These mercenaries are utter jokes...
As the adrenaline coursed through her body, as she instinctively fired at each silhouette in sight, Chouko found it utterly satisfying to rush through and wipe these men out. Sprinting in the dark and making ample opportunity to exploit their low-light vision. Joy and glee overtook her mind on the second floor, absolute static rippling out in her mind with each pull of the trigger.
The sheer, utter terror spreads throughout these pathetic mercenaries as Chouko overpowers them. Keeping her distance and riddling them with bullets, allowing herself to just toy with these pitiful dead men. Scurrying around and taking their guns, letting the utter chaos of the moment shake them to their cores.
"Tch-!" It gets to the point where a mercenary runs out of cover, taking Chouko's immediate approach and shooting forward- trying to put the girl down, firing at whoever was shooting. If it's working for her... why not him?!
Immediately in response, curiously enough, another mercenary also thought to take the same approach. Firing at the person shooting at him, immediately shooting to take Ashford down in defense. A tense look on his face as he shoots and fires, bullets hitting into his body...
Unknowingly... these two mercenaries were just putting each other down. The darkness of the floor riddled with the sound of aimless gunfire, both men unaware that they were just shooting at each other rather than Chouko.
It's utterly hilarious... a comedic show of utter inferiority as Chouko keeps low, keeping to the floor as she sneaks along. A strong feeling of... satisfaction, an overwhelming feeling of pride after quelling a majority of these overestimated and pitiful excuses of mercenaries.
But then again... it's easy to kill, it's only hard to not be killed. If she can do it, they certainly could, too. It's no wonder that these people are "skilled" enough to work for the one that killed... him... all it takes is a pull of the trigger.
...
The second floor is almost clear... just a few men left, before the next floor.
However, as Chouko sneaks along, as she begins to approach a mercenary with his back turned to her, she feels a bright and orange glow appear to her left. A dim light that illuminates the room, a sudden light reflecting off of the cubicles and off of her gun. A curious sight that raises an eyebrow for one second... before glancing at the light's source in the next one.
Before her eyes, she witnesses a silhouette forming and approaching outside the window, its feet engulfed in the orange flames. Coming closer and closer, her eyes catching sight of this incoming window crash an entire second early, sent flying straight in her direction.
Out of bewildered instinct, Chouko quickly dives forward and out of the way as the windows shatter. She was able to catch a glimpse of the incoming figure in the corner of her eye, reacting just in time to... to...
... to a man crashing through the window and barreling through the cubicles.
A spiraling boulder of a person, a stampeding force of nature, flames shooting out from behind his feet. A sight that utterly astounds Chouko, briefly stunned by the absurdity of this very action, watching as this man shaped thing crashes against a wall with a loud thud.
Chouko quickly scurries to hide with her back against the cubicle, intent on staying out of that thing's sight line. A tense grit of her teeth as she didn't understand where that- that thing came from.
"I'LL KILL YOU! ASHFOOOOOOORD!"
... and with that loud, simplistic shout, it makes perfect sense now. Steele. This is Steele.
"Tch-! She's over here!" exclaims the mercenary that Chouko would have ambushed. Managing to catch the girl in his sights, calling out to everyone in the room as he takes aim at the girl and fires.
Chouko, alerted to this call, reacts quickly by tilting her body to the side. The bullet somehow misses Chouko and hits the part of the cubicle, the hole right next to the side of her head. Eyes wide at this lucky maneuver, Chouko - in retaliation - swiftly raises her gun and fires back. Piercing the man's neck, forcing him to choke in pure agony as he collapses and bleeds out...
Chouko stares back in this man's direction, watches as he drops dead following this... and registers that two gunshots sounded out. Two gunshots ringing throughout the room, audibly attention grabbing.
"D-Damn it..." Chouko mumbles, glaring at that mercenary in the dark. Already urgently beginning to crawl, anticipating an immediate danger incoming from overhead.
The orange glow right above her...
... and she caught that sign, that sense of danger, just in the nick of time. Her immediate crawl occurring just as a weight crashes down where she hid, as Steele descended downwards and stomps HARD in that spot. One second later, and Chouko would have been flattened into the ground- the ground that utterly quakes trembles after that stomp.
"GRAAAAAAAAAH!" loudly roars the man bull as his furious and enraged eyes glaring after Chouko. Lured to the sound, finding her immediately upon recognizing the shots, eyes illuminated by a bright white light and watching her pitifully try to escape. "FOUND YOU-!"
Chouko doesn't get a good look of his face, however, looking forward in the dark and fleeing for her life. Tensely gritting her teeth at that... at that approach, at Steele's immediate approach.
In less than a minute, Chouko felt the complete, utter menace and terror that comes from this reckless man. This dangerous beast, this dangerous threat that tops these pitiable cannon fodders. Someone with actual skill, someone that outmatches everything she could do.
... it all stems from his metal legs. Steele's steel, mechanical legs.
They've always been a subject of thought and concern for Chouko. Chouko knew from the weight of his foot alone that an attack at full strength will completely bludgeon her, that there was enough machinery in there to crush a person's body if its full weight stomps onto her. Of course, nothing about them signified "machines of fire and flame" to her at the time, but... here they are, fire shooting out of his feet... making those things more devastating than she could have ever anticipated.
The man's launched himself through a window with these legs, is actively using them to leap into the air and try to stomp down on her, and- in this enclosed space, of all places? Engaging her in close-quarters combats where a single attack is a brutal demise waiting to happen. A single moment where she comes into contact with those legs is a death sentence.
Chouko continues to run, intent on avoiding a direct confrontation with him. Running away is fruitless if he can just... ascend into the air and charge at her... but it's also a terrible idea to just charge at him aimlessly and-
Bang.
Chouko's eyes widen as she hears this, immediately followed by a gunshot firing and hitting into her shoulder. A bullet piercing her skin, lodging itself deep into her shoulder muscle, an aching pain in her left arm as she carelessly ran into this shot. Violently gritting her teeth as this mercenary manages to land a shot on her.
She takes immediate aim at this mercenary, ready to fire and put him down... but, immediately, she stops to hear the crackling burst of flames to her left, and falls backwards to roll out of harm's way. Managing to avoid Steele's body charging straight where she stood, landing on her back and watching as the brute slams his entire body against the wall.
The building quakes upon impact, Steele staring forward into the wall with a proud grin... slowly turning away from the building and dusting off his arms, eyes locking onto Chouko once more. "There you ARE!" he loudly roars, as yet another massive burst of flames shoot from the heels of his feet, launching him into the air and descending down onto her - about to land right foot first.
Chouko tensely rolls left on the ground, yet another close call with Steele as he stomps down on the floor. Another trembling quake, Chouko's nerves utterly rattled as she rolls- hearing the sound of mercenary gunfire as she rolls. Still wincing in pain at the bullet in her shoulder, her eye twitching noticeably.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Steele can see her at all times, and his attack is making it more likely that the mercenaries can too...
"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." Chouko mutters under her breath. Reaching for her phone, continuing to attempt a hasty retreat. She needs something that can dispatch of Steele, in particular- pressing a button to try a repeat of...!
"..." Steele cracks a wide grin at this, his eyes flickering red.
Right...
"Well, what do you know?! Your uncle here's good ol' Charon! Hah!"
... right! Chouko glares at this phone and flips it closed. He's well familiar with Charon's technology- possibly hacking in general! He likely has a strong security against anything this phone can do. Cursed piece of junk...! It was lucky this thing worked once, but- what good is it now?!
There's no respite for her. Not a single moment she can get careless. She needs to keep a hard focus on every remaining mercenary, on top of Steele pursuing her... a disadvantageous position forcing her to actively flee and reveal her location, making her struggle come up with a plan to take the man down.
... Chouko, able to hear the footsteps pursuing her, takes quick aim right behind her and pulls the trigger.
This is met with Steele easily sidestepping out of the way of the bullet, his charge halted as he kicks off of the ground and avoids the bullet with a single movement of his body. A show of his reflexes as the bullet passes by his arm, as his quick eyes noticed the gun and gave him ample opportunity to dodge.
Direct gunshots aren't an option to fight Steele, either! It's safe to assume that any moment Steele sees Chouko aiming at him, he's able to simply react to the pull of the trigger and avoid it! A waste of a bullet!
Tactically... Chouko is backed into a corner as she flees to the other side of the cubicle area, as Steele continues to lock his gaze on her- as Steele repeats his devastating attack of leaping into the air with a burst of fire underneath his feet, ready to stomp down.
Chouko is preparing to anticipate where he may land, but- ... other priorities come up as the light of Steele's fire reveals the guns of the other mercenaries. Four- no, five mercenaries, all of them aiming in the dark at her.
"... shit-!" Chouko noises, her eyes darting aggressively around at these incoming threats, hyperventilating as she hears gunshot after gunshot shoot out. All of the mercenaries had clear shots on her, thanks to Steele! She quickly throws herself down to the ground to dodge the bullets that were aimed at her upper body- but the bullets aimed at her legs manage to graze her as she falls down. A tense, momentary pain...
... met with incredible aches as she- as she pushes her left hand down and forcibly rolls to her right, managing to dodge another one of Steele's stomps. Chouko's eyes utterly twitching at this, visibly tense and shaking at this most narrow of situations.
Following this roll, some of Steele's flames grow stronger and shoot out to reach Chouko's shirt sleeve, managing to burn the fabric and further expose the gunshot wound in her shoulder. Her skin subject to painful charring, forcing painful cries of silent agony to be choked down her throat.
The one saving grace she has is that Steele, himself, doesn't have any guns. He doesn't have any firearms or weapons beyond his legs, resorting to purely close ranged strikes rather than any ranged ones... but- what was the point of this information?! He's far stronger, faster, and sturdier! He's a physical powerhouse and a walking distraction that takes Chouko's focus away from exterminating the rest of the mercenaries, left a target that's only alive because of aimless tumbling!
Chouko's left scrambling for her next few actions, struggling to come up with anything. Feeling her head utterly ache as she frantically thinks and ponders, as she's overwhelmed with thoughts of dealing with both Steele and the remaining 2nd floor mercenaries. Trying her best to rid the thoughts of how impossible it is to take all of them down for good, to rid the thoughts of how Steele is a relentless and unkillable bastard that she needs to escape from. These thoughts were useless, pointless, purposeless- if she doesn't kill them now, there's no telling when she'd be able to... as they'll pursue her endlessly until her utter demise.
There has to be something, Chouko thought... something that can be done. It can't end like this, it can't...! Not until- NOT UNTIL-!
...
"..."
... and... as she stares at her burnt fabric, as the thoughts in her head are crammed into the small few seconds of her roll, Chouko... briefly and tensely takes note of the floor itself. Catching a glimpse of this floor, staring at this floor amidst her roll, focusing on the floor right underneath Steele's feet...
This sight brings... a hope to her eyes, a bold chance of survival now in view as she sees this floor, seeing hope in the sight of... cracks in the floor.
Cracks in the building. Some cracks where Steele stomped, some cracks in the walls that Steele threw himself into- cracks. It appears that this building isn't designed for Steele's high impact cybernetics. One strike from his legs alone are doing a number on the building structure, inflicting cracks upon cracks into everything.
Why is this hopeful? Well... if Steele is managing to crack the floor with each time he stomps down...
... then Steele's able to bring himself down.
A plan floods and locks into Chouko's mind, one that will be a risky gambit for her. Needing to predict Steele's movements, to predict his plan of attack. If Chouko is able to make him recklessly destroy his surroundings, there's one way he'll be taken care of...
... the plan concocted within seconds, within the time it takes for her to finish her roll and throw herself up. Running swiftly, remembering the positions of the mercenaries revealed by Steele's fire, knowing some of them were up ahead.
Every single movement from Chouko is precise with this knowledge, a plan in her mind. Even as she's hit, Chouko knows how to turn her perceived weakness and pain against the enemy.
On watch for the closest ones as she aims her gun to the right, aiming at nothing as she runs- and pulling the trigger as she's about to pass the cubicle. The bullet trailing along and slipping past the cubicle wall, missing the mercenary's head.
In turn, the mercenary fired at the exact same time- the bullet flying out and grazing the front of Chouko's lower leg. A painful sensation, one that causes her to... roll forward, pretending to fall.
Several mercenaries with an aim on her, four other ones that Chouko's attention wasn't on- they had the slightest of moments to readjust and account for Chouko's immediate fall. The girl crawling on three, with the fourth painfully lifted up and quickly shooting at whoever she could. A careless aim, one that isn't steady enough to hit anyone, but... enough to keep these mercenaries on their toes. To lessen the chances of them shooting at her.
The time saved from these mercenaries dodging her bullets, Chouko uses this brief time as a measurement... as she crawls forward as fast as she could, dividing her mind between just shooting and crawling. Hearing an immediate stomp right behind her, having predicted that Steele would go for another stomp after her fall... another crack sounding out at this one, the man staring forward and running at her.
Chouko pushes herself back up, in time with the quake. Roughly standing up and running once more, pushing and forcing her body to the utter limits as she turns back at Steele. Taking aim at him and running backwards, seeing him and his legs in the dark sprinting and stampeding towards her. Aiming her gun at him and firing shot after shot.
Each pull of the trigger enough to rile the mercenary up, the man predictably dodging to the sides like before. Chouko watches the moving mercenary avoiding the gunshots, witnessing Steele circling around the cubicles. Turning around the area, moving his body in the way of the other mercenaries as he passes by.
... ample opportunity for Chouko to- deliberately aim at Steele and fire when he gets in the way of her and a mercenary, a smile forming on her face as she watches the mercenaries drop dead one by one at this. This repeated firing while staying stationary... Chouko's eyes trail to the left, following that orange glow. Steele's fiery legs are the beacons of light in this darkness, a double edged sword for both her and the mercenaries... one she makes ample use of, now, to finally take care of those needless pests.
Firing shot after shot, executing man after man... following Steele closely with her gaze as she pulls the trigger. Keeping this up until the gun runs out of bullets shortly after. The click of an empty gun, the cue that Steele immediately capitalizes on. The man charging forward with elbow out, angled in a way that's prepared to crush her against the wall.
Chouko watches Steele close in... quickly rolling to the side at the last moment, enough for Steele to tackle straight into the building wall. A crumbling sound echoes out as he breaks a hole in the wall, lodging his elbow deep into the infrastructure.
In this sudden roll, she then throws herself forward, kicking off of the ground and darting to an especially damaged part of the floor. One where she could feel the fragility of it, how it could crumble at any moment...
... then, quickly, Chouko throws this empty gun away, and draws a new gun from her waistline- putting herself in one place as she aimlessly shoots out, firing three shots at Steele.
Before these three shots are fired, Steele sees the gun aimed at him. Forcing his arm out of the wall and jumping away from the wall. Staring down at Chouko and seeing her remain in only one place- before he resorts to another leap in the air, yet another boom of flames propelling him upward. Visibly seizing the opportunity before him.
A bright glint shines in Chouko's eye as she sees him stomping down... narrowly rolling out of his way once again. Watching as his foot impacts against the ground, as the metal barely misses her. The emanating heat burning right next to her...
While balanced on one foot, Steele keeps the flames active on his other foot- now at a good angle to engulf her entire body in flames, to fire a large stream of fire to ignite her and burn her to a crisp. Ready to char her skin to ash and dust, making sure naught remains of her melted being, a proud look on his face as he stares down at this dead woman...
... and then, it happens.
A sharp crumble sounds out, the floor beneath Steele cracking further. A loud, abrupt crack, the sound reaching Steele's ears and making him hesitate. A tremendous, momentous crumbling in the floor, one that sounded like music to Chouko's ears.
With this last stomp... Chouko looks up at Steele, a cocky grin on her face as she looks up at him. Gleefully staring and beholding the foolishness on his face, his utter bewilderment at this mysterious sound. As this stomp causes the building floor to helplessly quake again... before the floor itself gives up. Crumbling right below the both of them, Steele falling right down with the sizeable hole.
Steele has a look of realization on his face as his stomp breaks through the floor, sending him downward. Catching him completely off guard as he braces for impact, as he abruptly falls down to the ground floor.
Chouko, as she rolls, falls down as well. Preparing for the worst as she descends down a floor, tensely readying herself for the utter pain and danger to follow this moment...
... as she basks in this chaotic victory... the glee shining in her deranged, crimson eyes as victory is now in her grasp.