Sasha grabbed blindly backwards with his left hand. His hand found a piece of Three’s arm. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then tensed. Electricity crackled down his arm and out of his hand. Instantly, strength left his arm. Pins and needles sparked in his fingertips, unpleasant, distracting.

The weight on his back went limp. Three shrieked, startled. “What the—”

He rolled out from under Three’s arm. Dragging his shocked arm, Three chased him with the dagger. Sasha scrambled away a few paces, then suddenly rolled over, braced himself against the ground with his right arm, and kicked with all his might.

The dagger flew free. It clattered across the street and vanished into the empty lot.

Sasha jumped up and charged after it.

Chasing at a leisurely pace, Three shook his numbed hand. “When did you get that arm? Zapped me good. Only been a tool a month and they already modded you. They’ve really sped up since that guy took over, haven’t they?”

Just ahead, the dagger laid in the grass. Sasha dove for it.

“Nope. It’s mine now.”

Three’s arm whooshed through the air after him. Cold fingers wrapped around Sasha’s ankle and stopped him short mid-leap. He hit the ground hard, rattling his optics and his aching stomach. Three dragged him away from the dagger.

He reached for it, but his left hand trembled, suddenly, and the fingers curled in on themselves, weak. He reached again, desperate, but his right hand was too far to grab it. Sasha gritted his teeth in annoyance and clawed at the dirt. His right hand dug into the ground and drew him to a halt, but his left hand skidded over the top, useless. Growling, he rolled onto his back and kicked at Three’s fingers.

Three laughed. “Cute. It’ll take more than that, Sasha.”

Sasha sat up and lunged at Three’s arm with his silver hand.

Startled, Three let go. “You can do that twice?”

Mid-reach, Sasha spun the other direction and half-crawled, half-sprinted to the dagger. He snatched it up with a grin.

“Hey now!” Three lunged, arms out. They blocked out the sun and dropped down on Sasha.

He whirled, both daggers up. His left hand shook, but clenched tight to the dagger. Three collided with him, and they rolled across the lot. Unable to stab from this close, Sasha bludgeoned Three with the butts of the daggers. Three’s long arms folded back on themselves to smack him from behind, one piece after another, a dozen blows at a time. His vision blurred. His back ached. Dirt and grass flew. Blue sky and dull grey buildings flashed by.

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Sasha came up on top. Three’s arms snaked around his, binding him in place, seeking higher, for his neck. He pulled away with all his might, but Three bound him in place.

The arms curled higher, higher, inexorable. Wires bit into his arms. Sasha twisted his wrists to grab at them, but Three was too strong. The wires hissed through his hands, scoring into the softer, fleshy hand.

Steely hands found his neck. Almost gently, they tightened, fingers binding together. Three grimaced, brows furrowed. “Dammit, Sasha. I wanted to give you a quick death.”

Sasha gasped for breath. Fingers cut into his airway and blocked the flow of blood. His vision darkened down to tunnels. Three had him tight. There was no way out.

He shuddered. No choice. Blue light flickered in the depths of Sasha’s eyes.

A savage grin spread across Three’s face. “Shall we dance?”

Blam!

Sasha jumped in Three’s grasp. The blue light flickered out. He went limp, head sagging, limbs weak. His silver arm sagged away from his body where a massive hole split his shoulder half from his chest. Dark fluids spurted. Electricity sparked. Blood mixed in somewhere, coloring the other fluids. Pain pulsed with his heartbeat, stronger with every passing moment, hot as fire. He twitched a hand to the hole even as his strength drained away. The world darkened, narrowing all around him.

Three let go. His arms loosened and fell away from Sasha, slowly unwinding from his limbs. He stared, jaw slack, as Sasha fell to the earth, face pale, eyes rolled up. His chest ached. He couldn’t breathe. For another second he watched Sasha kick and jerk in death, watched him bleed out, then jumped to his feet and glared at the sky.

“Who asked you to interfere?” he shouted, furious.

The man with the metal face appeared over the lip of the building, speaker-mouth opened giving him shocked expression. His lens eyes and the scope of his rifle glinted in the sun. His voice sounded in Three’s earpiece. “Our mission is to capture or kill the escapee. I completed our mission.”

“You—”

“I apologize for interrupting your fun. However, sparring was not our mission.”

Three scowled. “Dammit, Chunk. You don’t understand. I liked him. I wanted to do it.”

“Tools do not have emotions.”

“Only a pure tool like you would believe that bullshit,” Three muttered, rolling his eyes.

Chunk raised his gun again.

Three stepped in the way. “Hey! He’s dead. What’s that for?”

“It isn’t dead.”

“Huh?” Three turned.

Fluids pooled in the grass. Bits of electronics scattered over the earth. No Sasha. Three’s brows furrowed.

Motion caught his eye. He glanced up.

Clasping his arm to his body, Sasha sprinted for the alley.

“Oy, hey!” Three shouted. He threw his hand after Sasha, arm strung along after it on wire.

Sasha dodged and vanished into the alley. Three’s hand bounced off the wall and fell back.

“Dammit!” Three chased after Sasha, spooling his arm back to him as he ran.

The alley was empty. Three jogged to a halt as his arm snapped back into place. He looked left and right, up and down, but Sasha was nowhere to be seen.

Three spat, irritated. I can’t match Sasha in pure speed, not with these heavy arms. Maybe back when— but that was long ago. Pointless to think about.

“Dammit, Chunk,” Three muttered. He took a deep breath. It’s okay. It’s okay. He’s just a stupid tool. His fists clenched and unclenched. He closed his eyes and let the breath out.

“Did you lose it?” Chunk asked evenly.

Something snapped inside him. Three whirled. “I had it handled!”