15 years ago
The child was ambitious, anyone could have said it. The Consortium's leaders acknowledged it as he walked through the door. He was naturally strong and fast, but all that energy was untrained, unfocused, without direction or concentration. He would have to be broken down, and remade into something remotely deadly. His untidy platinum blonde hair was as striking a feature as his knowledge of the Jackals, and his idolisation of the one called Necrodium, who had had only one contract. He was rushed into the Jackal program along with another child who had been found at an orphanage close by.
10 Years ago
"Your style, Felix, is unrefined. It lacks subtlety." The older man said without a hint of emotion. Felix himself was a short distance away, performing a particularly difficult acrobatic routine. "You charge in at high speed, hoping to wound or kill your opponent. Like a rhinoceros." The small scowl on Felix's face grew a little, as he continued to spin, then flared into a one handed handstand. His body was lean, but he was developing muscle at an impressive rate. His hair, now limp, was normally spiked up with a moderate amount of hair gel. "Perhaps you are more of a rhinoceros than a Jackal." The tall broad-shouldered man remarked.
"Would you mind? This takes concentration, and your voice is annoying." Felix growled, going into a complex series of spins and twists that looked incredibly painful. A laugh caught their attention. Across the other side of the room, a boy of Felix's age, but with longer dark hair lifted weights. Felix did not spare him a second glance, but smirked. Umbra grinned, and melted back into the shadows as Felix propelled himself upwards, performed a flip, and landed with a loud THUMP!
"I could really fear that though." The other boy said. "Rhinoceros Felix!" He said in an attempted scary tone. Felix smirked.
"And what would you be? The Gorilla? Someone would have to be a gorilla to lift that slab of metal you call a sword." Felix snapped back at the other boy.
"You don't swing a sword like mine just with strength, Felix." He responded, placing the weight back on the rack and turned to Felix. "Wanna go a few rounds?" he asked with a malicious grin.
Felix leaped at his friend, fist aiming for his cheek. Moving out of his way, the boy flipped him across the room, but he spun smoothly to his feet, landing with all his weight, then propelled himself forwards again. "Oh, is that right? Then please enlighten me." The two seemed to be a perfect match. Not a single blow was landed from either, all were blocked or dodged, but they didn't seem to be losing momentum. In fact, every now and then, one would seem to get faster, and the other would then normalise the difference. They were already blurs as they fought back and forth, far too violent for a mere sparring match.
"You swing with rhythm!" He replied, the last word receiving emphasis as he caught Felix a blow in the face, and received one in kind, just as hard. The two didn't stop, or even slow down, Felix releasing a spinning heel kick that the other boy deflected with his forearm.
"So you'd be what? Rhythm? Verse? Chorus? Bridge?" Felix replied, dodging under a powerful haymaker and blocking a vicious kick with his shin.
"Melody!" Was the reply as Felix caught his friend in the solar plexus with an unexpected snap kick. Steven, for that was the other boy's name, took a step back then tackled Felix around the waist, knocking him down, and landed on top of him, his fist raised. Just before he let loose a powerful blow, a slim hand caught his wrist tightly. The two looked up into the blue eyes of Mistress Necrodium. She stared for a moment.
"Enough." Was the only word she spoke. It was the only one she should need to. Her voice was an open threat. In her other hand, she held the deadly blade known as the Shinigami.
"Isn't Melody a girl's name?" Felix replied smugly. Steven tried to pull his hand free from Necrodium's grip. She flicked her wrist and tossed him the entire length of the room. Felix jumped to his feet and stared at Necrodium for a moment. "I don't *need* your help. I had everything under control." He sneered. She smirked, and Felix turned, caught Steven in mid air, and tossed him with a yell. Steven flipped in mid air, and caught Felix's forearms as the white-haired youth sprung at him, but was not prepared for the kick in the chest. He flew away, releasing his grip as though Felix had been covered in grease. As Felix landed, Steven climbed back to his feet, and the two fell into carefully tailored stances. Felix attacked first, as he always did, charging and aiming to crush Steven's ribcage with a powerful punch. The dark-haired boy dodged back and then responded in kind, firing off a rhythmic set of punches that Felix turned aside. They seemed to have fighting styles perfectly tailored to each other.
Now
Felix held the Rhino's Horn before him with one hand. The other Jackals before him held their weapons too. The Executioner charged first. "Wait!" Melody cried, but it was too late, as he reached Felix and the white-haired man smoothly side stepped a single slashing maneuver designed to bury itself in his brain. Replying to the attempted assault, the Jackal kicked the man in the side, sending him into a wall solidly where he sat and dropped his ring blades.
"Next." The Rhinoceros replied. He eyed the Jackals. With Melody were Grenadier, Tank, the now pacified Executioner, Scorpion, Siren, Vocal, and Boomerang. Boomerang stepped forward, weapon in hand.
"How's this?" He yelled, tossing the massive blade with a roar of reckless rage. Jumping and flipping over the curved blade, which embedded itself into the wall, Rhinoceros attacked, impaling Boomerang in the stomach, and leaped back.
"Why are you doing this?" Vocal spoke. "You want to put down the Horn and return to your-" Her voice was cut off by a returning boomerang, which Felix had just discovered weighed less than the Rhino's Horn, forced her to dodge.
"That's plenty enough out of you, Vocal." The Rhinoceros remarked, then scowled. "Now, I'm leaving. I can't be a pawn to the Consortium. Not anymore. Try and stop me if you want, I guess." He said, and turned away, starting to walk towards the door.
"We can't just let him go!" Scorpion hissed.
"So? He defeated two of us and managed to get away. Our main concern was ensuring that Boomerang and Executioner got the medical help they needed. But, Rhinoceros, this is not over." Melody's voice had an edge to it, as he raised his sword meaningfully. Felix and Steven shared a knowing smile, and the white-haired man took off at a sprint. Tank picked up Boomerang, and Melody slung the unconscious Executioner over his shoulder, and the small group of Jackals exited the room using the same door that the Rhinoceros had.
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