Rattling Vermilion part 1

Chapter 4
Rattling Vermilion

Waves washed against the harbor walls, reflecting the skies pastel-like pinks and purples. Stacks of cargo cast long shadows, forklifts parked near them.

High above the cargo, two figures hid inside the cold steel of a tower crane, behind rusty yellow beams. Their gazes followed a set of black cars driving into the yard.

“Can you see him?” Felix murmured.

Maria leaned forward with her binoculars, her legs swaying back and forth. “The middle of the car, right?”

“Most likely.”

“Pretty ballsy being out in the open like this.” She got up, her black hair fluttering in the breeze.

“He’s confident that he’ll escape again.” He clicked his tongue.

Below, the cars rolled to a stop between rows of cargo.

Behind, however, was a pair of binoculars reflecting their silhouettes. Atop a warehouse roof, another observer stood motionless, tracking them. Though he stood motionless, his auburn pony-tail swayed with the sea breeze.

“So that’s Felix Aster… And his partner, Venom Vanguard.” His voice was deep and quiet. He shifted his binoculars towards the convoy, “…and their target, Lewis Shaw.”

“So counting these two, along with Nero and Isabelle…” He smirked, “Show me what you can do, Blue Phantom.”

“What’s the plan?” Maria asked.

“According to the intel, he has four bodyguards, but we could expect at least twenty of them at their meetup. We scatter them, take out the guards one by—” Felix’s mouth was promptly muffled by Maria’s finger before he could finish.

“Shh…” She hushed and glanced around.

“What is she doing?” The brown-haired man mumbled as he monitored the two’s movements.

Maria’s head turned left and right, as she asked, “Do you feel that?”

Felix nodded, “It doesn’t feel like bloodlust, but…”

He shifted his head, slowly turning towards the rooftop where the pony-tailed man sat and watched, only to find no one there.

“It disappeared…” His mismatched eyes narrowed towards the rooftop.

“Must’ve been the wind.” She shrugged.

The pony-tailed man dangled on the side of the wall, both hands tightly clinging to a chain wrapped around a steel grill. His cream-brown trench coat dangling in the draft between the buildings.

“Scheisse, they noticed me from here?” A bead of cold sweat dripped over a small scar on his chin.

As he climbed back up, he scanned the crane and saw that the two partners had left from their initial positions.

Gliding through the air, the dark-haired woman asked, “Aren’t grappling hooks fun?”

“You’re moving too quickly. Don’t get too far ahead.” The blue-eyed man cautioned.

They swung from one beam to the next with their grappling hooks, quietly closing in with a pattern of pausing, hiding, and moving.

When the black car stopped near one of the warehouses, Felix let go of the grappling hook and vanished into the shadows, yet Maria kept moving onward.

The car doors opened, and a man in a violet tuxedo stepped out, accompanied by four others in black suits. Beside him however was a man in a black coat, with a face obscured by a green visor.

“Pimp guy must be Lewis.” Maria’s voice muffled in the transceiver, swinging further ahead.

“Don’t get too close, V.V. The one beside him looks like a—!” Felix whispered to the transceiver.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be f—!” She slammed against the metal beam, the loud gong echoed throughout the loading bay.

Lewis Shaw and his men turned their heads to look for the source of the iron bang, and brought out their guns.

“Great, now they’re on guard.” Felix ranted as he dragged a stunned Maria by the collar behind the wall.

“Head hurty…” Maria blurted out as she clutched her head.

The pony-tailed man from the distance continued to watch as the criminal approached one of the warehouses with a briefcase in hand.

The warehouse doors from inside, revealing a young man dressed in a brown leather jacket, with orange-hair and a black star tattoo on his right cheek. In his hand was another briefcase.

Lewis conversed with the orange-haired man inside, their attention was drawn to where the two operatives hid.

“What is this? Who do you have up there?!” Lewis grabbed the orange-haired man’s collar.

“No one, no one!” The orange-haired man snapped his finger, “Men! All arms ready!”

The visored man walked forward to where the noise was and pulled out a pistol, aiming it towards the many large steel beams hanging above. “Stay behind me, sir.” He said to the criminal in the violet tuxedo.

Still watching from afar, a bead of sweat ran across the cheek the pony-tailed man’s cheek, “I can’t believe it, those two…”

A gunshot suddenly rang loud across the harbor.

“…are idiots.” He concluded.

A shootout quickly began as the two agents found themselves trapped behind the steel cargo.

“What is wrong with you?!” Felix shouted, “We had the element of—”

“Not the time!” Maria replied.

The two quickly rushed behind the steel shipping container with gasping breaths.

The grating sound of bullets carving into the metal crates, concentrated on their location.

“Where did you even get the gun, I thought you used knives?!” Frustration leaked out of his voice as he fired at the henchmen on the left side of the crate, his bullets bursting in their throats.

“Shut your word-hole right now!” Maria shouted from the right, hurling a knife straight at one of the goon’s forehead, their body dropping to the floor.

A magazine dropped from Felix’s silver pistol and clattered on the concrete before swiftly pulling a new one out of his coat. As soon as reloaded his gun, he peered his gaze to the edge of the metal crate and resumed firing.

“I’m almost out of ammo.”

“You have an energy gun! Use it!”

“It’s an energy gun, its effective range is five meters!” He replied as he managed to take out one of the men, “Come in, mission control. We’re pinned down, requesting back-up.”

The transceiver sparked, “—Back up is—”

“Why doesn’t technology ever work in my hands?” He pouted as a bullet struck the metal crate, a deafening gong next to his ear.

“What now?!” She yelled.

Felix fired off a few more rounds, taking down one more henchman, “Split up. Lead them around. Take them out one by one.”

“Excuse me, I’m not the one wearing a bullet-proof—” Just as those words escaped her lips, a stray projectile, a broken bullet shard, bounced off one of the metal crates, and sliced the side of her cheek.

“Merde!” She covered her now bleeding face.

“V.V.! Are you—?!” His words were cut short by the thick sound of metal rolling close.

Felix’s expression changed from worry to horror as he saw an explosive just a few feet in front of them.He instinctively drew his silver pistol and aimed at it, but as he pulled the trigger, all he heard was a hollow click.

“Again?!”

Felix’s gaze locked on Maria, who was cradling her wound. In that split second, he remembered the sensation of her blood dripping on his face. The vivid memory of her bleeding face hanging just above his.

He threw the gray gun at the grenade and pulled Maria close, shielding her from the blast.

The grenade rolled a few feet away just before exploding.

Maria watched Felix’s face contorted with pain as the metal can turned into a tapestry of red and white flames bursting behind him.

“G-grk!” He growled out as he took the brunt of the explosion.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine. Didn’t you say… urgh! That nothing leaves a scar on us?” He forced out a smile and wiped the blood from her cheek. The impact was heavy.

She looked at his shaking arms, barely able to stay up. With a nervous laugh, she asked, “... Just how many times are you gonna show off?”

“Just get up and do what I say.” His glowing eye twitched.

She nodded, “Right.”

~