Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 551: Nothing Changed.
The Rusty Cup had always been a rowdy place, and it got even louder when someone brought a fight to the gangsters who made it their base. Fights among gangs weren’t unusual, so it was only a matter of time before things quieted down, and they did. Then, the entire shop exploded.
A gorilla-like abomination emerged from the flames, catching the ledge of a window on the opposite side of the street and hanging from it. On his shoulder was a man whose head looked like the skull of a charred corpse.
"Fucking brat..." Harry ground his teeth. "I GAVE YOU A WARNING!"
"BLA BLA BLA! Don’t you get tired of talking!?"
From the rising smoke, a red-haired youth jumped high, dragging a black trail behind him. His hands snapped forward, and a pair of pistols roared. The bullets struck the building like cannonballs, their target having launched himself high in the air.
"Then we’re done talking!"
The gorilla stretched its arms, and the fingers on each hand snapped off. With a faint flash, gunfire rained from above.
Dante turned into a blur, evading the downpour that kept chasing after him until it ran out. His pistols snapped in the abomination’s direction again, and he pulled the trigger. His shots found their target, but it was to no avail. That thing was built to withstand rounds that only tanks could block, and bullets fired by hand guns, no matter how powerful, couldn’t do anything to it.
Defense might be its forte, but that wasn’t the case for speed. No sooner had it landed than a second giant appeared beside it, his fist clenched as his entire body twisted. Riot planted a punch into the abomination’s large left arm, bending it momentarily before blasting it into a nearby building. Harry got off its shoulder before that happened, and with a hand on Riot’s outstretched arm, he whipped his body like a gymnast and swung his leg.
An instant before the impact, a blade ripped through Harry’s pants, emerging from his shin. He had been aiming for Riot’s neck and would have reaped his head if not for the hand that appeared to block the kick just in time.
A shower of sparks scattered as the blade bounced off Riot’s red skin. Before it could get too far, he reached out and grabbed it along with the leg attached to it. Harry bent his body and swung his arm. A glowing orange scythe shot out of his elbow, but just like the first blade, Riot blocked it with ease. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂
The skull face clicked his tongue, his mind accelerating as it reached for the command to activate another one of his weaponized bionics. His SRE was one of the best money could buy, but his mind had its limits, so he was forced to choose when and where to use it.
As his trench coat ripped open, his vision suddenly blurred. Next thing he knew, he was diving through layers of reinforced concrete. Dante had reached him before he could do anything else, planting a punch into his left flank.
"Damn it..." he clicked his tongue. "Tough bastard..."
1-2’s Module wasn’t the toughest, and after that punch, cracks were already running through it. A click drew his attention, and his perception was enhanced to the max. He quickly hid behind Riot, who held up his hands and enveloped them in a red aura. Something crashed into them, and an explosion followed, swallowing both him and Dante.
A short distance away, the abomination had its arm held out, the alloy outer layer peeled back along with other components, revealing a rocket launcher. Before the explosion from the first projectile vanished, a second one was loaded and launched into it. The second detonation shook the area, shattering the glass on the surrounding buildings.
As if that wasn’t enough, the abomination loaded a third round.
"Goliath, that’s enough."
Slowly walking up to his guard, Harry watched the fire it had created. The world around him was bathed in orange, the alarms of unburned cars filling it with noise. The area wasn’t entirely empty—a small army of Black Skull members had surrounded the Rusty Cup at one point, ready for war. However, the fight between Enhanced Individuals proved to be too much for them, so all they could do was sit back and wait for orders.
As the seconds passed. Harry relaxed his posture, seemingly realizing something. He waited some more, then clicked his tongue in annoyance.
"They got away..." he turned to his goons and raised a hand, giving an order. "Move out!"
The heroes would show up soon, and the last thing they wanted was to deal with the BEO. One doesn’t need to be a genius detective to figure out Black Skull had been one of the involved parties, but it will be very difficult to determine who exactly was responsible for what happened. So long as he doesn’t get caught at the incident site, faking an alibi wouldn’t be too hard.
A black car drove up to Harry, and the door opened for him. Climbing in with one foot, he stopped and turned around, watching the flames eating at the Rusty Cup, his expression turning impassive. The door closed, and the black car took off. A small truck van followed after it, carrying the abomination with massive arms. The Black Skull goons drove off, too, and all that remained in that street were charred corpses, flames, and rubble.
On a different street, opposite in direction to the one taken by Harry and his goons, a white truck stopped at a red light. The blond young man driving it had a deep scowl on his face while tapping the steering wheel like a nicotine addict who had gone a while without a smoke. The doors of the truck opened, and his expression brightened right away. Dante dropped into the back seat while Riot took the passenger seat. Neither seemed to be injured, but their clothes had a few cuts and burns.
Looking a little annoyed, Dante gestured for his blond subordinate to look forward. Taking the hint, Oliver realized that the traffic light had turned green. He stepped on the gas, and the truck took off, heading off to Hollowgrid.
The silence filling its interior lasted until Dante noticed the way Oliver kept glancing at him through the rearview mirror.
"What?"
"Ah, n-nothing, boss..." gears seemed to turn inside Oliver’s head as he paused, and his tense expression changed to that of confusion. "I... just don’t understand. Boss, I thought you were going to crush Black Skull."
"Yeah. And?" Dante replied.
"Then... Why did you let him go?"
"This isn’t for you to know." Resting an arm over the back of his seat, Dante turned to look out of the window. "Nothing changed, and that’s all that matters."
