Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 506: Holding Back.

"So? You gonna say why it took you so long to show your face?" Dante said. "Pretty sure I made myself clear."

"I needed time to recover, you know?" Riot replied.

"I thought you could heal yourself?"

"And that consumes energy. The kind you can't get from a normal source."

Dante stared at him for a moment, then stood up.

"You drink?"

"Sure."

Walking up to the small fridge, Dante grabbed two cold cans, tossed one to the big guy, and went back to his seat. Taking a few gulps, Dante turned his gaze forward.

"You gonna explain what kind of mess you got yourself into?"

"It wasn't a big deal until you stepped in," Riot replied. "Basically, they came to me when I moved here. I needed a bunch of money, and they were paying nicely."

"You were the boss of a big gang. How the hell were you broke?"

"Most of my guys are either dead or got arrested. I had to take care of their families."

"Hmm... didn't think you were that kind of guy," Dante said.

"You take care of people who take care of you. Just cause the times get tough, doesn't mean you leave them behind."

For some reason, that part seemed to prick at Dante's skin, and he moved to change the subject right away.

"The bastards sponsoring you. Any idea who they are?"

"Nope. Never bothered investigating."

Dante raised his gaze and took a big swig.

'Have one of your androids follow that lawyer.'

[Understood.] Volcan replied.

Looking down at the can in his hand, Dante gave the matter some thought, then opened his messenger app.

[

Dante: I need information on Marten Maxwel.

Preferably, every client he ever worked with.

]

He included a photo of the lawyer just in case.

"Going by your reaction earlier, I'm guessing this Wilhelm guy-"

Dante looked up, and Riot shut his mouth. Dropping his gaze once more, Dante closed his eyes and sighed. The response to the message he sent arrived just then.

[

Viktor: Give me a couple of days.

The client list will cost you.

Dante: No problem.

]

The easier solution would be to capture the lawyer and wring the answers out of him, but Dante decided to leave that as a last resort.

"They really poked you in the wrong spot," Said Riot.

"They will get what's coming for them," Dante said. "Forget about them for now. We have more important things to discuss."

"You want to know about my powers, right?" Raising his can, Riot looked at Dante and grinned. "I will tell you if you beat me again."

Dante stared back at him.

"You realize I went easy on you back then, right?"

Riot threw his head back and laughed. As his breath ran out, he drew in another one and looked at Dante.

"You serious?"

"That was the first serious fight in a year," Dante replied. "Plus, I had a major surgery just a couple of days before."

"Oh yeah…" Finishing his drink, Riot crushed the can. "Let's call it sparring, them. It's not every day I find someone who can throw hands."

~[ ]~

After some insistence on the Riots' part, Dante agreed to a little match. They went to the underground arena, which had been entirely empty for the past few weeks. Some had tried to follow after them, wanting to spectate, but Dante wasn't in the mood for that. Oliver looked devastated when he locked the door in their face.

"Want me to hold back again?" Dante said while stretching his body.

"Nah, let's take it easy this time," Riot said, done stripping his upper half. "I want to see your technique."

The two stood in opposite corners of the arena, then took fighting stances. Time seemed to stretch as they studied each other, then both vanished.

A violent shockwave exploded through the underground level. The grin on Riot's face widened. The kick he led with was blocked with ease, but not with another kick, as he had anticipated.

"What happened to taking it easy?" Dante said.

"Is this too much for you?" Riot sneered.

Dante pushed the log-like foot away as they fell, and the instant his foot touched the arena floor, he lunged forward. The punch he threw was parried, and Riot countered right away. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

They had several exchanges with similar outcomes. Dante kept blocking, evading, and parrying everything thrown at him, and Riot did the same. Not a single blow landed, and after some time, Dante's frustration quietly grew.

He wasn't having the best of days, and that frustration channeled into his fist. His perception accelerated further, and his fists moved faster and faster. For every attack Riot threw at him, Dante followed with two, and one of them always landed.

Riot didn't seem that affected. In fact, his grin didn't falter even as the metallic fists rattled his insides. Things balanced soon after, and the two went back to canceling each other's blows.

"You aren't using your legs that much," Riot said, his head tilted after evading a jab.

"They're still mostly flesh," Dante replied. "The right parts aren't ready yet, so I'm enhancing them with some silk."

His hand shot out, killing the swing Riot was about to initiate.

"That SRE of yours," Riot ducked. "I can tell it isn't loaded with some of those martial arts matrices."

"You can?"

"Those tend to break when faced with any real challenge." Throwing a three-hit combo, Riot retreated a step then lunged, only to be blocked as if he had run into a wall. "They're made for average fights and performances. Even if they claim to capture the neural behavior of professional martial artists, the result is still a fake."

The force dissipated, and the two broke their clash. Backing away, Riot took another stance, bringing one foot forward and tilting his body toward it.

"You can't cheat your way to being good at something." The air around him stirred. "That's not how this world works."

[Dante, his soul is changing shape.]

As Volcan spoke, a faint red glow began to coat the giant's skin. Dante had noticed it during their last fight, but he had only assumed that the giant was growing redder from the workout. However, they had barely sparred for two minutes this time, and they haven't pushed themselves that much.

As Dante watched, the red glow quickly gathered around Riot's arms, growing bright enough to mask the skin underneath.

"Just to be clear," Riot said, the grin returning to his face. "I was holding back as well."