Never Fade Away...

[South Kabuki Hideout]

Were it not for the fact that crew hadn't actually slept in almost three days at this point, none of them would have slept a wink tonight, all things considered. They had signed up for one last run at Farris, one last suicide job, and they honestly didn't care if they came back or not. As long as Michael Farris was still alive, nobody in Night City's underworld was safe.

Liv had given up trying to argue her point, begging her only son and his partner to be smart; cold as it was, Pops was gone, but they still had each other to live for, and in time, they could still be a family together. No one could blame her. She just didn't want to lose anymore than she already had.

Falco maintained his own point, he'd made a promise to Pops, and he wasn't about to break it. He couldn't force Miz to do anything she didn't want to do, but actively taking part in this job would amount to actively going against the old man's wishes, and so he bowed out. Except for the help offered from the Afterlife, the four crew were on their own. But they liked their chances.

Billy stirred awake, feeling Miz shaking next to him as she curled up tight and brought her knees to her chest. Her breathing was uneven, and she was trying to stifle tears and sniffs; there wasn't a lot of room in Falco's hideout, and sound carried well enough over the short distances between cots. Billy didn't want to risk waking the others, but he wanted Miz to know he was there, and so he pinged a holocall to her, "...I'm here... talk to me, Em..."

She sniffed up once, trying to clear it all before she answered, "It should be just me, tomorrow... none of you should be there."

"And why's that?", Billy asked, "What makes us any less deserving of our pound of flesh...?"

"Wha— no!", Miz's head jerked back as their eyes met, "That's not what I mean... I— I just..."

She had exhausted herself trying to put a sentence together. Her brain was fogged and spent, and all of her was just tired. Billy gently pulled her close as she turned to face him, and they pressed their heads against one another as he reassured her, "Babe... we're coming with you tomorrow, no matter what. You can't stop us, because it's our choice. And any one of us would make it again, same as we would have done for Pops. We're with you all the way."

Miz nodded, but not without her doubts, "I-I'm sorry it has to be like this..."

"You didn't start this, Em...", Billy chided her, "But we'll sure as hell finish it."

In one last effort, Miz held up her hand, pinky finger extended, and Billy grabbed it with his own as he said, "...I'm never leaving you..."

A smile broke across Miz's face as she melted into Billy's arm. He planted a soft kiss on the crown of her head as they held one another, and before either of them could start counting sheep, they were both out cold.

--

[The next morning - Afterlife]

From the parking lot looking straight up, there was a brilliant luminescence breaking across the small sliver of sky. It wasn't yet light out, but the signs of a sunny day were all but certain. Two separate vehicles were parked in the lot, a gaggle of bodies moving between them, all barking between each other.

The crew spent the last few minutes they had checking gear and weapons, affording themselves the opportunity to take a few deep breaths. Miz above all else was just happy that this would be the last time she'd ever have to don these damned boots, and that alone made it all almost worthwhile. Today moreso than usual, she felt naked in some way, but she was quick to shake off the feeling as she brought her mind to focus. It was time.

It was the last chance they had, and Miz turned to Falco, bringing him in close for a hug as she whispered, "Thanks for doing this..."

The old nomad smiled as he ordered her, "Jus' tell 'im wasn't my idea if it comes to it... good luck, kid."

Billy hugged his mother as tight as he could, what might be for the last time, and they soaked up as much as they could between them. They finally pulled apart after too long, and Liv brought her hand up to Billy's cheek as she said, "My sweet boy... I—"

Her voice broke as she tried to contain herself, and Billy placed his hands on her shoulders as her kissed her forehead, "I love you, Mom... you're in good hands."

Miz turned and worked her way through the crowd to find V, calling out to her as they embraced one another. V of course had to shoot her shot, "No chance I can talk you out of this, is there?"

"It's now or never...", Miz answered with a tinge of sadness in her voice as they let go, "These last two years... I... thank yo—"

V sniffed up as she dismissed Miz completely, "Thank me when it's done."

They both had cheeky smirks smacked with grief, as they both already knew. They shared one last brief hug before Miz turned to leave. V couldn't help but try and reach for her, but it was a futile effort. Her choomba's mind was made up.

With one last look around, Miz took it all in with a deep breath, centering herself with a calm exhale. As her eyes opened, she saw all three crew watching and waiting for her signal, and she smiled. Each gaze into their eyes carried with it a lifetime's worth of memories, and she couldn't ask for better friends to have at the end.

Finally, she stepped up onto the truck's running boards and said strongly, "Let's mount up!"

--

[Thirty minutes later - Union Street Port Authority, Corpo Plaza, City Center]

The streets were still mostly empty, save for only the most die-hard of employees beating the rush-hour into the City to break their backs just a little more for their corpo masters. The Afterlife trucks took their time, meandering across the bridge between Watson and City Center, and gingerly traversing the winding avenues and boulevards until at last they darkened the docks of Union Street.

The trucks drove past the docks entrance, pulling off nearly half a block away to scout the area as the crew filtered out from the back of one of the vehicles. They were careful to not flash iron in the open, even this early in the morning. They were in the jungle now, on some other predator's turf, and they weren't looking to get eaten quite yet. Their tac gear and vests aside, one false move and they fully expected they'd have a full-force security team on their asses...

And yet the docks felt so empty, so silent. It was no mystery that at one time, Arasaka ran this whole area as a quick in and out for the Tower's sensitive projects and goods, but nobody had even tried to move in on the prime real estate. And like so many things bearing the mark of the beast in Night City, they sat dark, dead, and unloved as they inevitably faded into disrepair and obscurity; all of which boded well for the crew as they quite literally walked right in the front gates.

Miz took point, leading the other three crew and their four escorts, eyes peeled as they worked further inside, step by step. She had the same eery feeling in the back of her head as when they attacked the Ebunike, and her pulse jumped as a result. There wasn't even a ship docked, but just the drop into the water and that endless dark blue had the hair on her neck standing straight up as she tried to stay focused.

Max took her place next to Miz as she called out, "We gonya break right in 'bout t'irty feet. Heavy door."

To her point, they were met with a large watertight door between stacks of containers, the surface engraved with a large Arasaka logo. The door was equipped with a heavy and rusted metal wheel for a handle, and the crew all wondered if it'd even hold up when they tried to open it. Miz eyed Billy as she said, "You're up, Tiger..."

"Why do I think sometimes you're just usin' me for my muscle?", Billy asked with a chuckle as he stepped into place and braced himself while Miz fired back, "...not the only thing I'm using you for..."

"Hey hey hey", Ky jokingly chided, "Keep it holy, now!"

All the crew and escorts laughed at the camaraderie before Billy braced himself with a grunt as he tried to twist the wheel. It didn't budge at first, but he could feel it wanting to give way. He stopped for a second, adjusting his grip as he took a deep breath and exterted himself again. Just as the sweat was forming on his neck, the wheel released with a loud 'thud' and he was able to turn it fully.

As he pulled against the pressure sealed door, the air rushed in as the door shook loose with a loud crash. The smell wasn't unlike what they'd experienced at Falco's hideout, only 50 years stronger at this point as a small flight of steps led down into the dark and dank corridor.

It was now or never, and Miz turned to their escorts as she said, "End of the line for you fellas... thanks for getting us this far."

The escorts nodded and turned as one of them called back, "Good luck."

The crew were left by themselves as Billy stepped inside, scanning the corridor for anything at all as he waved them forward.

"These tunnels haven't seen the light of day in half a century...", Miz remarked as she brought up the rear and stepped inside, closing the door behind them, "Still, eyes up... ya never know what's lurking in the dark..."

--

Even as good as combat-grade Kiroshi cyberoptics were, nothing could beat a good old-fashioned barrel-mounted flashlight in the dark places of the world. Judging by the fact they'd been offline for over thirty minutes, Max hypothesized they were at least fifty feet underground. The tunnel network was massive, the corridors themselves spanning twenty feet from top to bottom. It almost looked like it's own city beneath the city, like something from a weird science fiction braindance. They'd already made several turns, crossing several junctions and old watertight doors just like the one in the docks. Miz flashed back to sneaking into Megabuilding H10 from the sewer ducts; she thought they were lost then. At least Max knew where they were going, and they simply had no plans of going back the way they came, so forward was the only move.

Had they not considered the source of their intel, they'd absolutely call bullshit on the notion of Arasaka's maintenance networks intersecting with Militech's. No way there'd just be a fucking wide-open door between the two corps' facilities like that. And yet, all of the crew stood dumbfounded as they came upon a massive sealed wall at the end of the tunnel, branded with a Militech 'M'. There was a single watertight door controlled by a panel nearby, and Billy went to work as he jacked in, Max stepping up to him with a perturbed look on her face. He smiled and nodded, "Don't worry, I got this one... save your energy for the big shit, huh?"

Max smirked as she stepped back and let Billy do his thing while Ky mused on the irony of the situation, "This is just fuckin' comical, man... Like, we should all know by now that V will never steer us wrong with intel... but a fucking welded wall in the middle of a giant maintenance shaft?! How half-assed can you get?"

For reasons they couldn't quite explain, all four of them were suddenly on edge. Too easy... and too clean. The last bodies, hell, the last anything they'd seen with a pulse were their Afterlife escorts back in the docks. And now nearly an hour removed from that, they had encountered nobody and nothing; not even a drone or a turret.

The panel flashed green as Billy smirked to himself and called back, "We're in."

Ky stepped up, racking his rifle as he patted Billy on the shoulder, "Good shit, kid... I'm on point. Something's up, and I don't like it."

Miz nodded as she and Max followed close behind, and she nudged Billy with a wink, "Now get back to watchin' my ass..."

He flashed his teeth and fired back, "Ain't got to tell me twice."

The air was considerably fresher on this side of the wall, and they could feel the vibrations of the filtration systems working. As opposed to the first leg of their infiltration, they were breathing easier, not inhaling half a century's worth of stagnant musk. The air was colder here, no doubt on account of the negative pressure from the moving air mixed with the cooling systems for the power grid substations. Every flat surface was covered in a mild condensation, and it only got heavier as they worked further in.

It wasn't too much further before they could just barely see their breath with every exhale, and they noticed a dull glow emanating around the curve of the tunnel. They were nearly to their target, the hums and oscillations of servers and machinery drawing them in.

Ky jumped a few steps ahead, pulling some of the demolition charges from a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He scouted around, looking for a good place to plant them, directing Billy to do the same before Max called out to both of them, "Wha' if we can do dis wit'out blowin' shit up?"

She directed their attention to two console access points; one outside for maintenance purposes, and another inside for managing the substation itself. She smiled as she approached the access point controlling the doors, pulling her personal link as Ky cautioned her, "W-What about the security logs? They'll know someone was down here..."

"If dey na' wise fwom Billy hackin' de door...", she chided her input, "Na' likely dey watchin' too close down here..."

Miz pressed the point, "Plus, if anyone knows how to cover their tracks, it's our girl..."

Ky's face didn't hide it well; something was bothering him as he pressed his point, "I-I just got a bad feeling... last couple of times we've come across these little nuggets, we end up fucked something fierce..."

"At dis point, we's fucked anyway, cherie...", Max joked as she jacked in, "Pwomise I be careful..."

"He's got a point...", Billy whispered to Miz as Ky threw his hands up and turned away. Miz couldn't disagree, but she had her own thoughts, "If we blow this substation, it doesn't matter if all but the top floors are dark. We're on their turf, and we'll have corpo-sec operators out the ass bearing down on us."

Another valid point, and she continued, loud enough for Ky to hear, "If we can do this quietly, cleanly, they have no reason to suspect sabotage, and we can plant the charges up top, bring the whole of it crashing down..."

"Ge' ou' mi head, choomba...", Max smiled as her eyes flashed blue and the substation door slid open. Miz winked, following Max inside as she called to Ky and Billy, "Keep an eye out."

Max made her way quickly past all the machinery and towers to the far wall, punching keys on the console before plugging in her personal link. In mere seconds, she was in, scouring the systems for what she needed. To her surprise, the console contained the control programs for both the substation and the backup generators... Ky was right, this was too easy, and she looked to rest of them as she said, "Somet'in' na' right wi' all dis..."

"What is it?", Miz asked, stepping a little closer as Max explained, "Dis console has access ta bot' dis substation an' de backup systems..."

Ky called out, "Since when is that a thing? S-O-P for this kind of grid is to separate them at the physical and data layers. Otherwise what's the point?"

Billy offered his two cents, "That sounds like a trap to me... best leave the shiny red button alone and focus on this end of things?"

Max ignored that last little nugget of sarcasm for the moment, focusing on the substation itself as she severed the protocols and connections before sending forced shutdown commands. One by one, the substation's transformers and breaker boxes spun down before falling silent as the electrical currents running through them ceased. With every thud of the breakers switching off, the dull glow receded further and further, until finally they were cloaked in dark.

Max was satisfied with her efforts, but something nagged at her about the whole situation. Any gonk 'runner in their right mind would know better than to fall for a honeypot like that. To Ky's point, grid substations were physically isolated from one another, and protected from each other by closed-loop networks and subnet firewalls. As long as the power was on, the firewalls woul—

Méd...

She was too late; by the time she tried to jack out, the substation screamed back to life as a visible arc of electric energy traversed the trunks of cables running to the wall. Before anyone could even move,Max shoved Miz out the door before her entire body lit up with pure energy as bolts of lightning shot out from every cyberware seam running up and down. Her clothes disintegrated into ash and smoke poured from her eyes, ears, and mouth agape as she cried out in agony. Her entire body quaked as if possessed by some otherworldly force, and then in the blink of an eye, it was all over. The surge of energy ceased, and what was left of Max's charred body slumped against the wall before toppling over.

Ky screamed Max's name with everything he had as he ran to her side. Miz tried to hold him back, already knowing it was too late, and knowing her body was too hot to touch with bare hands. He didn't care, and he broke past her as he knelt down next to Max. The practical part of him knew he couldn't touch her, but his hands trembled with nothing to do. There was nothing any part of him could do, and he knew it. It was over before it even began. The love of his life was gone before his very eyes, and his screams subsided into stifled sobs as tears ran down his face. Miz's own eyes clouded over as she knelt down next to her choom, embracing him tightly as she tried to comfort him while he muttered to himself, "...I-I fuckin' told her... I t-tried to warn her..."

Billy stepped up next to both of them, kneeling down as he placed a hand on Ky's shoulder. As much as it pained him, they were exposed, and they needed to move, but he wasn't about to say it. Instead, he switched his stance, facing towards the door to keep watch as he kept his hand in place. He fought the tears building up, a righteous fury raging inside of him. Although it likely didn't hold a candle to what Ky felt, Billy still felt like he might actually jump out of his skin if they didn't make someone pay for this. Too much and too many had been lost.

They all sat in the substation for several minutes, allowing the grief of yet another fallen comrade to wash over them. They weren't going anywhere until Ky was ready. After too long, he wiped his nose and the tears from his cheeks as he called out coldly, "H-Her death means n-nothing... if we fail."

"Then we better move...", Billy took the hit for the team, as it were. He didn't want to be the 'bad guy' trying to snap Ky out of it all, but they needed to push forward if they wanted a fighting chance. They were blind from a netrunning standpoint without Max, and they were still offline being this far underground. They were alone and without backup, and their only likely option by now was fighting their way to the top.

As if to drive the point home even further, klaxons blared in the distance as the emergency lights flashed red. Their path was set, their choice made for them, and Ky checked his rifle one last time as he called to his two chooms with a callous lack of inflection they'd never heard before, "Far as I'm concerned, this ain't over 'til they're all dead, or we are. Dig?"

Billy stepped around in front, planting his fist gently against Ky's chest plate, "No place else I'd rather be, brother..."

Miz took her place next to Billy as she reminded them while press-checking a sidearm that felt very foreign to her, "Be quick, be clean, conserve your ammo. It's the only way we make it to the top."

Ky cracked a slight smile as he held up the demolition charge from before, "End of the line for us anyway, boss... let's do some damage on our way out?"

Miz smiled back as she held up a fist, "Do her proud, Ky. Let's fuck some shit up."

Ky bumped Miz's fist with his own as he slung over his duffel bag and carefully set it down before turning to Billy, "How much can you carry?"

--

[Militech Offices, Lobby]

It was business as usual in the picturesque corpo-cocksucker's paradise; or it would have been, had the building's security forces not been buzzing around like workers in a beehive to clear the lobby and lower levels. The wage-slaves and underlings would have told you it was just a brief power outage, nothing to make a big deal out of, but the guards didn't break out body armor and tech rifles for 'the little shit'. Almost as if to place a pretty bow on their argument, nobody was using the sub-level elevators to the lobby at this time of day, and yet a 'ding' rang throughout the exorbitant and audacious, yet cold and otherwise empty atrium of the building plastered in lifeless steel and concrete.

A force of eight guards formed a semicircle around the as of yet opened elevator doors, rifles at the ready. Once another ding sounded and the doors slid open, there was a distant and almost unnoticeable boom from beneath the floors, but nobody could place its origin, at least until the lights went out. From the vaulted atrium going up the first several floors wrapped around open air, the only light in the building was natural sunlight filtering in from the outside. The rest of the opulent interior was blanketed in shadow, forcing the guards to activate their flashlights as they investigated the lone duffel bag sitting in the elevator.

One of the guards knelt down against the protests of his colleagues, inspecting the bag as his eyes flashed blue. Whatever it was, he couldn't scan it, or there wasn't anything there; never did any one of them expect a fully shielded duffel bag as he reached down and unzipped it. In a split second, time seemed to pause as the entire elevator was consumed in a fireball before exploding out into the lobby with debris, mechanical parts, and remains of at least three security guards all blown to bits and pieces. The remaining guards were knocked down from the force of the blast or threw themselves to the floor to get the fuck out of the way from the large chunks of concrete and metal veneer flying out and over their heads from the destroyed wall.

As the plume of smoke and fire resulting from the explosion trailed up into the air, the deafening fire alarms sounded as the fire suppression systems kicked into high gear. Of course, in highly populated areas like the main lobby of a corpo headquarters in the middle of the City, halon or other gaseous suppression systems were unnecessarily risky, forcing all the security present in the lobby to grin and bear the overhead sprinklers pouring down on them as the tiled floors quickly began to pool water. Downpours weren't rare in Night City by any means, but there was an irrefutable irony in one occurring inside a building, and Miz nearly chuckled to herself as she stepped out from behind a wall on the opposite end of the building. She had her targets tagged as she built up speed from a slow walk to a full sprint. Lucky for her the sounds of pouring water and the alarms made any need for stealth unnecessary; nobody was listening for her, and if she was fast enough, they wouldn't even see her coming as she unsheathed the smaller of her two blades.

She had only another twenty feet to go as she planted herself before charging a dash forward. As she effortlessly glided over the flooded floors, she braced her shoulder before crashing into the first of the guards. Her sheer momentum sent him flying into another guard as they both slammed into a nearby wall. The next closest guard yelled to the other two as he turned to fire, but Miz was already on him. She effortlessly dodged around the business end of his rifle, crouching as she barreled into his side, plunging the blade as deep as she could through the layers of aramid weave, kevlar, and ripstop.

Advantage point to Miz, armed corpo security didn't account for anyone being brazen enough to engage in close-quarters combat, so their armor was often engineered to stop bullets, not blades. It could quell the kinetic energy of a fired projectile with ease, but provided little protection against a well-honed edge ripping through the individual fibers. In less than a second, the blade broke out the guard's back, the point coated in a runny mix of watered down blood. As Miz released her hold on the guard and he staggered back in shock, she quickly followed up by grabbing both sides of his head and wrenching up, the bones in his neck snapping like twigs as he collapsed.

She pulled for her longer katana as the second-to-last guard readied his rifle and fired several rapid shots. Miz felt her right arm come to life once again as her eyes flashed red, and the blade deflected the bullets into the two guards still recovering against the wall. Another burst of fire, and the blade cut the air with a hiss as she deflected once again. Switching to an underhanded grip, she through the sword like a spear as she broke into a sprint toward her assailant. The blade found its mark, planting itself firmly in the guard's chest as she slammed against him, taking the blade with her as he flew backwards. The final guard tried to swing his rifle like a bat, narrowly missing Miz's head as she ducked under and spun around, allowing the blade to flow with the momentum as it cut through both of his legs. She kicked off the momentum as she stood up straight, spinning around again as she held out her arm. She felt almost no resistance, but the katana's edge had found its target. The guard stumbled, his legs giving out before his severed head slid off and rolled into the inches of water covering the floor.

All around Miz was a rapidly-diluting pool of dark red as water soaked her clothes and her exposed neck and shoulders. Her hair was drenched and stuck to the side of her face as the glow in her eyes subsided, and she startled herself with a gasp as her breathing calmed. She was lost again, in that dark place of nothingness. Was she losing it, or was she just to a point that her mind was doing what was necessary to give her the extra push to actually pull this off? She couldn't answer the question, and except for this fleeting moment of humanity, she didn't care. Whatever it took, she came here to do what she came here to do, and she was hell-bent on seeing it through.

And the security, as it turns out, was hell-bent on stopping her as several guards opened fire on her position from the second and third floors. As she jumped to dodge the hail of bullets coming her way, two bursts of automatic fire answered from behind, peppering the columns and balcony walls above her. Ky and Billy had caught up, laying down suppressing fire as she scrambled to regroup with them. A time like this would have been perfect for Max to work her magic on popping heads like balloons, but they had to make do without.

As Miz took her place behind a column, she drew her iron and took several shots. She saw at least one of her targets stumble back, a splatter of red painting the wall behind him before the water quickly cut through. She cut from side to side, looking for a way out of their current situation. They were taking fire from higher ground on two separate vantage points, and the security forces had better cover. They'd run themselves dry of ammo before they made a real dent, and if they didn't move quick, they'd be completely surrounded and overwhelmed from reinforcements on the higher floors.

It was a straight twenty-foot jump to the floor above, and Miz looked to both of her chooms as she took several deep breaths. Billy caught her eyes, a look on his face that screamed, Whatever you're about to do, don't do it...

Miz shrugged with a smirk as she winked and braced herself. She pressed off the column against the back wall, charging a dash into the wide open atrium. As soon as she was clear of the ceiling overhead, she slid to a stop and charged again. She cleared the twenty feet with ease, grabbing hold of the railing on the balcony above as she clawed her way over the wall with a trail of gunfire following. 'By the skin of her teeth' didn't even come close, as a single round punched a hole in the concrete wall two inches to the left of her head, forcing her to dive to the floor as she crawled through inches of water to the closest column for cover.

She pinged a call to Billy and Ky, "I made it, barely..."

Billy wasn't having it, "Pull that shit again, I swear to—"

"Too late, love ya Tiger!", Miz cut him off as she broke away from the column, charging a dash to the next. Rinse and repeat, she carefully worked her way around the open floor until she had a straight run to the operators pinning her boys down. Nobody else had eyes on her position, and she took her time as she casually sauntered around the corner, bringing her sidearm to the ready as she took aim. She stopped several feet short, flashing her teeth as her face-threading pulsed bright red and she called out, "Heya fellas!"

Several shots rang out, all of them headshots, as Miz blew out the brains and skulls out of every target she could see. Her iron clicked empty on the last guard, and she scoffed as she charged another dash forward, extending the scratchers on her left hand. Before the guard could react, Miz skidded in front of him as she swung the butt of her gun against his jaw, exposing his throat as her other hand found its mark. She plunged the chromed claws into the soft flesh before violently ripping outward with a shout. As the body fell like all the rest, Miz released whatever was left of his esophagus and vocal cords as she knelt down and let the flowing water wash the blood away.

She turned and looked over the balcony wall to both Billy and Ky as she waved for them to move, prompting Ky to laugh as he peeled off the column and said, "Brother, I think your girl's over the edge..."

Billy wasn't laughing, his eyes as wide as the first time he'd seen Miz inflict that kind of damage on their first job together. She had the same energy, and the same unhinged look in her eye, and it scared the shit out of him; not that he could blame her in the least, but he honestly worried if there'd be any of her left if she kept down the path she was on. He shook himself back to the present and tried to push it to the back of his mind as he followed behind. What mattered now was that Miz had cleared a path for them to move up the floors of the atrium, and sure as shit he wasn't going to waste the opportunity.

--

[Militech Offices, Level 30]

"COME AND GET IT, YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!"

Ky laughed as he blind-fired around a corner after tossing a single grenade out. Several seconds passed before a loud boom shook the entire floor, taking with it two of the operators trying to close in as their exploded remains covered the walls and ceiling. As the smoke and debris hung heavy in the air, several more voices cried out with the echoing sounds of metal clanging against stone before a single pair of red optics pierced through. No Militech goon Ky had ever met was that short, leaving only one possibility as he pulled his finger from the trigger and tested the waters, "Kid, that you?!"

"Ya know, you make a pretty good diversion for me to sneak around...", Miz called out as she rounded the corner with a smirk. Ky released the breath he was holding with an exasperated laugh before he noticed Miz's face and arms smeared in red as he looked with all the concern of an older sibling. She pre-empted him, "Not my blood, don't worry... Tiger, you okay?"

A few feet away, Billy was hard at work planting yet another demolition charge inside a maintenance panel full of conduits and trunked cables. His jaw was clenched, but not for any reason related to his current task; he inserted a pin into the charge, watching to make sure it started blinking before he turned to face Miz, "We ne—"

"Fuck, get down!", Miz yelled as she grabbed Billy with one hand, throwing him against the opposite wall as she took aim and fired three shots. A ballsy lone operator had nearly gotten the drop on them from the opposite end of the hall before the three shots landed true, catching him in the weak spots of his body armor as he staggered back against the wall. Miz reached out with her hand as she winked at Billy sitting on his ass, "Yeah, take a load off..."

He scoffed as he accepted the hand and pulled himself up, still in awe after two years that someone half his size could throw him around with such ease. Whatever he was trying to say before was gone from his mind, and he settled on, "Are you okay...?"

Miz's jaw clenched at reading between the lines, but now was hardly the time. Billy cut her a break as his eyes flashed blue before he pulled two shards from the slots behind his left ear and held them out, "One for each of us... control shards for the detonator switch. If any of us get hit, we still have a chance to blow it the fuck up."

Ky and Miz both accepted the shards, slotting them in their own heads as Miz took advantage of the brief quiet to ping Billy directly, "I'll be okay when this is done..."

"I can't lose you, Em... whether to this or to whatever's going on in your head...", Billy answered. Her eyes cut to his with a glare before immediately softening. She could see the worry in his face, but more than anything, she could see the love. She could read him clear as day; he actually thought there was a chance they'd get out of this alive. She cupped his cheek in her hand as she smiled, almost as if she were silently admonishing his naïveté about it all. But she loved the gonk with all her heart, and if there was anyone she could have with her at the end, she was forever grateful it was him. He shifted to kiss the palm of her hand as his eyes clouded over. He loved her too, but there was still almost a childlike fear in his eyes. Who would take care of his mother if not him? Not that he didn't trust Falco, but for most of his life, their little family of two was all they had, even after he left to find work in the City proper.

Their brief respite was cut short by the clatter of a grenade rolling along the floor from around the corner. Ky panicked, yelling at them to get down as he kicked it back the way it came and dove for cover. Another deafening boom rattled the entire level as a cloud of dust and debris consumed them, and the hail of gunfire resumed. As the three crew recovered, Ky groaned and pointed to the half-opened doors of a damaged elevator at the end of the hall. That was their ticket to the top; not even that the elevator was actually running, but if they could separate the support cables from the carriage, the counterweight would free-fall and catapult them straight to the top. And it was sure as shit better than climbing another thirty levels on foot.

Ky urged them to move as he tried to stand up, but his leg immediately gave out and he crashed back to the floor. Billy and Miz knelt down next to him, finding his lower leg was completely shattered. Through the tattered ripstop fabric of his trousers, they could see the cybernetic myomers and artificial muscle fibers ripped and torn, the remains of his leg hanging on by a few loose leads and wires. Billy turned him over on his back as he yelled in pain and cradled him up. Upon seeing the damage done, all he could muscle out through gritted teeth was, "Well... ain't that a bitch..."

Ky was the closest to the blast, having taken the brunt of it as evidenced by a gaping hole in the concrete and metal corner wall. The damage was done, his leg all but useless, and he'd probably tell you he left his extra leg in his other pair of pants. Billy propped him up, shifting and pulling his arm around and over as they stood together. Miz took point in the front, picking up Ky's rifle as she covered them both and said, "C'mon! Let's move!"

Billy nodded, turning and dragging Ky as they both moved to the end of the hall. Miz followed, retreating backward as she kept her eyes on anything that might find its way into her sights. As they reached the elevator, Billy leaned against a wall as Ky struggled against him, fighting to get the words out, "G-Give me a... B-Bounceback..."

Miz reached them only a few seconds later, watching both ends of the narrow corridor as Billy pulled a canister from his vest. He shook it several times before popping the cap as he jammed the syringe end directly into Ky's chest over his heart. He squeezed the canister until it nearly crumpled in his hand, and he quickly discarded it as Ky nearly jumped out of his skin with a series of gasping coughs and profanity. He was wide awake now, and he looked to both of his chooms as he said, "Give me... the rifle... and a rigged demo charge."

Miz's eyes cut wide open to him as she knelt down. Ky chuckled as he tried to catch his breath, "C'mon, kid... what the fuck good am I trying to ride up there with ya?"

"No!", Miz shook her head as her voice faltered, "Y-You're coming w-with us!"

"...end of the line, Miz...", Ky smiled as he placed a hand on Miz's shoulder, "You said it yourself... and this is the end of the line for me."

Miz's head sunk as she shut her eyes, trying to fight back the well of emotions. She'd already watched Max die, and now the older brother she never had was telling her to leave him behind like he was already dead. She had no expectations of getting out alive, but she didn't expect to watch her friends go like this... not like this.

"Hey... hey, c'mon, it's okay...", Ky tried to comfort her as he rubbed her shoulder, "Least I can do is piss 'em off with my charm and give you both a head start..."

Billy turned as he handed Ky the rifle and a rigged charge, "Kyubi's topped off, locked and loaded. Charge is set with a ripcord. Just pull."

Ky smiled as he he moved his hand over, grabbing Billy's in a firm hold as they locked eyes, "Y-You're a real one, cowboy... l-look after our girl, okay?"

Tears formed as Billy's face hardened, and he firmed his grip as Ky continued, "I'll... I'll say hi to Max for ya..."

Miz couldn't take anymore, and she pressed her head against Ky's as he muscled out, "G-Go on... c-choomba... m-make us proud..."

She stifled the sobs building up as she pulled away, "T-Thank you..."

Billy let go of Ky's hand to pull the elevator doors open, but not before he gave a heartfelt final goodbye, "I'll see you on the other side, brother..."

Ky nodded as he rested the rifle on his good leg, shifting the charge behind him and out of sight, "I'll... I'll be waiting. Now go!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, bullets peppered the walls ahead of them as he returned fire with a shout, "GET SOME YOU FUCKIN' COCKSUCKERS!!!"

Billy pushed Miz into the carriage before pulling himself up as the doors failed to fully open or close. He quickly propped Miz up, giving her the height she needed to punch out the top escape hatch before pulling herself up while he went to work rigging another charge inside the car. As soon as she was stable on the roof, she leaned in and pulled Billy up. They could still hear the muffled gunfire from both ends on the other side of the wall, and Miz wrapped herself tight around Billy, the pulley cable between them.

"We got to go, Em...", Billy pressed her as he unholstered Pops' Malorian, "Get ready."

Miz wrapped her chromed right hand around the steeled cable and gripped tight; at least this time she didn't have to worry about losing the RealSkinn. She wrapped her other arm tight around Billy's back and pulled him close as he gripped the cable with his own chromed hand. He took his chance, calling to Miz as she looked up to him, and they shared a quick but passionate kiss as he cocked the hammer and took aim. As if to send them off, the last thing they heard from Ky was him screaming at the top of his lungs, "GET FUCKED, YOU GONKS!!!"

Billy pulled the trigger, a single shot tearing the cable loose from the car as it crashed against the rails while they ascended. The empty corridor lit up below them as a massive explosion burst through the doors, blowing a fresh hole in the outer wall of the building. The fire escaped outside, the natural sunlight pouring in amid the rapidly rising cloud of smoke and dust. Billy watched as the counterweight passed them in a dead drop along the wall. It was only a matter of time now.

--

[Militech Offices - Executive Suites]

Despite all the chaos occurring on the lower levels, the top floors seemed blissfully ignorant that anything had taken place today, the bright fluorescent lights beaming down the corridors as light and airy classical music droned on in the background. At the very least, at the security force's insistence, all of the executives and higher-ranking officials had evacuated; all but one very perturbed colonel, who waited patiently in his expansive corner office overlooking Corpo Plaza. He had created this monster, and he was committed to seeing it through. So while the rest of his colleagues tucked tail and ran, he watched... and waited.

By this point, what remained of the security forces were either scouring the building on a search-and-destroy mission for the 'hostile forces', assisting with evacuations of the rest of the building, or seeing to the recently remodeled front lobby, courtesy of a demolition charge in an elevator car crashing down at terminal velocity. Any way you painted it, it was a bad day at Militech's Night City headquarters.

Security drones, effectively humanoid robots, roamed the halls of the executive suites in pairs, armed with tech rifles and other nonlethal weaponry. At this juncture, the order given to the human forces was nothing less than kill-on-sight, but Colonel Farris held out hope he'd get the chance to play with his prey before stamping them out for good.

Miz and Billy of course had other plans, as they navigated the narrow maintenance corridors inside the walls. It was a hell of a time swinging from a hanging pulley cable over to what barely passed for a ledge inside the elevator shaft, but they managed after only a few near-misses. They knew they were short on time, as once all the corpos were gone, there wasn't much keeping whoever remained from just gassing the entire building and hoping for the best.

Max's maps were second to none; give her a blueprint, and she'd turn it into a beautifully annotated work of art, and it was one of the things that had kept them both alive this long. Not to mention unchecked rage and, for lack of a better term, just plain old dumb fucking luck. Were Miz being completely honest with herself, she had never expected they'd get this far.

And then there were two... Miz and Billy, back to back, them against the world. She knew what she'd always known; as long as they were together, they were untouchable. Still, that didn't stop her from ribbing her input as she pinged him, "Still liking your chances, Tiger?"

He tried not to chuckle, "Well I certainly can't complain about the view..."

To his point, they were crawling on their hands and knees, Miz in front with her ample ass in his face, and she stopped in her tracks as he nearly went face first into the proverbial 'promised land' while she fired back, "Stay focused, ya gonk... keep the blood in your brain."

Billy smirked before a profound guilt washed over him. Thirty minutes prior, he'd lost his comrade in arms, and now here he was cracking jokes with his output like they were going for a walk in the park. Miz picked up on the awkward silence as she called back, "Hey... talk to me..."

"They're both really gone...", he confessed, feeling the full force of two of his best chooms no longer there to share in the banter, "It's just you and me."

Miz felt everything Billy was feeling, but now it was her turn to prop him up, "You and me against the world... I like our chances, Tiger. And we're doing it for them... and for Pops."

He gave a slight smile, "I really miss him... I keep expecting him to surprise us around the corner with some nugget of wisdom and telling us to stay the course."

Fuck..., Miz thought to herself as she tried to hold it all back, "I miss him too... I just hope he'd be proud of what we're doing."

Billy had his own thoughts on the matter, but now wasn't the time, so he settled for returning the favor, "I'm proud of you..."

She smiled as she stopped again, checking the map in her HUD, "Wait for the next pass and we should be clear to punch out here."

"Jesus, 'bout damn time...", Billy joked as they waited, peering through a vented panel into the hallway. They heard the mechanical march of the drones getting closer and louder with each step, and before long they saw the pair walking by, the gears and servos clicking and whirring. Miz signaled to Billy to wait, and once they were gone behind the corner, she gently pressed against the vent. She cleared both sides of the hall before pushing out further, holding the panel open for Billy to squeeze his large and muscular form through. Even when he wasn't already swollen from rushing blood and sweat, this would be a tight fit; but he managed to slide himself out onto the floor before climbing up to a knee as he readied his rifle and covered them both.

Miz stood upright, trying to stretch without popping her back and shoulders for fear that the sounds would echo and they'd be made. As she twisted around at the core, she noticed a lone access point on the opposite wall further down, and she signaled to Billy. While he wasn't on par with Max by any means, and he would never claim to be, he was still pretty handy at worming his way through simple systems. But they didn't have much time. Miz had narrowed down the drones' patrol patterns, counting a single minute between rotations. She nodded down the hall to a recessed area facing the exterior windows, and they quickly made their way and tucked themselves behind a small corner.

Once again, the rattle of the robots' feet planting against the tile floors echoed through the space as they approached. Just when Billy thought they might have been made, the robots both turned the corner at the last possible second, continuing their cadence in the other direction. He counted to three before he stepped out into the hallway again, moving as quickly and as quietly as he could back to the access point as he jacked into it. Miz followed right behind, looking dutifully down both ends of the hall as she waited.

Billy's brow furrowed as his eyes flashed blue. This wasn't like some neglected access point on the side of a shitty tenement building in Watson; he was dealing with real encryption, military grade, and as embarrassed as he was to admit it, his deck wasn't equipped for it. He tapped Miz on the shoulder and shook his head with a clenched jaw. She gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as she nodded for them to move down the other hall. If there was any logic to the drones' patrols, they were moving in one direction; meaning the play was to stay just far enough ahead of the next patrol without tipping off the previous patrol in front. Stealth was Miz's forte, though not always her preferred method, and Billy was smooth as silk when he needed to be.

They cleared the corner before stepping around, catching sight of the patrol ahead turning the corner at the far end. They were clear, and they pressed forward, weapons at the ready. Ever one to not get caught with his pants down, Billy cleared and checked every door they passed, though he was unsurprised to find the floor mostly empty.

As they approached the next corner, they were met wide a wide open space between the wall upon which they were leaning and a large pair of heavy wooden doors reaching from floor to ceiling. The space was dotted with support columns throughout, providing ample cover, but there were two drones standing guard on either side of the doors. Given his earlier failure, Billy decided to try and get back on the horse, his eyes pulsing red as he scanned the two robots. His quick-hacks were nothing compared to Max's, but against programmable tin cans, he quite liked his chances as he locked in on them both.

The drones both looked to one another, tensing up on alert before small arcs of electric energy shot out from their exposed joints. Their blue optics shuttered red and black as they writhed against the surge before they both collapsed into piles of crumpled scrap metal, smoke rising from what remained of their husks. Billy smiled to himself before an alert sounded from behind. Miz felt a jerk on the collar of her tank top as a metal hand pulled and threw her back. She flew several feet before crashing on the tile floor and sliding to a stop. Billy turned, finding one of the drones taking aim at Miz with a rifle, and before he could think, he grabbed the exposed neck of the drone with his chromed hand and ripped the head clean off in a single move.

To his surprise, the drone turned to face him, delivering a solid punch to his gut that sent him flying backwards against one of the support columns. Miz groaned as she reeled upwards from the impact before she saw the drone marching straight for Billy. She recovered to one knee as she took aim and fired several shots. Each one bounced and ricocheted off the headless metal body with little effect, the drone not even registering the impacts as it beared down on Billy.

Miz holstered her sidearm, quickly extending the scratchers on her left hand as she charged a dash, but before she could move, she felt a cold hand on her shoulder. She ducked and spun around, dodging a jab from another drone behind her as she plunged the claws with all of her might into the body. She ripped and pulled at whatever she could grab, charging punch after punch against the now-dented head of the bot before she found her target. She could feel the core irradiating warmth inside the chest, and she gripped and pulled as fast as she could. The drone stopped in its tracks, whirring down as it fell lifeless to the floor. She looked at her hand holding the core and covered in a brownish mix of synthetic lubrication. Shit!

She could hear Billy groaning and struggling as the drone had him by the throat, raising him up against the column. A heavy clang echoed through the open space as she threw the core at the drone, impacting against its back. The drone turned towards her, even without a head to indicate which way it was looking, but Miz was already in position from dashing forward. Her right fist broke through the exposed midsection, separating the body from the legs as she drove her claws into the chest. Billy dropped to his knees as she turned, driving the drone back into the wall with a yell as the metal body crushed against the impact and shut down.

Two more drones appeared from the far end of the opposite hall, taking aim and firing in short bursts as Miz dove back to Billy and pulled him behind the cover of the column. He was rubbing his throat and coughing to catch his breath as she checked him over for any other injuries. He was quick to pull himself together as Miz called to him, "Back down the hallway, start planting the charges... I'll cover you."

He had a confused look on his face as she continued with an unhinged smile, "Tiger... we're going to blow this place to hell and back. If you run into any more drones, aim for the chest... that's where their power cores are."

Billy reached for Miz's cheek as he asked, "W-What about you?"

Her face hardened as she placed her hand over Billy's, her eyes cutting to the double wooden doors, "He's mine..."

"Em... you know what he's capable of. W-What if he—", Billy tried to caution before Miz cut him off, "It doesn't matter anymore. Get the charges in place, and if worst comes to worst, we take him with us."

The sadness in Billy's face was quickly replaced by a look of ardent determination as he pulled himself to his feet, "Okay... boss. Go get 'em."

Miz held her hand out, "To hell and back...?"

He smiled as her gripped her hand firmly in his, "Nowhere else I'd rather be."

They embraced one another before pulling apart as Miz grabbed Billy's rifle and blind-fired several shots around the corner, "Ready... set... NOW!"

As Miz lined up her shots on the remaining two drones, Billy broke into a full sprint from the column before diving behind the corner of the adjacent hallway. He recovered to his in feet in less than a second as he kept down his path.

Miz dropped the rifle, drawing both blades from their sheaths as her eyes and face threading pulsed red and she stepped out into the open. She had the same wicked smile on her face as she called out, "Let's dance..."

The drones continued firing, but their shots were deflected back to them by every motion of Miz's swords. It was an endless call and response of raw lead ricocheting off honed and hardened metal as Miz closed the distance. One of the drones' rifles clicked empty, and it instead tried to swing the rifle like a bat as Miz dodged to the side before dropping both swords. She ducked under, grabbing for the drone's legs as she swept the feet. She had this hunk of metal junk in a firm grip as she spun around, slamming the drone into the other as they both crashed against the wall.

She nearly stumbled over from the momentum, but found her footing again as she recovered both blades and dashed to the piled up drones. In mere seconds, she rendered both of them into chunks and pieces before dropping the swords again as she clawed and screamed at them, a blind rage driving her before she was left alone in the vast space. Sweat was pouring off of her, and her arms were completely covered in dark oil as she tried to calm her breathing. Her head turned, eyes still red as she looked to the still-closed double doors. Why hadn't he confronted them yet? Was he even there? What if he ran with all the rest?

Miz couldn't even stomach the notion that all of this had been for naught; she'd lost too much to entertain doubts of any kind. Farris had to be in that office. She pushed herself to her feet as she picked up both of her blades once again, and she marched straight for the doors. She kicked as hard as she could against what appeared to be real solid oak, the first impact having little effect as she stood frustrated and daunted. After several seconds, she summoned all of her strength with a shout as she kicked again, shattering the fixtures on the doors as they swung open. The impact shook the walls, rattling the obnoxious hanging framed pictures as she crossed the threshold.

There was no outburst, no yelling; the only sounds carrying in the air were a soft clap and a low and evil laugh as she found her target. Farris sat undisturbed, yet disturbingly amused, behind a massive wooden desk, his heavy hands impacting against each other as he said, "I must admit I underestimated you lot..."

Miz's grip on the handles of her blades tightened and her eyes narrowed as he continued, "You've lost so much, and yet come so far all on your own... truly legendary. And yet, it matters not."

Farris stood from his chair, planting both hands on the desk as he leaned forward, "This childish 'mission' ends now. You're all alone, and you're surrounded. There's no way out."

"What makes you think I'm getting out of this?", Miz asked indignantly, "You've taken everything from me."

Farris' face twitched as he stifled another laugh, "What?! You're here for your pound of flesh?! Come hell or high water?!"

Miz slid back into a stance, the red in her eyes and threading intensifying as she spat, "It's all I've got left, bub."

"So be it...", Farris answered calmly before his hands shifted. He gave a solid yell as he threw the heavy desk up with both hands, launching it towards Miz. She dashed under to dodge as the desk crashed behind her and skidded against the wall, but Farris was ready for her as he ripped off his jacket, revealing his massive chromed arms. She took several quick swipes with her blades, the exposed subdermal weave blocking each of them with ease. As she prepared for another slash, Farris broke her stance as he barreled into her with his elbow, sending her flying back. She crashed onto her back, trying to recover as she rolled over her shoulder to crouch on one knee.

Farris stomped towards her, his fists articulating with sparks of energy. She stood up, drawing her sidearm as she took aim and fired two shots before the gun clicked empty with the slide locked back. The bullets tore through Farris' pressed white shirt, but otherwise bounced off his implanted chest plate with an echoing ricochet, causing him to smile as he closed the gap and took a heavy swing. Miz ducked, blocking the strike and pushing off as she tried to slam her elbow into his gut. He grunted from the strike, but otherwise suffered no damage, allowing Miz to plant several solid hits against his mostly chrome torso as he took each in stride and laughed at her attempts. He swung forward with a heavy left cross as Miz just barely dodged back in time. She charged a jump, attempting to get behind him as she somersaulted in the air. Before she could brace for landing, she felt a heavy hand wrap around her leg; her natural downward momentum quickly turned into Farris swinging her around by the leg as he tossed her like a rag doll against the nearest wall.

Miz slammed against the wall, shattering a framed picture as she fell to her face on the floor. The broken bits of glass showered across her back as she struggled to push herself up, the muscles in her arms shaking. Before she could recover, Farris had her by the belt of her pants, effortlessly picking her up and throwing her against the other wall. Another picture destroyed, Miz could feel the glass shards digging into her back, and her hands curled into fists as she coughed up blood against the floor, feeling her own warm and uneven breaths. Everything hurt, and a small part of her wondered had she not made a mistake trying to take on this beast by herself.

Farris grabbed her by a handful of hair, jerking her up as he tossed her back against the wall. Her legs were shaky, unable to stabilize as she wavered from side to side before Farris gave her a helping hand around her throat. His grip tightened just enough to let her know she was in real trouble, and he looked deep in her eyes as he admired her and said, "Such a pretty face... shame nobody will recognize it when I'm through with you!"

His other hand curled into a fist as it drove into her face before driving into her stomach, again and again. Each shot to her ribs and abdomen sent a surge of electricity through her entire body, followed by cries of pain of she coughed up more blood onto his wrist and forearm. When he'd finally had his fill of fun, he stepped into her, inches from her face as he asked, "Bitch... I'm going to end you just like I ended that old cowboy..."

Miz could feel the life leaving her as her vision blurred while the hand tightened around her throat, followed by the sound of the articulating panels concealing Farris' projectile launcher. She allowed her eyes to shut, just for a moment, and in that dark and empty place, she saw a vision of Pops' body resting limp against Farris' shoulder before being discarded into the sand like a sack of meat. What followed was a fiery phoenix rising from the ground, the flames consuming her entire body, entering her and lighting her up from the inside out as she released an earth-shattering scream...

Her eyes shot open, bright red as she extended the claws on her hand and drove them forward with a yell. She could feel herself worming around inside Farris' cybernetic innards, and she gripped and ripped as much as she could in a single handful. He shouted in pain, his hand releasing her as he staggered back, surprised to see his own blood pouring out of the wound in his torso as it soaked his shirt and pants. Miz fell, barely catching herself on her feet as she pressed into him, following up with another drive even further inside as she countered a wild haymaker. She freed herself of his stomach as she blocked another downward blow, moving to the side as she dug her claws into his forearm before charging a solid punch straight into his elbow. She could hear the crunch of the synthetic ligaments straining, and she charged another punch, breaking clean through the joint as his entire lower arm separated from the rest of him.

Enraged, Farris swung around with a wild right, catching Miz off-guard in her already damaged ribs. The punch knocked her several inches off the ground as she collapsed to her knees. She could feel the ragged breaths on the crown of her head as the hand grabbed her again, swinging her around and letting go as she flew toward the light.

She crashed against a steel beam separating two panes of plate glass; she could call it a miracle later that she didn't go flying through the glass into the open air of the Night City skyline. Both panes cracked from the impact, and Miz fell once again. She could feel the world closing in around her, one eye swollen shut and her face and body covered in bruises and cuts as she wrapped one arm under her ribs to stay upright on her knees. She looked up as Farris approached slowly, taking his time, enjoying every second of playing with his broken toy. He stopped two paces short, a purely evil smile on his face.

Miz could barely shut her mouth, her jaw hanging looser than usual, but she managed to spit a wad of blood with all the defiance she could muster before struggling to her feet. She slid one foot back, nearly losing her balance, before she wearily raised both hands and said, "Fuckin' finish it, you pussy..."

A hearty and unhinged laugh poured forth from Farris as he took another step forward before a single heavy shot fired. A chunk of the plate on his shoulder blade was blown away, and he turned in surprise as Billy stood in the doorway, Pops' revolver in hand as he winked and said, "Remember me, motherfucker?!"

Farris stampeded toward Billy as the younger merc emptied the remaining rounds, each of them blowing away more armor and what little remained of his shirt. Once the iron clicked empty, he dropped it, taking a stance as he readied his famous right hook. Farris' charge held no secret, and he led with a heavy and undisciplined cross; Billy sidestepped the swing to his opponent's outside, countering with a square hit to one of the damaged plates and following up with a wild left to the unprotected jaw.

Farris collapsed to one knee, and Billy wasted no opportunity as he went to work, landing blow after blow and prying the damaged panels apart like a frenzied animal hungry for blood. Farris pulled himself together and swung his elbow back, catching Billy in the sternum and causing him to stumble back. It was just enough time for Farris to recover to his feet as he turned to face Billy. By now, the older man's face was trickling blood from his mouth and nose, and his mostly implanted body had been ripped to shreds, exposing a titanium reinforced skeleton safeguarding 'ganic and synthetic organs.

Billy pushed forward, catching Farris' heavy boot in his chest as he flew back, losing his own footing before crashing to the floor. As he tried to push back to his feet, he felt the same boot pressing between his shoulder blades, forcing him face-first against the cold tile. Farris reached down, grabbing Billy by the waist of his pants as he lifted him up and over before throwing him into a solid and substantial coffee table. Billy broke the table in two, his back bearing the brunt of the impact, and he reeled with a coughing groan as he struggled to pull himself together.

Farris stood between both of his opponents, proud of his own handiwork as he called out, "How very sweet... at least you'll die together... painfully."

Both Miz and Billy were writhing on the ground as Farris continued, "I suppose that's a small price to pay for losing an arm... stamping out trash like you. What did you think you could accomplish going up against the most powerful organization on the planet?!"

"D-Dude... s-shut the fuck. Up!", Miz shouted as she tried to push herself up to her feet. She was in a bad way, but stubborn to the end, and she just managed to pull herself together long enough to draw Farris' attention as he barked, "I'm going to make your input watch while I tear you limb from limb and toss the bits and pieces out the window."

Miz reared her hand for a strike as Farris readied himself to counter, completely oblivious to the entire half of a coffee table swinging for the back of his head.

WHAM!

A flash of light clouded Farris' vision as the solid chunk of wood crashed into the back of his skull and he stumbled forward against the already cracked glass. Billy gave a yell as he summoned all his strength for one more swing, slamming the half of a table against Farris' spine with an unnatural series of cracks. He collapsed to his knees as he looked out the window over the City... his City...

He tried to move, but he found a heavy knee planted in the middle of his back as a strong hand pressed his face even further against the glass. Billy was shaky at best, but holding on as best he could as he called to Miz, "Any ol' time, sweetheart..."

She stumbled her way over, barely able to walk a straight line, and she extended the scratchers on her hand. She placed her other hand on Farris' shoulder as she reached around his throat while he cautioned them, "There's nothing for you if you end it here... my people will find you, and they will string you up..."

As if to finally shut him up, Miz adjusted her face over his face, her claws pressing into the side of his face as she leaned down and whispered in his ear, "T-Then... at least... you w-won't be... lonely... i-in Hell..."

Farris cried out as the claws found their way inside, and with one last scream, Miz ripped her hand back, taking with it half of the brutish man's skull in a magnificent splatter of blood and bone against the glass. Billy felt the body go limp under his hold, and he released as what was left of Colonel Michael Farris fell over. It was done. He was done. And all the pain washed over them all at once as Miz fell to her knees from sheer exhaustion. And once again as he'd done in the desert, Billy knelt down in front of her, a warm smile on his face.

It hurt too much to laugh, but she tried to muscle it out as she said softly, "I-It's over... he's dead..."

She fell forward into Billy as he brought his arms around her, "You did it, Em..."

He could feel the warmth returning to her, but there was still an edge as she pulled away and looked up to him, "We'll be surrounded soon... T-Tiger, we can't fight our way back down."

Billy looked down at the detonator switch in his hand, nodding with a sadness in his face as he reminded her, "All Pops wanted was for you to live... he wanted you to get out. He gave his life so we could do exactly that..."

Miz's eyes clouded over as she tried to shut it out. It wasn't helping, but she knew he was right, and he continued, "What's it all come to, Em? What was it all for?"

"I-I don't know...", she looked down to the floor as she tried to find the answer for herself as Billy kept going, "Max and Ky... they died so we'd have a chance..."

She started to break down, the tears returning as all that was left now was pain. An inconsolable pain that couldn't ever be silenced or healed. Her heart was torn to pieces over all that was lost, and she wasn't sure even Billy could put her back together... but the one thing she did know is that he was here with her at the end. He had kept his promise.

As much as she wanted it to end, had planned for it to end... for the pain to finally stop, it wasn't fair to him; and it wasn't fair to Liv to take away her baby boy. Here at the end, he deserved to know, as much physical pain as she was in, she smiled while he kept going, "Miz... I said I'd follow you anywhere, bu—"

She reached for his hand, the detonator shared between their palms as the smile broke wide across her face and she called to him, "It's my turn to follow you..."

Billy's eyes cut to Miz in confusion, his brow furrowed, and her eyes flashed orange before a distant hum of jetwash faded into the very near background. She pulled Billy to her as they both groaned in pain, and she whispered to him, "Let's start our family..."

--

[Two days later - The Afterlife]

"...and in our latest breaking story, the fires have only just been extinguished as of this morning... we still have no leads, and no comment, on what City officials are calling a terrorist attack on the Militech headquarters building in the Plaza... the building has sustained substantial foundational damage from demolition-grade explosives placed throughout... while there are no suspects as of yet, Mayor Peralez has promised on behalf of the NCPD that a manhunt is underway to identify and apprehend the persons responsible... our sources at ground zero tell us from evidence gathered thus far in the form of numerous human remains, it is unlikely that anyone involved in this heinous event survived, leading some to believe this may have been a martyr's retribution for a greater cause... Militech is long known for its ties to the NUSA, as well as funding multiple armed conflicts all across the glo—"

It was a day like any other, except for those who actually knew what the fuck was going on. V sat slumped over at the bar, her head buried in the crook of her arm as she stared at the oversized screen with Gillean Jordan's face plastered on. Next to the corpo-funded media brat's headshot were panning images of what was left of the Militech building pockmarked with massive holes blown up and down the sides as smoke wafted into the open air.

She couldn't remember the last time since the crew had left the parking lot upstairs that she didn't have tears in her eyes. And that wouldn't change for a while. She missed them so damn much, it hurt. Sitting here now, she half expected them to come walking through the door, either for Miz to give her some ration of shit, or for all of them to enjoy a post-gig celebratory drink. But nobody was coming; not today, not tomorrow, not ever. They were really gone.

V wiped away another round of tears with a sniffle as she picked up her cigarette from the ashtray and took a drag. The smoke filled and burned her lungs from the inside out, but at this point she welcomed the pain, if for no other reason than to distract her from her heart splitting in two for her favorite crew. She felt so small, even smaller than when she'd first returned to Night City from Atlanta, and she didn't like it.

Even as early as it was, Claire was still around, still tending the bar, and still looking after her choom. She passed by again, tilting her head down to catch V's line of sight as she silently asked, to which V shook her head, if there was anything she could do. And so she carried on restocking, taking inventory, and wiping down every visible surface behind the bar.

Rogue appeared after a short while, taking her usual seat next to the Living Legend as she tried to offer some elderly words of comfort, "Crews... come and go. Nothing and no one lasts forever in this city... and that's why we distance ourselves... it's as much for our protection as it is for theirs..."

V tried to shake off the words, her face still sitting snug in her arm, as Rogue continued, "I get it, they were special. Phoenix Gray was a special man, and he put together a special crew. They were built different, just like some other little snot-nosed shit I used to know..."

The Living Legend didn't really feel like smiling, but even in this moment, she had to stifle the smirk creeping in. Rogue was ever the charming seductress when it came to handing out her sage wisdom.

V looked up and over at the jackets hanging over the booth. In a prudent bit of foresight, she had a fourth hook mounted next to the other three, hoping there'd be something left for which she could commemorate the crew.

Almost as if the universe were listening, her eyes flashed orange before Emmerick's voice spoke, "Heya boss... the kid from Lizzie's is here, Miz's friend... says he's got somethin' for ya."

V's brow furrowed in confusion as she corrected the bouncer, "Luca... sure, send him in."

She really didn't want visitors, but Luca was different. He was a choom of a choom. He was Miz's oldest friend, and that counted for something. What was he doing, just offering his condolences? A warm hug? A kiss from Rita telling V to hurry up and come home?

The doors slid open, and Luca walked in, carrying something in his arms as V spun around to meet him. She could feel the crease lines in her face from her jacket sleeve, and she tried to quickly pull herself together as the kid approached and held his arms out, "Miz wanted you to have these... if anything happened. She said to wait two days."

V's eyes narrowed as she looked through the contents presented to her. It was Miz's jacket; her favorite cropped Night City bomber jacket. Carefully folded inside was a familiar Unity bearing Kanji inscriptions along the barrel, and a single round with a visibly dented primer cap. V graciously accepted the items, placing them on the bar before she turned back to Luca and embraced him as she said, "T-Thank you, choom... you're a real one."

Luca allowed himself a few more seconds in the warm embrace of a friend before he pulled away and said, "I got to get back, but don't be a stranger... Rita talks about you all the time."

She blushed with a wrinkle of her nose as Luca turned and left, the doors sliding shut behind him. Just as quick as he arrived was he now gone, And V felt like the last bits of Miz had left with him. She turned to the bar, leaning against it as the rain clouds returned, and she shiftlessly unfolded the jacket. To her surprise, a single shard fell out, clattering against the edge of the bar top before falling to the floor. V tilted her head in curiosity as she knelt down and grabbed the shard between her graceful and slender fingers. Without a care in the world, she slotted it in her head as she stood up, and as her eyes flashed blue, tears ran down her cheeks as a wide smile broke across her face. She brought her hand up to cover her face as the blush turned to a full red burn, and her eyes cut back to the soon-to-be not-so-empty hook as she thought to herself, You foxy little brat...

--

V, by the time you read this, it'll be too late. What's done is done. I wish like hell I could be there to give you a proper goodbye face to face... but you know how it is when half the city wants you dead, and the other half believes you already are. I'm sorry it had to end like this, but you said it yourself: there was no coming back...

Unless I left Night City altogether... and so I made the choice. You're holding it. My skin and my iron... the last vestiges of a life that's taken everything from me... but I won't let it take the only family I have left. And the only way to protect them is to leave the only home I've ever known. And it gives Falco a chance to make good on his promise to the old man...

I trust you'll do the right thing. You always had our backs, and you never backed down. Good times and bad, you were the best fixer, and friend, we could ever hope for. You'll always have a place in my heart. And so I trust you, and only you, with the truth... and I thank you for everything.

~Never fade away, choomba <3