บท 23: Struggle

Ori quickly locks the door with a press of a button and backs away into the living room where Darren's corpse still lay. "Plan... Plan..." he quickly murmurs to himself, trying to think of a way to deal with this without dying in the process. Who knew how many guys were outside, what or how many weapons they had...

*KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!*

"OPEN UP AND WE'LL ONLY BEAT YOU!" a gruff man's voice shouts as they begin slamming the door, trying to get in.

His eyes dart around the apartment a few more times, spotting a few things of interest and nodding to himself, a workable plan coming to fruition. He steps to the holo emitter that was projecting screens that float in midair, broadcasting various advertisements and TV shows. He tears it out of its foundation, making sure to not disturb the wiring and places it next to the front door, allowing the screen to obscure it, like distorted glass.

He then bundles some of Darren's sheets and blankets together to form a makeshift sheet rope, tying it around the corpse's neck and hanging it from one of the lights, allowing to 'stand' in the apartment entrance.

With that done he fishes out Daren's holophone and accesses its database, retrieving some voicemails he'd sent out and put them on a loop, causing the man's voice to fill the apartment.

By the time the strangers had broken down the apartment door, Ori had set himself up, lying prone in a corner overlooking the entrance, Darren's body swaying not far beside him.

*THUD!*

"Darren!? Where the f-" one of the men shouted as the dust from the door clears, but they could only see a humanoid silhouette through the holo emitter's holograms. Darren's voice was the only thing preventing him and his friends from opening fire... At least, until Ori began...

*DAGAGAGAGAGA!*

Ori's submachine gun screams as he begins spraying bullets at the entrance, blasting anything and everything around it. Neither the doorframe nor the people inside it were spared, three people instantly dropping dead from the gunfire, judging by their falling silhouettes through the holograms.

The strangers open fire too, aiming at the obviously placed 'person' standing in the front entrance, Darren's body takes the full front of it, every hit causing the corpse to sway and shudder as bullets rip through it. Blood spatters and covers apartment behind the body, but the strangers didn't stop, unaware of what they were shooting at.

Ori reloads and begins firing again, his adrenaline was pumping hard, his breathing erratic as he occasional made a hard sniff and breathed in the gunpowder.

*Click-Click-Click*

His eyes widen, realising he was out of ammo... He didn't have any more clips left for his gun... "Fuck!" he curses under his breath and rolls to the side, out of view of the entrance.

"FUCKIN' KILL 'EM! THIS BASTARD NEEDS TO DIE! KILLING MY GUYS!? I'LL TEAR HIS FUCKING CHROME OUT!" one enraged man exclaims, stomping through the holo emitter now that the gunfire had stopped.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" he shouts, finally seeing just what they were shooting at, Darren's corpse bleeding profusely above the rapidly growing puddle underneath it.

"SICK FUCK! WHERE ARE YOU!? I'LL FUCKING END YOU!"

Ori quietly places his weapon down at his side and reaches for the kitchen knife, his only remaining weapon... When the large, well-built man steps past the corner Ori acts, leaping at him and bringing the knife down at his neck.

*Clank!*

Only for it to come to a shuddering halt as it fails to pierce the metal Cyberware guarding the man's neck... His arm is gripped tightly as the man lowers his face to get a better look at him, "You little-"

Ori growls and headbutts him, causing his Scav holomask to crack, spark, and fail upon contact. The doesn't let go even then however, the bald man grins toothily, revealing his set of metal teeth.

"A kid... A kid did all this!?" he seethes, "Shouldn't you know not to play 'adult games'."

"Fuck you!" Ori spits, sending a globule of saliva at the man's eye... Who doesn't blink at all in response.

"Good. I like a screamer." he states before sending a punch into Ori's face, the force of which sends him toppling head over toe into the nearby wall, crashing with a hard thud.

"Arghk!" Ori shouts with a pained grunt, raising his head from where he was laying, only to realise that one of his eyes wasn't opening...

[Permission Request-]

"J-ust do- it.." Ori whispers with a choked cough, feeling blood beginning to pool in his mouth.

At that he feels a wave of energy wash through him, the pain fading as his muscles swelled. His eyes contracted into pinpricks as everything 'seemingly' slowed down... Ori grabs at anything next to him, thankfully gripping a long piece of metal that'd come off when he'd slammed into a metal shelf.

"Still got fight in-" the man starts but gets interrupted as Ori almost manically throws himself to his feet and slams the makeshift weapon into his head.

*CLACK!*

"I AIN'T GOING DOWN TO NO GONK FUCKIN' CHROMEJOCK!" he roars as he hits the many another two times. The man's head twists with each hit, whipping to the sides as he takes them head-on...

Seeing this method of attack fail completely, Ori lowers himself and leaps forward to try and stab the metal fixing into the man's eye... Only to get slapped outta the air with ease.

His makeshift weapon goes flying as he rolls towards the exit, his pain flaring despite the efforts of the nanites.

"We're gonna be good friends, you and I." the man leers as he steps towards him. "You killed my guys, so your gonna be my new 'Brother'." he says as reaches for him.

Ori shuffles backwards, his single remaining eye shooting to the door where the man's friends presumably lay, along with their weapons... With a huff he throws himself out, landing atop a bullet-ridden corpse and snatching up the closest gun, a nearby pistol.

The adrenaline pumping through his system, while good for physical tasks, caused his hands to tremble as he aimed at the man... Regardless, he fired anyway, despite his aim not being optimal.

*Bang!Bang!Bang!*