Felix grabbed his mask with an unnatural speed, placing it between Beast's pistol and the back of his head. The bullets bounced 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—?!" Beast tightened his grip on the pistol, aiming frantically.
"What are you shooting at?" A muffled echo taunted him.
As he turned around, he saw the 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." His body wobbled, and was crackling in blue electricity.
Beast grinned and aimed at him, "You and I both!"
Felix suddenly appeared right before him, striking with a bone-crunching punch, before kicking away his pistol with a spin-kick, "Don't talk over me."
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 dripped with a hint of depravity.
"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!" Beast roared.
"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 know."
"You 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 phantom was standing on top of his fist.
"The hell—?!"
His mockery had clearly gotten under the criminal's skin. But before Beast could even shout, the agent stomped his heel against his face, using it to backflip away from him.
The brute staggered, the iron-soles left a throbbing red imprint on his face. But just like before, his tree-trunk legs refused to give in.
A few meters separated the two once more.
Beast's exoskeleton flared up, letting out a mechanical whir as if to breathe.
The chase resumed, but this time — Beast was no longer the predator.
Sparks flew as Beast's claws clashed with the phantom's ornate pistols. Exchanging strikes and slashes, but each time the wild giant got close, the phantom would vanish, replaced by a blue silhouette.
With every motion, a ghostly mirage was left in his place.
"Huh?" Beast muttered. His enemy was once again gone. No afterimage, no counterattack.
He then heard the sound of a hand brushing against cloth. He turned around and saw the agent dusting himself off.
"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 Beast to slip into his space and bite his arm.
"GRAGH!" The agent 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.
The blue-eyed man lunged forward with an enraged grin.
"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?"
He reached for the throbbing in his forehead, and winced as soon as he touched it, feeling something warm from 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.
Beast saw Felix stroking the arm he just bit into.
This kid… he grabbed me by the head… and he…
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 his breathing grew heavy and uneven. He clutched the ashen black ground and picked up pieces of dirt and debris, before getting back up and wiping off the blood sliding across his brown eyes.
Fighting head-on isn't gonna work.
The brute took his stance. The phantom noticed, put his mask back on, 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 lifted up his arm, which were covered in cuts and metal shards. In his palms, he held the broken blades of Beast's claws.
"What?"
After the question escaped his lips, he heard a snap — his gauntlet began to break apart.
As its crimson pieces clattered to the ground, the agent swung the blades back at him. The criminal let out a guttural screamed as the blades shot through his now-defenseless forearm.
Beast finally collapsed to his knees.
The phantom whipped his arm, casting out the remaining metal shards embedded inside it. His footsteps began to echo throughout the parking lot, looking down on the self-proclaimed beast.
"What's wrong? Aren't you gonna use the claws you're so proud of?" The phantom laughed, calmly approaching.
"What… WHAT IN THE HELL ARE YOU?!"
Beast's heavy breathing turned into uneven gasps as he looked up at the man-made monster standing in front of him.
The Blue Phantom held his black gun an inch before Beast's forehead, mirroring what Beast had done to him earlier. But as Beast looked up, his expression reminded Felix of Harbinger's frightened face, of Asahi's plea for mercy.
There was a second of hesitation, but Maria's words echoed in his ear, "You were only prolonging his suffering."
He let out a shaky exhale, and answered, "Me? I'm an esper. Do you know what that means?"
No… this brat…
Through Beast's blurry vision, the masked agent with glowing blue eyes appeared like the reaper ready to swing. That was the last thing he saw before Felix pulled the trigger.
"You're Death itself…"
After pulling the trigger, Beast fell to the ground, atop one of the black craters.
~