"He killed Royce!"
"Son of a bitch! KK killed Royce! I'm gonna gut him!"
As Maelstrom members forced open the collapsed factory doors and poured into the warehouse that housed the exosuit, they were met with the sight of Royce's corpse—and Karl standing beside it, looking dazed, as if he hadn't quite accepted what just happened.
Without a second of hesitation, several of Royce's most loyal men charged forward—
Bang bang—
Still mulling over what to do, Karl casually raised his arm—without even turning his head—and the first wave of attackers each dropped with a neat hole in their foreheads.
"Pipe down. You're too damn loud."
His mildly annoyed tone silenced the rest of the gang mid-step. The ones who had been a split-second slower than the frontliners froze like statues.
What had they just seen?
In the blink of an eye, seven guys who were only one step ahead of them were all lying dead with headshots?
Huh?
Was this the KK they saw earlier?
Back there, hadn't he just taken out a few stragglers and tossed a few grenades? He didn't show off this kind of marksmanship, did he?
If he could shoot like this, why the hell didn't he do it before? With this level of precision and speed, no one would've made it within ten feet of him!
Clearly, they'd forgotten what weapon KK had used back when he first made a name for himself in Night City—by wiping out a Maelstrom crew.
KK usually didn't bother with guns. But when he did, it was strictly for killing.
With a monowire, he might show restraint—slice off a limb or disable. But when he used a gun? That bullet wasn't coming back.
And sure, sometimes he was just too fast to even consider holding back.
Royce was tough—stubborn as hell. He was the boss, and he wanted to duel KK.
And now he was a dead boss.
Tough to the end, cyberware and all—hell, he even died stiff.
"This whole gig turned out messier than I'd like…"
Muttering to himself, Karl turned toward the remaining Maelstrom members, who were slowly regaining their senses—though still shaking in their boots.
Not many left. Maybe he could just give each of them a bullet and claim to Rogue that the gang tore each other apart in a blood feud.
But Maelstrom had over 1,200 members outside this warehouse…
Could he kill them all?
Sounded like a drag. That's over 1,200 rounds—what is this, a Dynasty Warriors run? Going for a kill-streak trophy? And tracking them down one by one? Ugh. Just thinking about it was exhausting.
Karl hated hassle. But this time, he'd made his own mess.
If word got out, his rep for "clean work" would take a hit. Couldn't have that.
He'd taken this job in front of the Afterlife crowd—loud and proud.
And then—an idea struck him.
"Hey. You lot. Bring Brick over here."
At that moment, Maelstrom finally realized that numbers didn't mean shit in front of KK. Some nearly dropped to their knees. As soon as they heard his command, they dragged Brick—who'd been mixed in with them—to the front.
Thud.
They tossed Brick forward, then quickly backed off. A few sharper minds even slipped into the collapsed passageway—too scared to bolt outright, but definitely not sticking around where KK could see them.
Karl stared at the group, a little baffled.
He scratched his head. Since when did Maelstrom act like a bunch of choir boys? Their boss dies, a few more follow, and suddenly everyone plays nice? He'd been planning to take out a few more…
Eh. The job comes first.
He stepped in front of Brick and asked, as the man was still piecing together what the hell just happened:
"You still wanna be the boss?"
"I've always been the damn boss!"
Even with Royce's corpse nearby and seven bodies cooling on the floor, Brick's mouth stayed just as tough. Just like Royce—hard to the core, no backing down.
Say what you will, Maelstrom bosses had some consistency. Maybe that's what made them bosses.
Karl didn't really care. What mattered was that Brick never acknowledged Royce as legit. That made things easier.
He gestured to the crowd behind him. "Think they'll accept you?"
"They don't have a choice. Royce is dead. My crew's on their way. These clowns can kill me and die five seconds later, or they can kneel and beg me for mercy. I'm not like Royce—don't microwave my own guys for fun. They know they've got a shot with me."
"Ohhh?"
Brick could've sworn Karl's eyes lit up for a moment.
"So you're the boss of Maelstrom now?"
"I TOLD YOU—I never stopped being the boss!"
"Great. Then we'll say what just happened didn't count."
Karl grinned. "Let's get our story straight. Your crew messed with stuff they shouldn't have. I was hired to teach you, the boss, a lesson. Your guys made the mess—you take the heat. That cool with you?"
"Probably Royce's mess, but whatever. You already popped him. You wanna split my skull next, go ahead."
"I wasn't planning to kill anyone."
Karl said it earnestly, watching Brick's confused expression.
"I really wasn't."
Brick glanced at Royce's corpse, then at the seven cooling bodies. He gulped, looking back at Karl.
And in that moment, he fully believed the rumors about Night City's most dangerous psycho.
"You really are a lunatic, KK!"
"Don't talk nonsense. You guys are the crazy ones."
Once again falsely accused, Karl clicked his tongue in annoyance. But job's a job, so he added: "Oh yeah—brace yourself."
"Brace for wha—"
Crunch.
Before he could finish, Karl kicked him—right in the already broken leg.
"AAAAHHHH! FUCK! If you're gonna kill me, make it quick!"
"I told you—it's the job, man. You really don't listen, huh?"
Karl was speechless. Was Maelstrom's entire roster brain-dead? None of them seemed to understand plain language.
And judging by the way their brains were leaking out earlier, it's not like they had all replaced their heads with chrome either.
"Anyway, job's done. Time to report in."
Karl pulled out his phone, snapped a photo of Brick, and sent it to Rogue along with a thumbs-up emoji. Then he dusted off Brick's jacket and helped him sit upright.
"Oh, one more thing. Just curious."
Karl smiled and pointed at Royce's now-vacant exosuit. "You guys have been jacking a lot of mil-spec gear lately, yeah? Got anything new? I'd love to take a look. Sounds pretty fun."
…?
One moment he breaks my leg—next moment, he's helping me up and asking questions like we're best friends?
"You are fucking insane!"
"Watch your mouth, Mr. Brick. I'm perfectly sane."
--
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🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless
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