The first hit landed like a car crash.
The whole damn door shuddered in its frame, metal ringing out sharp enough that Luxy instinctively grabbed Jules's arm. The second strike came before either of them breathed, a bone-deep WHAM that rattled the dishes in the sink.
Jules whispered, barely a hiss, "That's a... Sledgehammer?!"
Luxy's eyes were wide and glassy already, breath caught in her chest. From the hall came Keira's voice, rough with rage and echoing through the vents:
"OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
The third hit dented the sheet metal inward by a few centimeters. Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Luxy jumped so hard her wrecked cyberarm clattered against the table. "Jules," she rasped, "she's gonna actually break it."
"No shit," Jules whispered back, flattening herself behind the fridge like that'd help her survive a berserker mechanic with industrial tools.
Another THUD. Meaner this time. Accompanied by a snarl: "I SAID THIRTY SECONDS, LUCY! YOU THINK I WAS JOKING?"
Luxy winced. "She used the soft 'Lucy.' We're screwed."
Jules shot her a venomous whisper. "Your nickname detection skills won't help us here."
A fourth hit. The screws on the hinge squealed under the force, whining, begging for mercy.
Luxy ducked instinctively. "She's gonna take the whole frame down."
"No plan gets better with commentary," Jules muttered, eyes darting across the tiny kitchen. "Can you stall her?"
Luxy blinked at her. "Stall her? With what, interpretive dance?! She's got a fucking sledgehammer!"
CRASH.
A long crack split across the door's surface. Paint flaked off in a shower.
Keira's voice tore through the gap, close enough now that her breath probably fogged the metal.
"LUXANNE, I SWEAR TO FUCK-"
Luxy mouthed fuck and pressed her back to the wall. "She's mad."
"Oh, you think?" Jules whispered through gritted teeth. "I thought she was singing."
The next strike punched a palm-sized hole straight through the lower panel. Cold air rushed in through it. A mechanical groan echoed in the hallway behind Keira.
Luxy peeked over the counter, saw red hair through the dust. "Shit, she's actually dual-wielding the hammer with her brace on. Jules, she's in boss mode."
"Don't call it boss mode like shes a video game," Jules snapped. "She's a woman with chronic pain beating down my front door because you blew up your arm again!"
Another smash. The hole widened, as metal curled outward like peeling skin.
Keira panted between hits, voice feral:
"WHAT PART OF 'STAY AWAY FROM VOID' DID YOU NOT GET?!"
Luxy whispered back, "Oh fuck, it's not about the arm. It's... About Void."
Jules slapped her arm. "W- What? But you saved her!"
Another strike. The top hinge snapped with a squeal, one last gasp before the door listed sideways like a dying animal.
Keira grunted.
"FIVE."
Luxy froze. "Why is she counting?"
"FOUR."
Jules's voice cracked. "Lux. Luxy. Girl. Please. Open it. Now."
"THREE."
Luxy whimpered. "I'm scared."
Jules grabbed her by the shoulders. "So am I! But she's about to Kool-Aid Man her way in!"
"TWO."
Luxy lunged toward the lock with her good hand, fingers slipping on the latch.
Keira wound up the hammer for another catastrophic swing.
"ONE!"
Luxy yanked the door open.
The hammer screamed past Luxy's ear.
Not metaphorically. The damn thing howled as Keira's full swing carried through empty space and buried itself in the laminate floor with the sound of the world ending. Splinters and composite dust exploded upward. A crater the size of a dinner plate gaped in the ground, smoke curling out of it.
Luxy squeaked.
Keira stared down at the crater for half a second, chest heaving... Then lifted her eyes.
Red hair wild. Eyeliner streaked from sweat. Fury carved into every line of her face.
Luxy's soul briefly vacated her body.
"You opened the door on one?" Keira asked, lifting the tool of destruction again.
Luxy stammered, "S-s-surprise?"
Wrong answer.
Keira dropped the sledgehammer. It hit the floor with the grace of a cripple walking up the stairs. And before Luxy even processed the sound, Keira's hand was around her neck, slamming her back into the wall so hard a frame tilted off its hook.
Luxy's feet left the floor by an inch. Her breath caught in her throat as her pulse hammered in her ears louder than the actual hammer had.
"WHAT. THE FUCK. DID YOU DO. TO VOID?"
Luxy's mouth opened, but nothing came out except a tiny, dying-fish wheeze. Her cyberarm sparked pitifully.
Keira's grip tightened, jaw clenched, eyes blazing. "You're gonna fucking pay for this!"
From the kitchen, Jules's voice finally broke through, sharp with fear and adrenaline.
"KEIRA!"
Keira didn't even look. Her focus was wholly, murderously fixed on Luxy.
Jules leaned halfway out from behind the fridge, hands up like she was approaching a feral animal with a knife rather than a girl with a sledgehammer and abandonment issues.
"Keira... Listen to me."
Nothing.
Keira shoved Luxy harder into the wall, Luxy choking on the pressure.
"She didn't hurt your girl!" Jules snapped, louder this time. "She saved her!"
That got Keira's attention - barely, so that her fingers loosened just enough for Luxy to gasp in air.
Keira shot Jules a glare that could kill a minor deity. "Bullshit. Every single time this bitch meets up with someone they end up bleeding... Or dead."
Jules took a slow, careful step forward, palms still up. "Keira! If Luxy wanted to harm Void, she wouldn't have dragged her bleeding ass home with half her arm melted. Use your brain, cogs-for-brains. You know this."
Keira's breath hitched briefly. The anger broke, revealing something much worse underneath: raw panic.
Luxy finally croaked out a few words with a trembling voice. "H-he had a gun on- on Void. I- I killed him. I swear."
Keira's grip around Luxy's throat began to loosen more. Her jaw clenched as she was internally fighting every instinct she had. Slowly, very slowly, she lowered Luxy back onto her feet.
When Keira finally let go, Luxy slid down the wall - her legs too wobbly to catch her weight cleanly. She doubled forward, coughing harshly, hand flying to her throat as her lungs resumed operation with ragged, burning breaths. Meanwhile Keira stood there, fists trembling at her sides like she'd just disarmed a live nuke wired directly into her own nerves.
"C-can we just t-talk now? Explain everything?"