”
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkj8IyzhcyP
I spit blood onto the ferrocrete. It sizzles — probably from the plasma burn cooking my ribs. The bastard talks too much. Always the loud ones who think they’ve already won.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHEGzbq6VuM
"What'cha lookin' at, street punk? Eyes up here!"
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLDU49PhGX
He’s got a voice like rusty nails dragged across synth-steel. His jaw’s half-metal, teeth grinding like old gears. The Electro Krystal dangles from his belt like some twisted trophy, pulsing blue, begging me to rip it free.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvPCm4xYqG
"You want the last Krystal in this district? Then fight me for it, scum!"
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwnuR4TXuNy
He thinks I came here for the krystal. He thinks I give a damn about the krystal.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIRkcTAGVlW
What I came for was revenge.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskUeUsbEWL
"You talk too much," I growl, spitting again. "Maybe I’ll break your jaw and use it as an ashtray."
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiJaEMEVKPU
He grins, cybernetic eye twitching, arm whirring with serrated upgrades. "You fight dirty, I walk. That’s the rule."
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTgnnyOQrP3
"I don’t fight dirty," I say, cracking my knuckles. "I fight to kill."
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHBy7Bqwru
He charges. I let him come. Always let the big dogs bark before you put ‘em down. His blade-arm screeches out, nearly takes my head, but I duck low, drive my knee into his groin so hard I hear the crunch of a shattered implant. He screams. Sounds like music.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnsKSIcdzo
I don’t stop. I never stop. I grab his arm, twist it until the servo-sinews snap. Then I slam his face into the alley wall — once, twice, until the chrome plating peels off like a goddamn banana.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuB4DUVVf7
"Still watching me, street punk?" I whisper in his ear, dragging the jagged edge of my boot down his back. He coughs blood, gargling something about rules.*
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRhTSxjB3Q
I fish the Krystal from his belt. It hums in my palm like a heartbeat. Warm. Alive. I look down at him, broken, twitching.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJBH2Fioyh
"Here’s a new rule, asshole — don’t fuck with ghosts."
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUWAXwopaGs
Then I drive the Krystal into his chest. Not gently. It sizzles through his armor and flesh like butter, and the bastard glows from the inside out.
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXcUBd2x2Qf
By the time I walk away, there’s nothing left but a puddle of slag, the stink of burnt
13Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgAafbU2xM
meat, and a memory of screaming.
ns216.73.216.197da2
