Author's Notes: Chapter edited and corrected by Scott Fellman.
Rebecca POV.
Smasher moved first. Anyone who thinks full-borgs are slow is an idiot. Smasher moved fast, much faster than a normal person, even without using his Sandy.
He closed the distance between us in a few moments, took a huge leap, and his enormous fist was heading straight for my head. Unlike the ninja from Arasaka earlier, I wasn't stupid enough to headbutt the fist of that damn dog from Arasaka. I was sure my head would explode instantly.
So I used my small size; Smasher was even taller than Sera, who was almost 2 meters tall, so Smasher had at least 60 centimeters of height on me. I ducked, almost throwing myself to the ground, dodging his fist, and then I stretched my hand upwards and fired my Malorian, right at Smasher's chin.
Smasher ignored the bullet as if it were nothing, lifted his foot, and tried to crush me. I turned to the side, just in time for Smasher's foot to crack the entire floor. I took my shotgun from my waist and shot the Chaperone at Smasher.
He simply spun around at high speed and raised his hand, taking the shot with the palm of his cybernetic hand before dismissing it as a minor annoyance. Smasher just aimed the missiles on his shoulder again, and one shot out in my direction.
I hit the ground, moved quickly, ignored the missile that exploded behind me, and appeared next to Smasher right in the air. My hand was at the height of his head. I was about to squeeze my Malorian when Smasher activated his Sandy, his body turned completely, and he tried to give me a backhand with his fist.
I twisted my whole body to dodge his punch, ending up face down in the air. Even so, I fired my Malorian several times, but Smasher made no move to block the shots.
Damn monster, he really had confidence in his armor, and I couldn't blame him, even with the large-caliber bullets from a Malorian barely scratching the paint on Smasher's frame.
Smasher approached and tried to punch me again. I twisted my body again, placed one of my feet on Smasher's fist, and jumped back. I turned halfway around and landed on the ground, but now that Sandy was involved, Smasher began to move at a terrifying speed.
I didn't have any Sandys equipped; I didn't need them. While The Guardians didn't specialize in speed, they didn't move at the ridiculous speed that a Sandy gave Smasher, but Sera's rings more than compensated for that deficiency.
I kept up with Smasher easily, yet I wasn't doing any damage. I dodged to the side, avoiding Smasher's blows while hitting him with my Malorian several more times. I even managed to land several shots with my shotgun and fill him with bullets from my heavy machine gun, but Smasher's frame barely dented.
It was really annoying not being able to use The Light, but I didn't stay still. I grabbed my Malorian, increased my speed above Smasher's, and 9 rounds of the Malorian's magazine had already been used. There was one left in the chamber, and the effect activated. I positioned myself behind Smasher again and shot him in the head for the tenth time.
To my surprise, Smasher moved his head to the side instead of taking it as he had in all the previous times. My upgraded shot missed everything and went right through one of the nearby buildings.
"Interesting toy, kid. I don't know what mechanism or technology it uses, but it improves on the last bullet in the magazine of the toy you have. If you wanted to surprise me, you shouldn't have used it against the guards downstairs, where there were cameras everywhere." Smasher mocked me, my eye twitching slightly.
Damn Gonk, besides being a metal nightmare, he had to be smart enough to figure that out. I clicked my tongue, holstered my Malorian at my waist, tossed the Chaperone replica aside, removed my heavy machine gun, and dropped it to the ground.
I was a damn Titan, I was going to settle this properly. I raised my fists, getting into a fighting stance. Smasher looked at me, his optics locking onto my body, and he didn't move an inch before bursting into laughter, a robotic, almost deranged laugh, enough to make anyone shudder. I'd heard worse.
"You want to face me hand-to-hand, you bag of meat?!" Smasher laughed maniacally. I smiled smugly at him.
"Are you scared, Choom?" I teased him, making him stop, then he shook his head.
"What a waste," Smasher said, but he still ran in my direction. I did the same, running towards him. Smasher threw a punch with all his might in my direction. This time I didn't dodge it. I greatly improved my arm and punched at the same time as him. I slammed my fist into his.
The instant our fists collided, I gritted my teeth as I felt my bones crack under the pressure of Smasher's blow. Holy shit, that wasn't just a simple punch! I felt that impact throughout my entire body.
" Panzerfaust, a martial art designed for Full-Borg, is composed of rotation, vibration, and weight, greatly increasing its damage capacity, especially internal damage," Sera said immediately in my head.
"And you're telling me this now?!" I groaned mentally as I jumped back, my arm now fully healed.
"I didn't think you'd fight a damn fullborg hand-to-hand!" Sera growled mentally. I rolled my eyes, as if she didn't know me. I heard Sera snort heavily. "I'm sending help." She said simply, and I almost growled loudly as my skin crawled all over.
"Help?! I'll take care of it! I don't need help, you damn gon- " I stopped my mental rant when Smasher and I heard something metallic fall to the ground. We both turned at the sound; a small drone was flying away, and my eyes widened as I looked at the objects on the ground.
A circular shield large enough to cover more than half my body and a small hammer whose head seemed to be shaped like an eagle. I squealed happily and ran at full speed beside both objects.
"I love you!!" I squealed happily as I grabbed the shield and placed it on my left forearm, and gripped the hammer in my right hand. I heard Sera laugh amusedly.
"They're made from Kanshou and Bakuya, they attract each other, the hammer seeks the shield and vice versa, have fun." Sera said playfully, almost bouncing with excitement.
"More toys?" Smasher mocked. I grabbed the hammer, felt its weight, then grinned maniacally. I spun my whole body around and threw the hammer at Smasher. He simply dodged it to the side and looked at me flatly, almost disappointed. I moved my new shield, and the hammer spun and curved in the air, heading towards me with Smasher in the middle.
Smasher seemed to realize that the number of sensors that damned Borg had was not common, but it was too late; the hammer hit Smasher's back, shaking him thoroughly, making him stagger.
I ran in his direction, launched myself at Smasher at full speed, and positioned my shield in front of me, pushing all my strength forward to ram him with it. Smasher growled in annoyance as he was pushed back several meters, his metal feet scraping across the ground, leaving marks.
Smasher raised one hand, his forearms spread, and I could see machine gun barrels. I immediately covered myself with my shield. I didn't know how resistant they were, but I trusted that Sera wouldn't give me anything too weak, and I was right when the bullets bounced uselessly off the shield.
I began moving quickly while most of my body was covered by the shield. The hammer came up in front of me once again. I reached out and grabbed it, zigzagged to dodge the bullets, and approached Smasher.
Smasher's weapons retracted, and he shifted his body. Now that Sera had mentioned it, I could see his fists shaking rapidly and violently as he attacked. I swiftly dodged his attack to the side and used my shield to strike Smasher's leg with tremendous force, right behind the knee joint of his cybernetic skeleton, forcing the frame to its knees.
Now that I was at eye level, I gripped my hammer tightly and swung it at Smasher's head. Smasher finally activated his Sandy once more, twisting his entire body. Even with one knee on the ground, Smasher's body spun violently and furiously. I dodged the downward attack and changed the direction of my own.
I hit the elbow joint of his frame with my hammer. Smasher growled as he began to move. Smasher's movements were wide, fast, and very, very heavy. He used the weight of his frame to gain more power in his blows, and that included jumping like a damn multi-ton monster and dropping on top of me.
I dodged from side to side, continuing to use my height to get in and dodge Smasher's blows while using my hammer to hit his joints, or even attacking with my shield, hitting him hard while pushing my shield against Smasher's head, or using the edge to hit sensitive parts of the frame.
I definitely wasn't a person who knew how to fight properly, not in the slightest. I preferred to charge head-on, with all my strength, killing everything, but the limitations I faced forced me to fight differently.
It was lucky that I could react and move faster than Smasher, even though I had the advantage in height and speed. Smasher had more than 50 years of experience fighting and winning. Several times, he caught me off guard, enough to have to cover myself using my shield, but even with my shield, Smasher's blow was transmitted throughout my arm, fracturing my bones.
Smasher's Sandy finally ended; his speed was considerably reduced, but not mine. I began to hit Smasher's Dragoon body with all my might. I launched myself into the air and threw my hammer with such force and speed that it hit the center of his chest. The hammer bounced back and headed towards me. Smasher growled as he was pushed back.
I spun around, threw my shield like a projectile while grabbing my hammer in midair. The shield struck Smasher's head, denting it slightly as it bounced off. The effect was activated again, and the shield returned to me. I turned and swung my hammer at the shield like a baseball bat.
The shield pierced his bridled head and lodged in his skull, not deep enough. Smasher growled in fury, ripped the shield from his head, and squeezed it between his fingers, just enough to bend it slightly, but he didn't let go.
I just jumped towards Smasher, who used my own shield to attack me. I turned my body, avoided his shield before turning my hammer. I used the eagle-beak shape of the hammerhead to strike a joint in Smasher's elbow. Finally, my hammer had pierced his armor.
I smiled broadly, swung my arm, and struck three more times at full speed before Smasher could react, tearing off his right arm that was holding my shield. I ripped the shield from the metal fingers of his severed arm just as I felt a blow land on my jaw.
I felt my jaw shatter at that moment, and my head began to buzz from the strong jolt; the only reason my jaw didn't rip off immediately was that my body was ridiculously resilient thanks to The Light.
I refocused and looked at Smasher, who was practically on top of me. He'd forced his Sandy to activate once again. Damn monster. I dodged his attack, moved to the side, used my shield, and struck his knee once more. Smasher tried to stomp on me, but my hammer hit the same spot with force.
Finally, Smasher aimed his missiles at me, which made me jump back. I drew my Malorian and aimed for his leg, dodging the first few bullets before his Sandy died once again. The bullet pierced through and tore off his left leg from the knee, making him stumble.
I turned my body and threw the shield at his head once more. Smasher activated his Sandy again and spun around. He used his one hand to grip the ground, then used his leg to support himself with both, then pushed himself in my direction.
He moved quickly in my direction, even as I was incapacitated. Smasher wasn't going to give up I dodged the fist backward, when the forearm opened, and a burst of fire hit me all over my face.
Tch, ignore the fire and spin around a couple of times before using the momentum to hit his wrist with my hammer. His reinforced wrist shattered, yet he still kept attacking me with his weapons inside his forearm. I used my shield and hit his arm to push him up. I approached Smasher, raised my hammer, and hit his head with all my might.
A dull thud echoed throughout the roof of Arasaka Tower. Smasher didn't even flinch; he stared at me, showing no fear whatsoever, even as I raised my hammer and struck his head again with a heavy blow. Smasher tried to break free using his half-destroyed arm. I used my shield again to jam it into his shoulder joint, immobilizing him. Then I raised my hammer and struck his head a third time.
A huge dent appeared on his forehead; his skull had sunk several centimeters, next to the cut I had made with my shield, yet he was still alive. I raised my hammer again, almost instantly enhancing my strength with paracausal energy, not enough to be visible, but enough to be considerably stronger. My hammer descended like a furious god.
Smasher looked me straight in the eyes as my hammer pierced his skull, crushing his brain. His entire head had exploded under the force of my hammer. Smasher fell backward, and I landed on top of him, taking a deep breath as I stared at his lifeless body.
I slowly stood up, my hammer dripping blood and gray matter from Smasher's brain. I could only smile broadly with my now regenerated jaw.
"Good fight, Choom." I said to Adam Smasher's corpse. Yeah... it was a good fight.