Cyberpunk: Ultimate Cyborg System-Chapter 592: Black Skull. (Part Twenty Four)

Though she might look as soft as most women, Rose was in fact a Level 2 Intermediate Cyborg. Unlike those who replace parts of their bodies with bionics, she instead opted for a Silk Suit, enhancing her body by weaving threads of nanofiber through her muscle. That granted her an increase in both strength and durability, allowing her to survive things she wouldn't survive otherwise.

The uncontrolled laughter filling the warehouse died down into an eerie silence. Buried in a rusty sheet of metal, Rose slowly pushed herself up. Sharp pangs of pain set her nervous system on fire, and the contents of her stomach rushed up, drawn out by the unbearable nausea that assaulted her. All that came out was a clear liquid, proof that the sickness hadn't just assaulted her now.

Most of the pain came from her right side. The slightest movement told that her arm was broken, and the same likely happened to a few ribs. Fortunately, her organs were safe thanks to the thin threads holding her muscles together. The trauma was still enough to leave her incapacitated, however. All it would take is for her to move a little, and it would all be over.

'...'

For some reason, Rose found the thought strangely soothing. Twenty years. She had been fighting for twenty years, but it was finally going to be over.

Her gaze fell on the blurry form of the gorilla who brought her to that state. He had collapsed beside his employer, his massive body twitching like a machine struggling to carry a load beyond its capacity.

The massive bastard had been standing at the entrance, so the Sun Flare might not have affected him as much, or maybe his bionics had a better resistance. Either way, he was able to move, and the skull-faced bastard he was protecting won't be paralyzed for long.

[Ki…ll…Kill…her…]

Harry's broken voice came through his gritted teeth, his bloodshot eyes piercing her with an enraged glare. In that condition, he really did look like a charred corpse. Turning him into a real corpse would have brought her nothing but joy, and it wouldn't have been enough. He was not the skull-faced monster she wanted gone.

Watching as the gorilla dragged his giant arms toward her, Rose's eyelids grew heavy, and she lost the will to keep them up. Darkness filled her vision once more, and the pain receded, her mind relaxing as a result. As she surrendered herself to the sensation, Rose found herself thinking of the goal she was trying to achieve and the reason that pushed her so far. A fading smile appeared in her mind just then, and as gentle as it was, seeing it brought back all the pain that had left her a moment ago.

"Agh…ah…"

Fighting against it, Rose pushed herself out of the rusty grave, falling to her knees the moment her feet touched the floor. Crimson droplets fell from her chin, drawing a mark that informed her of the true extent of the damage she had suffered. Forcing her gaze away from the grim pattern, she searched the surroundings for her weapon. The pistol had not fallen from her hand until her back hit the wall, so it was lying nearby.

A pistol couldn't possibly make a difference in her current state, not that it did before. Still, Rose kept its location in mind, and with every ounce of power her body could muster, she pushed herself up. The Goliath was already upon her, the twitching in his movement almost gone. She gritted her teeth and kept glaring at him, and in that moment, a translucent interface overlayed itself on her vision.

The Sun Flare hadn't spared her, so both her NIM and OAM had been out for the past few seconds. Bare bone models like hers were quick to recover, however. She had been sending commands long before that happened, so they went through the moment the implants recovered. By then, she had already reached under her jacket and taken something out. It was a silvery metal tube, and the moment they caught sight of it, panic struck both the Skull Face and Goliath once more.

[Stop her!!!]

Goliath was unable to muster the same burst of speed he used to strike her before, and though he was already close, he wasn't close enough. Rose took the Sun Flare and twisted her body, ignoring the blinding pain as she threw the grenade. It didn't make it far thanks to her injury, but that didn't matter. She only needed it to get between gorilla arms and his owner, and once it did, the tube at the center shot out, and a single crimson pulse exploded from it, washing over everything in a second.

Goliath froze mid-motion, one arm reaching toward her. As tendrils of crimson electricity danced on his giant figure, gravity pulled him down, flattening him on the floor. Once again, Harry was left incapacitated, unable to move anything other than his eyes. Rose was the only one still on her feet.

Coughing another mouthful of blood, she held a hand to her broken right arm and trudged toward the spot where her weapon lay. Her moments appeared slow despite the rush she was in, and it took her nearly a minute to pick up the pistol and return to the lying gorilla. The mindless bodyguard appeared to be encased entirely in bone plating and subdermal armor, but Rose knew how to deal with his type. Stepping onto his broad back, she found the spot where his neck connected to his head. She pressed the barrel against the gap and pulled the trigger.

BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM

The pistol roared again and again until a click announced the last bullet's departure. Even with that much, there was no way to know if the bastard was dead until the barrel was moved aside. The hole under it appeared to have been pierced through metal rather than flesh, but seeing the bloody mess under it and the scrambled brains mixed in it, Rose didn't need more proof of the creature's death.

Relief returned, and Rose caught herself almost submitting to it once more. She couldn't allow it. There was still one more thing she had to do, and she needed to do it now. Fighting through the pain once more, she pushed herself up, and as she turned to face her target, a strange sound echoed through the silent warehouse.

CLAP…CLAP…CLAP

A chill rolled over Rose, forcing her to forget the excruciating pain coursing through her nerves. The Skull-Faced monster was there, but he wasn't the only one. The first was still trapped in the shell he believed to be his body, and the second one was standing by his side, his hands coming together in a clap, and the teeth inked over his mouth bent unnaturally, making for a truly disturbing sight.

The two differed in a lot of things, so even though both had their heads shaved and covered entirely in ink, one can still tell them apart at first sight. Rose had no trouble recognizing the second one, not by the suit he wore, nor by his slim proportions and build. She recognized him by the look in his eyes, and the moment they met hers, a fear she had long since buried came back to haunt her.