions." Felix added with a hint of disgust.
"How are you okay?" Renee asked hesitantly with a startled expression.
"I used this guy as a shield as we fell." Maria explained as she pointed down at Lewis' wounded body.
"Harsh." She chuckled.
Felix sighed, "Renee, why are you here?"
"Following orders. Like you said. I was ordered to assist. I assisted. You're welcome." She repeated in a biting tone.
Maria turned her head over to Felix as she pointed at the brown-haired woman, "Someone I should know about?"
"Renee Thompson, an Elite, rank sixteen on the leader board." He explained.
"Ah, so this is her."
"And who's the little girl?" Renee interjected.
Felix gestured towards the black-haired woman, "…She's my partner, Maria Readman."
"I'm pretty sure she was referring to you." Maria playfully added.
The woman let out a burst of laughter and placed her left hand on Maria's head, her arm decorated with black tattoos that had Latin proverb "Audentes Fortuna Iuvat", or "Fortune favors the bold." Topped off by a silver ring worn in her ring finger.
"Damn, this bitch has got some attitude." Renee grinned.
"Call me that again and I'll show you some of that attitude." Maria responded as she slapped away her hand.
"Feisty, too." Renee's expression turned cold, "Maria Readman, right? The cracker with mixed-up credentials who came out of nowhere, and reached rank fifteen on the Twelve Agencies' leaderboard. Little troublemaker."
Undaunted, Maria leaned forward, looking up at her, "Renee Thompson, the ex-bounty hunter who caught seventeen wanted criminals, a nice record. It's a shame you lost one of your legs trying to catch your last bounty."
"Right. I heard you both took down Harbinger. Good to know, I hated that posh bastard. Now let me see how much of that is true."
"Could you both stop sharing classified information." Felix tried to break them apart.
Maria interjected, facing Felix, "Wanna know classified? I heard that she volunteered for Project THESEUS for that sweet cybernetic leg. Go on, tell us. How does it feel being less of the woman you used to be?"
Renee pulled out her pistol and Maria her knife, but her eyes widened as Felix grabbed Renee's wrist.
"Maybe you want your arm to be prosthetic, too?" He gripped it tight enough, causing the gun to fall and clatter.
"Hurk…" Renee whimpered.
"Felix?" Maria muttered.
He looked at her, "You okay?"
"Y-yeah…"
He let go of Renee's wrist, and she clutched it tightly, her fingers twitching, "What, no thank you? I helped, didn't I?"
"Thanks for the help. I'll make sure to add in a few good girl points for you. We still need to cuff him." Felix pointed to the knocked-out man mumbling on the ground.
"Tsk. If I don't get my credit…" She snarled as she walked away.
"Take care, now." Maria slyly waved.
Renee scowled at Maria as she passed by, "You watch yourself."
A private vehicle had stopped at their location, and a number of black-suited men walked out.
"She was pleasant." Maria commented as she walked up to Felix.
"A bloody little gobshite is what she was." Felix blurted out in response. As she left their sight, the light in his right eye faded away, as if to calm down.
"Um, what?"
"Nothing…" Felix sighed, "How did you even know all of that about her?"
"I have some level of access in the info division with my position as a cracker. But what I wanna know is why she's so angry."
"She holds a grudge against Luna and David for some reason, and by association, me. Though I'm pretty sure she's always like that. But it was worse than usual this time."
"I guess it's her time of the month." She chuckled.
"Glad you hate her, too." He rolled his eyes, smirking slightly, "So, did he have a Key Fragment?"
"Unfortunately, our lead turned out to be a dead end." She turned to him and said, "No need to be so nervous, it's currently useless the way it is now."
"Yeah?"
"Think of it like it's dormant, it will wake up once you've collected all five pieces, and no one's ever been able summon it."
"Huh?" Felix gave her a puzzled expression, completely lost.
"Forget it, it's just something I remembered. So anyway, that's your new mask?"
"Yeah, I got it back in my last mission, what do you think?" He said as he placed it in front of his face.
Maria wiped the mask clean, and from its white sheen reflected her own face. Her cheeks turned red on at the sight of this as she pushed the mask further on his face.
"M-Marie, what are you doing?"
"Ah… my bad." She let go and her expression turned back to her normal, vibrant smile.
He lowered the mask and asked her, "So what do you think?"
Maria chimed brightly, "It looks good on you."
"Thanks— Hey, wait…" Felix lifted his hand to scratch his cheek, but stopped and squinted his mismatched eyes at her.
Maria giggled.
Felix hand halted before it could reach his own face, "You're still sour, aren't you?"
"What? No." She snarked.
"Whatever you say, mud bath."
"Want a mud bath? Here, have a mud bath." Maria grumbled as she flicked some of the mud at Felix's face.
"Speaking of baths, you'd probably love one right now."
"Have another…" She flicked more mud towards him.
"H-hey. Don't do that."
~