Rattling Vermillion part 2

“If you do not die to the two spies, then you will die by my hand.” The visored man declared as he holstered his weapon to the side of his legs, where there were joint metallic plates with several other pistols.

Even Lewis flinched, unnerved by what he did. But he swallowed his fear and barked, “Th-that’s right! Now go find and kill them!”

They all reluctantly complied and searched through the labyrinth of crates and cargo.

The sounds of their struggles reverberated through the steel corridors, often ending by the sound of his bodies dropping to the ground. His men were all picked off one-by-one. With his back close to the wall, Lewis reached into his inner pockets and pulled out his own pistol, forced to act on his own.

Maria showed herself, on her arm was the unconscious body of his last henchmen, as she dropped him to the ground for Lewis to see personally. On her other arm, the briefcase of the other man who was trading with him.

As she dropped the body, she let out a peppy exhale, “Phew.”

“It appears we’re up against the Twelve Agencies, sir.” The last of Lewis’s employ, the visored man, grinned and pointed his gun towards Maria.

Felix grabbed one of the fallen men’s pistol and aimed from the spaces between. Without hesitation, he cocked his gun and fired at the two men, but the visored man responded by pulling Lewis’s head down.

The man jumped back as Felix’s shots struck the ground.

Maria then slithered from the darkness and swung her knife at the visored man. But her target slid underneath her slice, grabbed her arm, and threw her towards the darkness, in Felix’s line of fire.

Felix stopped and caught his partner.

“This guy’s a tough nut.” She remarked upside down, her tone somewhere between amused and annoyed.

“He knew where I was firing from…” Felix twirled her back onto her feet.

His mismatched eyes scanned the visored man, and saw interconnected metal braces around his legs, each segment holding a pistol. Three on each side, six in total.

But as he looked closer, something on the man’s chest caught his eye.

“That insignia…” He pointed to the emblem embroidered on the man’s outfit, a green fire trapped in a diamond. “A Cinderash.”

Lewis took a step back, pulling the briefcase closer to his chest. As he backed away slowly, he felt the cold metal press against his back.

“That’s right, bitch boys.” Lewis barked, voice shaking with forced confidence, “I have a professional assassin working for me. Your lives are as good as over!”

A wave of intimidation shot through the two agent’s bodies as the visored man took a single step forward.

“Bloodlust…” Felix’s mismatched eyes narrowed, “V.V., get behind me.”

“You think I’m intimidated by some visored freak? Bring the whole Cinderash clan for all I care, I’ll kill them all!” Maria shot back defiantly.

“Come on, then!” The Cinderash assassin shouted with an excited grin, opening fire as he ran towards them like a maniac.

Felix dashed away, dodging bullets and firing back with his energy gun, Ion. Transparent concentric waves of energy struck the assassin’s arms, and he suddenly found himself struggling to move.

“What kind of weapon is that?” The visored assassin shuddered as a feeling of numbness crept into his arms.

Maria dropped from above, her knife flashing above her. Only for the assassin to step back and drive his foot into her gut.

As she rolled on the concrete, the Cinderash returned his attention to Felix.

Lewis sprinted behind the crates, clutching briefcase near his chest.

The vanguard immediately got back on her feet, hissing, “Connard!”

“V.V., I’ll handle this!” Felix shouted, shooting more invisible waves of energy out of his cobalt gun. As the Cinderash stiffened, the agent kicked him towards the cold steel.

Felix turned to face her, “Just capture Lewis!”

With his head turned away, the visored assassin raised his pistol and fired.

The agent narrowly avoided the bullet, grazing just above his glowing blue eye. He instinctively slid his gloved hand against the blood on his forehead, a sharp hiss escaped his teeth.

Both men raised their weapons, and their two guns clashed with a metal clang.

A battle between gunslingers. One equipped to kill, the other to only incapacitate.

They traded attacks, while evading each other’s blows.

As soon as the pistol emptied, the assassin simply pulled out a third.

Concentric waves of energy shot at nothing as the assassin moved too quickly.

He can keep up with me. Am I too weak... or is this just the level of a true professional?

Either way, he’s wasting zero time reloading.

Shots cracked in rapid succession — pistols spat fire mere inches apart.

Felix kept tabs, watching his guns.

But even as he kept his distance, the Cinderash kept lunging towards him, their guns colliding in between bullets, using it as a blunt weapon.

Felix headbutt the man, then kicked him to create distance.

The air filled with the sharp smell of burnt powder and the ringing in his ears.

He paused, stood steady while raising Ion, using his free hand to goad him closer.

The visored man tossed the empty swapped to his fourth pistol, and stepped forward with a steady aim, finger on the trigger.

As he fired, Felix swung Ion down in —

Sparks scattered with a sharp clang, as the cobalt steel parried the bullet away.

“What the— ” The visored man emptied his pistol.

Felix deflected two more shots, only to be overwhelmed by the volley of bullets crashing into his body.

When the visored man reached for his fifth pistol, the blue-eyed agent lunged forward and tackled him into the steel wall. They crashed to the ground, groaning and grunting as Felix wrestled the loaded from his grasp.

Cinderash or not… he’s weaker than Harbinger.

And if he’s weaker than Harbinger, I can beat him!

Felix pried the pistol out of the assassin’s hand, and tossed it across the ground. The Cinderash weakly reached for another one, but Felix frantically punched his opponent’s face, cracking his mask.

He gasped, his head hanging over the visored man, pressing against the cargo’s steel wall. But he wasn’t done yet. He reached for the other two pistols attached to the left leg and pushed himself back up.

Still breathing heavily, he stared at the two guns, before shifting his attention to the assassin in front of him. He leveled the pistol at the Cinderash’s face.

He gripped the firearms tightly, his expression growing tense. With grit teeth, he hurled the sixth gun over the steel crate, letting it sink into the ocean as the sun dipped below the horizon.

With a relieved exhale, the black-haired agent turned around, headed to his partner. But a vibrating spin echoed behind him like a buzz saw.

“Lewis Shaw… still have to… ARGKH!—”

Spit flew as the assassin drove his foot into Felix’s back, sending him rolling across the concrete. The sharp pain in his back from the explosion earlier growing sharper.

“Thanks for sparing my life… but I can’t afford to fail a job.” Behind him, the Cinderash assassin was back on his feet.

“Wh-what?” The blue-eyed agent wiped his chin.

A whirring sound coming from the visored man’s legs. He grinned and lifted the cuff of his pants, showing a mechanical framework — a chrome exoskeleton brace wrapped around his legs.

“Combat prosthetics… those weren’t just holsters.”

“That’s right… I was hoping to have some fun, so I didn’t want to use it.” The Cinderash spat out blood from his mouth, “But since you’re stronger than I expected, it’s time I stopped holding back.”

Felix spat at the ground and lifted his cobalt gun, ready for round two.

~