The Most Dangerous Dame

I’d used the Wasp’s Nest in the past with success, so I installed Maxine’s defense system with the same. The expelled explosive unleashed a cloud of tiny machines fashioned after stinging insects. Not only did they release electromagnetic pulses that disrupted nearly everything digital or electric, they also used their tiny stingers to torture their target’s physiology as well. Buckshot’s targeting and weapons systems were compromised, and he wasn’t having a great time with the stinging either. The only problem was the discharge didn’t last long.

Still running, I lifted my wrist and spoke into my holoband. “Maxine: I need my backup piece.”

A metal case shot from the chassis of my ride. I snatched it and slid across Maxine’s hood just as Buckshot’s turret gun whirred. He gave a triumphant shout as the chaff dissipated. Gunfire erupted again, narrowly missing me as I managed to duck behind Maxine for cover. The slugs didn’t do much to her armored alloy, but the stacked junk behind us took some major damage. As the metal carcasses tumbled in a cloud of rust I opened the case and pulled out my backup piece: the Replacement Killer. The seven-shot gyroscopic revolver was mech-modified to fire miniature rocket rounds. I figured it could even the odds against Buckshot’s armor.

“Distraction mode, Maxine.”

Slots in the hood hissed as they ejected crimson flares. As expected, Buckshot paused to glance up and trail the movement. I figured I had around a second to act before he registered them for what they were and turned his attention to spitting metal again. Most people can’t do much in that little amount of time.

I’m not most people.

I moved in time with the flare discharge, raising up and aiming in the same motion. The Replacement Killer bucked in my hand as it fired repeatedly. The impacts rocked Buckshot backward as explosions erupted across his torso and turret arm. He just managed to stay on his feet, but the damage was done. Smoke drifted from his fragmented armor, and the turret gun sparked and jerked with a grinding sound.

I stepped forward, the Killer in hand. “Had enough, big guy? Or you ready for a second helping of Mick’s Trubble Stew? Get it while it’s hot.”

He ripped the soot-covered helmet off, exposing the synthetic eye and wires sprouting from the left side of his shaved head. A sneer twisted his lips. “Might be I had enough. Or it might be you’re outta rounds in that cannon of yours. Might be I’m able to grab my sidearm faster than you can reload that sucker. Whaddya say?” His armored hand drifted toward the heavy pistol strapped to his leg.

I winked. “I’d say look out for the bear.”

A look of confusion flashed across his face. “What are you—?”

Benny roared and seized Buckshot from behind. The two heavy men grappled awkwardly, feet slipping in the gravel as they fought for a superior position. Benny quickly found out the standard chokehold didn’t apply to a cybernetically enhanced opponent. His face was fixed in desperate concentration, his meaty jaw clenched as his suitcoat tore apart at the shoulders from the force of his contracted muscles.

Their awkward stumbling might have been comical if it weren’t for the intensity of the struggle. It wasn’t a battle of punch sequences and attack flurries, but a match of strength and will. They fought almost quietly — shuffling feet, grunts and snarls being the only sounds.

Benny managed to slip his arms under Buckshot’s armpits and over his neck in a full nelson hold. He leaned in, bending Buckshot over despite his heavy thrashing and arm flailing. The imagery of a bear in a pinstriped suit wrestling with a giant metal turtle wasn’t lost on me as I swapped the Replacement Killer’s empty clip for a full one. But by the time the clip snapped into place there was another, louder popping sound.

I stared as Buckshot slumped to the ground with his neck bent at an angle that would have been mighty uncomfortable if he were still alive.

Benny stumbled backward, his face pale and his eye wide. “He’s… dead.”

I strode over for a closer look. “Yeah. You snapped his neck like a piece of kindling. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone that strong, kid.”

His face turned an unhealthy shade of green. “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

“Never killed a man before?”

He shook his head.

“Staring at him won’t bring him back to life. It was either you or him, Benny. C’mon.” I jerked a thumb at the wrecked depot. “We got a job to finish.”

Benny couldn’t take his eyes away from the fallen cyborg. “I’ve seen men die before. Saw my uncle shove a pistol in a man’s mouth and blow his brains out the back of his head. Thought it was the worst thing I ever saw.”

“Until now?”

He nodded, still staring. “I never thought I could—”

“Benny. This guy is part of a team of people that killed your cousin. He had it coming.” I clapped him on the arm. “You wanted to see this through to the end. That’s what we’re doing.”

He exhaled a shuddering breath. “Ok.”