Pov Sora.
-
'Damn, how tight he's squeezing' I thought as Smasher grabbed me by the neck and lifted me off the ground, causing my feet to leave the floor.
It was hard to breathe and keep a smile on my helmet with the force Smasher was using to strangle me. 'Not even Judy does it this well!... hehe... What's my problem? Even in these circumstances, I'm thinking nonsense... Focus!'
Just when Smasher seemed ready to snap my neck, despite having my Malorian 3516 ready to give him a new direct USB entry to his brain. The good old Morgan intervened "Lower the boy, Adam." he said, aiming his Dsi-1 Lazarus Version at Adam's head, unfolding it with a swift motion as he drew it.
["Blackhand... So you were here too. Did you have anything to do with this!?"], Smasher exclaimed, moving his arm, shaking the "this" he was referring to, which happened to be me, emphasizing his question about Morgan's involvement in the Ebunike incident by coming to my aid.
When Smasher shook his arm, I involuntarily, due to my state of fear, let out a high-pitched scream, almost like a schoolgirl, uttering, "Yamete Kurasa-ught." Or at least I tried, unable to finish before Smasher silenced me by tightening his grip on my neck.
Nevertheless, even in these circumstances, I managed to get Morgan to laugh, as he also pressed the barrel of his Ds1-'Lz' against the human skin part of Smasher's head, in what remains unreplaced by Cyberware.
And it wasn't just Morgan and me, who aimed at Smasher. But also the rest of the security members in the room, or at least those with permission to carry weapons. The first to do so were those whose clients had been injured when the "Smasher-truck" ran them over. While those who were unarmed and with jammers on their Cyberware, secured their clients behind them in the tense situation.
Even Yorinobu wanted to intervene, but surprisingly, his other bodyguard stopped him from doing so, not allowing him to get closer to the out-of-control Smasher. 'I don't know who you are, but thanks, pal!'
Something similar was happening with the group of Mother, with Judy and Yumeko restraining Mother, who seemed intent on intervening to order Smasher to release my neck. "I'm sorry, Mother, but this is what I was looking for," I thought before turning my gaze away, feeling guilty for worrying them.
Facing all the guards pointing their weapons at him, Smasher glanced at them for a moment, seemingly unfazed, before turning his gaze back to Morgan, giving the impression that he only took Morgan's presence in the room seriously.
With 'Adam' focused on Morgan, awaiting his response, Morgan remained calm as he replied, "I was just a happy spectator. If I must say; I'm your biggest fan in your Cybertube career. I think I'm responsible for one-third of the views on your video falling into the bay," Morgan said, laughing in Smasher's face.
'Damn, don't make jokes! Only the person with his neck on the line can do that!' I thought, watching as Smasher reacted to Morgan's comment, closing, thank God, his other fist tightly.
Still, I couldn't help but acknowledge Morgan's joke as I said in a hoarse voice, "Ha!, Good on-ght,"
Unable to finish, thanks to Smasher tightening his grip on my neck again. It hurt, but it was worth it, watching Smasher's anger overflow, seeming to escape shining brightly through the red lens-like eyes of his cyberware.
It was clear he was struggling to restrain himself from completely closing his hand and breaking my neck. But with all the weapons aimed at him as a reminder of what would happen if he did, especially my Malorian against his metallic jaw and Morgan's at the side of his head.
Besides, I'm used to worse things than a little pain and having some trouble breathing like now. I still vividly remembered the anguished and dreadful feeling it was... yearning more than anything to take a breath of air, but at the same time dreading it so much, that you'd rather stop breathing forever, but doing it anyway, so that every breath would be as painful as necessary....
And although having Smasher gripping my neck was painful and despite the jokes, I was nervous... it was nothing! compared to the shit I went through in that lonely and hateful white hospitaller room
With those hard memories, sprouting in my mind, as a balm for the difficult moments, like now, where doubts assailed me, for what would happen next, where a small mistake, would make me lose my life.
While I was thinking about all that shit, Smasher seemed on the verge of attacking Morgan at any moment. Although I'd like to see that happen, I couldn't let the situation escalate further with Judy and Mother present. I needed Smasher angry and out of control, but not with Morgan.
"Oi, SPLASH-ER!" I said with great effort as I holstered my Malorian 3516 and grabbed Johnny's guitar's neck with both hands, stopping Smasher's imminent attack on Morgan. Making Smasher turn his head jerkily, as if he were rusted, unable to believe what I just called him,
And as he looked at me at the end of his arm, I added, "You haven't forgotten about me, have you? I'm a very jealous man!"
Accompanying my words, to the incredulous sight of Kerry, Morgan, and the rest of the guests, when I smashed Johnny's guitar into hundreds of pieces against Smasher's head.
'Fulfilling a wet dream that I'm sure Johnny had more than once.' Letting out an "Oops" afterward. Not really causing any harm to Smasher with the guitar swing, just making him lower his head and angering him even more.
Raising his head afterward, with guitar splinters, strings, pickups, and frets still around him after the impact, he looked at me again, with his doubts about whether to kill me now or not resolved.
He tightened his grip on my neck, not to break it, but to make sure I didn't move while raising his other closed fist, originally aimed at Morgan, with the intention of of making me 'a David.'
Releasing his fist with all his strength and anger toward my face to crush my head.
As Smasher's murderous fist approached, I activated the nanobots in my spine, and with my time perception slowed down, I glanced at Morgan for a moment before acting. He was beginning to close his finger on the trigger of his weapon. I managed to stop him by making eye contact and shaking my head as little as I could.
After some precious moments lost and with Smasher's fist about to impact my helmet, I tightened my grip on the piece of the guitar neck that remained in my hand and... I stabbed him, like a stake, between the chest/shoulder grooves of his cyberframe... Searching for the human heart that Smasher still had hidden under the armor, beating.
With luck, the piece of the guitar neck would hold long enough to reach Smasher's heart, and I'd kill him with one blow.
If not... according to what I've studied about Smasher's Samson cyberframe, I should damage enough nerve receptors to cause a brief malfunction... and if I fail completely... well, then, I'll have the consolation of sharing the same fate as David. With Smasher either killing me with the blow or leaving me brain-damaged.
"When I stuck it in. heh" I wasn't lucky enough to kill him with one blow, but I did manage to stop his fist right in front of my face.
Filling the side of Smasher's chest with sparks and small discharges, where I jammed the neck of the guitar, and once inside, making a violent twist to break it inside Adam's chest.
Causing a chain of failures in Smasher's Cyberframe that made him kneel, and once my feet were back on the ground, I easily removed Smasher's metallic hand from my neck. Then I straightened my crumpled suit while stretching my bruised neck, generating several loud "cracks" as I did so.
Smasher, on his knees, couldn't help it, thanks to the piece of Johnny's guitar neck "fucking around" inside his chest, generating sparks and preventing him from repairing or diverting the damaged nerve receptors.
He had no choice but to use his own hand, the one he could still move, under his chest, near where his heart was, to begin searching for the piece of the guitar inside him.
Meanwhile, with all the guests and security's attention on me, I moved calmly to the center of the room, where the concentric metal circles separated the marble tiles from the floor. At the same time, I connected with them through the room's system.
My presence in the center of the room had an immediate effect on the guests, moving away from me, creating an empty space in the center of the room without me having to "politely" ask them to do so.
However, there were two notable exceptions: Mother and Judy. Despite my attempt to keep them at a distance, both tried to approach me. That's when I decided to take additional measures. I extended two fingers of my hand and raised it slightly, activating the last concentric circle in the room. This lifted a transparent safety railing that rose from the floor, preventing them from getting closer.
With all the guests' attention on me and their murmurs filling the room, I decided to speak up and explain the next spectacle of the night.
"Ladies and gentlemen, due to the unfortunate intervention of our dear, out-of-control Smasher, who seems to have some misunderstandings with me, this special night has been interrupted," I began, raising my voice so everyone could hear me.
Then, I changed my tone and proposed, "But instead of allowing this situation to turn into a disaster, why don't we turn it into something more... exciting?
So, I propose a new event for the night: a simple and practical unarmed fight that will not only resolve Smasher's misunderstanding but also entertain our degenerate guests. What do you say?"
With anticipation forming on the faces of the attendees, thinking they might witness a live death, I continued, "I don't think there's a better way to pay tribute to Richard Night than through a good fight. After all, he was a big fan, enough to build a cage for them in his own penthouse, right, Mrs. Night?" I directed my gaze toward Richard Night's elegant widow, Miriam, subtly asking her for permission for the sudden event I was organizing.
Miriam obviously didn't like my sudden proposal, but Smasher's apparent recovery, tossing the piece of the guitar's neck he had inside and getting up, approaching me indifferent to the decision Miriam would make, left her with no choice but to give her consent. She informed Sienna, who was organizing more security to restrain Smasher before she was forced to use the penthouse security system to do so.
Finally, I turned to the final part of my plan and said, "Let me ask you, are you in agreement with my proposal, Mr. Yorinobu? I don't think there is any other way to stop him now." pointing to the moving Smasher-Truck.
"There are..." Yorinobu replied, reaching for his kimono's side and then adding, "But, as you mentioned, I also enjoy a good fight, just like Richard. Besides, it's not common to see Adam in this state. So, from my side, I have no problem. What do you say, Adam? Are you willing to resolve the misunderstanding you have with this 'Humble Mercenary' through a fight and, at the same time, entertain everyone with your readiness for violence?"
["There was no need to ask,"] Smasher replied, jumping over the safety railing, breaking the marble tiles as he fell, appearing more relaxed knowing he had the guaranteed opportunity to kill me in front of everyone... 'Cool! This promises.'
Not liking one bit what was happening, Sienna, following Miriam's decision, headed back to the stage where Kerry, knowing he wouldn't play again after witnessing Johnny's guitar "smash" into "Adam's" face with some satisfaction, approached Bes, who was waiting to watch the showdown between me and Smasher together.
While Sienna on the stage restored order in the room, "Ladies and gentlemen, as Miriam Night herself has given her permission, Night Corp will allow this... 'peculiar' event to proceed.
It will begin once the injured guests have been evacuated to the hospital within the Tower, fully covered by Night Corp. And please remember if you wish to file a claim for any accidents that occur... do so with Arasaka. We at Night Corp do not take responsibility for the actions of the security personnel attending the guests," Sienna said, giving a slight glance at Yorinobu, who remained indifferent.
As Sienna spoke, shifting the blame for the injuries onto Arasaka, and before I activated the rest of the floor platforms, I headed towards the circular railing where Judy and Mother were. In front of their dual expressions of anger and concern, I handed Judy my suit jacket and my Getsuga in its sheath.
Until Judy, seeing that I had no intention of saying anything, while hugging my Getsuga and my jacket, asked me, "What the hell are you planning?" managing to make me smile slightly under my helmet, seeing how much they resembled each other...
"A distraction," I replied enigmatically.
"A distraction for what?" she exclaimed.
"For my future plans," I replied.
"I'm getting tired of your surprises and plans," she responded exasperatedly.
"Don't say that; you love them! Don't worry; everything will be fine... I think"I said confidently, until I no longer was. Unable to be entirely sure that everything would go as planned as I looked at the "Gigachad" in tin against whom I would be facing off, his gleaming homicidal gaze fixed on me.
Making me nervous... but also causing the smile on my helmet to grow as I returned his gaze, feeling somewhat eager to face him. While I was looking at Splasher, I listened behind me; "How confident are you about taking him on?" Mother's voice, avoiding showing how concerned she was.
Without looking at her, I thought about the answer and replied, "Um... maybe 50%?"
More worried after hearing my honest response, she exclaimed, "With just that, you're creating all this! So—" correcting herself, she continued, "I really hope you've thought carefully about what you're about to do; there's still time to back out—"
"I'm not planning to, and my answer is only if I were alone..."
Confused by my response, Mother said, "What does that mean?"
"Who knows" I replied, as I moved away from them. While, before Night Corp's viper assistant activated the ground platform system, I did so, with three concentric rings except the last one, complete with a safety railing, descending.
Creating a cage or rather pit for combat in the center of the room, separating the spectators from the danger of the fight as the ring dropped several meters. At the same time, fully automated, two holographic cannons from the ceiling activated, displaying various angles of the cage, so that no one would miss anything.
As for me, before the fight began, as I took off my jacket and remained in my vest, exposing my black arm completely, and leaving my two Malorian 3516 pistols, one black and the other silver, hanging from my arms, which I had no intention of letting go of, just as Smasher still had weapons attached to his cyberframe, like the missile launcher behind his shoulder.
Catching Smasher's attention, with the black version of my Malorian's particularly drawing his gaze, impatient to charge at me when he saw them. Sickening to witness Smasher's scavenging gaze, fully aware of what he was thinking as he looked at them. I made contact with my ["Buddy, are you ready?"] inside my suit, mixed with nanobots.
["Woof"] Hearing Eco's affirmative bark through the nanobots' private network.
["Great, remember how we planned it, focus on defense first and especially on my torso, and internal organs... until I light up... then... you know what to do!"]
["Woof!"] Eco responded with another confident bark. As I felt the structure of the shirt of my suit change, becoming stiff and sticking to my torso.
At the same time, Eco responded, Sienna gave the signal for the start of the fight. "Although I don't agree, before the combat begins if there's a change of heart, now is the time to speak up; once it begins, it will be too late to do so. Are both parties willing to participate in the fight?" Sienna asked both of us but mainly looking at me.
Smasher responded with a disgruntled ["Hmpt"], annoyed by the time-wasting question.
As for me, I replied enthusiastically, "Of course!"
"Then so be it. In the combat, firearms and bladed weapons are not allowed, but due to the exceptional circumstances involving one of the combatants... the use of cyberware will be permitted, although it may seem unequal, there is no other alternative," Sienna said, emphasizing the clear difference between the two "sides."
Before adding, "Having been the promoter of this peculiar event, you must agree, right?" Sienna asked me directly.
"What a shame; I thought you were going to ask Smasher to step out of the Cyberframe. It would have been a much simpler fight for me..." I said, imagining the hypothetical and ideal scenario of stomping on Smasher's skull without his cyberframe, causing laughter among the guests.
Responding immediately, "I don't care, but I hope no one minds if I use these," I said, pulling out a pair of fingerless gloves with four pyramid-like protrusions on the knuckles, from under my vest. Morgan was the only one who had a slight reaction to seeing them and recognizing them.
"What do you say, Smasher? You won't mind a couple of measly gloves, will you?" I asked Smasher directly
["Couldn't care less, dead meat. Should've brought your toothpick with you too."] Smasher replied, referring to my Getsuga.
"Nah, these will do for dealing with a toaster like you or maybe... another guitar. What do you say, Splasher, should I order another one?" I said indifferently as I put on my gloves, and started rolling up the only sleeve on my left arm, revealing the tattoo on my forearm.
Seeing how Smasher could barely contain himself due to my provocations, Sienna stepped forward and said, "As CEO of Night Corp... I hereby initiate the fight!"ç
Just as Sienna finished speaking, Smasher disappeared from the view of all the guests. He reappeared right in front of my face, his red-tinted lenses glowing intensely as he thrust his homicidal fist directly toward my head, with the intent to end this quickly.
I remained still, not changing my posture as I finished rolling up my shirt sleeve, giving the impression to the guests that I couldn't even react to Smasher's speed. Just before Smasher's devastating blow was about to hit, I vanished from the sight of the eager spectators, who were anticipating Smasher's strike to rip my head off.
'I'm sorry for you all... but that's not the spectacle you'll see tonight, you bastards!'
I reappeared inside Smasher's outstretched arm, mirroring him, and bent my entire body forward, executing the same punch that Smasher intended to finish me off with. I thrust my helmet toward Smasher, dragging my right arm in a wide arc above my head.
Striking back the same blow to Smasher with my black right fist slamming into his face in a satisfying blow that generated a loud noise, pushing Smasher back a couple of meters.
Surprising the spectators, who had expected this to be a mere execution rather than a fight. Not only did I manage to push him back, but I also caused him harm for the first time, slightly distorting the cyberware around one of Smasher's intensely glowing red lenses, causing it to start flickering.
I didn't hesitate to take advantage of the situation, once again using my "Sandevistan," illuminating the nanobots on my back and appearing in front of Smasher, planting my legs firmly and, with my entire body, delivering another punch to Smasher's face, this time with my tattooed left arm.
Letting out another "Oops" as I connected with Smasher's face, but this time it carried a completely different meaning.
-
Pov Judy
"Huh?" I couldn't help but react upon recognizing the stance Sora took to execute his attack with his left arm, resembling the one I saw him use earlier this evening during his training. However, there was something different about it.
The powerful punch that created gusts of wind that I witnessed earlier... was nowhere to be found when Sora landed his blow on Smasher's face, resulting in another one of his silly "Oops," but this time for a different reason.
This time, it was because Smasher didn't even flinch, nor did he suffer any damage from Sora's feeble left-arm attack. He continued to relentlessly attack, while Sora could do nothing but focus on evading, only managing to make Smasher stop his assaults when he used his cybernetic right arm to counter, remaining unfazed by the rest of Sora's attacks.
'What's he planning even now, not fighting seriously?' I wondered, concerned watching him fight someone like Smasher.
On the contrary, most of the spectators became ecstatic as they witnessed the exchange of blows, hoping that Sora would make a mistake and get hit by one of Smasher's powerful attacks, eagerly anticipating the possibility of seeing him injured or worse, satisfying their twisted desires without resorting to a B'd to satiate their depraved cravings.
"What's wrong?" Hanako-San asked, visibly concerned too, observing her son's dangerous fight, as she noticed the look of doubt and confusion on my face.
"No, it's nothing! It's just that—" I interrupted myself when a new shift in the fight occurred. When Smasher tired of the games, he vanished again but this didn't appear again, attacking Sora with his Sandevistan active, forcing Sora to do the same, with the two of them disappearing from the Ring and from most onlookers' gazes.
Only leaving behind the traces of their invisible battle, with sudden explosions shattering marble tiles or blows that shook the entire ring, leaving small craters in the walls. Delighting the guests as they felt the intensity of the fight even causing the ground beneath them to tremble.
Most of the guests, including Hanako and myself, had to resort to the holographic screens above the Ring to understand what was happening, broadcasting slow-motion images of the combat. Unlike most of the security members like Morgan, Avaray, and Norris, who didn't need to look away from the cage/ring, without missing a moment of the fight.
On the holographic screens, you could see Sora and Smasher engaged in an aggressive exchange of blows. Smasher only took Sora's right-arm strikes seriously, blocking them with his forearms or evading them, while the rest of Sora's attacks went unnoticed by him.
Using them to relentlessly assault Sora, who could only dodge and retreat just enough to avoid Smasher's destructive blows. Many of them struck the cage's wall, causing the spectators just above to shake.
This intense exchange of blows continued for nearly half a minute for the spectators, but for them, it felt much longer, as they didn't stop moving like crazy inside the cage/ring, wreaking havoc in this relatively short amount of time.
Until both of them became visible to everyone at the same time, facing each other a few meters apart. Sora breathed, slightly moving his shoulders up and down, with his suit and helmet showing some scratches, while Smasher, though not visibly breathing, also seemed to be recovering after the intensive use of their Sandevistan.
Without us realizing it, due to our focused attention on Sora, someone approached Hanako and said in Japanese, "It's rare to see you so concerned, sister, it makes me slightly envious, you know?"
-
Pov General.
In the noisy hall, amid the distracted and euphoric guests and the loud noises generated by the fight, Yorinobu approached his sister, hoping to verify something important one last time.
"What do you want... brother?" Hanako responded in Japanese, keeping her eyes on the fight.
"I didn't know you were such a combat enthusiast,"Yorinobu quipped, knowing that wasn't the case. "I've come to make one last check, sister," he added, placing a small, elegant black anti-listening device on the safety railing of the ring. When activated, it produced an inaudible white noise that would saturate any "conventional" eavesdropping methods.
"If, deep down, you were still capable of looking at me with the same concern you look at Musashi Hatake's 'grandson'..." Yorinobu said, surprising Hanako slightly, although her face didn't betray it. Hanako had known from the start that something like this might happen coming from his brother, which is why she had taken so many precautions and been so meticulous with her plans for Sora's birth.
Still, even though it wasn't to his sister, Yorinobu's words caused one more person to react... almost making him glitch, under his Oni mask.
Without seeing anything on his sister's face that would arouse suspicion, Yorinubo added, "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed you were still capable of doing an expression like that. I thought you had become a cold person who had lost the ability to care or empathize with people," Yorinobu said, causing Hanako to retch inwardly, well aware of the lack of empathy her own brother had demonstrated with the projects he had undertaken and authorized, with Pharalax being just one example more, capable even of using children and forcing them to dive behind the wall.
Unaware of what his sister was thinking, Yorinobu continued, "Although it comforts me to know I was wrong... It also makes me envious and wonder, '"What have I done? What have I sacrificed so much for that gaze, only to lose the right to receive it?"?'"
"I initially thought it was our father's fault that you changed, but perhaps... I was wrong about that too. Maybe it wasn't his fault, but someone else's..."
As soon as Yorinobu finished speaking, he briefly glanced at the worried young woman who concealed half her face in a black jacket and held a sheathed sword, all while forcing herself to continue watching the fight. At her sister's side, until Hanako stepped in Yorinobu's gaze at Judy.
Causing Yorinobu to smile, as he turned his gaze back to the ring and looked at Musashi Hatake's 'grandson,' who was fighting against Smasher. As a conclusion to the dangerous implications of his words
Just at that moment, as if something or some conversation he might have been eavesdropping on while fighting was distracting him, a great reaction erupted among the spectators as Sora received Smasher's unrestrained blow for the first time. Just in the nick of time, he crossed his arms before Smasher's blow, which lifted him off the ground and sent him flying against one of the ring walls.
This made the euphoric guests once again turn their attention to the screens as Smasher, activating his Sandevistan once more, launched himself at Sora, who had just impacted the wall. This forced him to activate his nanobots, despite having just received one of the most powerful blows of his life, comparable to falling from a rooftop, which left his lungs rigid and emptied a significant amount of blood under his helmet.
Hanako controlled her nerves as best as she could, watching Sora, injured but still managing to barely evade Smasher. With the fight appearing more one-sided than ever, she asked, "Tell me, brother, if I were to answer, would you stop Smasher?"
"Oh, you're setting quite a high price, don't you think? Even if I'm his boss, if I were to stop Adam now, he wouldn't take it well, given the grudge he holds against the him. But if you answer, I can promise you I'll stop him before he kills him. How does that sound?"
While her son fought, Hanako replied, "Because I grew up, Yorinobu. When you used to receive those looks from me, I was just a naive and empty child with nothing... many things have happened that changed me."
"I see... I expected a cryptic answer, Hanako, but I feel like you've deceived me with this deal. Honestly, it doesn't seem like a satisfying enough answer to me to stop Smasher when he's about to kill him, which... doesn't look like much longer" Yorinobu said with the apparent one-sided fight, corroborating his words.
Upon hearing her brother's response, Hanako found herself in a difficult position. She clearly couldn't and didn't want to reveal any more information, but at the same time, every little jolt of concern from the worried Judy as she watched Sora narrowly dodge Smasher's attacks made her hesitate.
Seeing the unusual doubt and insecurity on her sister's face, Yorinobu took advantage of it by raising his "left" hand with the intention of caressing her "beautiful" face, which had remained untouched by him, since they were teenagers. Hanako did her best to hide her displeasure and did nothing to stop her brother's hand from approaching her face.
She couldn't help but let her discomfort show when Yorinobu's hand rested on her face, making her feel small and weak. Followed by Yorinobu's words; "I thought you'd hit my hand... it's surprising what you're willing to do for the 'grandson' of an old employee, don't you think, Hana-."
Whether it was a coincidence or not, Yorinobu stopped talking at that moment. When something from the Cage shone intensely, with furious electric discharges erupting inside it, some even escaping and overloading the ceiling lights several meters above.
This was followed by a deafening noise caused by the blow of Sora's left arm, with its tattoo outline illuminated by the electric currents roaring through them, to Smashes's head.
Despite using his organic left arm, Sora managed to repel Smasher enough to continue his attacks. He used his two fists, covered in electricity thanks to his gloves, enhanced by Powder, to strike Smasher to his angry heart's content.
Pushing Smasher's heavy metallic body several meters back after finishing his combination of punches with a powerful right hook from his black arm.
Sora, without having finished, slowed down his perception of time and created before the astonished eyes of Smasher and all those capable of following, two trails of himself, both charging at Smasher from opposite sides.
The two trails hit Smasher as if they were two people, continuously pummeling Smasher from left to right, each one following the blows of the other trail. It appeared to the incredulous onlookers, all the security members capable of seeing them, like two people... in one.
With Morgan recognizing a bit of what the "Kid" was doing, resembling the way he crossed his bullet wall, but this time different, 'it was like a mirage of himself... almost as if two beings occupied the same body in total synchrony,' 'both fighting at the same time while sharing the body?' Morgan wondered/thought,, trying to make sense of what he was seeing and what his gut was telling him.
This also surprised the guests who couldn't follow them, even seeing the images in slow motion on the holographic screens, which showed Sora changing position in each frame, seemingly charging at Smasher from the left side in one and from the opposite side in the next, leaving it unclear what he was doing apart from being so fast that even the slow-motion images couldn't fully capture it.
This prompted Sienna to instruct her assistant to activate the scanners to display the type of cyberware Sora had, which, contrary to all expectations, was dominating Smasher, not just for his helpful gloves.
When Sora's flurry of blows ended, all the spectators, whether guests or security, fell silent, observing Smasher's condition. His cyberframe had dents all over it, the cyberware in Smasher's eye socket that had been blinking was now completely deactivated, and the part of his head where there was still skin was blackened/burned by the discharges.
With the turn of events in her son's fight, Hanako slapped her brother's "left" hand still on her face. He was astonished, finding it hard to believe the change in the fight and Adam's condition.
Making Hanako smile slightly, and said, "It seems I won't need to make more deals in this case," regaining her confident tone and looking at her brother coldly without concealing her displeasure as she glanced at him one last time.
Feeling confident as her son was performing well, Hanako placed her hand on the shoulder of the absent-minded Judy, whose entire world was centered solely on the cage where the fight was happening. She gently pushed her away from her brother, followed by Yumeko and Oda behind her.
His sister's cold look, without concealing her displeasure, served as Yorinobu's final confirmation he needed while watching his sister move away.
Sora, on the other hand, found himself breathing heavily after the exhausting process it was to push the nanobots of his nervous system to the limit. He felt pain in his joints due to the violent movements he had made while literally splitting control of his body in half, with his Soulcode taking one side.
Gritting his teeth, Sora lunged once again, activating his gloves, toward Smasher, who remained motionless. His initial strikes landed without any reaction from Smasher... until he did.
["I've got you,"] Smasher said, almost as if he had suddenly come to life, grabbing Sora's left fist when it came in for a strike and then his right in the same manner, and once caught... Smasher intended to take revenge.
Clenching his metal hands tightly, tearing the "annoying" gloves to shreds. A bit puzzled by the absence of screams of pain, assuming he had just broken Sora's hand.
Without attaching too much importance to it, Smasher, with Sora immobilized and unable to evade any more of his attacks, started delivering violent headbutt, after headbutt, against Sora's head in front of him
Due to the aggression behind each of Smasher's headbutts, it caused the women and men who were more sensitive to violence to struggle to maintain their gaze, eventually leading to screams.
Meanwhile, those who knew Sora and cared about him either clung helplessly to the railing, averted their eyes, or buried her anguished faces in the jackets she was hugging, reacting to the sudden shift in the combat.
After one of Smasher's brutal headbutts, Sora's helmet, now covered in cracks, began to fracture, revealing one of his eyes and his mouth. This sight surprised Smasher, who had expected to see terrified eyes and a grimace of pain beneath the helmet, only to be met with fiery eyes and a bloody grin, that spit on him "I got YOU, pal!"
'It Was At This Moment Smasher Knew... He Fucked Up' noticing the strange vibration coming from his left arm, perceiving a change in the grip of Sora's black right arm.
Smasher was certain he had a hold of Sora's fist, but now Sora's fingers were above his, with Sora holding onto Smasher's fist. This left the palm of Sora's cybernetic hand free, or rather ready to fire. With, In the very next instant, activating the bunker pillar in his forearm, which had finished charging, all while enduring the silent onslaught of Smasher's headbutts.
Adam acted quickly, releasing his hold on Sora's "harmless" left arm, now that the gloves had been destroyed. He aimed his fist towards the inner part of Sora's metallic forearm, intending to destroy it before Sora could unleash his cyberware attack.
As Smasher focused on his black arm, Sora, with his recently freed left hand now completely black due to being covered in nanobots to withstand Smasher's grip, rapidly returned to his tattooed form. He savored the moment as he reached this point a life.
Just as Smasher's fist was about to impact Sora's forearm, the bunker pillar fired, erupting from the palm of Sora's hand, obliterating Smasher's arm up to the elbow. It didn't stop there; the projectile continued on, embedding itself in the cage's wall.
Unable to stop as it should when Sora's forearm was struck by Smasher's fist, evening the score and shattering his black arm. This caused the electromagnetically launched piston to shoot out and impale itself into the wall.
Smasher, despite being late to stop Sora's Cyberware attack, thought he had won by destroying his black arm, and that the only thing left to do was to kill him, until he saw something like steam coming through his field of vision, which revived and strengthened the sense of danger he felt.
Turning his head, Smasher found Sora gritting his teeth as his body emitted vapor for a moment, and with his left and only arm, blurred in front of him and the rest of the spectators. Nailing his legs to the ground, Sora used every braided fiber of his muscles in his body to deliver such a strike to the unprotected head of Smasher...
It created a deafening noise, as if it were about to separate Smasher's head from his metallic spine, holding them together as he was propelled backward along with the rest of the cyberframe. He dug his feet in, attempting to halt the momentum, leaving a trail on the floor until he collided with the cage wall. This collision was accompanied by gusts of air generated by Sora's strike, that ascended, shaking the faces of the spectators.
Making everyone look at Sora in shock, with only one arm... just like Smasher. Leaving the crowded room in total silence, only hearing Sora's footsteps approaching Smasher, literally and metaphorically, against the wall...
Drawing the attention of the main representatives of the corporations, as they witnessed an unknown cyebrware, which seemed to overload the human body, offering a significant increase in strength, almost as if it were burning itself to achieve it.
They turned their expectant gazes to the scanner Sienna had ordered, but just as the results were about to appear, Sora interrupted their dangerous and eager curiosity. With a subtle snap of his fingers without moving his arm, retracting a thin layer of nanobots around his body, causing interference in the scanners.
Smasher detached from the wall, checking that one of his cybernetic eyes had been completely destroyed, having the luck at least, that it was the one failing. After taking a hit that had left him physically and mentally shocked. it was the first time he had experienced such a blow from organic muscles.
Shocking Smasher's foundation. Adam had sacrificed his body, rationalizing it as an upgrade rather than a loss. But Sora's body and what it contained cast doubt on the path to individual strength that Smasher had been pursuing.
However, without a hint of fear, Smasher faced him with his only right arm as Sora used his only left arm. In a matter of seconds, they both vanished again, resuming their fierce battle, more than ever. This time, due to how Sora wasn't dodging Smasher's attacks; instead, he used his left fist to clash with Smasher's.
With each exchange, Smasher's knuckles were stained with blood every time they collided. It seemed obvious that Sora was taking more damage, but the strange sensation in Smasher's arm suggested otherwise. With each exchange, Smasher felt his only arm becoming looser and less stable, as if something was eating away at it from the inside.
Then, in one of these exchanges, Smasher's arm began to lose small parts. At that moment, with both of them knowing what would happen next... Sora seized the opportunity to say something to Adam.
"Do you see their faces, Adam? Have you noticed yet... how their fear in you is fading away by every second, anticipating your defeat?" Sora said, referring to the spectators watching from above, before continuing, "Remember this moment, Adam, the moment when a humble mercenary fucked up the fearsome Adam Splasher!"
Backing up his words with actions, Sora emitted vapor from his body once again, accompanied by a striking reddish hue as he pushed his heart rate to the extreme, bursting the small capillaries in his skin. And with his flesh, bone, and nanobot fist, he tore apart Smasher's metallic arm. At the same time, they both reappeared before the onlookers as they deactivated their "Sandevistan."
Thereupon, mimicking Smasher's attack again, Sora flexed his vapor-shrouded body forward, as he tensed all his muscles dragging his fist above his head. As Smasher helplessly witnessed, unable to defend himself, the powerful attack approaching his face breaking the wind.
Seeing the helpless expression on Smasher's wounded face as the fist drew near, Sora recalled David's supposed fate, and with indescribable satisfaction, thrust his fist into Smasher's face, deforming it.
Throwing Smasher against the wall once more, but this time; concealing him within the cloud of dust created by the impact against the wall. The spectators had to hold onto the railing due to the tremors it generated.
And as before, leaving the packed room in complete silence, with only the sound of Sora's heavy breathing, as if everyone else had momentarily forgotten to catch their own breath, could be heard
Being the first to react... a proud mother who... applauded at her son's fight. She was soon joined by the bewildered and fascinated spectators, even by the security team, only being able to express their amazement at the fight they had just witnessed, having just defeated someone like Adam Smasher... applauding.
As the dust settled... a red lens lit up again, hearing the applause of the crowd and... not finding the fear, intimidation, and respect they had felt before... instead, he found... nothing, they weren't even looking at him... discarding him... like a product... outdated
All of them were now focused on the mercenary in front of him, feeling the hatred he had been harboring for the young man in front of him starting to surpass that of Morgan, which had accumulated over the years of injuring him in their fights or preventing him from completing his mission when they encountered each other, and vice versa.
Causing Smasher... with a roar; ["I WON'T ALLOW IT"] to activate at Yorinobu's incredulous gaze the shoulder-mounted missile launcher of his Cyberframe, trying to stop him with Smasher's Cyberframe's master key in his Kimono. Failing to do so before Smasher fired all the missiles at the tired and surprised Sora... but not because of Smasher's outburst...
But because of Smasher's own stupidity, due to the nanobot cloak that Sora had used to nullify the scanners, Smasher's interface should have warned him that he was impossible to lock onto, and yet he fired.
This caused the 9 missiles he fired to fly wildly in all directions, exiting the ring. Three of them were within the blast radius of Judy and his mother.
This prompted Sora, once again gritting his teeth and forcing his body to move, illuminating the nanobots in his spine. But before he took the first step, someone with an active Sandevistan called out to him.
"Kid, wait," Morgan said.
Sora looked up to meet Morgan's gaze. "What? We don't have time!"
Morgan pointed to the rest of the room. "Look at the others."
Morgan's warning made Sora realize how part of the security guards were moving on their own. Some were aiming at the missiles, while others were deploying their cyberware to defend themselves or try to stop them. The situation was becoming chaotic as everyone prepared to launch their own attacks.
"Fuck, what do you suggest?" Sora asked.
Morgan quickly responded, "We need to designate targets and stop the loose cannons."
Showing his experience by quickly explaining, without doubt, the most optimal way to get out of the dangerous situation without casualties.
Not all the security members present with Sandervistas installed could join Sora and Morgan's conversation due to their different temporal dilation settings. Those who could, like Avaray, Norris, Max Tac agent Melissa Roy, or the rest of the top-tier corporations bodyguards, such as Excella's butler, professionally began naming their targets, dividing into two teams: Elimination and neutralization.
Elimination involved taking care of the missiles, and neutralization meant dealing with the guards who were about to make matters worse by firing their weapons or cyberware all at once at the missiles.
"Kid, how many missiles can you handle?" Morgan asked Sora on the missile elimination team.
Sora, seeing the three missiles lined up near Judy and his mother, responded as he started running, "3," causing the others to move throughout the room, leaving trails of their movements.
Sora charged directly to where Judy was clutching his jacket and Getsuga, with its handle sticking out. He used the craters in the wall to quickly climb onto the railing in front of Judy, grabbed the handle of Getsuga, and without stopping, jumped toward the three missiles.
Taking advantage of the momentum of his jump, to executed a cut by turning his body horizontally on its center of gravity. Cleanly separating the explosive payload of the missiles from the section that propelled them
He then continued with a fluid motion, following the spin's momentum, and with the blunt part of Getsuga, "click!" x3, he batted the three explosive tips back towards their origin in the ring. He landed cleanly on the railing in front of Judy, deactivating his nanobots to enjoy the show.
Morgan, finding Sora's method amusing, did the same. He drew several revolvers and fired, destroying the horizontal fins of another three missiles. Then, with another revolver, he fired rubber bullets at the missile tips to make them spin vertically in the air, continuing to shoot with pinpoint accuracy at each missile to adjust their new trajectory back toward Smasher in the cage.
Of the remaining three missiles, two were shot down in mid-air, causing the subsequent explosions to damage the penthouse's structural columns and knock down the guests near the ground, but no one was seriously injured. Meanwhile, the third and final missile was hacked to safely explode on the terrace, catching the attention of the Militech security members guarding the Blackaquila, who rushed back into the room.
As for the neutralization team, they had an easier time, incapacitating or subduing the rest of the guards who were about to act recklessly.
Meanwhile, Morgan and Sora delighted in watching Smasher disappear from their view, consumed by the explosion of his own 6 missiles that had been returned.