Felix grabbed his mask, and placed it between him and the gun behind his head, bullets bouncing off the meteoric material.
The blue-eyed agent rolled on the ground and slipped away, sprinting into the shadows.
"GRUH!" Beast growled and fired at him, only for the bullets to strike an afterimage — an azure mirage.
"What the hell—?!" The brute tightened his grip on Misery, aiming frantically.
"What are you shooting at?" A muffled echo taunted him.
The giant turned around and saw the masked phantom standing behind him.
There was a large space once again between them. The phantom stripped off his black coat, revealing the bloody blue shirt underneath. His twin pistols holstered on the brown belts around his chest.
"You know… I've been having an awful day today."
"You and I both!"
"Don't talk over me."
The masked agent appeared right before him, kneeing him in the gut, before spin-kicking Misery away from grip.
Beast reeled back a few steps, clutching his aching stomach. His opponent had once again disappeared.
"As I was saying… Because I'm having an awful day, to blow off some steam..."
"What was that?" The brute blew the blood out of his nose, and wiped the scratch on his cheek.
"I thought dogs were supposed to have good hearing." The phantom's voice was filled with condescension.
"Fuck you just say?!"
"Between the golden lion, the two new recruits, my own partner drugging me to sleep, and the bastard with the militarized drone… I think I'm done with today." His voice echoed, yet he was nowhere to be seen.
"Show yourself!"
"For your sake, I'll give you ten seconds to grovel and apologize like the dog you are." His voice reverberated as he grabbed the car bumper tight enough to crush it, "Because I'm going to break you now."
"Little shit!"
One of the cars flipped over, shooting towards him. Beast grinned, effortlessly slicing the vehicle in half.
As the wreckage fell, he clenched his fist, bracing himself for the next surprise assault — only for him to feel a tap on his shoulder.
He turned around and stared at the masked figure behind him.
Though the agent's face was covered by the unfeeling white canvas, it was evident from how much he was enjoying taunting the criminal.
What the hell is going on? He's acting like he's completely unharmed!
Beast's eyes twitched, and he threw his fist with great speed. Although his attack swept up some of the dust on the ground, his claws was only able to strike another blue silhouette.
"Again, what are you attacking?" The agent stood on top of his fist.
His mockery had clearly gotten under the criminal's skin.
"BAST—"
But before the brute could finish, the agent stomped against his face, using it to backflip away.
Beast staggered, but just like before, his tree-trunk legs refused to give in. The agent's iron soles left a throbbing red imprint on his face.
A few meters separated the two once more.
The chase resumed. This time, Beast was no longer the predator.
Sparks scattered as the claws clashed against the phantom's pistols.
Exchanging strikes and slashes, but each time the brute got close, the phantom would vanish, replaced by a blue silhouette.
With every motion, a mirage was left in his place. Again and again, until —
"Huh?" The giant paused.
His enemy was gone.
This time, no afterimage nor counterattack.
Beast then heard the sound of a hand brushing against cloth. He turned around and saw the agent dusting himself off, "This is exhausting."
"DON'T FUCK WITH ME!" The red rage in his face growing more and more apparent.
The brute rushed at him, the exoskeleton vibrating loudly as he let out a flurry of strikes. Blinded by rage, he let out an unrelenting assault, repeatedly throwing punch after punch after kick after swipe. He would not let him slip away again.
Overwhelmed by the rapid blows, the agent aimed his gun at Beast's face, only for the brute to slip into his space and bite his arm.
"ANIMAL!" The phantom shouted.
In that instant, Beast took a swipe at the phantom's head, and the white mask flew into the air.
Only for it to reveal Felix's glowing blue eyes, scowling deeply.
"AGKH!"
Everything suddenly turned pitch black.
Buzzing lights filled the silence, the eerie green flickered across the parking lot.
Beast opened his eyes, surprised to find himself staring at the ceiling, "Wh-wha— the hell—? Why am I?"
His forehead throbbed, wincing as he touched it. When he had brought his hand to his line of sight, he saw that it was dripping in red. His spiked blond hair was drenched in his own blood.
He saw Felix stroking the arm he just bit into.
This kid… he lunged at me… grabbed me by the head and…
He recollected the blue-eyes closing in, and the feeling of a hand squeezing his face, before promptly getting smashed against the floor.
Panic started to settle in as he wiped the blood sliding across his brown eyes. He began coughing, clutching the ground, clutching pieces of dirt and debris before getting back up.
Fighting head-on isn't gonna work.
The brute took his stance. The phantom noticed and answered in kind.
As they met head on, the phantom effortlessly avoided Beast's upcoming blow with a swift side step, and replied with his own right hook. But before it could land, Beast grinned and unclenched his fist, flinging dust and grime from his hand and into his opponent's eyes.
Blinded by the crafty attack, Beast followed up with a blow to his gut. His body was shot into the air, but his feet landed first, skidding against the grime.
"Did I get him?" He squinted.
The brute's attention was then drawn to the sound clinking metal falling on the ground. He saw metallic shards clatter to the ground.
It quickly dawned on him what he was looking at.
"Looks my hands were stronger than your claws."
Felix grinned viciously. Blue electricity crackled as he lifted his right arm, metal shards embedded into it. His hands were the criminal's broken claws.
"What?"
After the question escaped his lips, he heard a snap —
Crimson shards clattered to the ground as his gauntlet crumbled.
The agent swung the blades back at him. The criminal let out a guttural screamed as the blades shot through his now-defenseless forearm, collapsing to his knees.
Metal clanged on the floor as Felix whipped out his arm, casting out the remaining metal shards. He picked up his mask and put it on, before walking towards his enemy. His footsteps echoing in the now-silent parking lot.
Beast gasped, gently pulling the blades out of his forearm.
A shadow loomed over him. He asked the man-made monster and asked, "…What in the hell are you?"
The Blue Phantom held his white gun inches from Beast's forehead, "Me? I'm an esper. Do you know what that means?"
Thoroughly defeated, Beast looked up.
No… this damn brat…
The black hair, the white mask and glowing blue eyes blurred together, turning him into the reaper.
"…You're Death itself…" He smirked, before he began coughing.
Behind Beast, he saw Agent Petrichor's mangled corpse, and stiffened.
You're a good, kind person, aren't you?
There was a second of hesitation, the gun rattled in his shaky hand.
But Maria's words followed, "You were only prolonging his suffering."
Felix pulled the trigger, and Beast fell to the ground, atop one of the black craters.
He then walked towards where Misery landed.
"Death, huh?" The agent picked up his black pistol, and took a good long look it, "Anyone can spread death with a gun, so I doubt that's what being an esper means."
After he holstered his twin guns, he collapsed onto the concrete.
Streams of blue electricity resumed crawling across Felix's body, knitting together cuts and bruises. The pain he accumulated finally took its toll.
Maria stepped out of the rubble she was buried in and picked up his black coat on the ground.
She squatted down with her face perched between her hands, sliding his mask to the side to let him breathe.
"I've never seen you act like that before. Where did that come from?" She asked.
"You told me not to fight on all fours. So I had to picture something else. The image of strength I needed to win. And, to keep you safe…" He answered, filling his lungs.
"Aw, learning from the first time?" She teased, placing his black coat over him like a blanket. "So now that the adrenaline rush faded, how does it feel winning your first boss fight?"
"Learning from the first time by not killing him…" With a sharp groan, he put his coat back on.
"Still didn't kill him?" She sighed, "Yeah, looks like you were toying with him."
"He was big, covered in tech, and had a whole dog schtick… Just… reminded me of someone. Besides, he might have that stupid Matrix Key, too."
"I should check, shouldn't I?"
"Hey." He gulped, "Why does it look like you're completely unharmed?"
"Because you did most of the fighting?" Maria slowly slid a combat knife behind her.
"Yeah, but…" Felix's eyes widened as she threw the blade between the parked cars.
Taking the hint, he aimed Misery towards the direction she threw, but flinched as he stretched out his wounded arms, barely able to keep gun steady.
"If he's still alive, then I would like to continue our business with him. " An unknown voice echoed through the parking lot.