The V.I.C.I. Diaries: MGV (Metal Gear Vicki) Part 10

[DukeNukem 2417]

“I guess I might as well forget about the ‘no tricks’ rule,” Vicki mused, gesturing at the gladiator’s sword still buried in the wall. “But, since you’ve decided to bring out your toys,” she added, waiting for the quivering blade to leap into her hand, “I may as well bring out one of my own---“

A solid thwack signaled that the sword had, indeed, been pulled from the wall.

“Now, where were we?” she asked in a saccharine sweet voice.

Faceless lunged for her, bringing his right-hand blade down with every intent to chop off her hand---but the steel never touched her. The wristblade met the gladiator’s sword with a resounding clong, allowing Vicki ample time to kick Faceless in the stomach and run at him. Every one of her intentionally half-hearted swings was met by the masked psychopath’s blades; hopefully, he doesn’t figure out that I’m just trying to tire him out until---

The sickening feeling of steel piercing her side interrupted her train of thought like a brick wall stopping a car.

“You are NOT going to beat me with your worthless tricks,” Faceless hissed, ripping the blade out. “The only way this will end is when one of us dies…..or, in your case, is reduced to a worthless pile of---GAAAAHH!” He reeled from the backhand strike against his ear, collapsing to the floor.

“DON’T do that again,” V.I.C.I. ordered.

With a feral growl, Faceless lunged for her ankles; thanks to the low ceiling of the hallway, the brunette gynoid was barely able to jump over his clumsy grasp without landing on his skull. She landed in a crouch, holding the gladiator’s sword like a katana as she watched Faceless rise to his feet with all the grace of a tranquilized bear. “You don’t have to do this,” she called out. “Just surrender to the ALPA and admit defeat…it’ll be easier for you---“

“Easier for me?!” Faceless spat, removing something from his pocket. “No…..THIS is the only thing I need to make this fight easier!” At first, V.I.C.I. thought that the masked killer was about to commit suicide---the object looked like some sort of small dagger…except that daggers don’t have needles at the end---wait a minute!

Faceless plunged the syringe into his neck, laughing maniacally all the while.

His body shuddered, and V.I.C.I. could hear the sickening sounds of bones cracking and moving aside in his shattered legs and arms. “I….wasn’t going to use this…..until….later,” he hissed, “but….you’ve forced my hand……” A harsh, barking laugh escaped his throat as the syringe’s contents continued taking hold. “Now THIS…is what I call…a real game-changer!” he bellowed, clenching his now-healed right hand into a fist. “Or in your case……a game-breaker…”

Infoboxes filled V.I.C.I.’s HUD, confirming her worst fears: Whatever was in that syringe just undid everything I’ve done to him! His heart rate, adrenaline levels, pulse, blood pressure and other vitals were all in perfect harmony and well above his usual average---in short, he was fully healed and ready to kill.

Without even giving her enough time to react, Faceless charged at the brunette gynoid and kicked her in the head, sending her flying through the door at the other end of the hallway into another showroom. Her “flight” was stopped by a conveniently-placed display case, this one containing a lithe girl in a one-piece swimsuit; the datascreen near the case identified her as Chloe the Swim Captain. Gingerly, V.I.C.I. rose to her feet, picking glass out of her hair and outfit. “That…hurt,” she muttered, “but where’d he----“

A devastating punch to the jaw knocked her to the ground; Faceless had somehow cleared the gap between them as she was getting up. “You think that hurt?!” he cackled. “I HAVEN’T EVEN MORTALLY WOUNDED YOU YET!” He reared back to stab her in the gut---

---but a red-hot blast of lead broke the blade at the base.

“Get the HELL away from her, you yellow-bellied coward!” Savannah shouted, levelling a revolver at Faceless.

A sinister growl erupted from the masked psychopath’s mouth; “Savannah,” V.I.C.I. cautioned, “get out of here! He’ll---“ Before she could finish her sentence, Faceless leapt off of her and ran at Savannah, drawing back the intact blade with every intent to spear her straight through the throat. The cowgirl pleasure droid emptied the revolver as the black-clad killer ran towards her, and for a brief second, V.I.C.I. thought she was doomed; there’s no way she can survive a stab-wound at that close range…

The distance between Savannah and Faceless was now a mere seven feet; Faceless leapt in the air, a scream of animalistic fury ringing through the air as he descended----

---and just as quickly, he was silenced.

V.I.C.I. stared, simultaneously shocked and amazed by Savannah’s last-ditch defensive move: the gynoid had pulled a Bowie knife from her boot and driven it straight into the murderer’s gut. “And that’s the end of that,” she declared, striding over to the brunette gynoid with a smile. “Did that spineless coward do any lastin’ damage?” she asked.

“I told you to stay in the garage with the security ‘bots,” V.I.C.I. half-heartedly admonished.

“The garage?” Savannah echoed with a laugh. “Honey, that place was deader than Orville Reddenbacher by the time I got up there! Nothin’ but a bunch’a burnt-out knockoff fembots and---“

A glint of steel pierced her forehead. “Well, shoot,” she muttered, seconds before collapsing to the ground.

The brunette gynoid stared, horrified, as Savannah fell; this…this isn’t happening! This CAN’T be-----

“Now, where were we?”

Vicki slowly looked up, her eyes brimming with tears again as Faceless returned to his feet. “It’ll take more than some pathetic pig-sticker to put me down for good,” he drawled, cracking his knuckles, “so I suggest you just abandon the knife and---“

A familiar red-white blur rushed at him, knocking him to the ground. “YOU BASTARD!” Before the murderer could even catch his breath, Vicki was pummelling him with rocket punches---lefts and rights that would’ve easily rendered an average human being comatose. Maddeningly, he was laughing at every single punch, as if they were nothing more than blows from a goose-down pillow. “Is that the best you’ve got?!” he taunted, letting three more punches strike him before he threw the enraged gynoid off.

“You are pathetic,” he sneered. “I know I’ve probably mentioned it already, but really…that last effort was just above and beyond in terms of---“

Vicki rocketed into him again, tackling him through the display of a robot decked out in piratical attire. The data-screen ID’ing the ‘bot as “Captain Bonnie Lass” was cracked across his head mere seconds later, shards of glass digging into his scalp and drawing blood. “THAT’S THE SPIRIT!” he shouted, laughing as he got to his feet. “You catch on quick---“

A face-shattering punch caught him across the cheek. “SHUT UP!” Vicki screamed, striking him with another staggering blow. “JUST SHUT UP AND DIE!” “Oh, you’d LOVE that, wouldn’t you!” the killer taunted, laughing as Vicki carved a massive gash into his arm with Bonnie’s cutlass. “That’s it……that’s it……hurt me……HURT ME MORE, VICKI!”

His cackling only served to further infuriate the gynoid. “Go to Hell,” she snarled, kicking him in the ribs.

“IS THAT THE BEST YOU’VE GOT?!” Faceless shouted, laughing off the pain.

Lights above the display cases flickered on; Vicki could barely make out Jamie and Chris running from one console to another in the control center above, activating every robot in the room.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Faceless taunted, standing over the gynoid. “I asked----“

Vicki’s hand shot out to grab him by the ankle. Increase DG v2.5 voltage to 500%---WARNING: INCREASING VOLTAGE TO 500% MAY BE FATAL TO TARGET. DO YOU WISH TO PROCEED?

“How’s THIS for an answer?!” Vicki snarled, her hand almost glowing white.

Every single cell in Faceless’ body screamed in agony, echoing the banshee wail spewing forth from his lips as the shock coursed through him. Lightning danced across his fingertips, and his hair began to singe.

“VICKI, STOP!” Jamie’s voice screaming in her ear did nothing to placate the gynoid. “YOU’LL KILL HIM---“

“HE WOULD’VE KILLED YOU!” Vicki shouted, her grip tightening on Faceless’ ankle.

“You’re better than this, Vicki,” Anton’s voice assured her. “You don’t have to do this---“

“YES I DO!” Vicki wailed, tears streaming down her face again. “I’M SENDING THIS BASTARD STRAIGHT TO HELL WHERE HE BELONGS!”

“Vicki,” Ted pleaded, “just let him go…please…”

“I…..I can’t……” Vicki sobbed. “I…I----“

“Allow me to assist you, then.”

Vicki looked up, horrified, to see Faceless staring down at her. Electricity was still arcing across his body, but he no longer seemed to be feeling any pain from it. “Funny how weaving Voltaic Converters into the linings of one’s clothes can negate the effects of electrocution,” he mused, as if the sensation was nothing more than a soothing breeze blowing across him. “I’ll admit, the first few seconds were….painful….but after the initial shock wore off………”

His face contorted into a sneer behind his mask. “…I felt positively charged!”

Before she could react, Vicki felt his foot slam into her face; her grip slackened as she tumbled away, her HUD rendered temporarily useless by the brutal kick.

“Where’s your bravado now?” Faceless taunted. “Where’s your ‘I’M SENDING THIS BASTARD TO HELL’? Or were you just spouting whatever motivational crap you could think of just to keep yourself from falling into the age-old trap of self-doubt?” He chuckled as he walked towards her. “Look at you….you can’t even walk away from me---you’re actually crawling like the pathetic little worm you are!” He stabbed downward; Vicki cried out as the blade pierced her ankle.

“Get up,” he ordered. “Get up so I can cut you down! GET UP, I SAID! GET UP!”

Vicki struggled to her feet, only for the masked psychopath to kick her back to the floor. “Too slow,” he taunted, wagging his finger at her. “And here, I thought you might actually present a challenge…” He strode over to where Savannah lay motionless, tearing the Bowie knife from her head and twirling it as he advanced on Vicki. “Time to play ‘Pin the Tail on Vicki’….or as I like to call it, ‘The Crawling Sieve’.” He deliberatly took his time as he made his way back to the still-crawling gynoid, chuckling as he walked. “I’ve waited for this day for quite some time,” he murmured. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this…….”

He raised the knife. “Prepare to join the rest of these worthless bitches in Robot Hell….”

Vicki raised her head just enough to glare at him. “You first.”

Her arm shot up, splintering Faceless’ left shin.

The blow was so quick that he almost didn’t feel it; it took a full five seconds for him to realize she’d just broken his leg again, and even that was only after he’d hit the floor. The shock of the strike seemed to paralyze him, giving Vicki time to recover as he lay on the ground, screaming.

Ignoring the protests of Ted, Anton and everyone else shouting in her ears, she made her way to the door.

“I’m done here,” she muttered, more to herself than to any of them. “Let the pleasure droids take him.”

Behind her, Faceless continued screaming; the force of her palm-strike to his leg had almost literally shattered his shin into powder, which sent a jolt of pure, unbridled pain through the rest of his leg every time he tried to move. Around him, pleasure droids were gathering chains and ropes to bind him, calling for reinforcements and cleanup crews to help with the removal of broken glass and other supplies.

Vicki didn’t bother looking back.

It’s over. They’ll take him out of here, and he’ll be delivered into ALPA custody within a week…and I’ll get a few medals, maybe a commendation and a promotion or two. He’ll confess to everything, and the Maestro will get 100 more years added to his prison sentence. Every single dirty little detail of this whole operation will be made known to the ALPA High Command in a full report, and I’ll probably have to testify about my role…but it’ll be worth it. I’d gladly stand before a hundred judges in a hundred courts and tell them exactly what I did to this bastard…and I’ll remind them of what he’s done, and why his broken body is just a small taste of what I could’ve done to him---

Screams rang out in the showroom, freezing the brunette gynoid in her tracks.

No……

Bonnie Lass primed her flintlock, preparing to shoot the murderer between the eyes…only to get cut down by her own blade.

No……

Wilhemina, Lady of the Night, charged at the psychopath and tried to tear his throat out---only for him to rip her throat out with the Bowie knife and throw her to the floor.

He…he can’t……

Sounds of limbs being torn off, garments torn assunder and fleeing footsteps filled the air; somehow or other, Faceless had once again returned from the brink of defeat, his mind utterly focused on killing Vicki Lawson and ripping her lifeless body limb from limb.

Time seemed to slow down as Vicki turned; somehow, she didn’t feel terrified as Faceless ran at her, yelling obscenities at the top of his lungs. She saw, but didn’t care, that another syringe was dangling loosely from his left arm; whatever he’d been shooting up with was probably a potent-enough mixture to carry him through the rest of the night without having to stop. In the farthest recesses of her bubble memory processor, a thought occurred to her that the syringes might still have trace elements of whatever he’d put into his system, and that the ALPA might want to examine it at the next possible opportunity---

A tearing, twisting feeling erupted in her gut.

“Game over,” he hissed, ripping the Bowie knife from her stomach.

Vicki stumbled towards a wall, barely able to brace herself in time. Myogel flowed like blood from the hole in her chest, staining the red-and-white pinafore costume a dark greyish-purple.

“Vicki…” Oberon’s voice in her ear sounded like something from the depths of a fever dream.

“I…I lost…”

“You haven’t lost…and while this is, indeed, a setback, there is something you can do to save yourself.”

“But…I…”

“You haven’t got much time, so listen carefully. There’s a program in that PDA called ‘ReSeal.exe’, and it can repair the damage done to your myogel musculature system---it’s a bit hard to explain, but it involves the same basic system that Ted used to give you realistic, ‘growing’ hair. Find that program and load it right now.”

Vicki blinked slowly. “Loaded,” she squeaked, slumping against the wall.

“Good. You’re doing great so far. Now…..this next part may sound a bit daft, but just trust me---it’s absolutely necessary for the process to take hold. Part the wound in your chest so that you can see the ruptured myogel sacs.”

The brunette gynoid stiffly reached down to further open the wound; a few feet away, Faceless was already back in the showroom trying to slaughter the gynoids.

“Now, this next bit is the really important one, and it requires absolute focus: Hold the tip of your left index finger to the edge of the first ruptured myogel sac you can feel, and guide your finger to the other edge.”

Vicki traced her finger to a burst myogel sac, slowly making a line; as she watched, a clear plastic film began secreting itself from her fingertip, bridging the gap between the ragged edges of the myogel set.

“Very good! Now, just repeat the process with the other myogel sacs…”

As Faceless ran amok in the showroom, kicking over display cases and chasing down robots to decapitate them, Vicki slowly but dilligently worked to repair the ruptured myogel sacs in her stomach. “This substitute sealant should hold for the remainder of the night,” Oberon informed her, “as long as you don’t take a direct hit from anything bigger than a human fist.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Vicki replied, her speech no longer halting.

“Good…and you might also want to speed it up a bit,” Oberon added. “I think the Butcher of Lake Gilmour is getting bored with the pleasure droids…”

The brunette gynoid hurriedly traced her finger over the myogel sacs, carefull not to let them overlap or meld with each other. After a few minutes, the ruptured myogel set in her abdomen was fully re-sealed; “That’s the best I do for now,” she murmured. “Think it’ll hold out for another round with Crazy McPsychomask over there, or should I just run for the elevator?”

“It’ll hold out,” Oberon assured her. “Just…don’t try to break his legs again.”

Vicki nodded. “Right. Keep the punches and kicks above the waistline.” She actually grinned as Faceless stumbled into the hallway, nearly tripping as he passed her; no doubt he was looking for an exit.

He’d get something else entirely.

Just as the two locked eyes, Vicki ran forward, tackling the masked murderer into a wall…….
-------------------------------------
…only to find herself---and her opponent----falling through it.

Massive leaves rose up to smack her in the face as she fell. What in the HELL is going on here?! This is either a hallucination or---

Her rather solid impact with the ground ruled out any possibilities of a full-on sensory failure.

As she stood up, Vicki realized that she was standing in yet another scenario chamber; this one, oddly enough, seemed to have been modeled after a forest in South America. “Right,” she muttered, “check the walls before I tackle him next time…” She sighed, surveying her new surroundings; as she’d noticed with the campground scenario chamber, the trees, rocks, grass and soil around her were all real.

Speaking of rocks….

“DAMNIT TO HELL!” Faceless screamed, rolling himself off of the uncomfortably-hard looking boulder he’d landed on. “My back…stupid useless rock…” He rifled through his pockets for another syringe, driving the needle into his shoulder blade. Whatever concoction he’d injected worked its magic quickly---Vicki could actually see the misaligned bones in his back creaking as the muscles seemed to push them back into place, all while Faceless threw back his head and swore. “And I thought steroids were bad for you,” she mused, more than a bit frightened at the serum’s effects.

Instantly, Faceless turned to glare at her. “You,” he growled. “WHY WON’T YOU JUST STAY DEAD?!”

“I could ask you the same question,” Vicki replied without missing a beat. “Does your health insurance cover that Miracle Grow you’ve been shooting up, or is it your new favorite hobby?” She sighed; “Nancy Reagan would be so disappointed in you…”

“WHO GIVES A CRAP WHAT NANCY REAGAN THINKS?!” Faceless screamed, his chest heaving with every breath. “You had NO BUSINESS interfering in this operation…my whole plan could’ve been carried out overnight, and I’d have been waltzing my way across the border to Mexico with $100,000,000 added to my bank account…not to mention the satisfaction of having crippled one of the few companies to CONSISTENTLY out-rank Rengold Cybernetics over the past decade…except YOU had to butt in and ruin EVERYTHING!”

“And here’s the part where you start blaming me for your tax problems,” Vicki drawled. “Seriously, can’t you just accept the fact that your plan sucked? Or is that not how psychopaths operate these days…seriously ,I can never tell.”

“You should be less concerned with my plans,” Faceless retorted, “and more concerned with your future. I’ve seen all the signs, Vicki Lawson…..everything your precious ALPA is fighting for---‘android rights’, ‘equality for man and machine’, all that other garbage they spout---it’ll all lead to the end of civilization as we know it. That remark I made earlier, about one particular robot in this facility wanting to automate every Silicon Dynamics plant worldwide? Well, that same robot just so happened to take part in a site-wide survey about the possibility of war with mankind…….” Though she couldn’t see it, Vicki suspected that Faceless was smirking behind his mask. “Would you like to hear her answer for the essay about whether or not peace between mankind and machines would be a viable option?” he asked.

“I’ll read it later,” the brunette gynoid drawled.

“THERE WON’T BE A LATER FOR YOU!” the masked psychopath screamed. “This is the end…only one of us is going to walk out of here alive, Vicki…and it’s NOT going to be you.” He ripped off his shirt (revealing a torso that, surprisingly, had all the tone and definition of an Olympian gymnast) and tore the broken wristblade launcher from his right wrist; “You wanted a fight with no tricks?” he snarled. “You’ve GOT one!” He removed the other wristblade launcher more carefully, setting it down on top of his jacket.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Vicki replied, assuming a fighting stance.

The two paced in a circle, neither one taking their eyes off the other; after fifteen full seconds passed, Faceless lunged at the gynoid, ready to level her with a wild haymaker to the temple. Vicki countered the move easily, throwing the masked killer into a tree.

“You’re really going to start off with that?!” she taunted.

Growling, Faceless pulled himself up and ran at Vicki again, landing a solid punch to her left side. “That good enough?” he hissed, only to take an elbow smash to the face (or mask, in his case). “Not really, but it’s a start.” Vicki charged at him, snapping her leg into a super-kick and sending him into another tree.

Any witty remark she planned on making died on her lips as soon as she saw her opponent charging through the dust at her, wrapping both hands around her neck. Before he could tighten his grip, Vicki hammered away at his ribs with a quick 3-punch combo, followed up with a swift kick that forced him to let go. As he staggered and tried not to fall over, Vicki executed a quick side-roll into the foiliage, temporarily disappearing from his view.

“What……WHERE ARE YOU?!” he shouted, his eyes darting around the landscape.

I’m right behind you, genius, Vicki mentally taunted, stealthily approaching her masked opponent. And now, for my next trick… With the grace of a leopard, she sprang to her feet, grabbing Faceless by the neck in a rear choke-hold.

“You…can’t win…” Faceless grunted.

“Watch me,” Vicki replied, throwing him to the ground and striking her fighting stance once again.

“When will you learn,” Faceless hissed, “that the only way to beat me is to KILL ME?!” He lunged at her, intent on caving her face in with a wicked left cross---but the gynoid’s reflexes were too fast, and she caught his fist in mid-punch, shoving him backwards once again. “Seriously, enough with the punching already,” she drawled. “It’s just embarassing.” Faceless growled and charged at her again, this time aiming a right jab for her nose; once again, she intercepted the strike, smashing her elbow into his ribs.

“Again,” she chided, “quit with the punches already!”

Her taunt only served to further piss off Faceless. “Impudent little…..” He lunged at her again, this time throwing out an elbow to bash her in the center of the forehead---and yet again, his attack was rebuffed, as Vicki threw him over her shoulder in a classic Judo hip-toss.

With another grunt, Faceless rose to his feet and ran at her again, ready to clothesline the crap out of her….

Predictably, his attack never even connected; Vicki grabbed him by the arm and threw him to the ground, so that he was lying on his back as she gave him a disappointed stare. “Seriously,” she remarked with a tsk tsk, “it’s like you aren’t even trying anymore….”

Before he could lunge at her ankles or do anything else to knock her down, Vicki took a standing leap up into the trees, putting her as far out of range as possible from Faceless’ attacks. “I bet you’re wishing you still had those flamethrowers right about now, aren’t you?!” she called out, grinning. “Or maybe a chainsaw would be more your style…maybe even a good old-fashioned crowbar! You’d probably be willing to hack away at this tree for twelve hours straight, just to try and get at me…am I right, or am I right?!”

“YOU’LL BE DEAD!” Faceless shouted, scanning the trees for any sign of his opponent. “And when I’m done with you, I’ll skin those two idiots in the control center alive---oh, yes, I know ALL ABOUT them----and once THEY’RE out of the way----“

The sound of rustling leaves cut him off----the gynoid was on the move.

For her part, Vicki had no problems keeping on her toes as she traversed the trees; she’d attended gymnast classes back in her senior year (aided, of course, by her myogel-enhanced reflexes) and tried out for the cheerleading squad (the only reason she didn’t make the team was Ted’s concern of her glitching out midway through a routine), so scaling tree branches while a derranged psychotic was looking for her didn’t really pose too much of a problem.

Until he started throwing rocks, that is…

“Is he trying to get me killed?!” she hissed. “Oh, wait, of course he’s trying to kill me…..” Shaking her head at the absurdity of a psychotic killer reduced to hurling rocks like a common schoolboy, Vicki crept along the branches at a steady pace, keeping one step ahead of the barrage for three whole minutes----

---after which point a rather large, almost golf-ball sized rock hit her directly in the side of the head.

“OW!” Reflexively, she raised her hand to feel for a bruise; it didn’t help that her HUD had once again been plunged into bursts of static. “Friggin’ stupid rock!” Shaking off the effects of the hit, she continued moving along the branch---until another rock smacked her in the shin. “Whoa…whoaa…” She steadied herself by grabbing onto the tree, hoping that she wouldn’t drop like a sack of bricks any time soon. “Just keep it together, Lawson….a few more feet---“

Another rock sailed towards her, smashing into the branch.

“Right,” she muttered, noticing hairline cracks in the wood. “Time to abandon the subtle approach….”

Before any more stones could be thrown her way, the brunette gynoid leapt from the branch towards another tree, grabbing for it and pulling herself up. She didn’t stay on the branch for long; as her HUD homed in on Faceless preparing to throw another rock, she crouched; time for a diving dropkick---V.I.C.I. Style!

She stepped backwards off of the branch, grabbing it again and using her momentum (and myogel-enhanced reflexes) to swing forward. Got to keep building speed…..not enough to kick a hole through him, but enough to knock him on his butt……

After about seven full rotations (Oh, the irony!), she let go of the branch. Here goes nothing……

The sensation of soaring through the air like a guided missile was actually quite exhillarating---for all of five seconds. As soon as her feet slammed into Faceless’ back, Vicki remembered that she was in a life-or-death fight with a complete psychopath, and all notions of flying through the air with the greatest of ease were dropped and forgotten.

“You know,” she quipped, “for a second there, I didn’t think that was going to work…”

Faceless groaned as he pushed himself up from the dirt. “You…..give up…” he slurred, “or…..hurp…” He reeled and pulled up his mask just in time to puke, a geyser of bright red blood erupting from his mouth.

“EWW!” Vicki shrieked, cringing away from the sight.

The masked psychopath swayed where he stood; the high-impact kick had obviously knocked his sense of balance out of whack, and he was dangerously close to falling face-first into his own vomit. “Congratulations,” he spat, “you’ve caused…..sgnfcntnternalbleeding……” He coughed up another blood loogie, hacking and clearing his throat until he could barely stand. “Damn it….” From a distance, Vicki could see the pieces of glass still embedded in his scalp, blood pooling and drying around the shards; clearly, Faceless was in no shape to continue fighting, and every minute he stayed on his feet was another minute of life ticking away from him. As much as she hated him, there was only one logical option:

“We have to get you out of here, and straight to a hospital.”

“HA!” Faceless barked, sounding more like another hacking cough than a laugh. “You….haven’t killed me yet, Nicki Lawson…..”

“It’s Vicki,” the brunette gynoid corrected. “You’re getting punch-drunk….all these blows to the head---“

“I AM NOT DRUNK!” Faceless screamed. “I……huurgh……” He stumbled and threw up again, barely avoiding a tree-root in his path. “Whrstheneedle……” He fished around in his pants pockets, dropping a cache of throwing knives and lockpicks to the ground. “Where is it……” After a few seconds of scrabbling through his pants, he finally found another syringe. “Heh, this……this is my…….ah, the hell with it----“

Before Vicki could stop him, he plunged the needle into his jugular vein.

Instantly, his drunken demeanor ceased; his posture straightened, his chest no longer heaved…. “Damn,” he muttered. “That was the last one, too….”

“What the hell is in that thing?!” Vicki asked, the question rising to a shriek as it left her lips.

“I can’t really say,” Faceless replied, pulling his mask back down. “All I know is that it’s the best cure I’ve found for otherwise crippling injuries in the middle of a brawl.” He held up the syringe as if it were a chalice; “And to think, all these years I’ve been walking around with broken bones and undressed scars……” He tilted the syringe in Vicki’s direction. “This stuff….it’s like Viagra for the nervous system---“

“Okay, EEEUUURGGGHHH!” Vicki made a face. “That is NOT the mental image I want right now---“

“Tough luck,” Faceless laughed, “because that image is going to be the last one stuck in your head when I rip it clean off your shoulders!” He threw the syringe down, chuckling. “I won’t be needing it again, I think…”

Vicki thought of drawing the syringe into her hand with the same electromagnetic field she’d used to pull the gladiator’s sword out of the hallway wall, but decided against it; I don’t want him assuming that he’s figured out some secret game plan and chasing me down like a rabid wolverine or anything, she reasoned. If I can get back in here after this is all over with, I might be able to snag it…

“Are you just going to stand there,” Faceless taunted, “or are we going to FIGHT?!”

Vicki smirked. “Sure you’re not going to need another shot of cure-all juice before we go toe-to-toe?”

“The only thing I need right now is to tear out that stupid little RTG of yours and fling it into a lake,” Faceless sneered, “so I’ll never have to hear your annoying voice again!”

“Harsh,” Vicki muttered. “You do know I could still use my reverse batteries for---“

Faceless charged at her, obviously intent on tearing out her RTG and flinging it into a lake…which would’ve worked out a lot better had Vicki not smashed her knee into his abdomen, sending him flailing to the ground.

“What is it with you and running attacks?” she asked. “Seriously…”

Without bothering to answer the gynoid, Faceless jumped to his feet and started karate-chopping, punching and kicking in Vicki’s direction, ignoring the glaring fact that all of his attacks either missed or were easily countered. “You’re STILL not even trying!” Vicki declared, easily slapping away an eye-gouge attempt and dropping into a crouch to sweep Faceless’ legs out from underneath him. “You’re more predictable than a Parker Lewis Can’t Lose rerun,” she admonished shaking her head, “and that’s not a compliment. Seriously,” she continued, dodging a knife-edged chop meant for her throat, “try mixing it up a little bit! Drop a knee, use Mantis Style, jam a thumb up my nose---okay, maybe not that, but you get the idea!”

“WILL YOU JUST SHUT UP AND STAND STILL?!” Faceless screamed, kicking at her midsection.

“Sorry, but that’s not gonna happen.” Vicki easily dodged the kick with another side-roll, whirling around to lift her leg and strike the masked lunatic in the back of the head with her foot. “See, THAT was unpredictable!” she stated. “You, on the other hand…it’s like a textbook example of how not to fight!”

Faceless, already having recovered from the kick, glared at the gynoid. “Do you EVER shut up?!” he growled.

“Sometimes,” she cheerfully replied, sidestepping his tackle attempt in time to see him crash head-first into the trunk of a tree. “Though on these occasions, I find that talking a lot really helps me focus….which is sort of ironic, because---“ A low, feral growl emanated from Faceless’ spot on the ground, and Vicki hastily legged it as the growl mutated into a genuine roar. “Yeesh, grow a sense of humor, will you?!” she snapped. “That, or get a therapist….then again, I don’t think any therapist in the world would be willing to put up with you---“

A throwing knife sliced her face as it flew past, embedding itself in a tree behind her.

“Okay,” she muttered, “not cool! You could’ve put my eye out with that thing----“

“AAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!”

Faceless’ primal yell meant only one thing----“Get out of the way, fast”----but Vicki reacted just a fraction of a second too late; thus, the impact of the full-on tackle briefly stunned her, giving her masked attacker all the time he needed to carry her the whole 30-foot length of the scenario room before slamming her into a wall. “THIS ENDS HERE!” he screamed, taking seven steps back. “You…you’re FINISHED!”

Vicki looked up, grinning wryly. “Sorry,” she murmured, “I didn’t quite catch that last part---“

With another yell, Faceless shoulder-blocked her into the wall again. “WHY WON’T YOU JUST DIE?!” he screamed, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

“Not…part of my programming,” Vicki chuckled.

A hateful snarl escaped Faceless’ ruined lips, as he once again took seven steps back. “This little game of ours is over,” he spat. “You’ve LOST, and nothing you can do will change that! Just admit it and GIVE UP, already….unless you want me to finish you here and now…..”

Another chuckle. “Like you could do anything to hurt me,” Vicki scoffed.

That remark was the proverbial backbreaking straw.

Faceless stared at her, unwilling to believe that she was still standing (or functioning) after all the punishment he’d put her through. “This……this is impossible…you’re just a robot…just a stupid machine…” He shook his head in disbelief; apparently, the idea of losing to a girl robot was just too much for him to take. “No…” He turned away, clenching his fists as if he were strangling someone. “No….this…this isn’t happening…all that planning, all that hard work……ruined……”

Vicki watched as he backed away. Maybe I went a little overboard with that last remark…

Abruptly, Faceless’ insane ranting turned to insane laughing.

“You’re not supposed to win….and you won’t…” He shook his head, settling into a runner’s starting crouch.

Oh, scrap…”You can’t be serious!” Vicki shouted. “You’ll break every bone in your body!”

“If that’s what it takes to get rid of you,” Faceless snarled, “THEN SO BE IT!”

He charged forward, slamming into Vicki with the force of a rampaging buffalo….
-------------------------------------

[Brytestar]

No way! Whoa!!!! intense!

[DollSpace]

Please don't keep us waiting for the next part! That was amazing; one of the things I like best about your writing is the seamless transfers from full-bore action scenes to moments that show a character's emotions or their emotional depth, sometimes at the same time! You're also pretty good at plot twists, too.