The lobby section of the old cinema was long and wide and filled with scaffolding that went up three flights of stairs. It was the complete opposite of what I’d envisioned.

The scaffolding was set up like a ramp-like network interconnected like a knot ascending…descending and going from left to right. It was barely being kept together with clamps, nails, nuts and bolts. An engineer’s nightmare.

I tapped Jix’s shoulder, taking the lead, darted from crate to crate making a B-line to a pillar that stood right on the only ramp that led upstairs. Once I reached it, I turned around and checked the snaking scaffolding system for any Hannya Boys.

Bullets flaked the pillar to pieces, as I leapt, feeling one of the bullets graze past my cheek.

Jix skids across the surface, firing bullets up the rampart on the far left, wasting three burst shots into the Hannya Boy above. A loud snap followed when he fell to the ground.

Jix smiled and raised his hand showing five fingers. I raised mine in retaliation, showing him my middle finger. He chuckled silently…the bastard.

I finally stepped and the board beneath me groaned from my weight. Jix and I finally made it to an intersection within the ramping system. He went left and I went right, slowly as possible, trying not to make a noise whilst checking our surroundings.

If this scaffolding was supposed to be a maze, it failed at that. A dark silhouette appeared to my left, on the ramp above. I fired a burst wave of bullets, trailing into the Hannya Boy, barely catching him after switching into night vision mode.

A loud thud groaned behind me, making me snapback, carbine ready. A Hannya Boy had crept up, but Jix had masterfully dealt with them. I gave him a curt nod, but he shook his head. I couldn’t hear what he said, but I knew what he said, ‘RustyFool.”

Another Hannya Boy appeared from behind a galvanised sheet, but I put two bullets in his chest and stomach, watching as he keeled over before dropping to the ground. I rolled to my left, realising another Hannya Boy had appeared from nowhere. I fired another two bullets, hitting him in the sides. He whimpered from each shot, dropping his knife and finally collapsed on the ground.

“Stay on your toes…their wielding knives only for now.”

“I realise…why?”

“I dunno…but I assume we’re about to find out.

I came across a galvanised sheet wall nailed to the scaffolding, blocking my way towards the hole that led to the next room. I sent my hand through the sheet no longer worrying about being graceful and shredded the sheets in two, creeping over the sheets slowly.

As I approached the opening in the wall, I shouldered my carbine and peered left. Jix, too, was encroaching on his own opening. We gave each other a nod and went through both openings at the same time.

“HE’S HERE!” A Hannya Boy roared across the theatre. A wave of bullets fired on both me and Jix at the same time.

I didn’t fall back but jumped forward covering my face with my hands, feeling the body armour pinch my skin as it blocked a bullet that tried to penetrate the suit but only succeeded in falling to the ground with thuds.

Cold wind raced against the back of my neck, sending goosebumps across my skin. It was as if my skin resonated with the sound of bullets and cold wind that filled the room.

That bastard drew me…fine…

I re-checked my ammunition, and fired blindly below, aimed at where the bullets were coming from.

“Body Armor Efficiency 20%,” Nova said.

“Jix…I’m pinned down,” I said, hearing the wood flake with each shot being fired at me. “…you have a better angle than me, just take out the three below you, they’re the ones suppressing me.”

“Gotcha.”

I proned a few feet across the wooden floors of the ramp, feeling each bullet shake the floor. I took out my pistol, firing three bullets into the wood. The shots gave away my position, but not my site.

I fired an array of bullets at the Hannya Boyz, below me, watching them drop over crates and steel beams, using them as cover. “CLEAR!.” I shouted and Jix began his counterattack, firing waves of bullets into the left side of the auditorium.

“Body Armor Efficiency, 18%”

“FOUR DOWN JUMP TO THE RAMP BELOW, I GOT YOU COVERED!.” Jix roared.

I finally peeked up, seeing the theatre in its view. It had a gentle slope going down to the screen, which was now a small greenhouse in the back with crates, and barrels around them. The Hannya Boyz were split up in small groups firing, protecting the greenhouse, which was more than likely where Akatani was.

I jumped off the ramp and sailed to two ramps below. My knees groaned out in pain from my jump, but I mentally pushed the pain away and hunkered down.

“Shit…you’re being flanked, Jix,” I spat, raising my carbine, squeezing the trigger frantically. One…two…three Hannya Boyz Down.

“Above You!”

A Hannya Boy dropped from above, kicking me in the chest. The blue face mask he had was the same one I recognized from Underwent, but not for too long. Jix had buried a bullet into his skull, spilling his matter all over me.

“Seven,” Jix said, sarcastically.

“Whatever,” I growled frustratedly.

I turned around and fired wildly at the Hannya Boyz, who began training in, on the top ramp, suppressing them as best I could, but two bullets hit me in the side. I snapped myself right and loosed five shots to my two o'clock downing a man who hid behind a pillar.

“T-Tac System, compromised,” Nova said, startling me.

What…our comms have been compromised?

“TESTING TESTING…IS THIS WORKING?” Akatani shouted through our comms.

“You bastard.”

“Now, now, Cypher…it was you that came to my HOUSE and began this. It’s only fair that I return the favour.” Akatani said coldly.

I shot a Hannya Boy in the eye, who tried scampering to cover on the far right. “Who are you?” I finally asked.

“You should’ve found out who I was…before coming here.

“That’s pretty obvious…scum.”

Akatani chuckled and sucked his teeth through the comms, “Would scum be able to hack T-Tac? You know, Cypher, you're not that smart…you know that?”

“FU—“ I roared, but noticed the comms had been disconnected.

“Cypher!! What just happened…?”

“What do you mean?”

“A loud squeal just echoed through the comms.”

“You didn’t hear Akatani?”

“What?”

“Forget it. I snarled, feeling dejected. I ignored the feeling and brandished my pistol as my carbine ran out, firing at two Hannya Boyz who tried to creep up behind me. Two more tries but fell pretty quickly.

“Body Armor Efficiency, 15%,” Nova said.

The microfibers of my body armour pinched my skin, this time…the groaning pain was far longer than I anticipated, which brought me to my knees. Two bullets struck my chest and I flung myself over the ramp, dropping to a ramp below. A loud clunk followed, shaking the wooden floor. The metallic scent of blood followed and I looked up, seeing a dead Hannya Boy

“Thanks.”

“I’m starting to believe I’ll never have to buy another round of drinks at this rate,” Jixafon said, laughing, followed by two clicks echoing through his com. A riddle of bullets pulsed and sprayed above me. Jix was out of ammo.

The cries of dying men wisp the air like a well-tuned violin. Jixafon was pissed, and so was I.

I scaled the ramp once more, landing on the bottom floor where a few Hannya Boyz remained. The floor was littered with blood, sinew and metal shards scattered across the sloping ground.

It was like men fighting boys, a massacre, yet, these Hannya Boyz still fought with all their hearts…as if possessed.

But not for long. I rounded the area, leaving the scaffolding to Jix, and finally felt some form of relief after clearing the bottom floor.

“Clear,” I said.

“Clear,” Jix added.

I made my way down the slope passing more bodies and spilling barrels of Hyp’d with its sour smell. I hopped over a small staircase and made left, heading into a small hallway with hazmat suits littered on the wall on opposing sides coloured orange, yellow and white.

The shattered glass snapped beneath my feet as I carried myself down the hallway, carbine shouldered looking for Akatani but he. was nowhere to be found. I grit my teeth in frustration as I finally made it towards the greenhouse.

The scent of the plants trickled into my mouth, leaving a strong impression. It tasted like a sweet-sourness that I’d never come across before. I pulled one of the greenhouse flaps to one side and caught a good whiff of the scent, which made my eyes water.

The greenhouse was dimly lit by the UV lights that were stapled to the ceiling. Below that, an aquaponic setup, with a pool sat in the middle of the greenhouse, feeding dozens of rows of plants. All the plants within this greenhouse were brownish-green with curling blade tips, Harlow? I’d never seen the plant before. Like that mattered.

“Anything?” Jixafon asked.

“Nothing…just plants, lights and a pool filled with fish.”

“Same here.”

“DAMN IT,” I hissed, truly pissed off. I should’ve let Jix take the shot, now I wouldn’t be rummaging through greenhouses.

“I don’t like this, Cypher, this feels...”

“That sounds about right,” Akatani said. “It’s never supposed to feel right WHEN YOU TRESPASS ON ANOTHER’S PROPERTY MURDERING HIS MEN IN THE PROCESS.”

A large spiral of fire spun into existence hissing from venomous ire and coming from the direction of the small pool where the fish were. The momentum from the explosion sent me flying through the greenhouse window, shattering the glass into hundreds of pieces whilst I scraped against the ground trailing into another greenhouse.

“Cypher,” Akatani then said through the comms,. “You think you’re the only one who wants me dead? You may have been the only one with balls to try…but I am always prepared. Always. Now living amongst the corpses of failed soldiers.”

“DAMN IT,” I Hissed, pushing myself up, and the mental and physical fatigue away. “Jix are you alright?”

“Barely…what in the IMBIBE just happened?”

“We got led down a traphole by a rat.”

“You should’ve let me shoot the rat bastard in the head.”

I didn’t answer, because I thought the same thing. “Let’s get out of here, Jix,” I said, hot tailing it through the burning greenhouse. I met Jix in the hallway, and his face was covered in ash.

Flames around us, engulfing the greenhouse and hall. Jix and I darted towards the theatre centre. We sped up the stairs that led to the greenhouses and leapt over barrels and corpses trying to get out of the cinema as fast as we could.

A loud snap echoed above, drawing my attention, I looked up and saw the roof open like a crevice. The slabs of concrete that were keeping this decrepit building together gave way, making the beams once holding the roof together begin to crumble and fall. With each passing second, the slab of concrete grew bigger in my eyes.

I stopped, gauged my situation for a second, then tried to skip back. My muscles were too strained for them to respond. Damn it I cried out, feeling dejected, is this really how it ends? Half-cocked revenge? Cypher…you really are a fool.

A large shoulder burrowed into my chest, sending me flying across the cinema. I skidded across the surface, rolling to a stop after colliding with one of the sunken barrels of Hyp’d, Haze and Harlows.

“Jix!” I shouted but got no reply. “Jix? That’s his name?” Akatani said. I barely heard him amongst the wafting dust and burning flames of the cinema, but I knew it came from above.

There he was, standing atop the broken roof, eyeing me down with a smug grin on his face, I snapped my pistol from its holster emptying two clips into the bastards, but the bullets zipped around him as the lodestone shield pulsed around him like a de-magnified aura.

“Bastard.”

“You came to my house, Cypher. You’re the bastard…now burn within it,” Akatani hissed, raising his left hand. I tried zooming in on his hand, but my cybernetic caught sight too late. The metal beams that kept the wall upright sparked a light, followed by multiple other barrels across the cinema. Everything was being consumed by the fire

“Good,” Akatani shouted, “that’s where you belong…on the ground…burnt to a crisp.”

I watched as Akatani trailed out of my vision, bald head shining dully from the moon’s light. I couldn’t see his face, but I watched as his black chin beamed, lips curling into a smile. He knew he’d won and there was nothing I could do about it.