Go down! Go down! Go down! Caiden thought to himself. He activated the voltage on the baton, shocking the guard. He shocked himself a little, due to the chokehold position he had the guard in. After an intense struggle, the guard finally gave way, crumbling to the ground and passing out from excess exposure to the high voltage. Caiden loosened his grip and rolled over, breathing heavily.
With the fight over for now, Caiden wasted little time and made sure he picked up whatever belongings were dropped during the commotion. As he bent over to pick up his holo-watch, he felt a menacing aura. He turned around and saw the guard with the mangled leg standing over him. The guard let out a horrifying battle cry, swinging wildly at Caiden.
Each swing of the guard’s weapon whizzed past Caiden putting him strictly on the defensive. The mangled leg of the guard forced him to swing his weapon from awkward angles, making it extremely difficult for a fatigued Caiden to evade for much longer. Caiden tripped over a cargo case and crashed to the floor providing the enraged guard with an easy target to hit. Right before the guard could finally land his powerful blow, a loud bone crunching crack ripped through the air. Suddenly, the guard stopped, frozen in place. He let out a loud grunt and gasped as he dropped to the floor. A silhouette was found standing behind the guard with a metal pipe in hand.
“I’ve been waiting to do that!” Nami screamed, throwing the bloody dripping pipe away. She was shaking. She looked horrified, happy, and vindicated all at once. Caiden, taken aback, stared in awe of the sudden burst of anger from his new friend.
“Wow, that would’ve been my ass! Thank you,” Caiden said, holding his injured arm
“No. Thank you,” Hitomi replied as she went to console a clearly shaken up Nami.
“Let’s get the hell outta here,” Caiden said as he got up.
As they approached the door they heard a loud gunshot. They all scattered for cover while Caiden peered around the corner to see who it was. Across the loading dock stood an infuriated Slavo with his white pistol.
“Going somewhere, you fucks?” Slavo asked. He seemed different this time. He was heavily under the influence of Mania.
Caiden kicked the door open and led the twins away from Slavo, who was in hot pursuit. The trio took cover in the shadows in the alley, hiding. Bullets were ricocheting off the metal fire escapes, causing their ears to ring. The trio turned the corner and disappeared from Slavo’s sight. Despite having the ability to see in complete darkness, his aim was horribly off. He was too high off of Mania to be accurate.
“Nami, Hitomi, get to the car! It’s parked two blocks away from here in an abandoned garage. Just follow this path you won’t miss it!” Caiden instructed while pointing in the direction of the car.
“What are you gonna do? Aren’t you coming?” Hitomi nervously asked.
“I’ll catch up. I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t follow us,” Caiden said, throwing them the keys.
“But your arm!”
“And he’s gotta gun!” the twins exclaimed in succession.
“Don’t worry about me, I'll be there in less than five minutes! Go!” Caiden commanded.
The twins reluctantly followed Caiden’s instructions and they took off into the night toward the car. Caiden checked his surroundings and found a small corner covered in darkness and quietly slipped from sight. He could hear Slavo’s footsteps. They were dragging a bit; most likely due to the side effects of the Mania.
“You fucking assholes! You couldn’t’ve gone far!” Slavo slurred as he shot a round into the air.
The gunshot was followed by deadly silence. It was quiet enough to hear the small pebbles of gravel roll underneath the soles of Slavo’s shoes as they dragged through the dim lit alley. Slavo switched the vision mode on his visor from night vision to infrared.
“Once you’ve been marked by Chimera, you’re as good as dead, fuck face!” Slavo nervously yelled.
He was completely overcome by the temporary psychosis, unable to determine the readings from his visor. Caiden, still hidden in the shadows, observed Slavo, patiently waiting for the right
moment to strike. As Slavo turned away from Caiden’s direction, Caiden rushed from his hiding place. He bolted across the alleyway at full speed, and sent a powerful thrusting kick to Slavo’s back. The force of the kick sent Slavo’s head jerking backward then crashing face first into the adjacent brick wall of the building. As he bounced off the wall, Caiden grabbed Slavo’s shoulder, whipping him around and swung of the shock baton at Slavo’s face, aimed at his visor.
A stunned Slavo lost grip of his gun as he fell to the ground. The powerful attack broke Slavo’s collar bone instantly, leaving him doubled over from the tremendous rush of pain. Slavo’s visor was damaged from the fight, flickering in and out, showing scrambled visuals. Caiden kicked the gun away from him, and took off toward the alley where the car was located.
As he turned the corner another shot rang off. He turned and saw Slavo on his stomach with the large while pistol in his hand. The bullet grazed Caiden’s shoulder, but he kept running. Persistent bastard! Caiden thought. When he made it to the car, he saw that the twins were elated to see him.
“Oh my god, you’ve been shot! We need to get you to the hospital!” Nami yelled.
“It’s okay! Hospitals are the worst place we can go right now. Strap in! We’re getting' outta here!” Caiden replied.
The car peeled off,