His movement held the slightest lilt to it, a tiny sluggish reaction from the tranquilizer. I whirled to the side and planted a chop with my mechanical hand to the back of his head. He went down again, crashing through one of the computer terminals. Patrons in the library screamed, some fleeing and some too frightened to move.
I swooped down on Cain and jammed a knee in his back, yanking one arm behind him. In spite of my strength, I couldn’t bend or break the material, so I switched tactics. I located his elbow joint, where a tiny gap lay from his removed weaponry, and dug into it.
Yelling curses, he jerked to the side, and I dodged under his heavy swipe. As he flexed the elbow, the hydraulics ground over and crushed the end of my metal finger. I tore myself free, leaving shards of the disrupting fingertip in his elbow joint. I backed off, waiting for his next attack and searching for more weaknesses.
He stood. His teeth were bared and eyes, though synthetic, burned with hatred. Screeching issued as he flexed his arm, labored and difficult. A low growl issued from Cain’s throat. He started a slow approach.
Cain swung his good arm. I ducked, planting an ineffective strike to his midsection. A hollow clang resounded as I spun, kicking out one of his legs. Cain stumbled, and I pressed the attack, trying to bring my elbow down upon his neck.
Lightning fast, he seized my arm and wrenched downward. He brought his face close to mine, grinning.
I angled my head and smashed my skull plate into his face. As our heads collided, I fired my sonic emitter.
Only meant for mild incapacitation, the emitter had an unexpected result. The pulse resonated inside his metallic skull and all throughout his body. Cain bellowed, clapping a hand to his head as he fell to his knees
During his moment of disorientation, I kicked him to the ground and planted one foot on his damaged arm. With full torque, I wrenched as hard as I could. An audible groan resounded as the limb bent, mechanisms screeching and snapping inside.
Even still, I couldn’t quite tear it loose before Cain recovered and rolled over. Again I dodged, waiting for him to rise and planning my next attack.
“I don’t care what he wants.” Cain cut loose a low growl. His one arm was bent backwards at the elbow, useless and immovable. “You’re dead, Sid. I’m going to rip you into a thousand pieces. I’m going to drag your squishy carcass around this station while I blast holes in the walls and let the death of space seep in and kill everything you care about.”
I didn’t feel like correcting him on the particulars of why his statement was folly.
As his living tissue essentially functioned as a brain with heart and lungs to power it, all heavily mechanized, a few veins were still present. Since there weren’t many, even more pressure was placed on the vital arteries. A plate near his throat overlapped one at his shoulder. I saw it and realized, if I could dig in there and pry both plates loose, it was possible I could damage one of the veins in his neck.
There was one more protective metal skin underneath serving as his flesh, but I thought a hard enough strike could transfer the force through and rupture one of his major arteries. I doubted it would kill him, but the lack of his blood, oil, or whatever it was would certainly incapacitate him until repairs could be made.
Which I didn’t intend to allow.
I sprang forward, feinting a strike to his eyes. As he recoiled, I spun around and gripped his shoulder, wrenching with everything I had. The plate bent an inch, and I deflected a punch and backed off. Not much damage, but a start.
Charging again, I dodged another haymaker and rolled behind him. I planted a square kick to the back of his leg, and he stumbled and fell to one knee. Gripping the shoulder plate again, I yanked. A light creak resounded as it bent.
I jumped back as he threw an elbow, missing yet again. Before he could rise, I chopped at the side of his skull, clanging metal against metal. He recoiled, undamaged, but it gave me the opportunity. My fingertips gripped both sides of the overlapping plates, already bent slightly, and I pulled. The flesh hand did very little, but it anchored for my metallic one, which bent the neck plate back two inches.
He flung his hand out and caught my non-metal wrist. With a casual pull, I went sailing over his shoulder and crashing into another terminal. From his grip, the augmented bones of my human wrist strained. They held, but a bright flare of pain shot up my arm. Releasing me, he raised his fist.
I rolled out of the way as he punched, leaving a heavy dent in the floor. Gaining my feet, I weakly flexed my hand. It hurt but would function. Glancing back, I saw Cain’s neck and shoulder plates blossoming outward, exposing the inner protection and my foolish hope at ending the fight.
In the lull, I took stock of my surroundings. Marqyni crouched behind his desk, peering with wide eyes at the altercation. Other individuals had fled or scattered to the corners, trying to stay out of the way. Broken computers, chairs and desks were strewn about. Though less than a minute elapsed since the start, I wondered if security was on its way.
I sprang forward again.
As I charged, Cain did something unexpected. He turned the usual vicious left I slid by every time into a feint. As I moved to dodge, he hooked the bent portion of the useless arm around my neck and twisted downward. I staggered, thrown off balance, and did not block or dodge his next hit.
Three of my ribs gave way as he rammed his fist into my midsection. I dropped like a stone, wind knocked out and black spots dancing in my organic eye. On my knees, I saw a shadow overhead, and I rolled. Cain pounded his fist into the floor, not denting but this time punching through it. As his hand lay caught, I swept my leg, tripping him. With a heavy thud, Cain fell to the ground.
My opportunity: his exposed neck plate was there, waiting for me to strike. I jumped forward, swinging my hand in a chop.
Cain pulled his hand free and threw an uppercut. My vision exploded in stars as his fist connected with my chin. Four teeth shattered in my mouth along with my lower jaw, and I was hurled backward, half-conscious. I hardly noticed crashing through another desk and computer.
My vision pulsed, watching him approach in slow motion. Blood and bits of bone leaked out of my mouth, and agony resonated in several locations of my body.
I didn’t have enough. I couldn’t beat him. Even with the damage I’d done, he was still in prime condition. I tried to move as he stooped down. He seized my overcoat and hauled me up, holding me with one hand. “I think you’re about out of fight, Siddy-boy.”
Not yet. Using his arm as leverage and ignoring the splintering pain in my midsection, I jackknifed my body. Twisting backward, I kicked out with my metallic foot, connecting with his face and smashing his right synthetic eye.
With a roar, he released me and grasped at his face. I tried to roll away, but the best I could manage was to stumble and hunch over. I clutched my damaged ribs, wondering how much extra damage I did to the tissue through my maneuver.
Sparks issued from Cain’s broken eye, and his teeth bared angrily. All of the sluggish nature from the tranquilizer seemed to disappear behind his rage, and he spared no moment in charging.
Sliding underneath, I seized the wrist of his bent arm and pulled, dragging him again to the ground. As I did, the weakened metal of the twisted joint finally snapped, and I held in my hand an impromptu cudgel. Staggering again to my feet, I brought Cain’s arm down upon his head.
Hollow clangs resounded as I beat him with his own arm, striking with everything I had. Dents pounded into his body, and the force and ferocity of my attack kept him down, feebly trying to ward off further hits. Blackish fluid, his synthetic blood, dribbled from his mouth as I smashed the heavy club into his chest, over and over.
Cain laid on his back, dazed by the assault. I fell to my knees, reaching again to the overlapping plates. With a scream of my own rage and every ounce of strength, I pulled.
The entire shoulder plate wrenched free, and I stumbled. Pouncing upon opportunity, I swung my hand in a vicious chop toward the exposed inner plate.
My strike clanged off his lower shoulder as his good arm swept around my midsection. Pulling me close, he
