Birth of a Phantom part 7

Shards of window glass scattered through the air as they fell, shimmering as they reflected the celebration.

Felix reached for the dragon drone’s tail, barely grabbing onto it, tugging it down.

Maria glanced at his face, glowing with the vibrant colors that decorated the night, his hair whipping violently from the wind. As he noticed this, he gave her a reassuring grin, and her cheeks flushed red with excitement.

But as it slowed down their descent, the yellow fabric began to rip.

“No...” His eyes widened, one hand clinging to the drone, the other to Maria.

It tore off some more, as if to taunt him.

“Don’t do it.”

Shred.

“Bollocks!” He watched as the drone leave him falling.

Fireworks outlined their silhouettes while their reflections behind fell alongside them.

His grins quickly vanished once they hit the other rooftop, landing just a few meters outside the gate of the facility they were trying to get into earlier.

Even though he steeled himself for the fall, as soon as his feet made contact, the shock rippled through his body. A throbbing pain climbed up from the soles of his feet and into every single fiber in his body — especially to his still-healing arm, which sputtered out blood.

For a moment, he was paralyzed, the gnawing numbness locking him in place. His blood vessels felt like they were about to burst at any moment. Maria’s tight grip didn’t help, either.

Time stretched before he could force himself to move again. First, a twitch in his finger, then his legs, followed by a tiny step forward.

Little by little, he began to regain control. He marched, one foot after another, until he briskly marched.

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

“What?” Felix answered with jittering teeth.

She looked at him with a thumbs up, “Gnarly.”

He paused for a moment, shooting her a condescending glare, losing all sense of urgency.

But a loud thud grabbed hold of their attention. The two of them froze, their eyes slowly following where the sound had come from, staring at the freshly made hole that wasn’t there a few seconds ago.

The sense of urgency snapped back as another bullet ripped a lock out of his black hair.

His heartbeat went into overdrive, banging in his chest.

Without looking back, he ran — Sprinting across the rusty steel roof panels and headed into the concrete jungle.

More rounds flew few and far between, all shot in their general direction, leaving holes on their path. He picked up the pace whenever he heard something crack, leaving behind bright blue silhouettes with every leap.

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

“Just bear it for—” A bullet struck his shoulder from behind, and they rolled on the concrete roof.

Maria nearly tumbled over, while Felix convulsed, desperately clawing for the fresh wound near his shoulder blade. A rapid, ragged breathing hissed through his grit teeth.

Lying precariously close to the edge, her eyes shot open as another round fired, two feet shy of her head, showering her face with bits of concrete dust.

She glanced upward and caught a glimpse of the sniper, positioned on the broken window where they leapt out of. She reflexively rolled over closer to the edge, and fell on top of a balcony hanging over the building.

Startled by the hanging platform, she hurriedly reached for Felix, grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him into the narrow space.

With a metal thud, they tumbled on top of the rusty old balcony below. Another shot flew over their heads, scattering more concrete dust in front of her face.

She coughed, and wiped off the dirt, glancing over to the dark-haired man beside her, who was biting his lip. But as soon as she let out a sigh of relief, a low metallic groan came from the platform they were sitting on.

Unable to support both of their weight, the rusted railings snapped, and the old balcony broke beneath them.

Felix grabbed onto her tight, shielding her from the fall.

Flakes of orange and red rust scattered into the air as they fell through two more balconies, which snapped through webs of old wires, before finally crashing to the bottom.

An explosion of plastic bags, crumpling cardboard and clattering cans echoed through the narrow alleyway. The operatives plunged into a pile of trash.

Maria wrestled her way out of his tight embrace, gasping deeply, before immediately pinching her nose. Her face contorted in disgust from the scent surrounding her. She looked around and noticed Felix lying unconscious right below her, protecting her from the fall.

“Thanks…” She muttered, brushing his bangs to the side.

In the dim light, the two of them were sitting in an old alley, pressed between grimy brick walls plastered with faded fliers, covered with dangling wires, and rusted meters. She was surrounded by abandoned things; a discarded drawer, a torn up sofa, and an old dressing table with a shattered mirror reflecting the festive yellow lights.

Maria got up and squeezed through the corridor, following the sound of the festival. The faint pop of a firework echoing in the distance.

Her fingers grabbed the edge of the old walls and peered through. She saw metal gates of the building opened, and several of the men in uniform started marching out in search of them.

With a bead of sweat rolling across her cheek, and she rushed back to Felix, “Get up, we have to—”

A faint buzz stopped her mid-sentence, noticing a camera drone hovering right behind her.

But all it managed to capture was a glimpse of Maria’s startled face, before a bag of tin-cans came crashing its way.

“Persistent gobshites…” Felix huffed in exhaustion, his arm trembling after the throw.

“How’s your arm?”

His face contorted, “… Awful, what about you?”

“Alright so far, thanks to you. You know, besides getting shot in the back of my head.” She shrugged.

“Right…”

“So, not to be the harbinger of bad news, they’ve opened the gate and are now looking for us, what do we do now?”

“They’ve probably locked onto our position because of that drone… Let me just—” He tried to get up, but his legs buckled beneath him. As he collapsed into the garbage, he muttered, “I can’t… I can’t move…”

His shoulder burned where the bullet had struck, while the rest of his body screamed in agony.

“Right. You got shot just now, not counting all the other times you got shot today. You’ve fallen down two consecutive buildings, thanks for keeping me safe both times, by the way. You still have wounds sustained from your fight with Harbinger, not to mention the trouble we had to go through just getting inside the building in the first place.” She scoffed, listing down everything that had happened.

“Don’t… underestimate me…” His voice strained.

“You’re overestimating yourself, actually.” She pinched his thigh, making him bite his lips. “Now that the adrenaline’s gone, just getting you to stand might be asking too much.”

She rummaged through the old drawer.

He let out a deep exhale, asking, “…What are you doing?”

“Making disguises. Luckily there’s some old fabric in some of these.” She tugged out a handful of worn, stained clothes, piecing them together.

“Do you have a thing for disguises?” He groaned.

“Not really, but that’s why today was so fun. Take off your coat.” She tossed him old clothes.

His eyebrows furrowed, “These stink…”

She folded his black coat into something that vaguely resembled a purse, “Yeah, well, I think death would stink worse.”

As the fireworks decorated the sky, the two barely disguised agents evaded their pursuers.

No longer able to fight, the two operatives ran through crowds and navigated through alleyways. She was dressed in a dirty yellow, while he wore a vibrant red.

While the scent and stains still made them stand out, they were much less noticeable now, which was enough to let them switch between the corners and squeeze through corridors every time they saw a group of men in uniforms.

Slipping beneath the festival’s dancing dragons, and disappearing with every flash of the fireworks, the two made their way to a particular stall in a particular street.

Maria knocked on the half-empty stall, exclaiming, “Robin, we need disguises. We have coin!”

“What are you talking about?” The durag wearing merchant asked, still chewing on gum.

Felix inhaled deeply, then explained, “Do you… have anything that could let us blend into the crowds undetected?” His hand pressing against the wooden counter to support himself.

“You look like you went through something traumatic. But if you’re looking to switch outfits, you’re at the wrong shop. But… I do have these.” The man rummaged through his shelf and pulled something out.

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

“Masks?” With an uneasy look, the blue-eyed operative picked up the pale mask with the sad face.

“Look around ya, lotsa people are wearing masks. At the very least, they’ll hide your face.”

He glanced over to Maria who continued to stare at her mask, a small grin forming on his face as he put it on, “Look, Marie. We’re superheroes.” His voice was weary, forcibly upbeat.

“We’re not heroes.” Her voice instantly went cold, her expression hollow.

To which Felix lowered his mask an exhausted look, “Right.”

She changed her tune the moment his expression faltered. Quickly, she grabbed his hand and placed the mask back to his face, “Mhm… that’s actually a good look for you.”

“You’re covering my face.”

“Exactly.” She beamed brightly, much to his chagrin.

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 approached the stall. The man in the middle, the head guard from earlier, walked up and looked down on the robin.

“Anything I can do for you gentlemen?” The robin asked nonchalantly.

“We’re looking for two people, a man and a woman with black hair. The two of them were wearing dark outfits. We saw them coming this way.”

“I believe there are a number of couples 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. One of them had a blue eye.”

“Is that supposed to be like, a black eye?”

The head guard grabbed the merchant by his hair and slammed him against the counter. “I said I’m not playing games.”

“Oh, those two?” The merchant groaned, his head spinning as he bled out of his nose, “They… they bought two hero masks a bit before you got here. They headed straight over there.”

“Masks?” 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.” His face twitched as he spat out the gum.

The head guard raised an eyebrow as he barked orders: “Surround the town — two suspects, red and orange masks. Find them.”

Once the sentries vanished down the street, the two agents crawled out from beneath the 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 weakly chuckled, wiping the blood dripping down his chin, “It better be a lot of credits.”

Felix’s eyes widened before changing into a smirk and nodding. He put on the mask and followed after Maria.

Though the sentries unsettled the crowd, the festival churned on—bright, loud, too alive. Ignorant to the violence that occurred just a few steps away.

With masks hiding their faces, the two operatives blended better into the crowds. But as soon as they were out of sight, a gunshot cracked behind them, followed by a wooden thud.

Screams of fear and panic erupted from behind them, as all of the civilians started to run.

Maria stopped in her tracks, instinctively drawn to the sound. But before she could turn her head, Felix grabbed her hand.

She looked at him and saw the blood stain the fabric on his back.

He squeezed her hand. She understood and kept moving.

Both operatives knew who it was and why it happened. It was simply the consequences of their line of work, collateral.

They walked farther away, the density of people grew thin, and they were starting to stick out in the less populated area.

Behind them was a group of guards, ahead of them, a drone hovered overhead. They turned to corners and corridors.

But as soon as they shook them off, Maria stopped and noticed something on the ground, “Finally.”

She pulled him into another alley, “Over here.”

Dragged by her arms, he asked, “What’s this?”

“Our escape route. One where the drones can’t spot us and the guards won’t follow us.” The masked woman lifted a manhole cover, hopping in.

He followed her into the hole. As he landed, the wet splash from his boots reverberated in the tunnels. The air underground was thick, stagnant and moist, pungent with the scent of decay.

Old water trickled down from the pipes above them, like rain dripping to the drains.

The brickwork was covered in the green of moss, illuminated by the light of a holographic projection coming from Maria’s watch, as well as the faint blue radiating behind Felix’s mask.

Felix removed the makeshift outfit of worn out rags, but kept the mask on to cover his face. Though the thin plastic didn’t do much, it was better than inhaling the stench directly. He couldn’t find it in himself to part ways with it just yet.

He followed her through the dreary passages of the canal, each step sputtered and echoed, there was a feeling he could slip on the grime at any moment. “Do you actually know where we’re going?” He asked.

“The tunnels speak to me.”

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

“A great, many things.” She answered as she pulled out a transceiver.

“Haaa…. You really make no sense to me.” He replied, letting out an unhinged laugh, only to stop himself, “Ugh, the air is disgusting.”

She chuckled as she glanced back at him, “Just messing with you, I’ve had my fair share of making quick escapes. As long as we keep walking, it’ll eventually lead to an exit. One far enough from them.”

He shot her a startled look.

After everything that happened tonight, I didn’t really know how to respond.

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

“This is Venom Vanguard.”

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

The replies were filled with static feedback, while the flow of sewer water echoed.

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

“Roger— What———coordinates?”

“We’re underground. Somewhere in the sewage. I don’t know the specifics, but we should be somewhere North East from the festival. I’ll send our location when we get out.”

“Roger that, exfil at point Gamma on your map.” A holographic map suddenly popped out of her watch, marked with the location where the two of them are supposed to go.

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

As the two of them navigated through the dark, damp maze, she muttered to herself, “Blue… azure… definitely not ghost… but poltergeist? No, that doesn’t sound right.”

He tilted his head, wondering what she was blurting out.

Once they found light piercing through from above, the two spotted another manhole.

Maria climbed up first, pushing it open with her palm. As the iron lid landed on the grassy ground, she got out and extended her hand Felix. He smirked and took it.

They took a deep inhale. A wave of fresh, cold air made them feel like they could finally breathe again. Maria whispered something under her breath, “Phantom.”

“Hm?”

“You don’t have an official codename yet, right?” She removed her yellow mask.

“Hm, yeah?”

“How about ‘Blue Phantom’? It really suits you! Your style, your speed, those unfollowable movements! You leave a glowing blue shadow every time you move!” She squealed 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.”

“We could always stick with Child of Stars.” She teased, stripping off the rags.

He then contemplated for a second, giving it just a bit more thought.

It sounds tacky, but I didn’t really have an argument. It was either ‘Child of Stars’ or Black Cat of Ruin. The title the professor insists on me, or being an omen.

“I don’t think now is the best time for this.” Felix replied as he took off his mask.

The dark-haired woman continued, “You should just register your code name as that! That white mask, and those glowing blue… eyes…” Her excitement instantly vanished as she turned to face him.

Felix’s soft smile also vanished as he realized what her expression meant. He placed his hand on his right cheek. The glowing blue eye had returned to pitch-black once again, leaving him with only a single blue iris.

He sighed, his expression turned solemn as he quietly accepted it.

With a somber tone, he remarked, “Well, that’s fine. It’ll turn blue soon enough.”

Their hair fluttered from the strong winds below the helicopter. She gave him a soft, understanding smile before boarding the aircraft.

As they ascended into the sky, the winds grew chillier. 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, wanted to become number one.”

“Oh… why’s that…?” She nestled into the blanket.

“She wanted to make changes beyond her means. It’s not something she told me to do that… but I promised myself that I would…” Felix placed his hand under his blood-stained shirt, holding something underneath, “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 whispered her last words before drifting off into deep slumber.

With a smirk, he responded, “And how do you expect to do… ah…” But 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.

~