The Skyscraper Showdown

The Zenith Skyscraper landing pad was a massive, circular platform jutting out into the upper atmosphere. Heavy, icy rain lashed across the slick surface, driven by gale-force winds.

Jax and Vesper left the smoking hover-bike near the access elevator and advanced cautiously, weapons drawn.

There, cowering near the edge of the platform behind a cluster of ventilation units, was the cyber-poodle. It was shivering, its pink neon fur flickering dimly in the storm.

"Target acquired," Vesper said softly, stepping forward with her containment net ready. "Easy now."

Jax kept his stun-rifle raised, his eyes scanning the shadows. "This feels too easy."

He was right.

From the darkness of a maintenance shed, a hulking figure stepped out onto the rain-slicked pad. It was a cyborg brute, standing nearly eight feet tall, his arms replaced entirely by massive, hydraulic pile-drivers. The insignia of the Scrap Iron Gang was painted roughly on his chest plating.

The brute let out a mechanical roar, locking his targeting sensors onto Vesper, who was closest to the dog. He charged, the heavy thud of his metallic feet shaking the platform.

"Locke, move!" Jax yelled.

Vesper spun around, raising her EMP pistols, but the brute was too fast. He swung a massive hydraulic fist, knocking the pistols from her hands. She rolled backward, barely avoiding a second crushing blow that shattered the concrete where she had just been standing.

Jax knew his stun-rifle wouldn't dent that heavy armor. He knew his personal energy shields were running at ten percent from the drone chase. He knew the smart, mercenary play was to let the brute focus on Vesper, grab the poodle, and fly away a millionaire.

It was what he always did. Run away. Push people away. Prove to everyone that he was exactly the worthless, selfish street-rat they assumed he was.

But looking at Vesper, cornered and unarmed, the thought of leaving her made his chest ache.

"Hey, ugly!" Jax screamed, sprinting directly at the brute. He threw his stun-rifle like a spear. It bounced uselessly off the cyborg’s helmet, but it did the trick. The brute turned its massive, glowing red optical sensors toward Jax.

"Jax, no!" Vesper screamed.

Jax didn't stop. He triggered the overload sequence on his EMP gauntlet, turning it into a localized bomb. He lunged, driving his fist squarely into the brute's chest plating.

The EMP detonated with a blinding flash. The brute staggered, its systems violently short-circuiting. But the kinetic feedback was immense. The brute blindly swung a massive backhand, catching Jax in the ribs.

Jax heard a sickening crack. The force threw him backward, sliding across the wet concrete, sliding straight toward the edge of the platform. There was no guardrail. Just a thousand-foot drop into the neon abyss.

He scrambled for purchase, but the rain made it impossible. His legs slipped over the edge. His torso followed.

* Well,* Jax thought, staring up at the stormy sky. *At least she gets the bounty.*

Suddenly, something wrapped tight around his chest. The cord snapped taut, jarring his spine and stopping his fall. He dangled over the dizzying drop, the wind howling around him.

He looked up. Vesper was kneeling at the edge of the platform, the cable of her grapple-gun anchored to his tactical harness. Her boots were braced against the concrete, her muscles straining as she hauled him upward.

Ten feet away, the cyber-poodle was trotting happily toward the open access elevator, completely ignored.

"You left the dog," Jax gasped as she dragged him over the ledge and onto the solid, wet concrete.

Vesper didn't answer immediately. She collapsed next to him, her chest heaving, the rain plastering her hair to her face. She looked furious, terrified, and relieved all at once.

"You absolute, unfathomable idiot," she breathed, her voice shaking. "You threw yourself at a class-four combat cyborg with no shields."

"I was buying you time to get the bounty," Jax wheezed, clutching his bruised ribs. "I thought you'd take the money."

Vesper leaned over him, her icy blue eyes blazing. "I don't care about the money, Vance. I care about the fact that you almost just died."

She reached down, grabbing the collar of his wet leather jacket, and pulled him up. Before Jax could register what was happening, Vesper crashed her lips against his.

It was a desperate, angry, bruising kiss, tasting of rain and adrenaline. Jax froze for a fraction of a second, his brain short-circuiting worse than the brute's, before he groaned and kissed her back, sliding his hand into her wet hair.