Still outside, another wave of knives soared across the area, forcing the men to duck and providing Maria a path to run through. But as she jumped across their heads, one of them caught her by the ankle and threw her to the ground.
The fountain's water splashed over Felix's face, and his eyes shot open, the left one glowing in the dark.
Inside, his limited light source shrank as the shutter descended. He quickly rushed back towards the sound of gunfire.
"Venom!" Felix shouted, sliding across the cold tile floor.
With his face pressed against the ground, he watched with his blue eye as she fought just to get back up, rolling as some men shot at the ground, while another tried to stomp on her head. She rolled back, slicing legs with her knife. But just as she crawled back on her feet, one of them struck her back down with the butt of his gun, a trickle of blood leaking down her forehead.
A pack of guards swarmed around her, carrying rifles, ready to fire.
She persevered, slicing through each enemy, injuring most and dispatching a handful. But every bullet that struck her took its toll. Her movements quickly grew dull and stiff, each slash slower than the last.
"Venom!" Felix called out, pushing the rolling grille back up, "Venom, come on! Hurry!"
His left arm trembled as he pushed back the rolling grille, struggling to keep it open. Elbow dug into the ground as the weight of the iron wall pressed down on him, barely fitting under his palm.
One of the guards noticed and fired his pistol at him.
The bullet landed on the ground inches shy away from his face, causing Felix to reflexively let go and let the metal hatch descend.
Maria, still in the middle of combat, noticed from the corner of her eye. She snarled, and with a sharp grunt, sliced down the guard standing in front of her, before immediately hurling her combat knife towards the man that shot Felix.
Gunfire died down as the other guards watched the body in front of her, still standing, open up in the middle. A red line traced across the man's face, followed by the sound of squelching flesh and splattering blood. The grotesque sight causing them to cease fire.
A silence caught all of their throats, giving way to a squelch and a thud, as two bodies fell. One sliced in half, the other with a knife to the back of his head.
Petrified by the vertically bisected body, all the other guards lowered their firearms, processing what she just did.
"Venom… I can't… keep it… open…!" Felix grunted, his arm bent, his elbow unable to push back the iron wall.
Despite all of the sentries having a clear, point-blank shot directly at her head, they were all hesitant to pull the trigger.
Until she staggered.
Realizing she was unarmed and surrounded, one of the guards nervously aimed, and so did the others.
Fireworks lit up the night sky, outlining her blood-stained face in its radiant colors. Orange, red, blue, and yellow all flashed behind her as she shot Felix a serene smile.
With a dozen clicks, all of the guards opened fire as the industrial shutter closed.
A solid metal wall blocked Felix's view completely, keeping him in darkness with only dim green lamps illuminating his view.
Unable to see the outside, he swung his fist at it, only to recoil, "Argk! Bollocks!"
Frustrated and biting his lip, he pulled out the silver pistol from under his coat, repeatedly firing at it with a pained growled, to no effect, "What is this wall made of?"
The symphony of gunfire persisted outside.
"She's still fighting."
Heaving, he held his wrist and raised his palm, "Come on… work…" Holding his breath, a bead of sweat ran down his cheek. Blue particles started flickering out like glitter from his fingertips, only for the seconds to pass, and for him to gasp and lose focus.
Agitated and alone, he closed his eyes and pressed his head against the wall, taking a moment to catch his breath. As he leveled his breathing, he bit his lip and plucked out a slug from his shoulder.
"Tss…" He exhaled between his teeth, blue electricity crackling from his shoulder.
Above him, he noticed a security camera in the center of the ceiling stared intently at him with a glowing red dot. Scowling, he flicked it towards the camera, shattering the only other light source besides the faint blue glow of his left eye.
"There might be another way to let her in." Looking at the fountain unevenly glistening under moonlight, he began combing through the walls, getting closer towards it, "There has to be a switch or something."
Lifting his gun in anticipation, he moved deeper inside the facility towards the fountain.
Just a few steps beyond the entrance, he saw a silhouette of the interior, cascading floors illuminated through the glass ceiling. But the fountain rattled, its waters splashing wildly — shockwaves rippled from the ground, the loud boom from behind the iron wall, demanding his attention.
"A bomb?" He rushed back.
Digging his fingers under the wall, he grumbled, "Dammit Venom, don't make me fail my first mission!" Only for him to stagger back, unable to pull it up.
As he stumbled down and the shaking faded, all he could hear was the uneven sputter of the fountain. It took a few seconds for him to realize that it was the only thing he could hear.
Silence hit him.
The gunfire had stopped.
A bead of sweat rolled across his cheek, placing his ear next to the cold iron wall. "No, no, no…"
Shaking his head in disbelief, the chief's words echoed in his head;
'Before you say anything, it's not simply your incompetence to work with technology. Maria is a professional cracker, her skills are top notch. Your job is to protect her. Keep her alive and safe.'
"I'm not gonna fail my first mission!" Fabric stretched into lines and threads as he ripped off the torn uniform and once again pulled out his pistol.
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
Gunfire rang through the entrance, rapidly and rhythmically emptying his ammunition. Yet not a single dent left on it.
Exhaling, Maria's words suddenly rang in his head.
'As long as you're around, what do I have to worry about?'
Felix's expression shifted from shock to anger. For a moment, he was back in winter, looking at face of the horrified heiress.
The pistol clattered to the floor as he clenched his fist.
Both of his eyes shined bright azure, and a faint outline formed around his fist.
"MARIA!"
With a spherical flash from his fist, the darkness was briefly lit up as it burst on impact, scattering little blue particles with a loud metallic bang.
Felix staggered back, the knuckles on his glove scraped off. Every heartbeat pounding in his knuckles, and every breath sliding between his teeth, his heaving drowning out any other sound.
In front of him, a sliver of light seeped in from the cracks.
Steel stretched outwardly, bending into a round crater.
"I can't do this…" He huffed, blood sliding down his damaged glove, "…Not without you."
"But if you're not here…" Felix picked up his silver pistol and turned toward the facility, continuing into enemy territory.
Only for a loud rumble to stop him in his tracks, nearly tumbling him over. Another explosion rippled through the entrance, quivering above his head and beneath his feet.
"... Huh?" He turned around.
Followed by another explosion, causing the crater to cave in.
Felix pulled out another magazine and filled up his gray gun, scowling as he raised it towards the iron wall.
Until —
Iridescent particles came bursting through, blasting the dented iron inside and fading nearly instantly. From behind the yellow sparks stood a black-haired woman, with a sweet, cheerful smile on her face.
He lowered his firearm, and his expression filled to the brim with disbelief.
"You're… okay?"
She crawled through the hole, wiping her face with a freshly stolen uniform, "Can't get rid of me that easily, partner."
"How… did you survive?" He asked, helping her get through the stretched steel.
"Let's just say a rogue firework came to my rescue. Or a couple… dozen…" She beamed, taking his hand.
"I don't think fireworks can…" He sighed as he pulled her through, "Right, sometimes things just don't make sense when it comes to you."
"I'm glad you finally get it." She got up and patted his shoulder.
"Argh!" He gasped.
"My bad…" She said, lowering her gaze towards the torn uniform on the ground. "The fireworks wouldn't have broken through without you cracking it open, so thanks."
His chest filled with a cold numbness, "…I was afraid I was gonna have to do this alone."
"You don't have my mad hacker skills." She said as she began putting on another stolen uniform.
She picked a bullet off his forearm, "Bullet-proof coat, huh?"
"Ah, yeah… better than just a vest." He stammered.
"Now to hide it again." She threw the other uniform over his face.
"... Again?" He grabbed it.
"Useful, right?" She buttoned up.
"Right…" He breathed a heavy sigh of relief, his gaze dipping with a faint smile.
"What's the problem?"
"I was afraid that…" He stretched his arm into the blood-stained uniform, "No… I failed to keep you safe. I'll do better."
She began buttoning up his beige stolen uniform, making him scratch his cheek.
"Then I'll be counting on you, partner." She smiled.
"Right." He nodded confidently, turning his head towards the facility, marching on, "Let's go, partner."
She nodded and walked beside him.
The two operatives made their way into the building alive. Behind them, the cracked camera stared silently, its fractured lens still fixed on their figures.
Inside a dimly lit surveillance room, a man in a top hat stood over three corpses.
His face illuminated by the flicker of broken screens, watching the two of them. He held up a damaged data storage against the screen, and grinned.