Maniac’s Mayhem

When the horde is coming over the hills, and it starts to spread out over the landscape as far as you see, at those times it’s easy for a seed of doubt to creep in, and grow out of control. How are you, just a little Samurai, going to handle all that?

In that moment you feel small, and start to despair. That is when you need to hold on to the thought: you are not alone, and you just have to hold on. And then, just as planned, your allies come in on the flank, and together you can win.

--Thandbar, Somewhere after 2036

As I appear in the room, the first thought that goes through me is: How I love incompetent guards. I mean, we teleport into the middle of a little kill box with several guns aimed inside of the room just outside of the camera’s vision, the perfect little trap.

The guard, who did not expect me to pop into existence all of a sudden, just stumbled, completely losing any advantage they could have had. I quickly teleport again, wincing slightly at how burned my skin feels, before I activate the pain killer. I should really start saving up for wormhole proof skin.

The gangsters look even more confused now, not realising I am now behind them. I quickly summon Euthanasia, the sleek black blade sitting comfortably in my hands, as I make a two handed horizontal swipe through the guards and their turrets.

Lightning is shot in every direction as the first two gangsters are cut apart, with a third, being hit in the head by a stray bolt, going down as well. A little progress bar appears at the bottom of my screen, but I have no time to pay it that much attention. The other gangsters have locked on to me now and start firing their weapons.

I glance around, spotting an open door some twelve meters away and teleporting inside. The room I find myself in is some kind of gun closet with several sleek looking rifles mounted on the walls and boxes filled with ammo stacked up high.

I frown, “Lyssa, please inventory these items for me.”

On it.

With that, I put the gun locker out of my mind, and instead refocus on the three still living brutes. They are all searching for me, and one of them has activated an alarm, so who knows how long it is going to stay just three.

I switch my sword to my left hand , take out one of the javelins, and activate my launcher. I throw at the front-most asshole. Before I can even see the result, I teleport myself behind the other one, swinging down with my sword, cutting him in half from his shoulder to his opposite hip.

I run forwar, straight at the last member, spearing him in the lower spine before he can even turn around. Even more progress bars appear.

“Lyssa, what are all these bar things?”

Not only is the new weapon Lyssa got you extremely lethal, but it is also capable of retrieving or editing any data from any electronic it comes in contact with.

“So I download the browser history of every guy I hit?”

That and much more, Lyssa has not installed any programs yet, but the sword can be set up to install intrusion software into any object it comes in contact with.

“That sounds… I don’t know how useful it would be. Maybe if I was fighting an army of robots, it could help, but I am mostly fighting plants.”

You bought it while fighting a vanguard, people known for having a lot of technology, so Lyssa got you a weapon to counter that type of enemy.

“Maniac, stop complaining!” Evelin shouts from inside my head. “Do you know how impossible technology like that is? The amount of precision you need for stuff like that is insane, can’t you just be happy with the new sword?

“It is definitely a cool magic sword, but it can wait until after our current mission! " I say, trying to curb her excitement. I already feel like I am losing control of my body to her and that would not end well.

“Right sorry, carry on.” I can feel her awkwardly scratch her head. Thɪs chapter is updated by novelꜰire.net

With that sorted, I turn back to the building and chose a random hallway to run into. The hallway is surprisingly empty. Closed doors on both side, and no people running around in a panic or ready to kill me. I slow down my pace, getting a bad feeling.

“Any way for us to look around the corner?” I ask as I come upon a T junction, a path going to the left and right.

There are multiple options, including drones or mirrors.

“Why not let the nano bots look for us?” Crow asks in her impassive voice.

“I don’t know how.” I simply say.

“That is a shame. Want me to try?”

“Sure, why not,”

I expect them to suddenly take control of my body. Instead, it feels like part of my mind disappears. No, disappears is not quite right. I can still feel it, but it is hazy, like it was partitioned from the rest of my consciousness and became its own separate thing. Then all of the bots launch from my arms, turning into all manner of daggers, throwing axes and stakes.

“They use lidar and other sensing technology to find their spatial location. They’re not as good as a proper camera, but they should be good enough to tell us what is around the corner.” Crow says before several of the weapons fly forward and around the corner.

The thunder of guns can be heard before I hear bullets fly across the opening.

“What happened?”

“There are people around the corner, people with guns,” Crow informs me.

“Thanks, I think.” Then I realize.something. “Which side? They can’t be on both, right? "

“Left halllway, they have set up a barricade with turrets. To the right, you have hidden gunners with shotguns inside the alcove.”

So a wall on one side and if you try to run the other way, you get taken apart by hidden enemies. That sounds a lot more professional than normal gangsters.

I nod. “Can you keep controlling the flying weapons while I go in there?”

“That's no problem,” Crow replies.

With that, I take a deep breath and run at the wall, jumping at the moment I would come into view. My feet landing on the opposite wall, I look in the direction of the gun emplacement. Some metal walls, three turrets and about seven guards in what looks like exoskeleton power suits. Definitely not normal.

I activate my teleport before the first bullet can get close to me. Teleporting above them and since my body is already in a somewhat sideways position, I make it a spin, slamming my sword down like a hammer as an explosion of plasma leaves the sword, momentarily blinding me.

As soon as the spots in my vision clear, I jump back to assess. Three of the seven are completely fucke, one looks unsteady on his feet and the other three seem mostly fine. I activate the Jetstream, ready to take the guards only for one of them to slump forward. One of my flying blades stuck in the back of his neck.

In the next moment, the other three explode as their own gun turrets take them apart. I blink in surprise, momentarily stunned by the sight, then I cancel my drug, letting time flow normally again.

“The fuck was that?” I ask.

“Well, you know how Crow can take over the flying blades while in here?” Evelin starts “I thought I could do the same and applied a little program with the sword, factory reset the turrets to see everything as hostile except you. Nothing fancy, but you can’t argue with the results.” Evelin informs me, while sounding way too smug.

I double over, cackling with laughter. This is fantastic! Who the fuck can stop us when all three of us are working in tandem? Then I remember Luna and how she basically just stopped time around us. Okay, so no one can stop us besides people that play fast and lose with physics. Still, this is an amazing upgrade, doubly so, since I didn't have to pay for it.

“Keep the turrets trained on the hallway, anyone coming out carrying a weapon you can turn into a new paint stain.”

“Yes ma’am” Evelin says, and I can swear that I can feel her do a little salute.

I turn and start running further into the building, making sure that I allow some of Crow’s blades to go ahead of me, acting as the forward scouts. And we run into even more people, all wearing fancy equipment and guns that tear chunks out of the walls.

But luckily they were no match for team… Maniac? No too narcissistic… Troublesome Triplets? That feels too long. My train of thought is quickly interrupted by a red hot axe that comes flying at me. I lean all the way back, practically folding myself in two as the weapons sails above me.

I roll, getting quickly back on my feet to observe the situation. Someone stands in front of me, big battle-axe in a two handed grip. His suit looks different, stronger and bulkier. And apparently a lot tougher too,9 as multiple of Crow’s weapons impact it and just shatter.

“How fortunate, a challenge,” I giggle as I ready my sword.

The man just grunts, readies his axe and slashes at me. I retaliate, turning my blade to hit the axe handle. To both of our supplies, the sword goes straight through, separating the axe head from its handle and sending it flying at me.

The impact is… well, honestly; it is rather pathetic. It only pierces into my hoody for about fifteen centimetres, not getting anywhere near my skin. The axe head drops to the floor and so does the large man. I frown, I didn't hit him at all, but as I get closer to investigate, I noticed a small layer of frost around him.

“I fucking love this sword! " I hear Evelin shout in excitement.

“You did this?” I ask, still surprised.

“Yeah, when a few of the sparks hit the armour, I got access to the temperature controls. Apparently, that suit can cool down really fast.” She says, talking a mile a minute.

“Right, somehow this all feels too easy,” I say

“We got stronger, apparently strong enough to talk in the middle of a firefight! " she says, a bit of scolding in her tone.

I nod, as I focus more on the fight, but it is honestly not much of one. Sure, the gang has armour and weapons they shouldn't have access to, but it is not Samurai grade. Which means that I do have to be careful, but it isn't much of a challenge.

It makes me a bit conflicted. On one hand I do like a challenge, on the other, it being easy means that we are stronger. Truly out of the realms of humanity and fully in the realm of monsters, the thing to be feared instead of being afraid of everything.

We continue on our, three women one body, rampage for a while.We finally find what we are looking for, a cell that is way too fancy. A little tap with the sword is all Evelin needs to open the door. Inside is a very dishevelled and confused looking Lamar. He looks older, with several scars that weren't present in the video.

I turn my mask to the side of my head and give him a big grin. “Big brother Lemar! It's good to see you!”

“Big brother?” Lemar mutters.