Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 467: Red Fist Bar. (Part Two)

The police car's door closed with and audible clack, and a moment later, it drove off at an unrestrained speed, disappearing behind a corner. The red haired youth paid it no mind. His eye were on the establishment in front of him, which had been dubbed the Red Fist Bar as the large sign above its doors says.

The terrible name didn't register in his mind—it wouldn't be up that long, anyway. Lowering his gaze, he stared at the door for a moment, lifted his leg, and took a step. No sooner had his foot touched the ground than every bird in the area took flight at once. The atmosphere changed, and silence swallowed the world. It was almost like the calm before the storm, but whatever tension it brought, when compared to what's to come, it paled entirely.

The youth lifted his leg to take a second step, and the instant his foot touched the ground, a illusory pressure fell on the entire area. Everything with a mind felt it. The strays in the alleys, the people in their homes. Even the gangsters in the bar, mindless as they were, felt that something was coming. They took out their weapons and gathered at the door, but the closer that something got, the more despair they felt, and the more their will to resist waned.

The door split open as if blown by a violet wind. The pressure continued to mount as he walked inside, his steps calm and unhurried, his hands never leaving the pockets of his red jacket. Even as a crowd of thugs surrounded him from every angle, he didn't as much as react. He simply scanned their faces with a glance, and before long, he found one of his targets.

[Dante, they're turning their NIMs off.] A voice spoke in his head.

'Doesn't matter.'

Cutting off the wireless connections to one's bionics was a good strategy when fighting a powerful Diver, but it was meaningless if that Diver decided to use his hands.

The bastard with the metal arm could wait. Taking his eyes off of him, Dante pierced the guy in front of him with a glare.

"Riot." He said. "Where is he?"

The man opened his mouth, but the words betrayed him. His bladder was n the verge of giving in, that's when a different voice filled the bar.

[Let him through.]

The voice was familiar, and its source was the speakers installed in different parts of the wide room. Hearing it, the thugs relaxed a little. The pressure threatening to crush them began to fade as well. Some of them even regained their stupidity, and the fear induced into them by the red hair no longer worked.

[I said let him through!]

Before any of them could do anything they would regret, the voice spoke again. Gritting their teeth, they parted to the sides and opened up a path.

"The boss is in the arena." 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

The man who had almost pissed himself spoke with newfound arrogance, motioning for the intruder to follow him. A couple of minutes after, Dante found himself in a wide underground room.

He had only seen it once before, back when he spied on the place using Finn's Scorpio-bots. It was just a closed off section of the underground parking lot. At its center, a large fighting arena was set. At the center of that arena, A large man sat with his head hanging down, his muscular body bathed in the white light cast from above.

As Dante entered the arena, the cage closed behind him. The thugs flooded the floor and surrounded the cage from outside. Their faced lit with mocking smirks, they started cheering, their excitement for the coming massacre growing by the second.

"Shut it."

The crowd went still, and the basement was once again enveloped in silence. The large man rose from his seat, his height almost reaching the three meter mark. Taking a couple steps, he stood in front of Dante, casting his shadow over him.

"So, what brought you here?" Riot asked. "Did you finally decide to come work for me?"

Dante held his gaze for a moment.

"The ones who burned the noodle shop, and those who attacked the police station." He said. "Hand them over."

"Uh-oh… you want me to hand you my people?"

"It's either that…" Dante looked left, then he looked right. "Or I will kill everyone here."

A stir ran through the crowd, and the floor was filled with muffled whispers. The air quickly turned heavy, and the tension grew thick. Just then, loud laughter cut through it like a knife.

"HAHAHAHA… you really know how to make me laugh, kid!" Riot Roared. "What? Don't tell me you got a big head after killing a bunch of street rats?"

Dante didn't reply.

"You think this is some kind of a joke, kid?" Riot's tone changed all of a sudden. "Let me teach you something very important." His arms rose by his side. "In this place, I'm the big dog. Everyone here listens to everything I say." He let one arm. "Soon, the runts outside will listen as well." He pointed a finger at Dante's hed hair. "And those who don't listen." He clenched his fist. "I crush them with these hands!"

As if a trigger had been pulled, cheers erupted from their surroundings. Riot looked left, then he looked right. His pack wasn't growing as fast as he would have liked, but their numbers had grown from the time he escaped to this district.

A mocking grin spread over his face as he turn to look down on the kid with red hair, but when he saw him leisurely taking off his jacket, he was struck with a wave of confusion.

"Maybe I should have dealt with you way back…" Dante said. "I guess this is what I get for putting off work for this long."

Realizing the kid intended to fight, the urge to laugh overwhelmed Riot once again. Just as he raised his head, intending to let it all out, a shock spread through all of his body, emptying the air out of his lungs. His back hit the metallic cage, then it hit something hard. By the time he came back to his senses, he realized that he had been knocked out.