The Woman in Copper part 2

From within the parking lot, Maria sneaked between the cars, inching closer.

One of the armed men asked, "Do you have it?" He was a tall, gray-haired old man who appeared to be the leader of the group.

"I do." Answered the bar-coded man as he presented a small black chip on his palm, from it came out a holographic projection of random strings of numbers and letters.

"Good."

Maria watched from the corner of her eye with an agape mouth. She had found what she was after, when all of the sudden, the leader of the men yelled out, "Who's there?!"

Without letting out a peep, she was caught.

"Is that our client?"

A gunshot struck the floor next to the vehicle Maria hid behind. She gave a good long look at the cracked concrete next to her, and realized that a small section of her shadow gave away her position.

"That was a warning shot! Show yourself, now!" The man shouted, his eyes narrowed, and his brows furrowed. There was an uneasiness in his gruff voice.

A feeling of agitation spread among the men. It was a nervousness that was lacking in Maria's face, who had an expression that was a mixture of both boredom and mild annoyance.

"There's no point in hiding, you can't hide your sickening bloodlust!"

She gave out a rough sigh and rolled her neck. Her steps echoed as she walked out in between the cars.

One step.

"It's not the clown…" Their leader whispered.

Another step.

"A civilian?"

"Wait, that woman…" The bar-coded man uttered.

"You know her?"

In that instant, several semi-automatic rifles were pointed straight at her head.

With one final step, the echoes ceased, and she was in full view.

"Stay where you are!"

Maria had fully captured the men's attention. The darkness in her shadow contrasted against the bright lights above, and the gray radiance that bounced off the concrete.

"Identify yourself!" The gray-haired old man shouted with a shaky breath.

"That woman has been tailing me this whole time!" He exclaimed.

She let out a cold laughter as she stood in front of them unarmed.

Her eyes then sharpened, and a wave of fear passed through their bodies and caused the hair on their arms to stand. For a moment, all of them felt paralyzed by the unnerving sensation. It was as if a giant serpent had been staring down at them.

"This is… killing intent? Men, fire—!" Before he could instruct his men to pull the trigger, Maria had launched her knife directly at his throat, the cold steel pierced through his flesh and buried into his jugular.

They all looked at him as he collapsed to the ground, squelching gurgles came from his mouth as he choked on his own blood.

A shower of gunfire followed, drowning out the screams that came soon after.

*

Rusty metal groaned as Felix's iron boots landed atop a grimy old fire exit, on the roof of the building near his destination. Directly in front of him was the burning warehouse where he was supposed to go.

Bits of rust fell as he descended, waves of intense heat brushed against his face with every step he took. The red flames and smoke towering over him.

When he made it halfway through the creaking staircase, a luminous white streak blasted through the warehouse.

Felix watched the glowing beam pierce through the smoke and cinder and rift apart the rain clouds forming above.

He pressed into his earpiece once more; "Sir, there appears to be a beam of light tearing through the buildings." He remarked as the line of light reflected in his blue iris.

"What do you mean? Like a laser?" The Chief asked.

"Yes siiiiir—!" The beam descended towards him like a sword swung downwards, slicing off a portion of the brickwork, as well as the staircase he was standing on.

The agent leapt out of the staircase before it could collapse, and quickly grabbed onto the leaky old pipes of the building beside him.

He watched as the staircase crashed down with a loud groan, and saw the beam dissipating into white particles, leaving behind a charred black line on the brickwork.

A sigh of relief escaped his lips, only for a loud creak to return his sense of urgency. The old pipes could not handle his sudden weight, and the rusty old screws snapped off, leaving him to tumble down.

"... Bollocks…" He said, resigning to his fate.

He fell straight down with the pipe falling on his chest.

"Blue Phantom, what's the situation?" The voice on his earpiece suddenly spoke.

His back arched against the sharp, jagged rubble, "Sir… may I… urgh… request assistance…"

The Chief's voice then interjected, saying, "I'm afraid we can't do that. There appears to be an agent already present inside who requested assistance. You are that assistance, and we cannot lose face."

"R-right…"

"Emergency teams and first responders take too long to get there. Assist the operative before they get here, but… if you think that beam weapon is too dangerous… you have permission to withdraw." Her last words somber.

"Understood, chief." He answered weakly.

Felix's back screamed as he rolled over, muttering to himself, "Come on, Felix get up… You're the latest link in the chain of human evolution, right? It's just a burning building. Nothing an enhanced human can't handle…" Every word dripped with snide animosity.

"Hurgh!" A strained voice escaped his lips, wincing as he sat upright, "Marie's right, my back's still not healed yet. Bollocks, I think it's worse than before."

"Mister, are you alright?" A voice asked from behind.

His eyes widened as he quickly turned to the side, "A civilian?" He blurted out as he saw the young man in a green jacket.

"That was a hard fall, I should call the ambulance." The young man asked as he pulled up a phone.

"You saw that?" Felix shook his head, "No, I'm fine. Can you tell me what happened here?"

"I don't… I don't know."

"Then can you help me get over there?"

"But… that's… it's on fire? Shouldn't we wait for the fire department?"

"There's no time… If I don't get in there, someone might die."

"You called me a civilian. Who… or what are you?" He asked nervously as he helped Felix get back up.

"That doesn't matter, all you have to do is get me close enough. After that, you should get out of here."

"I can't do that."

"Hmph?" Felix mumbled curiously.

"I'm scared… someone I know might be there."

"Then just get me close enough and wait…"

"Ah, alright" The young man nodded.

"To be getting help from a civilian… How embarrassing." Felix muttered to himself in a low voice as he was assisted to walk towards the building. His pride aching worse than his back. "Hopefully Marie's having a better time than I am…"

**

Silhouettes danced against bright fluorescent lights. The sharp scent of gunpowder mixed with the faint scent of blood as Maria mowed down the enemies, her combat knife sliding through each of their necks.

The deafening noise of car alarms and gunfire filled up underground parking.

Her target, the bar-coded man, hid behind the armed men, quite a distance away from her, "What are you?!"

She slid under one of the men's legs and quickly threw her knife against the back of his head, then quickly rolled over the concrete and hid behind a pillar while a barrage of bullets fired towards her.

Her breathing turned sharp and ragged as she clutched her lower abdomen. Blood covered her palms, "Shhhhhit. That stings."

She ducked as bullets started to tear through the pillar she hid behind, "Hopefully Felix is doing better right now."

Maria pulled out another knife from her thigh and leapt out the other side of the pillar, racing towards her bar-coded target.

"FUCK!" The bar-coded man quickly retreated while the group of armed men kept firing at her.

The bullet wound throbbed, but her lips curled into a grin. The thrill of the hunt ran through her veins as her prey was getting away.

"Get back here and give me that key!" She yelled, several bullets grazing at her skin.

~