Riku and Sasha bolted out of the room, but at that moment, three shiny green mecha guards came charging around the corner of the hallway.
The second they spotted the duo, the mecha guards opened fire. Bullets tore through the air, streaking lines of gunfire down the corridor.
With no choice, the two dove back into the room. The hallway was a straight shot with zero cover—stepping out there was like begging to be a living target in a shmup anime.
"Damn it! Just how many of these things are in this building?!"
Riku couldn't help but rant. Wave after wave after wave—were they stuck in some kind of infinite boss rush mode?
"At least a few hundred!" Sasha shot back.
On their way up, they'd already run into a ton of mecha guards, not to mention the drones.
"Crap!"
The thought of drones made Sasha whip her head around. Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling window, a swarm of drones was already gathering.
"Get down, Devil!"
No time to explain—Sasha shoved Riku, signaling him to hit the deck.
Riku didn't hesitate. He dropped flat to the floor, hugging the ground like a seasoned mecha pilot dodging a missile barrage.
The second they hit the deck, bullets screamed in from behind, whizzing over their heads.
Glass shards sprayed everywhere as the windows shattered, the room filled with the deafening roar of gunfire.
"We've gotta get out of here!"
Riku doubled down on the obvious. Staying in this room, caught between drones and mecha guards, was a one-way ticket to a game-over screen.
Lucky for them, the drones' gunfire was aimed right at the doorway, so the mecha guards couldn't coordinate a pincer attack.
"We need to take out those drones first!" Sasha nodded, her voice firm.
They scrambled back under the computer desk, this time on the opposite side. The desk was already riddled with bullet holes, looking like it had been through a climactic battle in a cyberpunk anime.
Thank kami for whatever crazy material this desk was made of—without it, they'd both be Swiss cheese by now.
Riku gripped a gun he'd snatched off the floor while diving. Peeking out from the desk's edge, he didn't even aim—just unloaded a wild burst toward the window.
A full clip later, the room fell silent. The drones' gunfire outside stopped too.
"..."
Riku froze. Even Sasha, the battle-hardened veteran, was stunned.
The two drones outside wobbled and crashed to the ground. Riku's blind shots had somehow nailed them like a lucky critical hit in a mecha anime.
"You've got that kind of skill?"
Sasha's eyes curved into a grin, nearly laughing despite the chaos. For a moment, she looked like a mischievous anime sidekick.
But the mecha guards weren't about to let them have a breather. The second the drones' gunfire stopped, they stormed in.
No time to think—Riku, relying on his sheer bulk, charged forward and slammed into the three mecha guards like a berserk shounen protagonist.
Bang! Bang!
Two shots rang out. Blood sprayed everywhere as Riku bowled the guards over.
Crack!
His claws snapped out, shredding the necks of two mecha guards in one swift move. Then, he smashed his head down, crushing the third guard's skull with a brutal headbutt.
The impact left Riku's forehead a bloody mess, crimson streaming down his face like a dramatic anime injury.
The mecha guard's head was crumpled, its system glitching out from the hit, its glowing eyes flickering like a dying robot in a sci-fi OVA.
Crack!
Riku didn't hesitate. One final claw strike finished off the dazed mecha guard, still reeling from the stun effect.
"Devil! You okay?!"
Sasha rushed over, her face full of worry. She'd seen Riku take a hit.
"I'm fine. Just a scratch. Let's move!"
Riku waved her off and got to his feet, grabbing Sasha's arm.
No time to fuss over injuries—they had to seize this chance to escape this death trap.
"But—!"
Sasha started to protest, but a buzzing sound cut her off.
Bzzt! Bzzt! Bzzt!
More drones poured in through the shattered window, with even more trailing behind.
"Blast it!"
Riku glanced at Sasha. The neko-head lady didn't hesitate—she triggered the bomb she'd set up earlier.
BOOM!
A massive explosion rocked the room. The trusty computer desk, their faithful companion through this fight, finally met its end in a blaze of glory.
The bomb's power was no joke. Every drone in the room was obliterated, and even the ones outside waiting to swoop in got caught in the blast.
Flames roared out through the window, smoke filling the air. The whole building seemed to shake, like the climactic explosion in a mecha anime's final episode.
"What the hell's going on in there?!"
Outside the biotech company's building, V and Jack Wells were waiting anxiously.
The swarm of drones buzzing around outside told them Riku and Sasha were still fighting, but they were powerless to help.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
V cursed nonstop, whether at Riku or herself, she wasn't sure.
The explosion caught their attention, spiking their anxiety even higher.
The longer this dragged on, the louder the chaos got, and the harder it was for them to stay put.
The company plaza's guards and the NCPD might be lazy, but even they couldn't ignore a ruckus this big while standing around like oblivious NPCs in a slice-of-life anime.
Plus, the growing swarm of drones made hiding tougher. No matter how well you hid, those drones had biometric scanners—one sweep, and you were done.
"V, we gotta get out of here!"
Jack Wells made the call, grabbing V's arm to pull her away.
"But Riku—!"
V resisted, wanting to rush back in, at least to draw some heat off them.
"V! Think about what he said! You've gotta survive! Otherwise, his sacrifice is for nothing!"
Jack roared, his voice heavy with frustration. He felt useless, stuck down here, only learning what was happening through V.
The three of them had come in hyped, and yeah, they got what they came for—but at the cost of leaving one behind. Jack felt worse than V did.
Riku was the one he'd dragged into this life, the guy he'd picked up at the Wild Wolf Bar.
But they couldn't let emotions take over. Going back now would only make Riku's sacrifice meaningless.
"Besides, he's an alien. He might not even die."
Dragging a shaken V, Jack Wells bolted from the biotech building.
At the same time, he sent Riku a message:
"Stay alive, my alien brother! We're waiting in the car, ready to pick you up anytime!"
Jack had a gut feeling there was still hope—that Riku would come back, blood-soaked but alive, like the hero of a gritty cyberpunk anime.
If Sasha overheard their conversation, she'd probably be touched. It was a four-person movie, but somehow, she didn't even get a name in the credits.
No helping it—loyalty was one thing, but V and Jack didn't exactly have a deep bond with some random stranger they barely knew.
At least with Riku, they'd fought side by side.