"Your mission is simple. Get in. Get the hostage and capture the criminals. Nyx will direct the first squad from above and I will lead the second squad with the sand paladin as our shield. Is everyone clear on that?"
"Roger, sir!" The newly selected card mages roared as one. The new unit was composed of ten individuals, among which all were mostly new recruits for this year's training. However, Kairo wasn't worried about their composition; this was a routine mission that if handled with success, the role of vice captain would finally come into play in the card mage police. He could not fail here.
He took a faint glance at Nyx who nodded at him. Then she arched her cap, heading in the opposite direction with the other half of the unit.
"Okay, follow closely," Kairo said in a low voice. Then the group was set in motion. He caught the card ejected from his wrist launcher in between his fingers. The circuitry of the void painted the space around so bright that the other card mages had their eyes twinkling at the sight.
"Is this why people say he is close to the mage awakening?"
"I have never seen the circuitry so alive."
Amidst their murmur, Kairo summoned the sand paladin. From the confines of the cards in his palm, the storm that was the sand spiraled outward, coiling into the paladin wielding its lance. "Justice shall be served," the sand paladin said.
Like at its habit, it barged forward. Then it made a forward kick. The two metallic doors bent inward. The metal curving so deep it looked like paper, but the door didn't break in an instant. Instead, the card mages following Kairo summoned their card magic. One wielding a mobile cannon over his shoulder, from which a red beam of light escaped.
Another summoned a dense card that transformed into a foggy cloud around them, lifting them to the sky. While the last summoned a spiraling ring in between his fingers.
The group went straight through the metallic door, which gave in after another hit from the combined attacks. Within, the unprepared opponents started escaping in between the machinery present. Some in white vests, some wearing long black coats. In a matter of seconds, the circuitry of the void came to life once more.
One of the opponents flipped the card in his hand. The earth's mouth opened beneath him and pillars of lava spread out, not like rising geysers but like coiling snakes that could move. The enemy maneuvered in the air using a pair of wings that fell behind his back. "Take the subject away, the card mage police is here," he screamed.
"They aren't going anywhere," Kairo said. Springing forward, he escaped the cloud of smoke, transpiring his arm forward as the protector armor encased his entire being. However, the opponent maneuvered his wings flapping sideways as he evaded Kairo's grip. Then waved in their direction, the coiling lava hands clawing at his team.
Panicked and scared, the new card mages were destabilized, all escaping in different directions, disappearing into the chaos. "They have never seen card magic of this level," Kairo instantly figured out. Now scattered in the chaos of the fight, their lives hung only by a thread if there was another card mage like the one he was facing.
"Trust your partner to protect you, card mages. Trust your brother and sister," Kairo screamed at them, igniting the protector armor. He clasped into the lava biting at him. His hands went through the hot wet liquid. It spilled over the side, part of it missing his face by inches.
"The card mage police has grown arrogant to send a bunch of nobodies to deal with us. You shall understand who I am. The new vice lead of the underground card mages, Max. Remember the name in your grave." Max waved aggressively. The hands all rose in one motion, pouring down like a dome around Kairo and his card mages.
The heat in the area shot to the roof. So much that the air was evaporating, turning white above them. "Vice Captain Kairo," one of the card mages called out.
Kairo glanced at the falling dome with a hint of worry over his face. He could easily protect himself, but what about his men? "It's about time now, right?" Kairo said, eyes fixed not at Max in the sky but at the space behind him.
A pair of wings was parting the space at incredible speed. Curving around the frame of Max so fast that Max felt his coat being blown away before he could react. Then the single point of light separated the falling dome of lava, parting it like it was a river being divided.
"Vice Captain Nyx!" The card mages had their faces illuminated with joy. The card mages with Nyx spread out in formation, approaching and learning the hostages.
"It's over for you, Max," Kairo pointed. Now that the mages were safe, he could do what he did the best. "Sand paladin," he said.
The sand paladin acted almost instinctively, already aware of the maneuver. It sprang, landed at Kairo, and vanished into sand. The moment the lance started traveling through space, Max understood something was wrong.
"Do not underestimate me!" Max flailed his wings, avoiding the course of the lance, then waved at the lava to seal the path behind him. Clearly, they had made their homework about Kairo's abilities.
"Wrong if you think I am alone," Kairo smirked. Catching the lance of the sand paladin in the opposite direction mid-volley. With the speed it had thanks to wind breaker, he had caught it before Max could react. His arm grapsed the ceiling bars, dangling in the void over his feet.
Having understood their captain's intention, the card mages fired the red beams, sealing Max's course mid-flight. However, Max's agility was no less compared to Nyx. His wings flailed again and he curved upward, evading the volleys of attacks. Only to meet the falling sword that came his way.
"No, no, no—"
"Too late."
Max used his wings as a shield, curling around him like a ball. But the blade of light went through without any form of resistance. When the sword connected with Max's figure, his figure transformed into a falling projectile that cratered the ground.
"Wow, that was quick and efficient," one of the card mages laughed. "We have the best vice captains at our disposal. It could only have been years."
Kairo and Nyx gathered their teammates around the tied criminal. While another member of the group counted the victims. "They seem all here, Vice Captain. Mission is a complete success."
"Great, then we can call it a day," Kairo dismissed. Their job was done; now it was that of the cleaning team to collect these trophies. Kairo and Nyx separated themselves from the main group into one of the chambers in which the enemies had been working. Here, the only thing they could see was an empty op table, with all sorts of equipment laying around.
Kairo skirled around the room, picking up one of the scalpels. A frown on his face. He had thought with the surgeon being gone, they were done with this kind of trouble. But he had been wrong. "Who could it be this time?"
"I think we will find out soon enough," Kairo waved at Nyx to get closer. There was a disc left on the table. The criminals had been forced to clean up very fast before their appearance. But they had forgotten something. When Kairo played the disc on the terminal,
He could see a series of figures in the exact same hall they were. However, among them, there was a man in a dark coat that immediately took his attention. Most of the figures were facing the camera backward, but Kairo could not mistake it. The figure shifted its weight and frowned at the camera, murmuring something before the image was soon blurry.
"Relion," Kairo said with a heavy sigh. He leaned onto the tablet, his head falling in between his shoulders. How could he not have guessed? Relion was Selis's protege. During the rush on the Island of Card Fossils, he had been completely absent from start to finish.
"Relion doesn't have the charisma nor the intelligence of Selis Variant. He wouldn't turn into another her, that we can be sure of," Nyx said.
"That's why I'm worried. He isn't like her," Kairo said in a low voice. More than anyone, he knew who Relion was. Or at least what was left of him. He might have changed, but his core-defining determination had not. No matter what Relion had in mind, he would stop them.
He thought of the numerous possibilities that they still had to explore with card magic. The card graveyard to which Nyx was related, the state of mage awakening, Relion, and many more. Perhaps he might find the answers to those questions as to when, he couldn't be sure.
…..
Kairo and Nyx were the last to leave the facility. Instead of returning with the other group, the duo sat on the cap of their car, legs dangling in the void. They observed the now dark night. Kairo pulled out his sandwich and started devouring it. But soon noticed Nyx intense gaze.
"What?"
"Wouldn't you share with me, Kairo? I'm hungry."
Kairo lifted an eyebrow, pointing at the box she had on her lap. "You've got yours. Why would I give you mine?"
"Because I have asked for it."
"No way," Kairo said. However, Nyx was swift, fighting over his own to grab it. Kairo tried his best to keep his precious meal away from this hungry wolf. The duo laughed and fooled around until Nyx's face ended dangerously close to his own.
In that brief instant, the world, the banter, everything faded into the background. Their lips met in a soft and tender kiss. Brief as the breeze that crossed him. And then Nyx retreated, stealing his sandwich whole. "I win. I always win."
"You—" Kairo's eyes went wide open, then back to normal almost instantly. He leaned with both hands on the car and glanced upward. "This isn't like anything romantic I planned for our first anniversary as a couple." He had hoped to take her on something more exquisite, on a grand vacation in an unknown island, something worthy of her, he felt.
However, Nyx simply leaned her head on his shoulder. "It doesn't have to be romantic as long as we are together."
Kairo's heart filled with warmth and tenderness. Their relationship had started on a dangerous life and death mission exactly like this one. Perhaps this was all that mattered. Them being together in the face of everything. The world, and the secrets of card magic.
The End