”
64Please respect copyright.PENANA2rI9mMbrmi
I spit blood onto the ferrocrete. It sizzles — probably from the plasma burn cooking my ribs. The bastard talks too much. Always the loud ones who think they’ve already won.
64Please respect copyright.PENANATDMWavXwN8
"What'cha lookin' at, street punk? Eyes up here!"
64Please respect copyright.PENANA09fQKEh412
He’s got a voice like rusty nails dragged across synth-steel. His jaw’s half-metal, teeth grinding like old gears. The Electro Krystal dangles from his belt like some twisted trophy, pulsing blue, begging me to rip it free.
64Please respect copyright.PENANAmVCMbqlavr
"You want the last Krystal in this district? Then fight me for it, scum!"
64Please respect copyright.PENANA0ggJ4zYsBR
He thinks I came here for the krystal. He thinks I give a damn about the krystal.
64Please respect copyright.PENANAEq44mn5y1r
What I came for was revenge.
64Please respect copyright.PENANAp5WYUn3O4s
"You talk too much," I growl, spitting again. "Maybe I’ll break your jaw and use it as an ashtray."
64Please respect copyright.PENANAHB3AYjYG3g
He grins, cybernetic eye twitching, arm whirring with serrated upgrades. "You fight dirty, I walk. That’s the rule."
64Please respect copyright.PENANATFKLmC5EUq
"I don’t fight dirty," I say, cracking my knuckles. "I fight to kill."
64Please respect copyright.PENANANgyNZ15csh
He charges. I let him come. Always let the big dogs bark before you put ‘em down. His blade-arm screeches out, nearly takes my head, but I duck low, drive my knee into his groin so hard I hear the crunch of a shattered implant. He screams. Sounds like music.
64Please respect copyright.PENANAZ3S1u0s0zU
I don’t stop. I never stop. I grab his arm, twist it until the servo-sinews snap. Then I slam his face into the alley wall — once, twice, until the chrome plating peels off like a goddamn banana.
64Please respect copyright.PENANACgenAOTzot
"Still watching me, street punk?" I whisper in his ear, dragging the jagged edge of my boot down his back. He coughs blood, gargling something about rules.*
64Please respect copyright.PENANAWli6eRJw8s
I fish the Krystal from his belt. It hums in my palm like a heartbeat. Warm. Alive. I look down at him, broken, twitching.
64Please respect copyright.PENANAl9rEqykXTZ
"Here’s a new rule, asshole — don’t fuck with ghosts."
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Then I drive the Krystal into his chest. Not gently. It sizzles through his armor and flesh like butter, and the bastard glows from the inside out.
64Please respect copyright.PENANA1FAC5EDjrc
By the time I walk away, there’s nothing left but a puddle of slag, the stink of burnt
64Please respect copyright.PENANAdEQI0S8ipt
meat, and a memory of screaming.
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