Been hooked on Cybperpunk the last several weeks, so I decided to write a goofy fanfiction about it. In keeping with the theme of the game's missions, all chapters are named after songs Johnny Silverhand would like. I own no rights to Cyberpunk, its characters, or the music mentioned in this short. All rights belong to their respective owners.

BornVillain5150 Presents….

Cyberpunk: The Sound Of Madness

V sat on his bed as the morning sun cracked through the tent, the orange glow seeping through like a small fire. The ache in his head was not getting any better, but worse and worse as the bombing of Arasaka grew closer.

The assault was a week away. Johnny was getting excited, and V could feel it pounding on the edges of his skull. It wasn't Johnny's fault his head was constantly hurting, after all, he could not help it when the rockerboy got excited about his long awaited rematch with Arasaka. The only problem was that one of the many side effects of having his construct in his head was that whenever Johnny got pumped up, it gave him a massive headache.

"Wakey wakey V!" Johnny said as he appeared before V, a cigarette already lit up in his hand. V scoffed.

"Jesus Johnny. A cig at ten in the fuckin' morning?" He replied as he yawned. Johnny took a drag and snickered.

"You've known me for how long and now you're giving me a hard time for it?" Silverhand smugly looked at V, who only groaned.

"Long enough," he said, visibly disgusted. Johnny only laughed as he blew out more smoke.

"You look tired, and crabby. Sex with Panam ain't all its cracked up to be since the basilsk?" He teased. V gave him the middle finger in response.

"Piss off Johnny. It's not like you were a fan of doing your dirty laundry with Rogue in my body?" V countered. Johnny raised his cigarette to V in respect.

"You got me there, now that felt fuckin' weird," Johnny shivered a little. "That one was not on you. Guess maybe it felt a little off for everyone involved," he said with a meek shrug. "Was she mad?" He pointed at Panam. V scratched the back of his head.

"Just a bit….thought I really wasn't in the doghouse until she did this," V stood up and removed a portion of his 'Burn Corpo Shit' shirt to reveal massive scratch marks on his back. They were a deep shade of red, meaning they were somewhat fresh. Johnny gagged.

"Fuckin' hell V!" Johnny snapped. V turned around and grimaced.

"It's what I get for being an idiot," he laughed. Johnny balked at his words as he stomped out his cigarette.

"Guess you and I like it when women get mad. Gets…." V cut Johnny off as he finished the sentence.

"Gets your southern blood pumping. I guess maybe it gets my blood pumping too," he smirked as he looked at his sleeping girlfriend. Johnny crossed his arms and smirked.

"You son of a bitch," Johnny said smiling as V stepped outside. Most of the Aldecado's were still asleep, though as usual, Mitch was awake and applying some small repairs to the Basilisk.

"Hey V! You're up early," Mitch said, extending his hand. V shook it and gave the former Panzerboy a pat on the shoulder.

"Felt a little sore, couldn't sleep on my back for too long," V said as he stretched. Mitch gave him an amused grin.

"Yeah…wonder why…cheering up Panam again to get outta the doghouse?" Mitch grinned. Now, V burst into laughter.

"Is everyone gonna keep giving me a hard time about this?" V complained. Mitch laughed as he punched his shoulder.

"All in good fun V. Besides, everyone understands you were just doin' Johnny a last little favor," Mitch said. Johnny quickly appeared behind Mitch after his remark.

"Heh…you don't say…" he said before he disappeared again. V crossed his arms and stared at the sunrise over Night City, something Mitch took notice of.

"You alright? You look a little pale," Mitch said. V shrugged.

"I dunno Mitch. Got a week left before the raid…just not feeling like I've got the aggression for it that I usually do," V said. Mitch raised an eyebrow as he set his wrench down.

"Need something with a little bit of a kick to get your head in the game?" He asked. V nodded.

"More or less." Mitch scratched his chin, but the look on his face told V that he had an idea.

"I think I've got the perfect suggestion for ya. Back during the war, me and Scorpion would always blast some heavy music in the tank before battle. Gave us a way to 'psyche ourselves up' if ya know what I mean," Mitch said. V felt his mind light up at the suggestion, and he could tell Johnny knew it too as he appeared right next to Mitch as soon as the words left his mouth.

"Hey! This guy's onto somethin'..." Johnny said.

"No shit," V replied.

"Samurai was always a good choice back in those days. But from what I've heard on the radio, I guess you could say the rock and metal scene has got more of an edge since the war," Mitch added. V nodded.

"Everything finds a way to get heavier," V said. Mitch nodded in reply. V looked back out towards Night City, and then smirked.

"I'm gonna head into the city…try and find some old metal records to get my head in the game," he added. Mitch grinned.

"There ya go kid. Heavier is always better," he snickered. V walked back into his tent and grabbed his Samurai jacket, throwing it on before kneeling down to look in the mirror. Johnny grinned as V adjusted his collar.

"Looking more and more like me every day!" He smirked. V chuckled at the notion.

"What can I say? It's a badass jacket," V said with a meek shrug. As he left a note for Panam letting her know he was going into town to buy some records, Mitch waved him off.

"If you find anything from Shinedown, make sure ya buy it. Those guys always had the best rock fight songs back in the day!" Mitch said, giving V the metal horns with a grin . The merc gave him a nod and hopped on Scorpion's Apollo and sped off into town, on the hunt for the proverbial "sound of madness"

Some Time Later…..

V crossed his arms at the record store Johnny recommended. The name itself sounded like the kind of place that would sell recordings from both pre-2023, and even to the present day in 2077.

"Aftermath Records…..ain't that a play on Dr. Dre's studio name from way back in the day?" V asked. Johnny appeared next to him, lighting up another cigarette.

"More or less," Silverhand replied. "The actual label was called Aftermath Entertainment, but this seemed fair enough for these guys, especially considering what they're selling."

"They got metal?" V said looking at Johnny. The rockerboy grinned as he blew some smoke into the air.

"Oh man if you had any idea. They got pretty much everything. Rock, nu-metal, rap, you name it. They even got that god awful country and pop bullshit. Country might be more up your alley if you feel like gettin' sappy with Panam,'' Johnny sneared. V scoffed.

"Thought they said country music is the best way to win a girls heart from the back roads?" V countered. Johnny spat on the pavement.

"Ugh, hanging with the Aldecaldo's really has fucked your head up," he teased. V shook his head, snickering.

"Come on Johnny, never tried romancing Rogue with some country music?" V playfully punched Johnny in the shoulder, who looked even more disgusted.

"Can we just go inside the fuckin' store?" He groaned. V only laughed as he walked inside.

To both his and Johnny's surprise, the store looked much bigger on the outside than it did on the inside. Records and CD's from nearly every genre one could think of adorned the walls and shelves. There were even a few Samurai posters hanging behind the check out counter.

"Holy shit," Johnny whistled. "You could probably find Black Sabbath in here if you looked hard enough."

"Tell me about it," V said, his eyes wide. The guy behind the counter immediately took notice of V.

"Hey man! Need help lookin' for something specific?" He asked. His name tag, ironically, also read 'Mitchell', and he was wearing a Samurai shirt underneath his work vest. V walked over and knocked on the counter with his hand.

"Yeah…got any idea where I can find any heavy metal albums? Heard from a few friends that 2020 to 2023 was a great time to be a metal fan. The clerk grinned.

"Your friends certainly know their styles. Those albums are in section M, labeled by the year. It ain't far from the Samurai stuff, you can't miss it," he said. V gave him a nod.

"Thanks man," he replied as both he and Johnny walked over to the section with all of the heaviest CD's they had. V's eyes widened even further at the selection.

"Where do you fuckin' start?" Johnny eyed the many rows as he twirled his lighter in his hand. V pointed to the nearest Shinedown album he saw.

"Mitch mentioned Shinedown. How was this one?" He asked. Johnny walked over to V and eyed the album. Easily distinguished by its white background with black birds flying on it, it was Shinedown's popular "The Sound of Madness" album.

"'Sound of Madness'" Johnny said smiling. "Yeah, you'll wanna grab this one. These guys were known for making the best fight songs I ever heard. Title track is definitely peak Shinedown," he said. V grabbed the CD and eyed the back of it.

"Track list sounds pretty good too. 'Cyanide Sweet Tooth Suicide', 'Diamond Eyes', I'm sold," he said with a grin. Johnny crossed his arms.

"Sounds like Mitch does have good taste in music," Johnny mused. "Let's keep lookin' for something heavier. This place is loaded!"

V eyed the many shelves as Johnny apparated around the store, looking for some picks of his own. An album that caught V's eye had some certainly disturbing cover art, reminiscent of a murder scene. The album art had bloody notes scattered across the floor, and a motionless individual in a wheelchair just barley in the frame. The title was 'Matriphagy'

"Hey Johnny! You ever heard of Tallah?" V asked. Johnny quickly appeared before him as he looked at the album. Within seconds, he whistled.

"Tallah….I remember that name. Heard their vocalist could belch out screams like no other. That's the kinda shit I would listen to whenever lifting weights…could certainly also put you in the mood to kill," he said.

"No kiddin'...look at the track list. 'Placenta', 'Muder Seed', sounds like a killer would get off on this, but it could still be worth a listen," V said as he eyed the back of the CD. Johnny only shrugged.

"Your eddies man. I'm just here for advice. You may like this one if you're into the heavier stuff," Johnny pointed to another album a few shelves down behind V. The cover art had a very muscular man with an oddly shaped skull mask crossing his arms with big gold letters reading 'Kostolom' in front him. His tactical vest also read 'Made In Russia'.

"Slaughter To Prevail?" V raised an eyebrow. Johnny grinned.

"These guys were fuckin' mental in Russia at their peak. Nearly had them open for us until they got screwed over due to VISA issues. Still, their music…" Johnny snapped his fingers. "Chefs kiss man. Brutal, but heavy as hell. And fun as hell," he said, a noticeable tinge of pride in his voice.

"Well…say no more," V said as he added the album to the collection building in his hands.

Eventually, V ended up adding four more CD's to his collection, those being Parkway Drive's 'Darker Still', King 810's 'Midwest Monsters' EP and their debut 'Memoirs of a Murderer' and Disturbed's debut 'The Sickness'. As V neared the checkout, a set of country singles from around 2014 caught his eye. One he took a liking to was a single from Frankie Baellard, titled 'Sunshine and Whiskey'.

"You gotta be shittin' me V," Johnny complained. V looked at the lyrics on the back of the cover, and smirked at Johnny's disgust.

"What? Seems fitting for me and Panam," V said. Johnny facepalmed, visibly disgusted.

"Do me a favor and take your Omega Blockers then. I don't wanna hear that shit when you play it for Panam," he groaned. V smirked.

"Still not willing to romance Rogue with some country?" He teased. Johnny flipped him off.

"Go eat a dick, V," Johnny said before he disappeared. V snickered as he laid his new CD's down at the check out. The clerk grinned.

"You got some good taste man. Might I ask what this one is for though?" He asked as he started ringing up the CD's, obviously referencing the 'Sunshine and Whiskey' single. V shrugged.

"It's for someone special….my girlfriend," he said. The clerk smiled.

"Well played brother…well played indeed," he said as V paid him out and left. Johnny then appeared before him not long after he got to his bike.

"So…where are we gonna jam out?" He asked. V then grinned.

"I think I've got an idea where," he said.