Caiden shot another round in Neo’s direction. Franki snuck up on him and grabbed him from behind. Using his own brute strength, Caiden broke out of the hold and used his momentum to swing behind Franki. Caiden picked up the massive man and threw him to the side, much to Franki’s surprise.
Caiden rushed Neo, firing a shot at him. He changed his gun into blade form. Neo was quick to react, parrying the strike leaving them in a deadlock of swords.
“Interesting weapon you got there, kid. You buy that at the Bazaar?” Neo asked casually.
“Shut the fuck up!” Caiden said as he used his immense strength to push Neo back.
Caiden heard concrete rip from the building. He shifted his focus and saw that Franki had torn a massive chunk of a cement pillar off the structure and immediately hurled it in Caiden and Neo’s direction. The two disengaged and evaded the massive slab flying their way, as Franki charged at Caiden, swinging his fists wildly. The wide nature of the punches made it much easier for Caiden to anticipate the swings using his NOVO Lenses, allowing him to successfully evade them. Franki clenched both fists together, preparing for a powerful downward strike. Caiden turned his blade upward and held it over his head as he braced for the impact of the attack. The blade, however sharp it might have been, had almost no effect on Franki!
“Ha! Paper cut!” Franki grunted as he thrust his foot forward into Caiden’s stomach, sending him flying backward into a support beam.
Caiden immediately heard the cutting sound of metal swinging through the air directly toward his head from Neo. He ducked, avoiding the decapitating swing. The slash cut through the thick metal beam so cleanly that it slightly melted the beam from the impact. Caiden darted forward into a protective somersault then stood to face his opponents, putting some distance between him and them.
“Exquisite! Simply incredible! Spectacular! Phenomenal!” Dr. Stein laughed.
“You move well, kid. Damn shame we gotta kill ya,” Neo stated.
“You definitely have some skill, but not enough,” Franki said arrogantly.
Caiden felt oddly at peace. Despite suffering some serious blows, everything was still intact. The hairs on his neck stood upright and his muscles were primed and ready for combat. Tendencies...Search for tendencies, Caiden calmly thought to himself as the two dangerous men slowly closed in.
Franki; big, powerful, strong, and surprisingly fast considering his size. But his swings are wide and leaves his open for quick direct counters. And I’m physically stronger than he is. But strength isn’t everything. He only fights one way; destructively. He also tends to yell or grunt loudly before he attacks. Good to know, Caiden thought. Neo; lightning fast reflexes. Very good at deflecting my shots. Never seen that before. He tends to jerk his wrist forward before he extends his arm for long range attacks. Must be related to some switch in his cybernetic arm that allows him to wield the weapon in that way. Can easily cut through thick metals when using both hands on the sword. He’s got predatory instincts when attacking, but doesn’t like being rushed, He thought. His mind and body were in perfect sync, able to compile critical data based off the few quick exchanges with his foes.
He sprung forward into action going directly at Neo this time. Caiden’s weapon was back in gun form. He shot three rounds toward the swordsman, anticipating them being deflected. Just as predicted, Neo effortlessly blocked the bullets. The distraction enabled Caiden to get closer to him. He was only a foot away now. Caiden changed the gunblade back into a sword, and thrust it toward Neo’s stomach. Neo, finding Caiden too close for comfort, stepped back instead of parrying with his sword.
Caiden took full advantage, changing the sword back into a firearm and fired a shot into the side of Neo’s abdomen. Neo, being an experienced combatant, had dodged at the last second, avoiding a fatal shot. However, Caiden then changed to sword mode and sliced Neo’s dominant cybernetic arm off, kicking him away into a pile of debris!
“You motherfucker!” Franki yelled as he bolted toward Caiden. Franki's speed continued to surprise Caiden, but he was still able to manage.
When Franki struck downward with his right hand, Caiden stepped in the opposite direction. Franki slammed down with his left fist, Caiden dodged it. Franki thrust forward with a right power kick and Caiden avoided it. Before Franki’s right leg hit the ground, he found a small cylindrical metal device resting atop his thigh. It was an electromagnetic pulse charge Caiden slipped on him. It went off sending powerful waves of electricity throughout Franki’s body. Franki let out a guttural, rasping sound as he reeled from the painful sting of the EMP. Despite the damage he received, due to his massive strength and size, he had a high pain threshold. He attempted to grab at Caiden with his left hand. Caiden countered with his own display of remarkable strength mercilessly snapping Franki’s bulky arm and slamming him head first into the concrete, knocking him out cold!
Without warning, Caiden felt the cold hard steel of Neo’s katana slicing into his left shoulder. He yelled out in pain. Through the corner of his eye he saw Neo, donning a devilish grin holding his blade with his still-functional left hand. Green liquid was dripping from where his right arm was cut off. His sugegasa was mangled, and his yellow bomber jacket was stained with blood from the bullet wound.
“How’s that, bitch!?” Neo yelled.
It felt like the sword had crushed part of the bone in his shoulder before Neo pulled out the blade. Caiden dropped to the floor. Blood began flow, drenching his shirt and jacket.
“Drop dead, bitch! Now I gotta get a new fucking arm!” he yelled, wielding his katana.
Caiden mustered just enough strength to swing his body away from the sword strike.
