Special thanks to:

doenerkint, author of Hiding and Masking

Tahsky

DarknessEnthroned author of A Cadmean Victory Remastered.

Without their help, you'd likely be unable to make sense of my ramblings

"Speech done mentally through the net"

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Two Mercs Walk into a Church

Desamparados Cathedral, Vista del Rey, Heywood, Night City

21:42

Harry adjusted the suppressed D5 rifle hidden beneath his jacket as he walked through the crowded sidewalk and checked the time. He frowned; it had taken longer that he'd liked for V to arrive with his gear. Hermione did say the surgery required preparation but that wouldn't stop Felix from getting impatient. He hated the wait but going in with nothing but a handgun and no backup would have been absolute suicide. He was just glad that V had agreed to help out. She always did come through when he really needed her.

"We doing this the quiet way, or the easy way?" asked V as the pair walked the last stretch after leaving the car parked a road away. He glanced at the bluenette with her messy bob cut walking at his side. V looked excited at the oncoming assault, there was a gleam to her grey eyes that only someone born into this line of work had.

Harry frowned for a second as they neared their target. Though it was well into the dark of night, the City never was. The surrounding neon signs, the lit windows and passing cars illuminated the large building with the old Gothic architecture. It was a stark contrast, an old sacred piece of history in a city of the corrupt present. At one stage, it had served its purpose as a house of worship but these days it catered only to gangsters. The Valentinos had claimed it for themselves, spreading their roots from within to the rest of Heywood for years.

"Sneaking in's one thing, we don't know what state Fleur's in. We'd be fucked if we need to carry her and fight our way out. Besides, it's a cathedral, not an office building. Take the guys out on the outside silently, then—"

"Front door? It'll be bloody." V practically buzzed with excitement.

"Front door, kill anything that moves." It was ruthless, but he was in a supremely pissed off mood and every minute wasted was a minute Fleur didn't have. He stopped at the corner of a nearby apartment block. He pulled something small from his pocket and held it in his palm.

V noticed it was a mini drone, it was barely big enough to encompass his hand. It turned about and with a near ghostly quiet hum, lifted off.

"We need eyes inside. Hermione," he said to the drone.

It flew close to V's face as the notification to connect to it appeared in both their fields of vision. "Hey V," they heard the tell-tale British accent of their netrunner in their minds as they accepted.

"Hey babe," greeted the merc flirtatiously, drawing a giggle out of the drone. V could have sworn the little bot shook with the sound.

"You know I don't swing that way."

V shrugged with a grin. "That's because you still haven't had a piece of this. Don't know what you're missing out on here."

"Sure, I do but let's table that conversation for another day." Hermione could sense Harry's irritation.

The call suddenly switched to video feed and both Harry and V could see through the drone's eyes. It flew up and began its aerial reconnaissance of the cathedral and its surroundings. A tall fence which had replaced what used to be a wall surrounded the plot.

There weren't many people outside of the building, overall. It was fairly quiet. A few pimped-out low-riders and flashy chopper style bikes were parked out front and around the back, the majority of gang members hung out around their rides, smoking while music blared from one of the cars' open trunks. The space was well illuminated with lights fixed to the building's walls.

The drone made quick work of tagging each person with a 'last known location' marker and scanned them for weapons. To their lack of surprise, it was all of them. With the outside surveyed, Hermione manoeuvred the little drone into the cathedral through an open window.

The inside was a mix of a house of worship and whatever else the Valentinos needed it to be. There were church pews arranged haphazardly with most of the open area filled by several scattered tables and couches and with gang members either lazing about, fiddling with whatever weapon they were trying to mod or just going about their business.

Everyone present was clearly a member, with their pre-collapse era Chicano style, all flashy gold cyberware and jewellery to boot. That's the thing with having a distinct style, it helped to create a sense of camaraderie, but it also came with the downside of being easily identifiable. Something the gangs of Night City had in common, they were about as inconspicuous as a twitchy dick in a miniskirt.

"Hermione," Harry voiced, "can you take control of the alarms, cameras, lights?"

"Get the surroundings as well, while you're at it," added V as she slid a pair of jet-black knives from her belt. Her jacket which was bright yellow began to darken until it matched her blades.

"It's Heywood, not Kang Tao… Give me a minute," Hermione noted with a smug tone to her voice.

V laughed. "Never change"

Harry and V disconnected from the drone's feed and blended into the pedestrians still walking about. One thing you could count on with Night City, there was always a crowd.

The gate to the cathedral was closed but it wasn't left unguarded. A camera was mounted right above it along with a goon just leaning up against the wall.

"I'm in, lights out in ten seconds," said Hermione seriously.

"Let me." V sounded excited as she zeroed in on the unaware criminal.

"Have at it," Harry shrugged.

An instant later, the lights in the block went out, leaving only the headlights of passing vehicles. Most of the crowd walking came to a sudden stop, as if the switch was flipped on them too. The few who kept walking collided into others, resulting in some stumbling and curses being thrown around.

Harry's eyes had already adjusted to the dim light, and he could see the guard who'd been lazing before was now looking around in alert confusion.

"Open the gate," instructed Harry mentally to Hermione as they approached.

The sound of metal sliding on railings had the guard turn around, likely expecting another Valentinos member. He never saw V's knife until the hilt stuck out of his neck. She twisted the blade for good measure and grabbed a hold of his now limp body, using her momentum to push him through the open gate, into the courtyard. The gate immediately closed right as Harry stepped through, already unfolding his rifle's stock.

V dropped the body against the wall, out of sight should the lights turn back on. She stood with her knives out at her side in a reverse grip.

"Come on," said Harry, his eyes on the grouping of gang members who were busy turning on their car headlights to see. They'd neglected to turn off the music, which only served to deafen to their mounting doom.

"Leave the two at the back to me." V separated from him, moving like a ghost in the night's cover.

Harry wasn't as big on the whole sneaking thing. His idea of clandestine was to slap a suppressor on it and kill everyone before they could get a shot off, and that's exactly what he did.

Without stopping, he raised his rifle, rested the stock against his shoulder and fired at the nearest Valentino. The poor guy had just climbed out of his car after flipping the lights on. He'd barely stood up when the whistling bullet, masked by the loud music, ripped through his skull in a shower of blood and bone..

Blood sprayed as his body landed on its side; the other Valentino's took barely a handful of seconds to process it all before they realised they were under attack. But it was not fast enough, Harry lined up target after target, a single shot each from his rifle tore through skulls and chests. The only two which would have been out of his ability to kill in time were already dead with V standing over their still forms as she wiped the blood from her knives.

"We still in the clear?" Harry asked Hermione, knowing she still had the drones feed of the inside.

"You're clear," came the answer through their com-link.

"Front door?" prompted V excitedly when she saw him remove a grenade from within his jacket.

"M-hm" he nodded.

"You know, times like these, you get real quiet…"

"Keeps me from getting distracted." He twisted the cap on the grenade to set it to remote detonation before sticking it to the cathedral's large door.

He grabbed another, this one a cluster flashbang. "Flash shields," he said, but it wasn't necessary since V had done so the second she'd seen what was in his hand. He glanced at her in one final check, his eyes glowing a pale blue, the same as V's.

Without another word, he took a position to the door's left while V mirrored him on the opposite side, one of her knives was replaced by a beefy handgun. He met her eyes and she nodded, so he triggered the explosive on the door. It was blown to pieces, some bits still hung on by the hinges. In the dust and chaos, he threw in the flashbang. A second later he breached the open doorway with V right as the room filled with blinding white flashes.

The people inside were either dazed from the initial blast, yelling out, or covering their eyes in pain. Once Harry and V opened fire, the handful who were more resilient tried to retaliate. Harry couldn't move as fast as V, her lithe form had gotten behind one of the men within an instant, her arm around his torso with her blade impaled in his chest. She used it as leverage to hold the gasping man as a meat shield, she fired over his shoulder, the bullets tore through a girl's throat as she tried to reach for her gun.

While V moved around the room, killing as she did. Harry was like a stone bastion; he used the concrete pillars for cover as round upon round was fired from his rifle. One man tried to rush him, only to stumble when Harry bashed him in the face with the butt of his rifle, before splattering his brains across the floor with a single shot to the side of his skull.

The interaction did leave him open, he looked up right as an enraged gang member roared with a shotgun pointed at him. Harry was already moving to the nearest pillar and had just barely made it when the bang of the double-barrel blew bits of concrete and stone dust into the air.

A whistle and squelch were followed by the sound of a body collapsing. Harry checked through the missing piece of the pillar and saw V with her hand held out, the knife in the gang member's neck vibrating before flying back for V to catch.

"You're bleeding," commented V, pointing to his left arm with her knife.

Harry inspected it and found a small tear in his jacket sleeve. "Hm…"

"Want to take care of that first?" V held out a small haemostatic spray cannister.

"Thanks, you mind?" he let her deal with his cut, and suppressed a wince as she did.

"We should keep going." He tested his arm. "Forty feet of stone and dirt should've stopped any sound from travelling, but odds are one of these choombs got a message out."

"Hmm. How do we get in? Don't see any signs pointing to 'secret underground tunnel' around here."

Harry walked over to a corner near the back wall where a statue of the Santa Madre stood in an alcove, with her arms open and her palms up. He put his rifle down and felt around the side of the statue.

"Padre's info showed the entrance was over here— Ah, found it. You know, ten years of taking gigs, and I still come across some weird shit."

"That's NC for yer', the old man must've charged a pretty eddie for deets like these," said V with amusement as she watched the statue's podium begin to rotate with a rumble of stone grinding on stone. Once it had turned around completely, a dark stairway leading down was revealed with a reinforced door at the bottom with a digital lock.

"Cost me everything I'd be making on tonights gig and more..." grumbled the green-eyed merc.

"Ouch, think we'll find Dracula down there?" deadpanned the smaller merc, drawing a shiver out of Harry.

"Don't even joke about that." His mood seemed to be improving now that they were making actual progress towards rescuing Fleur.

"What? Scared?" she laughed right as their little drone flew down the stairs and jacked itself into the door console.

He didn't look at her as he replied, instead kept an eye out for any surprises. "No, but I met this crazy babe once. Red eyes, pale as fuck, had her teeth changed. Even went and called herself Vampirella."

"You're fucking with me. For real?" V coughed out incredulously.

"Have I ever lied to you?" asked Harry simply, now facing her.

She stopped what she was doing and turned to meet his eyes challengingly. "I don't know. Have you?"

They stared at each other in silence, until V's lips quirked up in amusement.

"Fine, fine, so, what happened next?" she prodded eagerly.

He shrugged. "Had a few drinks, ended up at my place. Made sure to keep her mouth above the waistline."

V snickered. "Smart move, can't think it'd be a good idea to let a chick with fangs and a vampire fetish put her mouth anywhere near there."

"She still bit me too." He showed her his collar bone, where two small circular scars could be seen.

"You can't say it was unexpected," she teased him with a smirk.

"So… This corpo chick," V continued, heading into a different topic. "One we're saving."

"Fleur," Harry answered.

"Fleur," V nodded, tasting the way the name rolled on her tongue, "Lots of work getting her. I know she's your client and all, and the whole 'joytoy mind jacking' shit's fucked up, but I mean, come on, facin' down an entire gang to get her back. Most men in our line of work would'a cut their losses, and I know you ain't 'most'," she added defensively, "but still doesn't change it much."

"What's your point?" He frowned, meeting her eyes.

"You and her together? Am I third wheeling Night City's latest hot gossip?" inquired V curiously, twirling one of her blades.

Harry paused with a contemplating expression, before shrugging. "Hmm, yes, no, who knows."

"You are interested in her though?"

He thought of the stunning woman he'd spent so many hours around in the last few days. She was an enigma, pure corpo on the surface, but with a taste of that rebellion which came so readily to streetkids like himself. Prideful, but wise enough to defer another when she's lacking in expertise. As beautiful and delicate as her namesake, but with thorns prickly enough to draw blood. He could go on and on... "I'm interested, won't deny that. She's… intriguing."

"If by intriguing, you mean sex on legs with more than two brain cells and an accent that has all of your blood go south, then yes, she's 'intriguing'," Interrupted Hermione.

V grinned like the cat that caught the canary. "You alright there, Hermione? Sounds like she gets you all hot and bothered too, something I should know?"

"Please… Blondie could seduce her way through a nunnery. Tall, dark and gloomy over there never stood a chance."

Harry spluttered.

"I'm kinda jealous now, defos need to meet this chick," chuckled V good-naturedly, glancing down the stairs towards the door as the drone continued its work.

"Ah ah, hands off," scolded Harry.

V pouted. "Killjoy."

"Hopefully, you'll get your chance pretty soon," said Hermione asthe access panel turned green.

V took a small mask from her jacket pocket and handed it to Harry, before placing another on herself. It was a simple looking thing, fitting over his nose and mouth. He'd asked V to bring them since he'd already been gassed once, and while he was now immune to that specific mix, he wouldn't put it past the scumbag to try again.

Harry and V took their breaching positions again. V looked at Harry and she spoke with her voice slightly muffled by the mask. "So, ten eddies they're waiting for us."

"That's a suckers bet, but fuck it, sure... Have to make my money back somehow."

V just smirked and shrugged. "Come on, open it."

Harry hit the command on the access panel with his elbow, the door had barely slid open when gunfire hailed through.

Moments before

Fleur Delacour felt like death. There was something about waking up after being knocked out which left your head throbbing. It wasn't like sleep, you didn't feel rested, the opposite really. With an unprepared effort, she slowly opened her eyes and then immediately squeezed them shut as the bright light of an overhead surgical lamp pointed directly at her face with enough lumens to give her a sunburn. A second attempt, albeit slower and with a few strained blinks, allowed her to see clearly. There was a steel desk in one corner with two monitors, one was running the N54 News, and the other had what looked to be the schematics of a cybernetic implant.

She tried to lift her hand to wipe her eyes and found she couldn't move. Panic set in when she found her arms and legs strapped down, in what she realised was a ripperdoc's operating chair. She tried to move instinctively, tugging at her restraints, but they wouldn't budge. She was terrified, she could feel her heart beating in her throat. She opened her mouth, intending to call out for help but caught herself.

'Breathe, Fleur, breathe,' she told herself as she swallowed, squeezing her eyes closed while she brought her breathing and rampaging heart rate under control.

'Look around, find something, anything.'

Her eyes opened again, and instead of confusion, there was determination. She inspected herself first. She felt a wave of pure relief wash over her when she found herself still clothed in her dress, and her underwear was in place. Rubbing her thighs together, she thanked her lucky stars that Felix hadn't taken any liberties while she was unconscious, at least none she could feel, she trailed off with a sick feeling.

Fleur's eyes widened in shock when she felt the knife still strapped to her inner thigh. That confirmed it, Felix hadn't done anything to her. Harry's gift would've been taken away. Harry?

'Harry!' Worry flooded her system, washing away her fear of her own perilous situation. She tried to raise her communications but flinched when a sharp pain arced through her skull from the port behind her ear. She could feel it then, something was jacked into her, preventing her from calling out.

"I wouldn't try that again," a man's Latin-American accented voice spoke from somewhere outside of her line of sight. She startled at discovering that she was not alone in the room. She could hear steady steps, until the speaker walked around her chair.

He was short, wearing rubber overalls, the kind more suited to a butcher than to a surgeon. He had a fish-eyed glaze that made her shiver in disgust.

"You're awake, and right on time," he said with a sickening calm, "Romano and your friend?" he inclined, "Mr. Kristiansen will be here any minute now." There was a beep from behind him.

"Ah," he suddenly looked over his shoulder, "Speak of the devil."

The secure door slid open to reveal the aforementioned pair. Romano had a frown which contrasted greatly with Felix's smug grin. Behind them walked a third unknown man who was carrying her box, the whole reason she'd been in Felix's apartment and gotten caught to begin with.

"Fleur!" Felix greeted with a joviality that suited someone as twisted as he was. "Come on," he shook his head at her glare as he dragged a steel chair over and spun it around before sitting on it with his arms resting on the backrest. "Smile, you're so much more beautiful when you smile."

Fleur spat in his face. He quieted, with barely concealed anger betrayed by his stiffening and furrowed brow. With a slow motion, he wiped his face and backhanded her across the cheek. If he expected her to cry out, he was to be disappointed, as Fleur simply licked speck of blood from her split lip.

"No worries," Felix's voice was low and cold now. "I could have taken you when you were unconscious, but where's the fun in that. No, in—" he paused to check the time, "—little over three hours, you'll be mine."

"Are you certain this is what you want Mr. Kristiansen?" cut in the ripperdoc, drawing Felix's attention. "A permanently active joytoy implant comes with risks, she'll be borderline cyberpsychotic within two years."

Felix shrugged, "It's enough. For now, my sweet—"

"Enough, you can speak later," cut in Romano. "The only reason I helped you get the bitch is so that she can open this, and I'd rather not risk her mind getting fucked." He gestured for the third man to bring the box forward.

"I've never failed before," defended the ripperdoc, mildly insulted.

"Well, I'd rather not risk it."

Felix sighed. "You heard the man, be a dear and open the stupid box."

Fleur clenched her jaw. The contents of that box were the culmination of her life's work, the thought of it in their hands infuriated her.

"I—I'll need my 'and," said Fleur, tugging at her restraints.

Romano nodded towards the ripperdoc, but before he could release her, the third man, the one who'd carried the box in, paused, before frowning.

"What is it?" asked Felix.

"I don't know, the call barely lasted a few seconds."

Romano turned away; Fleur suspected he was trying to make a call. He grew agitated after a few short moments.

"Tu puta madre," he cursed under his breath, but loud enough for them to hear. He noticed the eyes on him and explained.

"Anna is not answering, she should be done by now."

Felix didn't seem bothered. "There's a communications blackout over the apartment. She's probably taking her time playing with her new toy."

"Hmm…" Romano didn't sound convinced.

Fleur began giggling. It was so out of place that the ripperdoc immediately checked his displays to ensure nothing had gone wrong with the neural mapping.

Her giggling had gotten to Romano who pushed past Felix. He grabbed her face and turned it towards him, even so, her amusement didn't stop.

"What's so funny?" he snarled.

"You left 'Arry alive? Zhe bitch iz dead." She couldn't mask the satisfaction in her voice.

Romano raised a hand, but it was grabbed by Felix.

"Your mercenary isn't coming for you," Felix spat out, cutting her off. "He's dead, and you're here."

As if the world was trying to spite Felix by proving him wrong, Romano suddenly stiffened and stared into space like someone on a call. "Carajo! Matar al hijo de puta!" He cursed aloud in anger, despite it being unnecessary for his caller to hear him.

The auto-translate feature of everyone's implants in the room immediately translated it.

[Carajo! Matar al hijo de puta!…. Fuck! Kill the son of a bitch!]

Fleur didn't know where all her bravery was coming from, she grinned.

Romano pushed the ripperdoc out of his way and turned one of the displays at the ripperdoc's desk, Fleur was able to make out some of it in the mirror's reflection. She could see what looked like a fairly narrow passage from the angle of a CCTV camera.

The screen showed a passageway, it was stone with steel reinforcements and lit with the head-achingly bright light of industrial grade fluorescents. Some Valentino members were using the corners of side passages as cover, one even laid down in the centre of the path with a rifle pointed down its end, where a heavy reinforced steel door stood shut. She could almost feel the intensity, the heavy air, everyone in that passageway was on a hair trigger.

The door slid open, she couldn't see who shot first, but within a second, the display was filled with the flashes of gunfire, the sound was so great, she could hear it from where she was. Eventually, one of the men shouted and raised his arm, stopping the gunfire. They watched and waited for the dust to clear, Fleur noticed something, just barely, it was small and appeared to be flying. It shot through the dust, fast enough that her enhanced eyes barely caught it.

'A drone?'

It released a pulse which fried the lights, plunging the passage into darkness, before reaching the CCTV camera and killing it too. She couldn't see anything now, but it was not over, because the sound of gunfire pierced the heavy silence of the surgery room she was in.

"Are you alright Felix? You look a little pale."

Fleur's voice sparked that manic nerve, Felix grabbed her face with a rage. "You think you won, bitch!? There's two dozen men between him and us!"

Her eyes stared at him over his hand, there was no fear in them, only amusement. He shoved her and screamed in frustration. "You!" he barked at the ripperdoc. "Get her ready to move! We're taking her out the back."

The ripperdoc opened his mouth to protest but shut it when he saw the craziness in Felix's eyes. He did the smart thing instead and began grabbing things that he needed.

"Where are you going?" Romano stopped to face Felix with a fierce glare. "That hijo de puta killed my Anna."

He left along with the other man. Felix swore and chased after them, the ensuing argument was cut off by the steel door sliding closed again.

"You don't 'ave to do zhis," said Fleur when the ripperdoc came to disconnect the cable from behind her ear. "Let me out, and we can go our separate ways."

"I can't do that. I'm sorry but I'm going to have to put you under." He didn't sound sorry as he left her to retrieve a vial. While Fleur didn't appear panicked outwardly, her mind was racing a mile a minute.

She blinked when the notification of an incoming call appeared in her vision and answered before even giving the identity of her caller a proper glance.

"Am I glad to see you in one piece." Hermione's voice was filled with relief.

"Où suis-je? Où est 'Arry? Comment peux-tu me parler?" Fleur asked hurriedly, before realizing her blunder.

Hermione was not bothered though, having already translated.

"Harry's here, he's a bit busy at the moment. You're beneath Heywood Cathedral, Valentino's have converted this place into a nifty hidey-hole. I've got eyes and ears inside. I'm connected through the local network, straight through that jack in your neck."

Far away from where Fleur was trapped, the drone which Hermione controlled was stuck to the side of a network terminal where it was jacked in.

"Wait, beneath? I'm underground?"

"That's right, there's a very old network of tunnels and rooms."

Fleur frowned. "Can you unlock my bindings?"

"I'm already working on it. It's taken me a while to trace the hardware address. Give me a minute."

The door to the room opened with its signature hiss, revealing some nameless Valentino woman with a harried appearance. Her jacket was filthy with stone dust and a cut on her cheek had left her face smeared with the pasty mix of dirt and blood. She was heavily armed, with a shotgun in her arms and a handgun tucked into a holster that hung under her jacket.

"Maria," the ripperdoc greeted, barely looking up from the syringe he was filling.

"Daniel," she was a touch out of breath. "That Felix conejo says hurry up. These fuckers are killing us like fucking dogs, man. They killed Mateo," she choked up.

"I'm working as fast as I can, that pendejo doesn't know what he's asking!"

"Ermione," Fleur urged mentally.

"Almost there," was her rushed and distracted reply.

The newcomer turned her attention to Fleur, and she could see the hatred take root in her eyes. "And it's all for this puta!?"

"Ermione!

*CLICK*

Maria barely had a chance to widen her eyes in shock, when Fleur, in one smooth motion, grabbed the small blade from her inner thigh and lunged at her. The Valentino woman's reflexes were fast, but it wasn't fast enough, as the razor-sharp blade embedded itself in her throat. The brief scoff of pain was transformed into a choking gargle as her hands tried to stem the flow. Fleur didn't stop there, in a desperate move, she managed to wrap her hand around the grip of Maria's pistol, as the woman collapsed backwards.

"Maria!" screamed the ripperdoc, who Fleur now knew was named Daniel. He rushed Fleur in the hopes of overpowering her, but she'd already trained the gun in his direction. He slammed into her, knocking her over the chair she'd been previously fastened to. As they tussled, she squeezed the trigger, again and again and again. He was dead by the time she hit the floor, banging her head in the process Fleur groaned and felt sick from the dull ache in her skull, it didn't help that she was practically upside down, with her legs still caught up on the chair, and the dead weight of the ripperdoc on her. She struggled to push him off, but her awkward position made it difficult.

She spent a minute just laying there as she caught her breath.

"Fleur?" Hermione called worryingly.

"Fils de pute! Bitch fucking merde, fucking son of a bitch!"

"…Fleur?"

"You know," she began, out of breath and annoyed. "Zhis is not what I 'ad in mind when I planned for zhe night to end wizh a man on top of me…" She trailed off.

A barking man's laugh rang through the call as Hermione sputtered. Fleur recognized the voice as Harry's.

"...Uhm, the night's still young?" offered Hermione ludicrously, but Fleur ignored her to focus on the other voice in the call.

"Arry?" With a heavy push, she got out from beneath the dead ripperdoc and shakily made her way to her feet.

"Hey, I'd chat, but I'm a bit preoccupied. Hermione'll guide yo— Motherfu—" The connection was lost. Worry weld up within her for a second before she squashed it down.

"'Ermione?"

"I'm watching him, he's fine. When you leave the room, take a left. Corridor's clear, practically everyone's out gunning for Harry and V."

Harry was most certainly not fine, unless fine constituted being tackled into a stone wall by a behemoth of a man with enough heavy dermal armour that it felt like being hit by a delivery truck.

*Ooph!*

The air was knocked out of his lungs and pain flared throughout his back and torso. He had mere moments to react as his assailant pulled his arm back, ready to pound his face in with his bare hands. Harry could see the metallic plating of his reinforced knuckles. A hit to the face with his head against the wall and he'd be done for.

Thankfully for Harry, the motion of lining up the oncoming punch had opened just enough space between their bodies for him to move his arms. A small message flashed in the corner of his vision.

*Zetatech SynapticAccelerator_C2: [Remaining…T: 00:04]

Harry felt the world slow down as his vision gained a blurry blue tinted hue to it. He didn't have time to waste as he watched the oncoming punch moving at a snail's pace. He formed a fist, sending an uppercut while mentally commanding his mantis blade to unsheathe, it sliced through his jacket as it emerged. His own fist was slow as well, even if his mind and synapses were supercharged, his body could only move so fast.

*Zetatech SynapticAccelerator_C2: [Remaining…T: 00:02]

He could see the man's eyes widen in panic as his irises shifted to focus on the blade right before his head began to move backwards. 'Figures,' Harry grumbled mentally, 'Fucker's chromed to the teeth.'

The mantis blade missed its target, the soft tissue beneath the jaw, an area that can't be reinforced without visible plating, which was not present. It wasn't an entirely wasted effort, the blade still sliced up across the thug's face, nicking his left eye.

*Zetatech SynapticAccelerator_C2: [Remaining…T: 00:00…Runtime Expired]

A grunt which barely qualified as a scream escaped the thugs throat as the pain and shock of losing an eye forced him to let go of Harry, who staggered on his feet as a blinding headache shot through his skull, it was gone as fast as it came. It was the reason Harry hated the C2 Accelerator, it was fast as all hell, but the aftereffect sucked.

Harry blinked as he recovered, faster than the Valentino behemoth who was still stumbling back with one hand over his heavily bleeding eye socket. With a lethal smoothness, Harry ducked into the thug's range, his mantis blade already coming around in an underhand swing. There were a few areas that were almost never armour plated, unless you were a cybernetic eunuch like that psycho, Adam Smasher.

It was a dick move, but you weren't exactly spoiled for choice of weak spots when facing off against a fucker who was more tin-can than human. And there was no way he'd let some arbitrary gentleman's honour stop him from sliding all sixteen and a half inches of mantis blade through the bastard's bait & tackle, all the way into his internal organs.

A choked cough of blood left the thug's mouth as the mantis blade reached all the way to his lungs. He fell back, dragging Harry back with him as he spasmed in the last of his death-throes. Harry took a deep, much needed breath as he tried to pull the blade out, but it was stuck, likely wedged in the pelvis bone. He gave it another tug, but no luck.

"HARRY, MOVE!" V yelled.

He didn't try to find the source of her urgency, and immediately disconnected the blade from his arm before pushing himself from the floor and half diving, half scrambling to move to safety. It was right on time, as a volley of gunfire just missed him as he made it behind some heavy-duty storage containers.

"Phew…" Harry exhaled. "That was real fucking close."

"You good over there!?" V yelled once more.

"Peachy!" Harry could see her now; she was taking cover behind a support pillar at the other end of the large room. Just went to show just how far the big guy had pushed him in that tackle.

"Not for long," growled a third voice. One that Harry recognized as belonging to the sleaze-ball from Felix's party.

"What are you doing?" asked Hermione as she watched Fleur pause.

The stunning blonde had just realised that in Romano's fury, he'd forgotten the box.

'Well… That's convenient.'

Romano was right in that he needed Fleur to open it, she'd set it with a pretty intensive failsafe. Any detected attempts to break into it and the contents would be fried beyond recovery. That didn't mean it was impenetrable, only incredibly difficult and risky to attempt opening.

"I need what's in 'ere."

"What is it?"

"My life's work." Fleur touched her palm to the top of the chest, which lit up, outlining her hand. Her eyes began to glow, as the access codes were transferred.

"Veela," she said aloud, and the chest released a hiss before unlocking.

Inside was a shard, one V, were she there, would find rather similar to Arasaka's relic. Fleur appeared cautious as she removed it.

"A cyberdeck shard?" queried Hermione.

Fleur took a deep breath, before sliding the shard into the slot behind her ear. She choked and fell to her knees as the contents began writing themselves to her neural implants.

"Fleur!" Hermione called out in worry.

Her eyes were scrunched close in pain, and then, as fast as it began, it was over. She gasped out a shuddering breath, her lip felt wet. She wiped it with the back of her hand and found blood from a nosebleed.

"Fleur?"

"Une moment," answered the blonde, still getting her breathing together. Hermione waited, and despite being unable to see the netrunner, Fleur could sense her desire for answers.

Before she could explain, the door hissed and opened to reveal another Valentino's member. "Mari–" The man stopped in surprise as he took in the state of the room, along with the two dead. His eyes zeroed on Fleur with a snarl, he lifted his gun, but it was too late.

Fleur was already in the process of demonstrating just what it was she'd gained from the shard.

She met his eyes, and watched as he froze, his jaw clenched as he strained against her control. "Kill yourself." Her voice sounded odd, ethereal and melodic, hypnotic.

His face was a contorted mix of panic and strain, as he stiffly raised his gun to his temple. "Do it," she ordered firmly, ignoring the desperate plea in his eyes.

A squeezed trigger and a thunderous bang had him crumple to the floor.

"That… was not what I expected," commented Hermione. "How's it work?"

"Subliminal messages, directly affects zhe motor cortex. It isn't perfect, you 'ave to 'old eye contact and say zhe commands aloud."

"Hypnosis?"

"Oui, zhe same principal." Fleur gave the room one last look.

"It's not as effective as a suicide daemon, but vastly more versatile. I'm impressed." Hermione reasoned before giving her opinion.

"Merci. Now—" Fleur stepped over the dead man and opened the door, bloody dress and gun at the ready. "Show me 'ow to find 'Arry."

OMAKE

Earlier in the evening on route to the cathedral.

"We should get moving, we're wasting time." Harry adjusted his rifle's strap and made for the street with V quickly following.

"What the fuck is that?" he stared at V's little car in horror. It was a bright red, cutesy, two-seater Makigai MaiMai.

"That is my baby, say one bad word about her and you can fuckin' walk." V circled around the miniscule car to the driver's side. Harry stared at his own door, which lifted, revealing a severely cramped interior, with beige upholstery. It taunted him with its beige-ness, and its little-ness.

He wanted to comment, but knew V well enough that she'd actually leave him there, so he bit the bullet and stuffed his bag behind the seat before climbing in. It was a tight fit, his knees were bent at too sharp an angle, while he had to keep his arm out of V's way and kept shifting in an attempt for comfort. V simply ignored his plight as she settled in behind the wheel and started the car.

Harry shivered when a musical note followed by a kawaii voice greeted them from the speakers.

"Ohayou-gozaimasu!"

Before he could speak, V, with both of her hands on the wheel, turned her head and stared directly into his eyes. "Not. One. Word."

END CHAPTER 3

The Omake would have been a part of the scene but DarknessEnthroned said no no.