Chapter 3: There's a New Merc In Town
Mission music: /XZiw41IU7dM
Review Replies
Dressyone22: Just found this story and I really hope it continues. There aren't many cyberpunk fanfics and there are even less that has V hooking up with both Meridith and Panam
Dragon Emperor0: The game really does deserve more fan content than it gets. I mean, the amount of unexplored options and various cut content on top of all the expanded universe stuff? It's a fanfic writer's wet dream, seriously.
ThermalsniperN7: Not to mention fans can come up with some preem ideas for their stories to make things better. Original weapons, vehicles, all that good shit.
Memnon45: Just got to say Choom this story is awesome. I especially like how you have V and Jackie interact with a good introduction to show how their relationship developed before the Sandra Dorsett mission. I also like the answer you gave to a reviewer about how a story should be done not as a retelling of the game word for word but your own interpretation. Also the reason for VV not answering well kind of knew where you were going with it had a laugh anyway keep up the great work choom hope to see more soon.
ThermalsniperN7: Thanks for saying, Choom.
Dragon Emperor0: Ditto.
engineer2172: Alrighty, i'm just dropping a follow that's all. The grammar is top notch and I'm already seeing that this fic will be a slow paced one.
ThermalsniperN7: Grammar was one of my finer points, personally. We also have a bigger workload and we need to take time to plan out how to expand chapters beyond the scenes from the montage in the beginning.
Dragon Emperor0: We tend to go for quality rather than quantity here.
NoirValor: Damn, I really like the first two chapters here. The pacing was a little quick in the second chapter, but I get that you were probably trying to get through all the character intros quickly to get to the actual plot. Something that looks weird as you read is how you have male V and female VV. If they start having extended dialogue in the same scene, you might confuse a reader later one. Might be a good idea to change VV to Vivi, like short for Vivianne or a similar name. It would keep the clear familiarity of the characters but make it far easier for the reader to distinguish the two. Still like what you are cooking up here.
Dragon Emperor0: There's an explanation as to how to pronounce VV in Chapter 2. It's Viv, short for Viviane. Though we'll use the two interchangeably in the story.
ThermalsniperN7: For the sake of spicing things up a bit.
HaywireEagle: Well, an interesting take and good use of both versions of V. Not original but interesting. I hope to see more soon.
Dragon Emperor0: Not original? I don't recall there being very many stories that have both versions of V in it.
ThermalsnperN7: Same.
-Heywood, Night City-
"So, what's on the docket for today?" V asked Jackie as the two of them ate breakfast with Mama Welles.
"Well, Padre says he's got a gig for us that he needs done." The Streekid responded.
"I'm down for it. What're the deets?" The Nomad asked, taking a sip of water.
"Client needs a briefcase klept from a Corporat who's got his greasy mitts all over it." He continued. "The pendejo's a regular at Lizzy's Braindance bar, so if we can get to him while he's flogging the log in a BD, we should be good." He added.
"Alright. If he snaps out of it while we klep it, a punch to the head to knock him out should fix things." V nodded as he ate a bit of carnitas.
"Dios mio, V, please." Mama Welles sighed. "If you're gonna do this kind of work, at least try not to get shot." She added.
"I'll try, but some things can't be helped. Sorry." The Nomad told the woman apologetically.
"Si mama, we'll be careful." Jackie nodded.
(Later)
"You see the guy, V?" The man asked as he and his friend slipped into the hall of Lizzy's after one of the worker's gave them a keycard.
"Yeah. Let's get this done." V nodded as they walked before finding the booth with their target, who was in a BD like they'd hoped. "Okay, gimme a moment." The Nomad whispered before he crept up to the entranced corpo slowly and took his briefcase as slowly as he could.
Though they must've arrived near the end of the BD roll, because their target woke up.
"Shit! Jackie?" The Nomad said as he yanked the case free.
"Buenos noches, mano." The bruiser said as he clocked the guy in the side of the head, knocking him out cold. "Come on, let's book it!" He yelled, bolting for the door.
The two rushed out of the bar, almost no one paying them any mind. When the two were out of the bar, they breathed a sigh of relief when they were clear of any possible trouble.
"Cutting it a bit close, aren't we?" The Nomad remarked.
"Hey, least we got the case." Jackie panted. "Now all we gotta do is get to Padre… Oh no." He groaned as a van pulled in front of them.
Both men started reaching for their weapons, when the doors opened and revealed that it was V's sister, Viv, and another girl. Viv was dressed in a MaxTac suit that was styled like Black Widow's suit, and she had a gun pointed at them.
"Alright, drop the– Wait, V? Is that you?!" Viv started to order before turning surprised when she recognized her brother before lowering her gun.
"Viv?!" V gasped as he lowered his gun. "What the hell?! Do you know how long I've been tryin' to call you?" He added rather snappishly.
The woman looked at her call log and saw… at least ten different messages over the last three days. This made her feel sheepish about not answering.
"Uh, whoops." She chuckled, trying to avoid his gaze.
"'Whoops' my ass." V huffed with a roll of his eyes. This was when he noticed that Jackie and the girl that Viv brought with her were having a Mexican standoff–with the latter having a big ass shotgun. "Who's that?" He asked, nodding at the new face.
"Oh, that's my crazy output, Judy. She works at Lizzy's as an editor." Viv replied.
"Oh, shit, she's with the Moxx?" Jackie said, sheathing his machete. "Well no wonder you Chicas swung by, they probably called you on the holo." He added as Judy stood down.
"Yeah. It was literally outside of my own workplace, so I decided to help out. Didn't realize I was gonna meet my output's brother, though." The Moxx woman commented as she got out of the van. "When'd you get to Night City?" She asked.
"Couple o' days ago." V shrugged in reply. "Just trying to get on my feet right now, hence the job I'm doing." He added.
"Oh yeah? Who's your fixer?" Viv asked, taking off her helmet, her Widowmaker Achilles rifle slung over her shoulder.
"Sébastien Ibarra. Aka Padre, over in the Glen in Heywood." Jackie replied.
"Aw shit. You're working with the Valentinos? No wonder I didn't like the look of you two." Judy groaned.
"Not a fan, I take it?" V questioned.
"The Valentinos and the Moxx ain't really on speakin' terms these days, ese " Jackie whispered.
"I didn't exactly get a warm welcome from them when I first arrived last year." The pink and purple haired woman told her brother. "I'll spare you the details." She added.
"Preem… say, don't suppose you ladies could give us a ride to Padre's place so we can close this deal?" The Nomad questioned, holding up the recently klept case. The two women glanced at each other for a moment before Viv broke the silence.
"Judy, head on inside and get to work. I'll give these two their ride." She told her output.
"You sure?" The BD editor asked.
"I'll just drop 'em off and be on my way. I have no plans to linger." Viv stated with a nod. Judy was silent for a moment before she sighed.
"Alright." She nodded before heading into the bar. Then the Nomad woman got into the driver's seat.
"Hop in." She prompted. The two chooms hopped in the back and closed the door before Viv started driving to Padre's church.
After a bit of a long silence, Jackie finally spoke up. "Well, least we know what's been keepin' your sis so long, huh V?" He chuckled.
"Excuse me?" Viv questioned.
"Jackie and I were making bets on just what kind of stuff was keeping you from answering my calls. Now we know it's because you got yourself a new output." Her brother responded.
"Fuck off, both of you." The woman deadpanned, causing the two to chuckle.
"So, where'd you get that MaxTac suit?" Jackie questioned.
"How else? I peeled it off an agent's cold dead corpse." She stated.
"Must've been hard to do. That kind of stuff isn't exactly the easiest thing to get your hands on." V commented.
"It was pretty fuckin' difficult, not gonna lie." Viv admitted as she made a turn. "I had to spend a week working on getting it off, surprisingly." She added. She then looked down and saw V's gun. "You still got dad's gun?" She asked.
"Yep. Fat fuckin' chance of me just discarding it." V nodded, running a hand along the pistol's grip.
"I don't blame you. That man was both a fucking boss and an absolutely hilarious nutjob at the same time." Viv nodded with a chuckle.
"What's that mean?" Jackie asked, wondering if there was a story to what he was hearing.
"Our dad could get enemy tribes to back off just by threatening them one moment, and the other moment he'd order pineapple on pizza just to fuck with everyone's heads." V explained, causing Jackie's jaw to drop.
"Jesus, pineapple on pizza after the amendment banning that was passed? Your old man sounds straight up crazy." He let out with a puff. Yes, pineapple on pizza was a felony.
"Yeah, but the reactions he got were priceless." Viv said with a snicker, which V shared as the two recalled how people would flip out the second they saw their old man eating it.
"Pineapple and Ahi Tuna pizza with avocado and pesto aioli on the top. His favorite." V chuckled. "And if I'm right, he was pretty well connected here in Night City, right?"
"Yeah, few of the Fixers who hangout at the Afterlife talk about doing biz with him pretty regularly before he retired." Viv nodded. "Rogue being one of his more frequent contacts." She added as they entered Heywood.
"She might take to you two pretty well then if she finds out who you're related to." Jackie noted.
"Maybe. Hard to say, and I'd rather not meet her until I'm stable." V said. "That does make me wonder, what about you, Viv? Who's your usual fixers?"
"I typically pick up my jobs from high brow clients and straight from the Afterlife, but my usual fixers are usually Wakako Okada, Regina Jones and of course Rogue herself." The Nomad woman replied. "I even made Dad's favorite drink a special on the bar menu."
"Really?" V questioned.
"Yep. A "Willie Night". Carol, the bartender, was kind enough to write down dad's exact recipe." His sister nodded.
"Great. Now all I gotta do is add Mom's and everything will be right in the universe." V sighed in relief.
"That's a pretty crazy thing ya did, Chica." Jackie chuckled. "Well, I'll be sure to order that when we get to the major leagues, raise a glass to your papa." He added as they pulled up to the back of Padre's place.
"Here you guys are. Like I said, I'm not gonna linger, so you'll have to walk back to wherever you're staying, bro." Viv told her sibling.
"I've done a fair bit of that recently, so no biggie." V shrugged as he and Jackie got out of the van and closed the door, allowing Viv to drive off.
V and Jackie then went to the caged basketball court behind the chapel where Padre and some of the Valentinos were hanging about.
"Yo, Padre! We got the case." Jackie called as V walked up to the man, setting the case on the table.
"Ah, excellent. I'll be sure to have this given to the client. Excellent work, boys." The man nodded. "Now, your cuts." He added as he sent them the eddies for the job, giving them each a shard.
"Perfect. Thanks, Padre." V grinned, knowing exactly what he was gonna do with these.
(A few days later)
V was at a car store, looking through the selection of cars that were available. Some looked flashy but probably performed like shit, others looked like shit and the rest didn't appeal to him.
It was then that the sales lady showed him one he actually liked: an Archer Hella EC-D i360 that looked like it was practically factory new.
These cars were known for being very cheap and good budget cars, but not much else. Which was just fine for the functionality focused Nomad.
"I'll take it." V told the woman, handing her the cred shard.
"Alright. Enjoy your new wheels." The woman nodded before giving him the keys to his new ride. After the exchange was done, V got in the driver's seat and put the keys in the ignition. He couldn't stop the grin that formed on his face when he heard the engine turn on, his inner tech expert feeling delighted.
"Come on, homes, I'm starved." Jackie said, jumping in. "That last job that Wakako gave us really worked up an appetite for me." He added.
"Alright, let's head to Buck-a-Slice." V nodded as he stepped on the gas and started driving out of the lot. "And don't worry, I'm not as crazy as my old man. I won't order pineapple on pizza." He joked, getting a laugh in return.
"Nice to see you got your head on straight!" He exclaimed with a grin as they traveled along the road.
(A month later)
About a month later, Jackie and V ate a couple Pizzas from Buck-A-Slice in the latter's car, V's being a pizza with pepperoni, salami, capicola, Italian sausage, bacon, mortadella, prosciutto, mushrooms, bell pepper, banana pepper, Roma tomatoes, onions, green olives, and jalapeños, with extra cheese and grated parmesan all on a Brooklyn style crust.
Jackie, meanwhile, was having a carne asada pizza. Basically a pizza that had Carne sauce, steak, onions and avocado on it. Definitely tasty.
"Ah. Man, I love this stuff." V sighed happily. Buck-A-Slice really did make good pizza.
"I hear you, mano." Jackie nodded as he took a bite of his pizza.
"Still can't believe you actually pancaked a guy against a dumpster on that last job." The Nomad stated, a roll of Eurodollars in his hand.
"Hey, that's what happens to runaways. They get flattened." The bruiser shrugged. "Speakng o' which, we should really try to get you some new threads." He added.
"I still got enough scratch to afford those. Let's hit up a clothes store when we're done eating our slices of paradise." V said with a chuckle as he ate another slice, crust and all.
"Right there with ya, ese." Jackie nodded as he ate another slice.
(A few hours later)
V sighed as he pulled on an outfit and stepped outside where Jackie was waiting. It consisted of a gray long-sleeved shirt with a long neck, a pair of black jeans, sneakers, and a red and gray Second Conflict synth-leather jacket.
"Okay, this doesn't look too bad." The Nomad nodded as he looked himself over.
"Got another gig from one of our fixers in Vista, seems Six Street's been pokin' around Valentino turf." The bruiser told his friend.
"And let me guess, El Capitan wants us to look into it?" The Nomad stated as they got in his car.
"Yep. Go in, get the merch, tell the fuckers to back off, and get out. Simple job, cut and clean." The Streekid responded.
"Yeah, if my lifestyle taught me anything, it's gonna go south somehow." V snorted. Nomad life has taught him that the simplest of jobs can get royally fucked up in one way or another if you weren't careful.
"Ah don't sweat it, V, with the chrome you're packin'? This job 'll be a snap." The man stated.
"Sure…" The man said, focusing his common tier Koroshi optics on his Mantis blades and leg implants. He'd recently gotten a synaptic amplifier and a kinetic booster, with a decent hand grip. But he still felt that his body was underchromed. "Come on, let's go." He sighed.
(Later)
It was night time and the two partners were now pulling up to the pad where Six Street was hanging out.
Busting out his Mantis Blades, V did a boosted jump over the fence that separated them from their targets, and landed on a guy, slamming his face into the pavement and leaving a bloody stain, before he started slashing.
"Come and get some carones!" Jackie yelled as he started blasting, while V was slicing apart every last guy he got his hands on, before there were only a few left.
"Got the merch, Jack?" The Nomad questioned, holding a guy at gunpoint–his Dyning Night pistol having lost its scope and suppressor. He needed to get it tuned.
"Right here, V!" The bruiser called back, holding up a small package.
"Alright, let's make ourselves scarce." The Nomad nodded. "Don't you even fuckin think about following us." He growled at the guy before the two left the pad.
(Later that week)
It was later in that week, a Friday to be precise, when V, Jackie, Viv and Judy were at a club in NC trying to unwind. They were on the dance floor showing off their own moves.
"Woo! That's right, girl! Move like you mean it!" Viv exclaimed with a grin as she danced across from Judy.
"That's my line!" The Moxx woman laughed.
V couldn't help but chuckle as he saw his sister and her girlfriend dance together, at least until Jackie nearly danced into him, prompting him to push the bruiser away.
"Careful, Jack!" V laughed before the four spotted some thugs walking up to them.
"Who're you guys?" Judy asked with a raised eyebrow.
Viv did a quick scan before cursing. "Shit, they're from Biotechnica. They're probably the Huscle of the guy you guys attacked a couple months back." She hissed.
"Tell us what you did with our stuff, and maybe you'll walk away with all your teeth!" One of the corp thugs demanded.
"Alright, I'll tell you something." V responded back, stepping forward. "I'll tell you exactly how and where you can go fuck off." He added with a growl.
"Alright, fine." Another thug growled before he tried to punch V, who ducked under it while the rest of the dancers vacated the dance floor.
This soon escalated into a full on brawl, with all four pulling out their weapons and blasting their way out of the club…
(A few hours later)
V groaned as he pulled a bullet out of the back of his jacket, looking at his now worn and damaged outfit after so many jobs with it. "Looks like I'll need some new clothes." He sighed, tossing the bullet away as he and Jackie went to bed.
(A couple months later)
It was two months later and now V was finally getting his gun reworked while also getting his arsenal boosted well.
"Whaddya got?" The Nomad asked the gunsmith.
"I can reduce the recoil on this thing and outfit it with an incendiary mod. I can give it a laser pointer to improve its accuracy, too." The gunsmith replied after looking the pistol over.
"I'll take those." V nodded as he gave the man the payment for the task. He then looked his gun over, before nodding. "Think you can rebrand it?" He asked.
"Depends on what you want that to be." The man said.
"Bad Night Rising. If you can upgrade this thing with anything from Malorian Arms, that'd be great too." The Nomad replied.
"I can, but it's gonna cost you extra. This kind of stuff is expensive by default." The gunsmith stated, and was given the appropriate payment. "Alright, come back in a few hours and this puppy will have evolved." He nodded as he took the gun to the back to get to work.
Jackie, meanwhile, got a pair of gold and silver plated pistols as well as several other gadgets to go in his own arsenal.
"Perfecto." The bruiser grinned as V took an auto rifle off the shelf.
(Several months later)
After a bunch of different jobs and saving up an equal amount of scratch, V was finally able to buy his own place.
"I'll be sure to visit the Coyote as often as I can, Mama Welles. I promise." The Nomad said as he hugged the woman goodbye.
"Thank you, V. And I do expect you to visit. Manny is going to get cranky if you don't." The hispanic woman smiled, glancing at the Lesser Antillian iguana who was chilling in his terrarium.
A couple of months back, Jackie decided to officially adopt the little guy since the reptile wouldn't leave him alone. He still enjoyed having V around, though, and would get cranky when he didn't come by at least once a week.
"I'll be sure to come by and hang out with him." The Nomad chuckled.
"Ai Luego, V." Jackie nodded, hugging his friend.
"You too, Jackie." V nodded as he left.
(A few days later)
V sighed as he finally got settled in, setting his Bad Night Rising pistol in his arsenal room.
The gun was now a bit larger than the standard model to accommodate all the new mods, and the increase in caliber size (now being able to shoot rifle rounds) and was now covered in red and green paint instead of gold like before.
And instead of a US flag, it now had a Night City NC and a Samurai face on either side of the grip.
The Nomad put it away as he looked in the mirror. He'd gotten a new shirt and now just needed a jacket. The shirt was of a Moon with rotten teeth and a cigarette in its mouth. He still had the same shoes and pants.
As he was closing his arsenal room, there was a knock on his door.
'Who could that be?' He wondered before he went and answered it, finding his sister standing there with a small Anatolian Shepherd puppy who was panting at him with its tail wagging. "Hey, sis. What's up with the pupper?" He asked, kneeling down to get a closer look at the puppy.
He was a brindle color with wheat colored fur that was dotted with brown, black and white all over, and he also had a pair of brown eyes.
"Jackie wanted me to drop him off, he's supposed to be your housewarming gift from him and Mama Welles." The woman told him, scratching the pup's chin. "His name's Jerry Lee. I picked it for him." She added.
"Mom and Dad's favorite singer." V chuckled as he picked the puppy up, getting licked in response. "Alright. I think he's a keeper." He added as he held him. "Anything else?"
"Yeah." His sister nodded as she took something from her pocket and put it around his neck. Looking, he saw that it was their father's dog tags.
"I thought you would want to keep these." V commented as he looked at his sibling.
"Nah. They're better off with you. Besides, I still have mom's earrings and necklace." Viv replied, pointing to her ears, where two crimson red diamond shaped earrings were, and to her neck, where a sapphire blue spade pendant was.
"Heh, alright." V nodded as he hugged his sister, Jerry Lee licking her. "See ya later, sis."
"You too." She smiled before leaving, setting a bag of puppy chow on the floor.
As she left, V let his new friend get used to things in their new pad, while setting some food and water out for him.
The puppy ate a bit and drank before scratching his ear and letting out a yawn, which his owner copied involuntarily.
"Welp, time for bed. Come on, boyo." The Nomad said before climbing into bed. His canine pal jumped up to join him, crawling in a circle before curling up next to the Nomad.
It didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep.
Dragon Emperor0: Alrighty. Now that the setup is all done. There's only one set of missions that we need to do before we move on to the game proper. The "Living on the Edge" storyline will follow V and Jackie as they meet T-Bug, and find out about a crew of Edgerunners who met a poor fate before them. They'll find the possessions of David Martinez and his Crew, and even meet some of them. All culminating in one big climax: "The Smash".
ThermalsniperN7: Yep, and that's gonna be fun to do when we get there. And as you guys can see, V's settling in nicely, even getting his pistol modified to shoot rifle rounds… Man, that's a lot of recoil for something so tiny. And he got an adorable little puppy, too.
Dragon Emperor0: Yeah, this little pup's based on a dog of mine that recently... passed away under… suspicious circumstances, to put it bluntly. So I wanna try to help him live forever through this story.
ThermalsniperN7: The heinous details of this pupper's death will remain undisclosed. Anyway, see you next time.