You're Gonna Dance to My Tune, Papi!
Chapter 5
All 5 AVs landed on top of Arasaka tower. Goro, V, Panam, Jackie, Mitch, Johnny, and several other Aldecaldos were ready to drive the final nail into the coffin of the tyrannical conglomerate once and for all.
Below them, in the executive lounge, Saburo was meditating when he received a call.
"They have arrived, just as you predicted."
Saburo grinned with malicious intent. "Prepare the cyber frame."
"Yes, sir."
As the crew made their way to the board room, shooting anyone or anything who offered them resistance, they were more than disappointing to see none of the senior executives were there, contradictory to what their intel provided.
An announcement was made over the PA system. "Welcome to your demise."
Goro recognized the voice immidiately. "Saburo Arasaka!"
They heard heavy foot steps echoing through the halls. Once in view, the crew saw terror made manifest. The Emperor Saburo dawned a new, state of the art cyber frame, one that made Smasher's look like a child's toy in comparison, despite this one being a bit more compact as it favored maneuverability over raw power. However, despite the fact it was smaller, it did contain bleeding edge anti-gravity artillery.
Johnny cursed this this abomination. "Fuck me."
"You have played right into my hands, and now I will show you what it means to make an enemy of the Arasakas!"
The crew opened fire with their rifles and shotguns, however it seemed to have little effect.
Saburo fired up his own, experimental Mk. 6 Sandevistan and first landed a devastating blow to Goro and Johnny simultaneously, sending them cratering deep into the wall.
Feeling blood lusted after seeing her friends put down, V unsheathed her Byakko katana and launched her own string of attacks, amplified by her own Mk. 5 Sandevistan. However, once again it was able to do little in ways of damage. Saburo countered with a chop to her chest which saw her skidding several meters across the cold, hard floor.
"V!" Jackie cried while he opened fire with his Nues. He closed the distance before extending one of his mantis blades. He attempted to slit Saburo's throat however the Emperor caught his blade before shattering it with his frame's brute power output. With a brutal punch from the frame, Jackie found himself implanted into the wall as well.
Several of the Aldecaldos decided to act on their own and surrounded Saburo, opening fire upon the corporate tyrant.
Saburo sadistically cackled at how powerless they were before him. Without wasting any time, Saburo used his frame to create a gravity well, literally crushing them out of existence.
Panam went completely ape shit upon seeing her nomad brethren slaughtered, opening fire with an M179 Achilles before she was tackled to the floor.
The Arasaka Emperor laughed sadistically as he glanced her over. "Well, look at you. You are, as Adam Smasher would say, a fuckable piece of meat. I think I will spare you so I can keep you as my slave."
Panam growled as she reached for a nearby M2038 Tactician and unloaded several slugs into him, albeit his armor plating made such effort futile.
"Panam!" Mitch cried out as he fired off some some rounds from a DR5, which also proved ineffective.
One of the cyber frame's arms extended its mantis blade. Saburo intended to cut away at her threads.
V was injured, albeit still conscious. "Panam!" She fired up her Sandevistan once more and attempted to chop his head off with the Byakko, however he extended his second mantis blade to guard against her attack.
Saburo laughed at the futility of her situation. "There's nothing you can do to spare her the pain I am going to cause. I am going to rape her and you will not stop me! Now be a good dog and stand still while I have my fun."
The undisputed leader of Arasaka began to softly tear at Panam's clothing with surgical precision, making sure her delicate flesh would not be damaged in the process.
Panam whimpered, "V..."
V, seeing Panam start to cry was filled with blood lust again as she jumped on to Saburo's torso from behind, now putting him in a choke hold. "Get off her, you fucking bastard!"
Saburo was able to easily shake her off and use of his one cybernetic hands to implant her into the ceiling.
Panam screamed as she reached for her Kenshin side arm and unloaded an entire clip. However, it too proved ineffective.
"Oh, my sweet little flower," Saburo cooed, "Now there's no one to interrupt us!"
Several shots where fired, this time from Johnny and his Malorian Arms 3516 revolver.
Saburo scowled. "Silverhand, every breath you take is the bane of my existence!"
The rocker boy smirked at his nemesis of over half a century. "Happy to oblige."
The Emperor of Arasaka prepared to strike him down with his mantis blades, however a high caliber bullet managed to shoot one of the cyber frame's arms clean off. Saburo growled upon seeing another with a cyber frame standing before him. "Is that you? Tobias Binnotto!"
"That it is. But this cyber frame is better than yours. I added titanium alloy plating myself. It should have no trouble tearing through the armor you have!"
The hit man fired up his Sandevistan before going to work, unleashing a devastating flurry of punches and kicks that completely destroyed Saburo's cyber frame, leaving its arms and legs damaged beyond repair.
Saburo laid on the ground unable to move. "You reckless piece of shit, do you know how much this frame cost me to develop?"
Tobias looked down on him. "You're about to die, so you shouldn't be worried about money."
Saburo scowled. "What?!"
V, Goro, Panam, Jackie, Mitch, and Johnny, all alive and well, walked over to and stood over him, with their brass to bare, each putting in a fresh, full magazine.
"No!"
They all opened fire, reducing him to bloody scraps of meat as they each unloaded their full magazines into him. At last, the Emperor was dead!
Goro turned to his old associate. "Why did you come back?"
The hit man replied. "I just had this feeling… That it was the right thing to do."
The former Arasaka body guard was glad. "It is good you listened to your feelings. For all our sakes."
As Panam was stripped by Saburo during the battle, Goro removed his jacket and gave it to her. "Here."
Panam smiled at him. "Thank you kindly, sir!"
"Ya know, you're not so bad after all, mano," Jackie admitted to the hitman. "I guess you can't judge someone by their reputation."
Tobias knew this was just the beginning of his redemption arc. "I appreciate that, however I wish that were true. I know full well I have a lot to do to repent for the lives I've taken."
Johnny scoffed. "Well look at that, an ice-cold killer with a heart of gold."
V sneered at the rocker boy. "You know, you always manage to find the right time to say the wrong thing."
The rocker boy beamed as he smirked. "Somehow I see that as a positive."
Panam spoke. "V."
"Yes, Panam?"
"I… It's... I'll tell you later."
Whoa, that was weird, V told herself.
Later that evening, Milena and Tobias were busy packing for their trip to Cancun, where Milena's maternal grandmother resided. It was there they planned to wed.
While Jackie went to get caught up with Misty and Mama Welles, who were more than ecstatic he had returned from the dead, V and Panam had a little chat at the bar at the Sunset motel, where it call began for them.
The bartender greeted them, "Panam Palmer! Well, well, I thought you fled town for good."
Panam replied, "Yeah, well, we're back, for now at least. Oh, and two Brosephs please."
"Two Brosephs it is."
After they sipped on their ale for a bit, V broke the ice. "So what was it you needed to tell me?"
Panam replied, "Well, V, I-I fucked up. Like I do with every thing."
"Panam."
"It's true. I'm not fit to lead the Aldecaldos. Hell, I'm probably responsible for Saul's death in some way."
The former merc studied her. "Panam, what's going on with you?"
"I'm just feeling a bit emotional right now."
V inquired, "Why?"
Panam was blushing. "No, I really shouldn't talk about this. It would make me the biggest asshole."
V scoffed at her. "Well, now you have to tell me. You can't just put that out there and not expect me to settle for anything less than the truth."
Panam clenched her fists tightly as tears threatened her eyes. "You remember the abandoned farm house?"
It was V who now blushed. "Oh, um, yeah. I kinda made a pass at you then, didn't I?"
Panam nodded. "Yeah…" She looked to the ceiling above with a blank look upon her profile. "I was such an idiot, V. I should have dove head first into what you were offering, but…"
"I get it, you're in to guys."
"No, V, that's not it. I am into you! I was just… Scared." Panam pounded the bar beneath her. "Damn it, how do I always fuck up this bad?"
"You didn't fuck up, Panam."
"I did, fuck up, V. It's too late for me, especially with you and Judy being a thing now." She ran her hands through her hair. "I'm sorry, V. I should have never mentioned any of this. It's not fair to you. Or fair to Judy for that matter."
V sighed. "Don't worry about it, Panam. You're still the best friend a girl like me could ask for, and if things between Judy and I don't pan out... Well, you'd be the first to know."
Panam looked to V, tears now openly flowing down her face. "I love you, V."
"I, well, I love you too, Panam. But let's not ruin the moment, shall we?"
The nomad leader giggled. "Agreed!"
Elsewhere, Johnny Silverhand looked over the whole of Rancho Coronado up top the Petrochem dam. Much to his surprise, a silver Porsche 993 Turbo rolled up on him. However, who stepped out of the vehicle was the one he was anticipating.
"Rogue."
She had to hold back her tears. "You fucking bastard, you really are back?!"
"For good this time. However, don't go expecting a happy ending."
She scoffed. "Nothing ever ends well with you."
"Come now, you don't gotta put it like that..."
Epilogue: Two Months Later, Cancun...
Milena and Tobias were being wed in a Roman Catholic chapel, per both their ancestral traditions.
The Minister cited, "Novio Tobias, tomas tu a Novia Andrea-Milena como tu esposa, prometes amarla, respetarla, protejerla abandonando a todo y dedicandote solo a ella?"
Tobias replied, "Si!"
The Minister again cited, "Novia, Andrea-Milena, tomas tu a Novio Tobias, como to esposo, prometes amarlo, respetarlo, protejerlo abandonando a todo y dedicandote solo a el?"
Milena replied. "Si!"
The minister happily exclaimed, "Entonces los pronuncio hombre y esposa. Ahora puedes besar a la novia."
Milena and Tobias then kissed again, eliciting cheers from the dozen or so in attendance, and eliciting tears of joy from Milena's Abuela.
Thus, the threat of Arasaka has waned. Despite there being others within Arasaka who attempted to fill in Emperor Saburo's shoes, none of them managed to do so successfully. Within a year, Arasaka's stock price, revenue, and profits were down several orders of magnitude. Their status as a corporate hyper power had completely crumbled. Militech, Kang Tao, and a mysterious third hyper conglomerate, the Blue Eyes Foundation, benefited the most from the power vacuum, the latter of which manged to buy Arasaka out completely and acquired all their assets
EPILOGUE: New Years Eve, December 31, 2078…
On that fateful evening, a young man abruptly shot up out of bed in what appeared to be a hospital room, devoid of almost any light. "Where am I? Is this a dream?"
He managed to locate the mirror in this dimly lit room, and looked in the mirror to study his face. However, there was a chair behind him, occupied by none other than Mister Blue Eyes.
"Mister Martinez."
He was taken aback by this man's glowing eyes. "Whoa, who the hell are you, choom?"
"You may call me Mister Blue Eyes."
Well no shit, David told himself.
"I have a proposition for you. One I hope you will hear me out on, as I have liberated you from Arasaka's prison of souls."
David growled upon hearing that name, "Arasaka…"
"Arasaka is a mere shadow of what it was, and as a result I have manged to acquire all its assets."
The young man abruptly turned to him, a look of defiance upon his profile. "What is it you want from me?"
"There are two corporations that are still a threat to me. Individually, they are no match for my Blue Eyes Foundation, but combined, they do pose a considerable threat. I am of course referring to Kang Tao and Militech."
"And where do I come in?"
"I will send you on missions to assassinate their leaders and their greatest scientific minds, as well as any others that dare to oppose the Blue Eyes Foundation."
David scowled at him. "Doesn't sound like there's much in it for me."
"How would you like to be reacquainted with Miss Kushinada again?"
His heart sunk as memories of his past flashed through his mind. "Lucy!"
"She went into hiding after your assault on Arasaka tower nearly three years ago, and has since found employment working under me. Should you agree to assist me, I will allow you to see her."
Mister Martinez, wanting nothing more to see the woman he loved again, knew full well he would be selling soul to this illustrious man. "I… Agree to your terms."
Mister Blue Eyes softly cackled. "Good, good."
THE END.
