The Showdown

The ride up to meet the rest of the crew was quiet, save for the mechanical screeching and gyrations of the elevators. Miz assumed her nostrils were now impervious to the smells of the sewers, but it's likely they reeked from having crawled through all of it. Why did she care? It was just the job. Some jobs were dirtier than others. Oh right, there was still that thought she had, that thought she'd been ignoring since Max told her to pull power in the server room. That thought she wasn't ready to work through. That's why she cared. That's why she felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment.

The elevator stopped at Level 7, the cage doors sliding open. And there he was standing in front of her, bright blue eyes lighting up like a puppy wagging its tail. That's why, ya gonk.

In that singular moment, Miz didn't care what she smelled like. She barreled into Billy's chest, wrapping her arms around him. He had to laugh, as he wrapped his arms around her. She pulled away after several seconds, noticing Billy's armor vest was wet. Why is it wet? And red?!

She looked in his eyes, genuine concern showing on her face. Billy's jaw clenched as he tilted his head down and to the left, showing the missing tip of his right ear, blood drying to his face. It could have been a lot worse, and Miz knew that. She looked down for a few seconds, then met Billy's eyes again as she regained her calm demeanor. She stepped back, planting a firm punch in his chest as she nodded and parroted her earlier words from several days ago, "Hey, you didn't die or fuck up. Good job, Tiger."

Billy rolled his eyes as he smiled and turned. Miz noticed the end of the hall through the atrium gates. An overhead light was hanging by a pair of leads from the ceiling and flickering, and there was soot on the walls.

She unholstered her Unity and walked down the hall, careful to step lightly. As she approached the corner, the door to her apartment had been forced open, dented by a concussive blast. The entryway was covered in the same soot as the hallway. Someone had breached the door and cleared the entryway with a grenade.

Miz rushed in despite Pops' and Billy's protests. The entire apartment had been turned over; clothes thrown all over, any personal effects strewn about. In the center of the floor was a small picture frame among broken glass, a crumpled photo next to the frame. Miz's hands curled into fists and her entire body trembled. Her breathing became shallow and ragged. Pops stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. To his surprise, she shrugged him off. She was in a completely altered state, rage written on her face as her eyes and cyberware threading flashed red.

Billy knew well enough to stay out of this one. On a whim, he turned to look down the hall to his apartment, finding the walls decorated similarly as he spoke, "Looks like they did this to all our apartments."

Miz turned to him with a look on her face he hadn't seen since she threw him against the pillar during the Waterfront job. He knew it wasn't directed at him, but his blood ran cold seeing her like this regardless.

In a surreal moment, he looked down at his hands, seeing blood pouring through his fingers for a split second, the image almost grainy, over-saturated and hyperexposed; the sounds escaped into the background, replaced by a deafening ringing. He closed his eyes and shook his head. The ringing subsided, and he opened his eyes again, finding that his hands were covered in a little dirt and dust, but nothing else. It was probably time to talk to Vik, but now wasn't the time to even think about it.

V placed a hand on Billy's shoulder, snapping him out of his trance as she said, "Hey, you okay, rookie?"

He almost jumped, but managed to retain his calm as he met her stare and said, "Yeah, all's good. What's up?"

Pops and V both narrowed their eyes. Neither of them bought it. Pops knew why. No more than thirty minutes ago, he had watched Billy narrowly avoid losing his head before throwing a man off a balcony four stories up; his first kill.

Miz marched out of the apartment, Unity in one hand and crumpled photo in the other, as she made her way back to the atrium elevators. Her face was numb, locked in a contorted mix of pain and anger. Pops ran after her, trying to stop her. V caught everyone's attention as she said, "So Tooley's made this a personal matter for all of you. He literally hit home. Now, we can take this fight to him, but we need to re-up."

Ky stepped forward, genuinely concerned at what V meant as he said, "Woah, woah, woah. You can't be thinking about pulling out now?"

V smiled as she answered, "This block still holds one or two more secrets", and she motioned everyone to follow her up to Level 8.

As they cleared the atrium gates, V held her hand out cautiously to the door for apartment 0716. After a second, a confirmation beep rang and the keypad lit up green, the door sliding open. V smiled as she remarked, "Oh good, landlord still reads my messages."

She motioned everyone inside as the door slid shut behind them. Miz was fighting a torrent of emotions. On one hand, she was inconsolably angry to the point of seeing red; on the other hand, she was now standing in the very apartment where she'd spent hours staring at the door over the last year. She tried to calm herself and take it all in. The general layout was similar to her own, but it was just bigger and more spacious. The apartment was decorated in various odds and ends from a life of merc work. There was a trophy for having won a boxing tournament at the Grand Imperial Mall in Pacifica; a dreamcatcher hanging over the bed; several Samurai posters and framed vinyls.

V made her way to a carefully camouflaged side door next to her wardrobe, revealing another biometric lock. She placed her palm against it, the pad flashing yellow for a few seconds before dinging green. The door slid open, revealing a small armory contained on 3 walls of a concealed room. Cases of ammunition were lining the workbench. There was no shortage of firepower in this room. V breathed it all in as she smirked, pulling a green and pink Carnage shotgun off the wall and staring at it fondly, the memories rushing back.

After a few seconds, V walked back into the open space of the apartment, shotgun resting up on her shoulder as she carried cans of ammunition and set them down in front of everyone. She had a devious smile on her face as she said, "Welcome to the casa, chooms. Whatever we need, you'll find it here."

Pops smiled as he checked his revolver, slamming fresh round into the chambers and counting what he had left. Ky stepped forward and popped open one of the cans, pulling pre-loaded rifle magazines and handing them out to the crew.

Miz took a deep breath as she tried to center herself. She knew it did the crew no good to rush in pissed off at the world. Tooley would expect as much from her. She motioned to V with her softpack, and V nodded, "Make yourselves at home."

Miz lit a cigarette, taking a deep drag as the calm and a light buzz swept over her. That's better.

V and Pops joined in; Billy bummed a smoke from Pops. V's eyes flashed blue for a split second, a far window opening, fresh air filling the apartment as the smoke wafted out.

As Billy took a drag and exhaled, he noticed the finish on V's shotgun and remarked, "That's a uh... interesting modification."

V smirked, "It's an interesting story. Used to belong to one of David Martinez's old crew, a little spitfire solo that would give Miz a run for her money."

Pops chuckled and raised an eyebrow as he asked, "You ever work with 'em?"

V answered, "No, before my time. I was still in Atlanta when they had their blaze of glory. I found an XBD outside H4 in Arroyo, had to do with some NUSA brass went cyberpsycho in Corpo Plaza, and a warning about David Martinez. I asked Reyes if he knew anything about it. Couple of days later, I got a message from someone named Falco, talking about David's demise at the hands of Adam Smasher. He left me David's jacket as a warning of what I was up against."

Pops smiled, glad to see Falco was still around, in his own way.

Miz spoke up, "That's one of the jackets hanging in your booth at the Afterlife?"

V exhaled smoke, a hint of sorrow in her eyes as she answered, "Yeah, next to a replica of Johnny Silverhand's Samurai bomber."

Ky looked up from the ammo crates and asked, "There was a third, a huge Valentinos bomber?"

V smiled as she looked down, "That belonged to my best choom, Jackie Welles. He took me in after a botched carjack job; we worked together for six months, up until..."

Her eyes clouded over. Miz stepped in to fill the blanks, "The Konpeki Plaza heist?"

V nodded, trying to fight the tears, "Yeah, real shitshow that was. Jackie was preem, right up to the end. Couldn't ask for a better partner."

Pops placed a hand on her shoulder and reassured her, "You've done right by all three of 'em, honorin' their memories like that."

V smiled and spoke two heartfelt words familiar to every edgerunner in the room, "Thanks... Pops."

They shared in the warmth of the moment before V continued, slam-racking the shotgun, "Anyway, this thing bucks like a bitch, but there's no better iron for unloading serious hate in a short amount of time."

Billy asked the pertinent question, "By my count, we've dropped most of Tooley's crew, so should be pretty straightforward from here?"

V shook her head, "Likely he's still got a few aces up his sleeves. Pops, you mentioned he uses Slo-Mo?"

Pops nodded, catching everyone's attention as they turned to listen. V continued, "That's a problem. The Biotechnica strains in particular, in high doses, can mimic the time-dilation effects of Sandevistan cyberware in short bursts."

Ky asked, "Meaning?"

"Meaning he'll be able to move faster than any of us can even see", V cut him off, "But there's a catch. A Sandevistan implant is able to properly counter the strain on the nervous system and muscle tissue by interfacing directly with the spinal cord and brain stem through a dedicated neural coprocessor. Slo-Mo has no such protections."

Billy had to ask, "How do you know all this?"

V smirked, side-stepping the question, "Biotechnica originally developed what the undercity now knows as 'Slo-Mo' as a chemical alternative to cyberware implants for military-grade applications. It's a performance booster. An unintended side-effect is that the strain on the nervous system and muscle tissue means the user's body will eventually tear itself apart."

Pops stepped in, piecing it all together, "Meanin' we need to stay the fuck out of Lex's way and let 'im burn 'imself out."

V clicked her teeth as she pointed to Pops, "Exactly. We need to tread carefully. No lone-wolf gonk shit. We do this as a team, or there's no telling what kind of damage he can cause."

Max stepped forward, breaking her silence, "No tellin' how long 'im take to burn out?"

V shrugged, "The official reports showed peak-fitness test subjects, all military-aged and in their prime, burning out after five minutes of extended testing. Heart palpitations, extreme tachycardia, symptoms mimicking cyberpsychosis, 'roid rage, and finally muscle death or complete nervous system breakdown. From what I've seen, anyone pushed to these limits died foaming at the mouth like animals. Not a pretty sight."

Billy took a chance, "You didn't answer my question."

V smirked and fired back, "I'll tell you what I told your output, rookie. We finish this job, I'll have a long story to tell ya over drinks at the Afterlife."

Miz couldn't help but smile and giggle to herself. It was a dream-come-true getting to see V in action, even more in actually working alongside her.

Billy clenched his jaw, but couldn't hide that even he found her abrasive nature charming. He could see what Miz liked about her, because he saw a lot of the same traits between them.

As they continued gearing up, Miz had grabbed a cloth from the bathroom and soaked it in water as she called to Billy. He turned to face her, and she nudged his head to the left as she began to gently wipe the dried blood from his face. He winced, his ear still throbbing. Her voice was gentle and kind as she said, "Need to see Vik after this is done."

He smiled, "I will. I'll get all fixed up once this is done, don't you worry."

She smiled back as a holocall pinged in her head, followed by Billy's voice, "I could get used to this. But, could probably stand to take a shower before we..."

Miz's cheeks burned with embarrassment, but she fired right back, "Or skip the pregame and just fuck in the shower anyway. OR you can keep mouthing off and sleep on the couch."

That actually cut Billy deeper than the pain in his ear as he smirked, "Would sad puppy eyes be too much?"

Miz snorted and said, "Don't you dare."

She slung the damp towel over her shoulder, turning to wring it out in the sink.

Ky had emptied the ammo can as he stood up, "I think we're packed to the gills here."

V nodded, "Everyone ready?"

As ready as they could be, the crew all nodded. Max's eyes flashed blue for a few seconds before she spoke, "Oye, thermals readin' heavy on the top floors, ou'side de office; nothin' in de penthouse o' anywha else."

Ky laughed, "That's a damn shame, I really wanted to fuck up that suite, rub my feet all over his shit while he watched."

That elicited a raised eyebrow from V, to which Ky continued with a wink, "Long story, don't ask."

Pops answered for him, "Fly-boy here put his feet on Lex's coffee table; Lex said if he ever did it again, he'd fill his lungs with Slo-Mo and toss 'im over the balcony, let gravity sort the rest."

V laughed as she said to Ky, "Man, you really have a way with people, don't you?"

"It's just part of my charm", Ky smiled, "Thanks Pops."

Pops rolled his eyes as V buttoned up the old apartment before leading them out the door and back into the atrium. It was a long way up to the top floor.

--

[1 hour later]

Not that V didn't trust Max's readings, but she had thought it prudent to continue checking the floors on their way to the top. No unwanted surprises when all was said and done; nobody could disagree with that. They had stopped every five levels to spot-check, encountering little resistance along the way, and making short work of any stragglers they did come across.

Along the way, Billy had picked up a Crusher semiautomatic shotgun, admiring its simplicity as he kept it at the ready. It had all the power of a Carnage, but was considerably more compact, easier to carry in smaller spaces. It's previous owner had modified it with a red-dot sight, which was hilarious all by itself, as the weapon was not known for its precision; it was a trench sweeper.

Pops and Ky had salvaged a few flashbang grenades off some other unlucky goons as they put together a plan for storming the top floors. Ky and Billy volunteered to ride all the way the way to the top, dropping off the rest of the crew three levels earlier.

Max had hacked into the cameras at the top floor, keeping watch for the approach; she tagged ten goons concentrated by the gates in front of Tooley's office, moving up and down the halls. They were smart, staggering their movements to avoid getting clustered together in groups. Unfortunately, inside the office was a dead zone. Shielded, no cameras, nothing providing them a vantage.

Billy held the elevator at the level below, waiting for the all clear from Pops that they were in position to storm from the stairs. It was a risky move; anyone with any sense would tell you to never advance on an enemy holding the high ground, but they didn't have any other options. The goons weren't leaving their post, and they were all that stood between the edgerunners and Tooley's office. Thankfully the elevators were big enough that the solid partitions housing the panels provided ample cover.

Pops signaled in the crew-wide holocall that they were in position, stepping carefully to ready his flashbang. The elevator began its ascent, screeching to a halt. The only downside of the top floors, the cage doors had to be opened manually. This had always afforded Tooley's huscle the opportunity to screen whoever was coming up to visit.

Pops took a deep breath, exhaling softly as he tossed the grenade up the stairs, managing to bounce it perfectly off the wall. Voices rang out from the level above them, pure chaos as everyone scrambled. Pops counted off in his head, plugging his ears as the grenade went off. A blinding white flash and a concussive blast shook the level above them, dust flying out and falling.

As soon as the grenade detonated, Billy and Ky pulled open the elevator doors, storming out with weapons at the ready. At least 4 goons had been floored by the flashbang, struggling to reorient themselves. They never got the chance as Billy swept the gates with his new toy, painting the floors red. Ky followed behind, keeping an eye for any stragglers.

Two goons peeled in from the left, Ky catching both of them with precise double-taps. Billy swung around to clear another two goons from the right, catching both with a single blast.

There were still two targets unaccounted for as Ky called down, "Any old time, sweetheart!"

Pops laughed as he led the rest of the crew up the stairs, revolver at the ready. Ky was gearing up for another wiseass remark as Pops yelled, "Both of you, down!"

Ky and Billy both dove out of the way as another goon readied a submachine gun. Pops beat him to the punch, firing a single shot, splattering half of his head against the wall.

Miz blew past Pops to intercept the last goon charging with a baseball bat wrapped in concertina wire. He took a horizontal swing at Miz and she ducked, moving to the side as she slammed into his ribcage with her shoulder, throwing him back against the wall with a crunch . With a yell, she extended the claws in her left hand, driving them into his collarbone as the mantis blade on her right arm drove up into his chin and broke out the top of his skull.

Even V had to admire Miz's raw tenacity as she said out loud, "Holy shit."

Pops shrugged his eyebrows with a smirk as he spoke up, "Yeah, you don't want to piss her off."

There was a few seconds of calm as they recovered. From behind the doors, they could hear a whirring sound spooling up. Ky recognized it immediately as he yelled, "EVERYBODY GET THE FUCK DOWN!!!"

Miz had no time. She turned to face Pops as Billy dove towards her, pulling her to the ground and scrambling to move away from the large double doors.

A burst of fire erupted from a chain gun, rendering the doors into pulp as the tracers began to move back and forth across the walls, punching holes through the solid concrete like paper. The sound was deafening, and the impact of the bullets hitting concrete was enough to rattle your bones. Billy honestly questioned if the entire ceiling wasn't going to cave in as he tried to make himself as flat as possible while still shielding Miz with his entire body.

Ky had almost shoved everyone else back down the stairs. He knew eventually the onslaught would have to stop. Like it's older brother, the Militech Mk.33 was prone to overheating, requiring several seconds to cool off before safely resuming fire. While Tooley probably wasn't concerned with "safe" at this point, they had to hope for an opening to engage him.

Ky silently counted the number of rounds fired in his head. A few rounds past one hundred, the firing stopped, the sizzle of the heavy barrel hissing through the dust as the chain spooled down. Before Ky could call out to Miz and Billy, Tooley's voice trailed out from the office, entirely unhinged and masked by a rebreather, "I hope I didn't kill everyone out there. Would be a shame if I didn't have anyone left to play with."

Billy loosened his grip as he whispered to Miz, "Are you okay?"

Her breathing was ragged as she answered, "I will be once he's dead."

The machine gun hit the floor with a dull but heavy thud as Tooley called out again, "There, now it's a fair fight!"

Billy said out loud, "Enough of this bullshit", as he climbed to his feet and entered the office, shotgun at the ready. Miz followed quickly behind, trying to keep him from doing anything rash.

Ky and the rest of the crew moved up outside the door, Pops walking in to see exactly what they were dealing with.

Tooley was standing by his large desk, shirt torn in several places, rebreather affixed to his face with green vapor clouds fuming out with every breath. His eyes were nearly glowing green as he appeared to have already gone over the edge. Cyberpsychosis didn't hold a candle to whatever this was.

Miz heard whimpers from a corner of the office, turning to find the joytoy from several days ago curled up in the fetal position; he was bound by chains, naked, bloodied and bruised. Her eyes narrowed and filled with fire as she turned back to Tooley.

Pops spoke first, "This ends now, Lex. You get one chance to step down peacefully. Nobody else has to die."

Tooley laughed from his gut as he reeled backwards and spat at Pops, "You think you have any power over me?!"

Pops shrugged his eyebrows as he calmly lit a cigarette and slammed a single fresh round into the open chamber of his revolver. With a long drag and exhale through his nostrils, he answered, "I don't want to have to kill you, Lex. Do the right thing. Enough blood has been spilt on your account today."

Tooley fired back, "I've had enough of your do-gooder cowboy bullshit for one lifetime, old man. It's time someone put you in your place, where you belong. It's time I put you in the ground."

Pops cocked the hammer of his revolver, but Tooley was already gone. Almost like a shuttering blur of light had cut through the room, Tooley appeared in front of Pops, elbow planted into his ribcage. With a crunch, Pops went flying backwards, his back slamming into the wall as he slumped over, cigarette still hanging in the air before falling to the ground and smoldering.

Miz extended her claws and mantis blade again, her eyes and threading solid red. Tooley scoffed at her gall, "Come now, child. Put those toys away before you get hurt."

Her right foot slid back as she took a stance, locking eyes with Tooley. He chuckled to himself as he said, "As you wish, little stray."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he was back to a blur. As he reappeared where Miz was previously standing, she landed behind him, having already leapt over his head. She took no chances, plunging the mantis blade clean into his lower back and through his gut as she planted her claws into his shoulder blade and whispered in his ear, "Snikt, bub."

Tooley yelled out in a mix of pain and rage as he activated the time dilation again, a smatter of blood flying out as he disappeared from view for several seconds. Miz and Billy both were on edge; Pops had just come to, shaking his head to regain his faculties.

Tooley reappeared behind them, his breathing ragged, his gut bleeding profusely from the seared flesh around the wound. He wasn't so much breathing as growling at them. He had begun to effuse a foamy green spit from the sides of the rebreather, his eyes bloodshot and strained. Every vein in his musculature was throbbing, as if choked for blood, and his entire body was quaking.

Billy turned, raising the shotgun to fire. In a split second, he felt a jerk of his arm as Tooley reappeared directly in front of him, having disarmed him before disarming him. Tooley planted the barrel against the inside of Billy's forearm and pulled the trigger without hesitation, laughing maniacally. The shot shattered bone and separated flesh in a spectacular display of sinew flying across the room, sending Billy recoiling backwards as he screamed in pain. Tooley held his severed arm up like a trophy as he said, "Stupid fucking child! Don't you know pussy is the downfall of man?!"

Miz screamed out for Billy, tears shooting down her face, as Tooley turned to her. He pointed at her with Billy's arm as he taunted her, "And you, cunt! The Maelstrom have grand plans for you. But first I'm going to make you watch as I take away everything you cherish in this worl—"

He was cut short by the impact of a slug tearing through his abdomen as a deafening shotgun blast sounded. V was standing in the doorway with her Carnage readied at her hip, slam-racking the shotgun as she fired again. Slam-rack, fire. With each shot, more of Tooley's flesh was torn away from his body. He tried as a last resort to activate the time dilation, but was only met with a spew of blood from his nose as every vein in his head looked ready to burst. Pops took the opportunity and fired two shots from his revolver, blowing out both of Tooley's kneecaps.

As he fell, Tooley struggled to hold himself up by his arms, looking at what was left of his body, shivering in cold sweats and covered in blood and soiled rags of clothing. He was more beast than man at this point, and it was only fitting that he be put down like an animal.

However, a quick death wasn't in the cards for him. By this point, Ky and Max had entered the room, looking at the proverbial Hyde in front of them, gasping for breath and clinging to life. Ky tried to help Pops to his feet as Miz ran to check on Billy. Pops grabbed for his ribs, dismissing Ky to help Miz. He nearly doubled over with a wince as he grunted and groaned, stumbling to approach Tooley. He barely recognized the man as he grabbed him by the hair and arched his head up to look him in the eyes as he pulled off the rebreather.

Ky ripped off Billy's belt, wrapping it around his arm above the trauma point and cinching it as tight as he could. At that point, Billy was awake as he screamed out, trying to reach for Ky's throat with the arm he no longer had. Miz tried to hold him down as she reached for an airhypo and jammed it into his chest. That gave Billy a second wind as he nearly jumped to his feet. Miz and Ky both helped him up, guiding him over to where Pops was standing with Tooley. Pops turned to Billy and asked, "How ya feelin' kid?"

Billy was weak, but he answered, "N-never better, hoss."

This caught Ky's attention, and he smirked. As Pops turned back to stare in Tooley's eyes, he could tell there was nothing left of the man. He whispered softly, almost with sorrow, "It didn't have to be like this..."

V stepped away as she pinged a holocall. Arrangements needed to be made.

All the kindness and emotion left Pops' face as he dragged Tooley by his hair over to a wall of windows leading to a balcony. A seamless glass door slid open. Billy shook himself loose of Miz and Ky as he stumbled over to Tooley's right side, using the arm he still had to help Pops carry the body. Ky grabbed the rebreather and followed them.

As they stood by the balcony, Pops grunted as he pulled Tooley up to stand on his feet. Ky appeared in front of him with a shit-eating grin as he said, "You know, when we're done here, I'm going upstairs and rubbing my feet on all your shit."

Tooley's eyes were dead, barely registering anyone or anything around him. Ky place the rebreather over Tooley's mouth as he said, "Breathe deep, Mr. Studd. You're going for a ride."

Tooley breathed in more out of necessity, but it was enough to trigger the mask as his eyes clouded over with green once more. As he exhaled a cloud of green vapor, everything slowed to a crawl. He watched at one percent speed as Billy and Pops raised him up and threw him over the balcony railing. In this moment, the city was almost beautiful, the neon lights lingering and yet passing by all at once. Everything was almost ethereal and other-worldly. There was no telling if this was just the last rush of endorphins as his life left his body, or if this was clarity of all he had lost. It didn't matter anymore. In an instant, nothing mattered anymore. There was no thought, no pain, nothing. It was done. Lex Tooley was a mess of bones and blood splattered into a thousand pieces in the square of Megabuilding H10.

Billy nearly collapsed, going weak at the knees as his eyes rolled back into his head. Ky caught him as Miz ran over, checking on him and Pops. V called out to them from the office, "Hey! Vik's waiting at his clinic with another 'doc, but we have to move now! Wound like that, Billy doesn't have much time. Van's already waiting, so move your asses!"

They knew what had to be done; it was now a race against the clock.

--