Birth of a Phantom part 6

The silent shockwave blasted Harbinger through a row of servers, shattering the black pillars in his path.

Crystallized haze exploded from Felix, scattering little blue glitters that illuminated every part of the server room.

With slow aching steps that lifted up the rubble around him, Felix approached the fallen ex-agent with a snarl.

Once again disheveled, Harbinger tilted his head up. Standing before him was the man he had taunted, wrapped in cold, silent rage.

“P-please… spare me…” Lying atop the broken black pillars, he pleaded, “I’m just doing what they told me to...”

“By who? Who ordered you to do this? What are they after? Why did you disappear from the agency?” Felix snarled, grabbing the old man by the collar and fired a flurry of questions.

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

“Give who back? Who is he?! Tell me before you bleed out!”

“Her… her, her! HER! GIVE ME BACK MY WIFE!!” The rogue screamed.

Felix recoiled as Harbinger began to convulse violently, dropping him to the ground. The broken man sniffled. “…I can’t… even remember her face… My beloved… please forgive me…”

“I see.” He concluded, the blue haze that enveloped his body dissipating into wisps of powdery blue light. He picked up the gun on the ground, “If that’s all you can offer me…”

“Please… don’t… don’t kill me…”

“No loose ends.” The blue-eyed agent reloaded his silver pistol, “You’ll forgive me, won’t you?”

Harbinger’s looked up at Felix with tears in his eyes, reflecting the glowing aura that he emitted, and began to chuckle, “It all makes sense now, Julius…”

“What? Who’s Julius?”

“That power… the Fallen Sun… The Child of Stars… It’s you! You’re the one he’s afraid of! Felix Ast—!” A wet gag sputtered out of the ex-agent’s throat.

Green bile splattered out of the old man’s mouth as he laughed maniacally.

With a mix of disgust and shock, the blue-eyed agent took a step back, only to notice undissolved pills and capsules from the vomit.

“Drugs?” He squinted, “…Steroids?”

“Please… don’t kill…” The broken man pleaded, falling to the floor.

Felix’s hand trembled as he aimed his gun at Harbinger’s head.

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 and glared at him with pitying eyes.

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

Felix sat on the floor and let out a deep exhale, exhausted from the battle.

After all this time, I didn’t know what to expect… But I guess I was hoping for something different. Like those battles Luna used to have.

He clutched his shirt, as if to squeeze something beneath it. His expression sank.

Blood dripped from his nose as his veins glowed, illuminating his flesh from within.

“Urk…” He winced. His expression quickly changed to panic, as an uncontrollable blue fire burst out, crackling into streams of electricity, “Huh?!”

“Why is it still— ” He shot to his feet, a sharp pain came from the gash in his arm, “— Why can’t I make it stop?!”

As he frantically waved his arms up and down, a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind, “Calm down, just calm down!”

He turned around, and saw the black-haired woman holding him, “Huh? What?! Marie?!”

“Don’t worry. It’s healing you. Your powers are healing you.” Her voice calmed him down.

“This feeling is…”

“Regeneration…”

“I was gonna say familiar. You’re alive… how… how are you alive?” He shook his head, sweat pouring from his face.

“Alive and kicking, no thanks to you.” She released him and took a step back, “Fortunately, nothing leaves a scar on us. Not even bullets.”

“But you’re… you were shot in the… how did you…” A flurry of questions escaped his lips, only to stop himself and breathe in, “Sorry, I’m exhausted.”

“I know. I saw everything. Your eyes, your speed, and your look just needs some oomph to it.” She suddenly covered her mouth, letting out a giddy squeal.

His eyebrows furrowed, “I just tore a man’s arm off, why do you sound so… excited?”

“I just sliced a man in half a few hours ago. But your eyes, now that’s a rare sight.” She watched with a proud smile, before coughing.

“Eyes? You mean… both?” He echoed back as he slowly placed his hand under his right eye, which was shimmering with the same azure glow as the left.

His attention shifted to the blue haze emanating from the torn flaps of his black coat.

Professor Tetsuya’s words echoed in his head:

The other one will also turn blue in due time. And when that happens, your gifts will finally… oh my, I can hardly wait.

“Wait, no, we don’t have time for this. We still need to escape. Can you still move?” His voice raised with urgency.

“It’ll take more than a bullet to...” The dark-haired woman placed her hand on the back of her head, and with an uncomfortable expression, clawed something out.

She winced, showing Felix a metal shard between her fingertips — the bullet Harbinger had shot her with.

“Still hurts… like hell.” Her voice shrank as she nearly toppled over, but Felix caught her, holding her upright with his wounded arm.

She looked at the flesh and muscles in his arm slowly weaving back together.

“We need to get you to the hospital…”

“Looks pretty deep, but like I said, nothing leaves a scar on us.” She giggled weakly, before turning into a fit of violent coughs.

“Hold on to this, okay?” She placed the bullet in his hand.

Felix stared blankly at her, muttering, “We still need to get out of here.”

“Before that…” She wobbled over to where Harbinger was, and got the drive back from his vest pocket, “I’ll be taking this.”

Her gaze shifted to Harbinger’s gun, “So, should we eliminate him?”

“He’s unconscious. Just let him die from blood loss.” He leaned on one of the servers that were still standing.

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

“I’d rather not kill…” He lowered his gaze, “Not when it’s unnecessary…”

“Eh, even after he shot me?” Her eyes narrowed with a cold smirk, watching him from the corner of her eye.

His lips parted, looking at the bloodstained bullet in his hand.

Harbinger’s final scream.

That power… the Fallen Sun… The Child of Stars… It’s you! You’re the one he’s afraid of!

“…Fine. Make it quick.” He conceded, pocketing the bullet.

“Right.” She kneeled down to Harbinger’s level.

He looked away, opposite her direction, and stared out the window wall.

Maria picked up Harbinger’s gun.

Felix watched the fireworks pop from the skyline, hearing the distant thud and crackle that came after.

From beneath his feet, he heard the distant sound of footsteps and doors opening from the lower floors. His face grew increasing impatient.

The dark-haired woman coldly whispered, “A bulletproof vest gonna save you now.”

“Marie, they’re almost—”

He turned around and saw her kneeling down, the barrel of a gun placed inside Harbinger’s mouth.

“Don’t use a—”

Crack.

Harbinger’s blood painted the servers. But the sound of her gun echoed to the lower floors, drawing the attention of the guards below.

“I heard gunshot!”, “Gunfire!”, “It came from up there!”

Chinese shouts could be heard just beneath their feat, rushing to their location.

“Oops…” She smiled.

“Honestly took them long enough…” Felix pinched his nose, almost resigned, before raising his voice again, “Why didn’t you use your knife? I thought they were your specialty!” He shouted under his breath, trying his best to keep himself not signal their location.

“I ran out!” She argued.

“And you didn’t think to use a silencer?!”

“It was his gun!”

“You’re pinning the blame on the dead man?!”

While the two of them bickered, Felix could hear footsteps rushing to their direction.

He lifted his pistol towards the door, hands barely steady. The adrenaline pumping through his veins was fading fast. He could barely stay awake, much less continue to fight.

“I’m all out of fight… Did we get what we came here for?”

“Yeah, everything’s in this drive.” She nodded.

“Then we have to go.”

“Right!” She turned towards the exit.

But he grabbed her by the arm, “We can’t go through that door, they’re on their way.”

“Then what if we jumped through the hole?” She pointed to the blast mark left by the explosion.

“No, there are still guards climbing up. We’ll be surrounded.”

Felix’s glowing blue eyes scanned the room, looking for a way out. He shifted his gaze to the shattered servers and to the gaping hole down the middle.

No doors, nor vents. They were trapped.

“Hope we’re still keeping the damages to a minimum.” He said, scanning the destroyed server room in search of an exit.

Beyond the shattered window was something long and golden flying across — another dragon drone. He glanced down and saw the rooftop of a nearby building. He pulled out his pistol, shooting the window several times, “Grappling hook! Now!”

“It blew up!” Maria shouted back.

Outside the door, the remaining guards stood in horror. Frozen and sickened at the corpses Harbinger left in the hall just outside the server room.

“Men, get ready!” The head guard ordered, and the men lined their rifles towards the door. With a nervous expression, the head guard slowly moved towards the door with an ID card.

Felix’s heart pounded, the heavy sound beating against his ears. He holstered his gun and picked up Maria in his arms.

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

“How high could the top floor be?” He nervously laughed, taking a few steps back.

“No, no you aren’t!” She protested.

“!” With Maria in his arms, he began bolting towards the broken window.

The door opened, and the head guard immediately spotted them, “There they are!”

Bullets started flying in the two agent’s direction, destroying what remained of server room.

“After them!” They charged, only for the onyx table to block their path.

“No time!” Felix shouted, Maria clung tightly to him.

His iron-clad heel struck.

— Crash.

Other guards climbed over the onyx table, others pushed it out of the way. As they ran through the ruins of the server room, the head guard nearly fell into the hole into the center.

“Whoa— Stop!” He signaled.

Glass shards grabbed their attention, and they all looked forward. All that was left to greet them was a blue firework popped in the center of the shattered window.

~