Maria crouched beneath the sneak attack, but a boot buried into her body, sending her flying instead.
Felix watched as his partner crashed into a concrete pillar in an burst of rubble and gray mist.
"V.V.!"
"Worry about yourself!" A voice boomed as another slash of light cleaved through the darkness.
Felix evaded as a savage strike shredded through the tail-end of his coat.
With one hand pressed on the ground, the blue agent took on an animal-like stance, with one hand hanging in the air.
He glanced up to see a figure looming over him.
"To be defeated by some brat. I thought Elite Agents were supposed to be in a league of their own." The hulking man looked down on Agent Petrichor's corpse, "Then again, you're both Elites, too, ain't you?"
"You're—"
A muscular man towered over Felix. He had pale blond hair spiked up in the center of his bald scalp, and muscles bulging beneath the leathery red jacket that was clearly stretched too tight. Long claws extended from his gauntlets, shredded black fabric still stuck between them.
He shifted his attention towards the tail ends of his coat.
It takes a lot to rip my coat…
Felix scanned the brute from top to bottom. Arms and legs wrapped in a red exoskeleton, a firearm hanging on his side. What stood out the most were the long curved blades protruding from his gauntlets.
Custom combat claws? Could this be the guy Marie tried to warn me about?
His eyes darted toward Maria for a split second, who was buried under rubble.
The agent let out a slow exhale, "Are you… a fang?"
Grinning, he answered with a question, "If I said yes?"
Bloodlust rippled through the air as the green light buzzed between them.
"You may call me Beast." With a prideful look, he flaunted the array of claws.
The blue agent blinked, "Beast, huh?"
"That's right."
"Bentley Wallace East. The Beast of the mafia." His voice sounded almost relieved, "You look different from your document. Did you get a makeover joining the Jackal?"
"I see my reputation precedes me. If you're also one of those Elite Agents, then I hope you're better than that corpse over there." The brute sneered, pointing to the now mangled corpse.
"I'm surprised someone as large as you managed to sneak up behind us. An escapee of Project Goliath. Nothing but a CIA dog chewing through it's leash." Felix said with his chin tilted up.
"Coming from a Golden Lion's pet." With legs like tree trunks and biceps larger than the agent's head, Beast ached to test his strength, "Ready when you are."
Felix went for a low stance as he slowly reached for his gun, glowing eyes sharpening to slits as he stared intently at his enemy's next move. Azure energy sparked above his hair, forming two crystalline flames shaped like cat ears.
Beast grinned at the sight of this. He shifted inward, taking a sideward stance. Though he acted like a brute, he kept his movements small, wary of what the burning blue agent was capable of.
But the moment his hand touched the floor, tension shattered as rocks burst towards the two of them.
"Agent Blue Phantom."
"Huh?" Both glanced over to the dark-haired woman emerging from the smoke.
"Two legs. Not four." Simple words that she instructed, commanded, and demanded of him.
"She's okay…" Felix's smiled, regaining confidence. The energy forming atop his head dispersed as he got up on two legs.
A bead of sweat slid across Beast's face as he glanced at Maria. With a grin on his face, he taunted, "You're real cute, so I'd love to spare 'ya. But ya killed one of my pack, so I gotta kill ya. Nothing pers—"
"Spare us the gimmick, you dirty mutt." Maria interrupted him, dusting herself as she crawled out of the rubble.
"And save us the trouble of having to hunt you down." Felix added.
Beast noticed the green light shift into a bright blue. He shifted his attention back to the other agent, who was now outlined by light, with a white pistol aimed directly at him.
A crystalline haze spiraled out of his body and funneled into Agony's barrel, forming a glowing blue swirl. He hoped to replicate the cyclone he used to strike the jester with.
The brute's feet scraped across the parking lot as a transparent tornado blasted towards him. But he stomped onto the concrete, one foot sinking into the ground, placing both palms forward.
For a brief moment, the tornado held.
But as Beast braced himself, resisting its power,the swirling structure unraveled.
Rather than push him, the swirling shroud pushed through him, evaporating into particles of light scattering behind him.
It paled in comparison to the first time he used it. His body crackled, and blue electricity knitted his wounds together.
Beast grinned nervously, "The hell was that?"
"It failed?" Blood leaked down his face, dripping onto the concrete, "No… I'm all out."
"My turn." The brute's claws began to let out a revving sound, vibrating rapidly as he charged forward.
Felix sidestepped from the downward swing. But Beast was faster than he expected, and a heavy boot sent him flying across the air, the same attack that took out Maria, only faster.
He crashed onto the hood of one of the cars, setting off it's alarm. His muscles burned, and his vision blurred. But there was no time to let the pain linger, as he saw the criminal's pistol aimed right at him.
Beast fired, the first bullet shattered the windshield as Felix got out of his way.
"Argh." The agent flinched as he dropped on solid ground, the kick radiating across his body.
The giant continued shooting, but his target ducked and ran for cover.
"So this is what it's like fighting an Elite…"
Behind the pillar, Felix swapped weapons. Agony was useless now, so he holstered it and switched to Misery.
Running on fumes, the heavy gun pulled his arm downward.
Still, he steadied it regardless —
Beast shifted his aim towards the car, shooting through the driver's seat until he silenced the alarm, the sound distorted until it stopped.
But even after it stopped, he continued shooting every last round until it was empty.
When he noticed, he sighed and tossed it away.
BANG!
A shot from behind.
Beast snarled, a bullet cut across his cheek. He touched his ear, bits of flesh dangling over.
Felix slammed against the ground, missing the large target by a small margin.
Furious, he sliced the pieces off his ear. He lowered his stance, ready to lunge at the agent on the ground. But a loud crashing noise echoed throughout the parking lot, stopping in his tracks. He slowly turned around, and saw a gaping hole left on the pillar behind him.
"The hell is that gun?!" The brute's brown eyes focused intently on the circular hole blown out of the concrete pillar.
A sense of fear and rage as he watched it collapse.
Even though she broke through that pillar, she's looking at me like nothing even happened. As for this runt, with all the blood he's lost, he shouldn't even be able to stand, much less fight. Just what in the hell are these two?
Beast thought to himself. He shifted his gaze shifting back to his enemy, where he saw the barrel of the black gun pointing at him.
"You keep getting distracted." Felix fired twice, his boots skidding slightly across the concrete.
Beast's vibrating claws sliced through both hollow-point bullets.
The agent leaned on the car, and fired a few more times. The recoil from the rounds forcing him to lose his footing. But Beast slowly closed the gap, slicing through each successive bullet with his vibrating claws.
Even though Misery was able to blow a clean hole through concrete pillars, Beast's claws were able to carve through them.
Felix instinctively pulled out to Agony again, using its default attack in a desperate attempt to stun the large man, or at least slow him down.
The criminal was pushed by the invisible, concentric waves of energy, feeling a slight tingle that made his arms feel stiff, "That the best you've got?!"
Before he could aim Misery again, Beast brazenly charged.
The agent slipped under the brute's wide swing, mechanical claws slicing through the car he leaned against. He then tried to deliver another kick, but the agent darted away before it could land.
"Slippery bastard."
Felix hid behind one of the cars as he shot at the criminal, not letting him to get close. He then shifted his attention to the exoskeleton on Beast's legs, aiming Misery at the joints. But the brute quickly caught on to what he was planning.
Beast stopped in his tracks and began sprinting towards Maria, who was still sitting under the rubble with a bored stare.
He aimed Misery at his enemy's legs, but saw Maria standing past him.
"V.V.!"
Unwilling to risk shooting her, he lowered his gun and chased after the criminal.
Beast grinned, and the exoskeleton around his legs powered up with a loud whir. He crushed the ground beneath his heel, killing his momentum before twisting into a charged kick, deep into Felix's gut.
The force of the blow sent the agent crashing through cars.
Misery fell right in front of him. His white mask clattered to his side.
Behind him, three vehicles piled up.
A satisfied smirk formed on the brute's face, as he let out an exhausted exhale.
On the dry, concrete floor, he desperately tried to force in air, retching out a mix of blood and saliva.
The whirring in Beast's legs slowed, taking his sweet time walking. Even though the blue-eyed agent was writhing in the ground, the brute approached cautiously.
Felix stretched his hand forward, reaching for Misery. But Beast picked it up first.
"Get up!" Maria's sharp demand echoed, "If you really want to be number one, then prove it. Right here, right—!"
Before she could even, finish, Beast shot at the pillar above where Maria stood, letting it crumble above her.
Felix clenched his teeth, forced to watch concrete crashed down around her.
"That's got some kick to it." The brute grinned.
If I want to be number one…
With those words, his mind formed the spearwoman's silhouette, echoing, "Every time you fall, you get back up."
It's not enough… I have to be even stronger than Luna.
Beast pressed the cold muzzle against the back of his head, "I'll give you a moment to make your peace."
And if I have to surpass him… then I have to be…
Although he was staring at the criminal, his mind drifted elsewhere. Through the darkness and snow, even further than where Luna stood.
In the shadowy distance, stood a large figure with a mechanical arm, wreathed in crystalline flames, slowly turning towards him with a sharp gaze.
Stronger than him!
Beast pulled the trigger —