Lonely Thieves

Act IV, Part XVI

Megumi's Side (April 14, 8:30 pm)

It was the worst case scenario. Megumi and Daryl were caught red-handed by the very man who owned the office they were trying to break into. Had he showed up even ten seconds later, Megumi and Daryl would have been inside the office, giving them a much more workable situation. With them standing outside of the office and hands on the door, running in now wouldn't even save them a full minute.

Matteo Innocenti wasn't your usual CEO either; he was a mountain of a man with a body enhanced endlessly with a variety of cybernetic implants. He cut an intimidating figure that could make lions stop in their tracks. Fighting was impossible, which left Megumi only one real recourse.

"Oh, if it isn't the boss of the Innocenti banks!" she squealed, smiling ear to ear with the cheesiest grin she could manage. "My name's Sydney. I'm a new hire here, same as my pal Brad there. Gotta say, I'm real glad you hired me on, boss. I won't do you wrong, I swear."

Matteo's expression didn't change even one centimeter, and he stared coldly at Megumi with a stare that held both amusement and contempt. "You're a new hire, you say?" he asked bemused. "That's funny. I know the face o' every new hire what passes through these halls, but I don't seem to remember the two of you."

"Maybe we just slipped your mind," Megumi suggested nervously. "We are new, after all. Just started today!"

Matteo chuckled. "I don't think so. See, I've had a pretty bad brain, ever since I was a kid. My old man wanted the best for me, so he had parts of my brain computerized so they would work better in certain capabilities, such as memory. In order words, I don't forget a face even if I only see it once."

Matteo walked forward until he was standing right in front of the two thieves. He glared down at them with an amused smirk that failed to hide his growing anger. "And while I don't recognize these mugs o' yours, I'm sure I'm never going to forget them either."

In an instant, Megumi leaped to the side, here eyes focused solely on the staircase on the other side of the hall. She hoped the element of surprise would give her enough of a head start that she would be able to reach the stairs before Matteo could catch up.

However, she misjudged the power of Matteo Innocenti's cybernetic enhancements. Before she could even make it into the hallway, Matteo cut her off, his huge body blocking her from proceeding any further. She stopped for a moment, then leapt onto the wall and tried to pass over him. Before she could even make it past his shoulder, he grabbed her leg with one hand and slammed her into the ground.

Megumi groaned and coughed blood as the pain shot throughout her entire body. Matteo roared with laughter as he watched her shiver in pain. "Ah, that never gets old! Everyone always thinks I'd be slow because of my size. As if acceleration implants didn't exist!"

Matteo continued to laugh as Megumi struggled to her feet. Matteo turned to grab for her again, but then noticed Daryl trying to sneak up behind him and whirled around to face him instead.

"What are you doin', bud? I know you ain't got any implants in that body of yours. You should just stay put if you don't wanna be smashed like a fly."

Undaunted, Daryl held up his phone as he pressed a button. "I have my own way of fighting, you know."

The pulse radiated throughout the room, and at first, it seemed to have no effect. However, soon Matteo's body started to slump over and fall. Still conscious, Matteo glared at Daryl as he tried to make sense of the situation.

"Is that an EMP?!" he roared. "How did you get ahold of one of those?! Overman was supposed to crack down on them!"

"Guess that's the pitfall of turning most of your body into cybernetics, huh?" Daryl mused as he tapped lightly at Matteo's unresponsive body. "That's pretty scary."