Coraline Fresno [STORY]

Someone left a knife at your back?

Good... you finally have

a weapon.

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Coraline Fresno

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#StoriesByKyrie

#MakeEmCroak

#GlintingGlassFrogs

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   Coraline gently laid down each equipment given to her by the Institute. The company phone, the I.D., and even her first equipment when she was but a rookie- the ear piece. They were what made her who she is right now. What shaped her to be the woman who was retiring from her career. The last five years of her life were not easy. A new day was new nightmare. To not know when someone would come bursting through the windows. To not know when would be her last day alive from another mission. It was too much. Too much to bear. She has so little to lose, but too much to live for.

   Finally, she set down the silver wristwatch. The last of the many gadgets given to her. The final piece that would tie her down to the Institute.

   “I guess this is goodbye, Sir.” Her words were warm. Calm, even. “Thank you all so much for the things you've done, and I-”

   “You think you can just say that and leave my company..?” The moustached man drawled out, as if to give emphasis to each and every word.

   “Pardon?” The red-head raised a brow.

   “For years, I've helped you… achieve great things.” He answered. “Even when you come across some problems. All trials and tribulations that you placed yourself into, intentionally or not, I helped you with a clear conscience.”

   “Yes, Sir, I'm aware of that.” Though her words were relaxed, her body was not. Something was off. Something… was not right. Not right at all.

   “And I must say,” he smiled, “you've grown well. As an individual person of the society, and as a member of the Institute.”

   No sooner than that, the doors slammed open, and a stream of soldiers came running inside. All lined up, with their guns trained at Coraline.

   She was confused, shocked, but most importantly, angry. “Sir,” she began, barely restraining her anger, “what's the meaning of this?”

   “Now, now, Coraline, you must know why I must do this.”

   “No, I don't!”

   The cold silence reigned over. The leader and his subordinate had their eyes locked down onto each other. Never straying away. Never looking away.

   “Information, Coraline. Information.”

   “About what?”

   “Don't play that game,” he sneered. “I've trained you better than that.”

   “Yes you did, but never did I expect you'd betray me like this.”

   “You had seen so much from the five years that you've worked with us.”

   “And I'm guessing that I can't leave this place, or otherwise it'll be a breach of sorts, correct?”

   The man she once saw as a benevolent and peaceful leader glowered at her, but also had a smirk plastered across his face. “You catch on quick, Coraline.”

   Without wasting another second, she ducked and rolled away to her left, just before the armed men behind her fired. Her boss- former boss- was not lucky enough. She then looked back to see her would-be assassins arranged themselves quite nicely, to cover the whole room. Truly trained by the Institute.

   “Stand down, Agent,” the closest armed soldier commanded, now standing by the table, where she left her equipment. Dam, she needed that wristwatch. The others were scattered across the room, not too close to one another, but not far enough from each other that there was virtually no corner they could not aim at with their weapons. One was standing by the door, one at the far end of the room, opposite to where she was now, and the last two were by the windows.

   It was a no-escape situation. Fight, or die.

   “Stand down, Agent,” he repeated. “Come with us, and I'm sure your death would be quick and painless.”

   Adrenaline kicked within her system, and with a ferocious growl, she lunged towards the gunmen with nothing but her unarmed self and years of combat training.

   Coraline clenched her fists and punched him in the gut, before she threw him off to the soldier by the door. Both knocked out like a bowling ball to the pins. She swerved her head and dodged the incoming bullets with a grace of a ballerina, and made her way to the large sofa seat, where she took cover from the bullets. Rain of bullets pummelled the poor and innocent furniture, but the red-head was safe.

   “This is an order from the higher-ups, Agent. Cease your attempts of resisting arrest at once!” One of them spoke.

   It fuelled her distraught and anger. At first, it must have only been her commanding officer, but now… now it seemed that he was not alone in this plan. She stuck her hand inside her trench coat and pulled out a hidden gun. There was a new objective in mind, aside from retiring.

   Survive.

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   Coraline hastily walked out of the elevator. It was a miracle that nobody had caught on that it was her. Perhaps it was because she ditched her usual brown trench coat and fedora, and was in one in the more drab lab coat that she borrowed for an indefinite amount of time. Still, four floors down, and none had made their move. None had found out of the five unconscious agents alongside their sleeping boss.

   To her, they were still nothing against the goons she was used fighting against. Maybe because this time, she was not holding back her strength. To hell with accidental killing- they were there first to capture her in the first place! Still, Coraline dealt with them quickly, or rather, too quickly. Her conscience was what kept them alive, but to have them conscious at that point was troublesome, thus she had to knock them down.

   To her former boss, however, nothing could be said about him. With several tranquillizers embedded into his body, and in odd angles as well, it would be difficult to say if he was still alive. Maybe he will be, but then he would be interrogated why the Institute's best agent left. That, or why he was not able to capture her.

   But it was not of her concern. Not any more. She was betrayed. Betrayed by one that she was closest to in the whole institution. Or that maybe the Institution itself planned the whole drama.

   They would rue this day.

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   “Come on out!” Oswald shouted to his team when the building erupted to flames. He was thrown off by the force of the explosion, and was brought down to the ground. He lifted himself up from ash and dust. The agent wiped his brow and sweat as he breathed in the chemicals.

   “Agent, are you alright?” His commanding officer, Houston, spoke through his ear piece. “What happened there?”

   “Yes, Sir, I'm fine. I'm fine.” He looked around, and saw chaos. Chaos, and fire. Smokes. The wounded and unconscious. It was too much. All too much. It was supposed to be a fun day, he and his team doing some drills and exercises before having a nice lunch at the cafeteria then killing the day away with an afternoon session of doing anything they want. However, it was not time that they killed.

   It was their peace, but not from their hands.

   “It… it was an explosion, Sir,” he explained. “We don't know how it happened… one thing, we were getting ready for today's training, but then we smelled gas and fire. The next thing I knew was… well, that.”

   Out from the corner of his eyes, however, was something running. He swerved around and saw a figure making their way of the compound. Oswald narrowed his eyes to a glare and chased them. There was only one safe way to escape the compound, with what the fence being electrical and all, and it was towards the gate.

   He rushed towards the figure, thanking his lucky stars how he was fast enough to actually cut them off from their escape.

   “You!” He pointed his finger at them. “Are you the cause of the explosion!?” He got a good look at them. It was a woman, from what he could tell. Her body posture was relaxed, and through the shadow cast unto her face from the brim of the fedora, he could make out her stony features and her eyes. Oh, it was terrifying. The flames. The hurt. And of course, the thirst for pain.

   “Heh… wouldn't you want to know?” She clenched her hand and landed a heavy blow on Oswald's chest, but recoiled quickly when the latter did not react much from it.

   It looks like a win for him, then.

   “Surprised?” He taunted. Time. He needed time. Enough for his superiors to come and aid him. There were no other people alive, alert, or awake to fend the intruder besides himself, and with them being an unknown variable…

   “No, not really.”

   “Then get a load of this!” He took out a taser from his belt and rushed towards her like a man, but as soon as he got close, he stumbled on his feet and crashed, just a few inches away from her.

   “Surprised?” She asked in return. “Bet you didn't see that one coming.”

   All Oswald heard was her laughter as it died away. It was both mocking and humiliating, to be finished when the fight has yet to start.

   It felt like hours ed by as he was lying down on the ground, paralysed as he waited for his superiors. He was glad when they arrived, but ashamed that he lost.

   His commanding officer knelt beside him with a grim look on his face. “Agent, are you okay?” He asked as he helped the younger man sit up.

   “Y-yeah,” he replied weakly.

   “Look, I know you haven't fully recovered, but I have a question. By any chance, did you see a woman leaving the premises?”

   Oswald nodded, though just barely. “I think she drugged me with something. She just punched me, then a few-”

   “Rest now, boy,” Houston said softly as he called for the team of doctors to assist the young man. Defeat. They would be defeated by one they considered the most loyal agent of all times. All because of the schemes of the one that previously held his position. Detained as he was, there was no way the Institute could undo the damage.

   She appears when least expected, destroy something, then vanish into thin air. As if she does not want to be found at all.

   He let out a deep sigh. “Just… where in the world is Coraline Fresno?”

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