Chapter 31: Circus Fantasticus
V and his closest friends were all led up into the Monarch Arena's VIP booth, the large circular stadium already filled to the brim with Night City locals, Aldecaldos, Londoners, and Monarch employees, the crowd was already cheering. V spied tons of foam fingers and banners held up that read various slogans or just 'Death!', this was to the knockout, right?
V took a seat next to Panam and the rest of his friends, they had a fantastic view of the battleground down below. The circular arena floor had been arranged with rows of Roman columns in a grid pattern providing cover, a few large pools of water had also been placed in each quarter of the floor to add some flavor to the terrain. A series of short and tall walls were also interspersed among the columns. There was a distinct starting balcony for each of the opponents in the fight, both of them were raised up about one story above the arena itself and gave a vantage point over the ground. V could see the Bozos standing on their balcony, Ozob flexed towards the crowd as the remaining three gang members juggled, danced, and joked around. Hildegarde just stood in her starting zone looking bored and leaning over the railing. This didn't seem fair for some reason.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Monarch Arena! Today only the best of the best fighters will take part in combat! To start off, we have Hildegarde The Genocider!.", The announcer announced. A camera zoomed in on Hildegarde's face, the outlaw shooting the camera a glare. The crowd cheered uproariously.
"And as her opponents in the arena, the Bozos! Ozob, the original along with Bingo, Bango, and Bongo!", the announcer continued. The Crowd also cheered for them, albeit with less fervor, Ozob and his gang just flexed and showed off.
"Now remember! This is to be a fight to the knockout, ring-out or time-out; you have 15 minutes to incapacitate your opponent! All weapons have been replaced with non-lethal alternatives! Last one standing is the winner and moves on to the next round!", the announcer concluded. V looked at the battlefield a bit more, there really was no barrier between the stands and the ring, just a fairly short 10ft wall. Undoubtedly, someone would be catching a clown to the face in a few moments.
"Let the fight... Beeeeegiiiiinn!", the announced bellowed into a microphone. A few Monarch trumpeters sounded the call as several dozen camera drones flew around the stadium, projecting their footage to a large floating screen high above.
"Hrrmm. First time I'll actually see what my daughter can do in combat... Better be good...", Siegfried muttered.
"I have no doubt she'll cripple these clowns, father.", Sigmund reassured.
V just watched intently, he needed to know what he was going to be up against when it was his turn in the ring. Either on the Bozos if they somehow incapacitated Hildegarde or on the outlaw herself for any kind of weakness. As for right now, the Bozos ran off down into the maze-like arena floor. Hildegarde just stayed where she was at and yawned slightly in boredom.
Bingo, a chubby clown with big green floppy shoes and gloves ran as best as he could over towards Hildegarde's side of the ring. His tri-pointed blue hair bouncing as he ran. He rounded one of the columns and pulled out a shotgun, aiming it upwards towards his opponent's starting zone before unleashing a fully-automatic barrage of concussion shells, each one exploding in a puff of flechettes, pink confetti and smoke with the smoke obscuring his vision of the top of the starting area. V could see Hildegarde from behind, noticing her dodge every flechette by contorting her body acrobatically. She just jumped into the air, somersaulting over the railing and down into the cloud of pink smoke. One of the camera drones caught a good angle as she firmly landed and planted both of her feet onto Bingo's skull and drove him backwards head-first into the sandy floor of the arena. She calmly stepped off the Bozo before hoisting him up by his collar, tossing him into the air and spinning him around with her Chipset-enhanced strength. She pulled back and delivered a punch at supersonic speeds hitting him squarely in his big red clown nose. Bingo was just spiked into the ground head-first and laid still and unmoving. Hildegarde just spat on him. The crowd cheered.
"Pathetic... Is this all you've got?", Hildegarde mocked.
Bango, a tall and lanky Bozo rounded the corner and jumped out behind Hildegarde. His shoes were less floppy and his bright red gloves clashed with his chartreuse polka-dotted outfit. His hair was done up tall and messy in bright orange like a demented traffic cone. He just cackled like an idiot and sprayed something from a fake flower in his chest, the liquid covering Hildegarde's body. The outlaw just turned around, and charged at the clown. Bango dodged her fist and counter-spun around her, keeping her backside to him.
"Oh, now you've got some skill. Too bad you don't have a gun...", Hildegarde mocked.
"Haha, don't need a gun! Just need a little spark!", Bango commented before slapping his hands together producing a small flame. Almost instantly, Hildegarde was set on fire, the strange liquid she'd been splashed with igniting instantly.
"Auuuugh! You bastard!", Hildegarde screamed as she ran from the Bozo, engulfed in flames and covering her face while trying to beat out the flames, she jumped into one of the pools of water. The flames hissed out as she dove beneath the water.
Bango just circled the pool of water, he danced around it like a ballerina. He waited patiently for the plum-purple clad outlaw to surface. The crowd gasped in expectation. Siegfried just face-palmed. A few moments passed, had the infamous outlaw burned to death and drowned? No, she didn't and instead rocketed out of the pool like a breaching whale firing dozens of rail-gun shots down upon Bango. The gunfire slamming into the clown and knocking him to the ground as they connected with his body and head. Hildegarde just landed with a soft thump into the sand next to him. Her clothing was singed, but not charred. She was also soaking wet and her massive breasts were visible through her soaked body-suit with certain nubbins hard as diamond and poking out. Bango was a bit distracted by this sight and didn't have enough time to dodge as Hildegarde's boot came down upon his head. The outlaw once again picked up the clown, but this time held onto his arms and spun him around a few times at a brutally high speed before letting go and sending the Bozo sailing. Bango soared through the air like a missile before landing in the second row of seats in the stands ass-first, some poor gonk taking the full brunt of the clown impacting them bodily. Bango just laid over the seats and the gonk in a pile of mangled limbs.
"Fire, nice choice... Too bad you got distracted...", Hildegarde mocked as she posed and thrust her ample bosom outwards, the camera drones focusing on her face for a moment before aiming at the more interesting bits of her body. Siegfried just kept his hands firmly clasped over his face in mortification.
Bongo, the final Bozo before Ozob himself just ran up behind Hildegarde with a large mallet drawn. His outfit was a mass of red and white diagonal stripes like a demented barber's pole. His hair just a shock of yellow in a three rows of mohawks. He swung his hammer, the bludgeoning weapon accelerated by a rocket and smashed Hildegarde in the back. The outlaw was knocked upwards and away from the pool and the clown, soaring through the air towards one of the columns. The crowd gasped. Hildegarde just grabbed the column and flung herself up to its apex, twirling slightly in the air and landing on its top. She just stared down at the Bozo.
Bongo just swung his hammer again, this time aiming at the column itself. He had no ranged weapon, but he could easily bring the column down. The hammer just smashed into the concrete pillar and launched fragments everywhere. Hildegarde just stood steady. She looked around for Ozob, awaiting his sneak attack. Upon seeing the final Bozo, she just leaped down from the column anticipating Bongo's swing and catching his hammer as it was pulled backwards. She grabbed the weapon and engaged its rocket booster. Now off-balance, Bongo swung but missed the pillar and continued to spin, accelerating like some kind of demented top. He accelerated into a death-spin as his rocket-propelled hammer went out of control, Hildegarde just stuck her leg out and tripped him, the still-blasting rocket-hammer skidding off the ground before aiming straight upwards propelling the Bozo into the sky on a swirling route out of the arena itself and into the surrounding neighborhood. There was a loud crash and the sounds of a blaring car-alarm far outside the arena that heralded Bongo's landing.
"Rockets... Fun. Except when they misfire. You get turned into a firework.", Hildegarde mocked.
"Anyone ever tell you that you gloat too much?", Ozob retorted as he rounded one of the columns.
"Once, yes. But he failed to do anything to me. He had a killing shot lined up but still failed to make it count.", Hildegarde mocked, clearly referring to V's 11th hour betrayal two years ago. V just face-palmed.
"Well. You took out my gang. I give up. You win.", Ozob sighed, raising both of his hands above his head.
"Seriously? How have you gangers lived this long without being wiped from the face of the planet? You're probably the biggest joke among all the other gangs. Everyone laughs at you and not because of your appearance, but because you have nothing to offer other than a few 2-bit jokes and pranks. If this were a gang battle, you'd all have been dead before I-"
Hildegarde, in fact, did gloat and mock too much as she was distracted by Ozob's false surrender to dodge the rocket that shot out of where his nose used to be. The rocket slamming into Hildegarde's face and exploding in a shower of fireworks and knocking her off-balance and to the ground. Ozob just walked over to the prone outlaw and slammed his foot down on her stomach, pinning her to the ground.
"You talk too much.", Ozob noted. "How about another point-blank rocket?"
Ozob reloaded his clown-nose rocket and just stared at the outlaw, Hildegarde's eye widening in shock. Ozob just stepped down, harder, and squeezed the air from Hildegarde's body.
"Looks like it's your turn to become a firework.", Ozob noted. "Enjoy this snot-rocket, you bitch!"
Ozob fired his nose cannon, but Hildegarde twisted sideways and caught the rocket with her left hand. She turned it around and launched it back at Ozob, aiming for his crotch. The rocket planted itself into Ozob's 'meat and veg' and launched the clown upwards and backwards, the larger man grabbing his family jewels in the process. Hildegarde jumped back to her feet and charged the hobbled and bent over Bozo, her ample chest slamming into his face as she tackled him and knocked him back even further. She just brought her knee up into his face before landing a bone-crushing roundhouse kick to his chest, the blow sending the Bozo flying backwards into a pillar. Rather too calmy, she just grabbed Ozob by the collar and slammed the larger man into the pillar over and over until any signs of consciousness in his body were gone. Ozob soon drooled into the sandy floor of the arena.
"Are you not entertained!?", Hildegarde asked the cheering crowd.
Her body-suit was still soaked and it showed off her assets. Some of the camera drones aimed at fanservice and others aimed at her face as it twisted into a scowl. Hildegarde just walked out of the arena through one of its exits and left Ozob prone and unconscious in the dust. This was too easy, she'd let them get a few hits in for fun and games, but this wasn't even a fight. If she'd been actually trying, they'd have died in the first few seconds, but this was for entertainment and she knew how to put on a good show. A little drama and a little suspense before she crushed her foes.
"And The Genocider is the winner! Hurrah! If you ask me, she wasn't even taking this seriously! Regardless, Hildegarde moves onto the next round against the newly knighted Sir Vincent of the Crown's Guard!", the announcer announced. "We'll be taking a brief intermission, so go on and take your bio breaks and refill any of your concessions!"
V just sat back. Hildegarde was playing around again. Take some hits, reapply those hits back even harder. Decimate her opponents. If this had been to the death rather than the knockout, Ozob and his crew would've been dead several minutes earlier. He had one trick up his sleeve, though. Hildegarde didn't like fire. He had several incendiary grenades on his person and those would do nicely if he could keep her burning for long enough. He just needed to use his wits. None of the Bozos had Chipsets, and he did. So he had some kind of advantage over them. He also had Johnny.
A few moments later, Hildegarde reentered the combat field in a new body-suit, this one with even more embellishment, gold metal trim spiraled up from the middle of her body-suit and up to her breasts and around her nipples like a shining metal bodice, seemingly drawing even more attention to her large chest. She'd also changed her jacket to a more ornate version and wore somewhat shorter gauntlets that didn't run all the way to her elbows. Her standard plum-purple combat pants remained and her military-style boots were armored at the toe and heel with shining gold metal plates.
"Oh, Vincent, where art thou? Have you had second thoughts?", Hildegarde cooed mockingly calling out V.
V just left the stands and headed down into the bowels of the arena, taking a straight-forward path through the tunnels towards the other side of the arena and into his own starting area. He had a few ideas on how to Rope-A-Dope the outlaw into submission, but some of those hinged on Johnny being able to take control after he'd inevitably gotten his ass handed to him. He just walked up the stairs into his starting zone. He sighed and looked over at his opponent. This was going to suuuuck.
"Ladies and gentlemen! The Genocider vs. Sir Vincent! The Legendary Solo herself against the Protector of the Crown! Let the match... Beeeeeggiiiiiiiinn!", the announcer shouted. The Monarch Trumpeters once again blew on their horns starting the fight. Siegfried leaned forwards in anticipation, he really wanted to know how good V could fight. He'd been informed that V could take some hits and keep on going. He just needed to know how much.
"Okay, V. I can activate four of your core-processors. Empathy is locked in, but I can force another one, how about: Reflex, Constitution, and Dexterity.", Johnny noted.
"How?", V asked.
"I'll have to go radio silent. I'll still be here, but I won't be able to appear to you or talk to you. You'll be on your own, all I can do is swap core-processors for you..."
"What do I have left?"
"Strength, Focus, and Charisma."
"I doubt I'll need to talk my way out of this. Hildegarde wouldn't listen to me anyways... Why are you being so helpful all of a sudden?"
"Look. I don't like how you've sold yourself out to the Corpos, but if we have any chance of humiliating Hildegarde in front of her daddy and her daddy, then I'm all in."
"And you'll still be able to take over if I get my ass kicked?"
"You bet, now get moving!"
V had taken a few moments to talk to Johnny, which had been helpful, but hadn't actually been helpful as Hildegarde had already unleashed several dozen rail-gun shots towards him in the meanwhile. He dodged them, twisting his body acrobatically and leaping off his starting balcony onto the arena floor. He landed gracefully and took off, pulling both of his firearms and duel-wielding them. He shut off his Constitution Core for the moment and activated Focus instead, his eyes now being able to see through his cover and track his opponent. He aimed and fired through a pillar, surprising the plum-purple outlaw with gunshots. She dodged them and ran around the opposite side of the pillar and slid behind one of the short walls.
"Oh, V... Finally learned how to use that Chipset? It only took you two years...", Hildegarde mocked.
V just shot at her again, this time blowing out the wall near her head. She ducked the blast and scrambled around the wall and back behind another pillar.
"Looks like I"m actually going to have to fight you. Okay, V. Don't hold back, because I'm not.", Hildegarde mocked again. Ionizing Radiation spiked, the outlaw beginning to glow in a violet aura as all of her Core-Processors activated at once. Full power, no holds barred, a beat-down.
V just dodged from his cover as the outlaw flew over his head accelerated by her own Reflex core. Her fist slammed into the pillar near his head, knocking a large chunk of concrete loose in the process. V backflipped away from her, getting some distance and firing off shots from his Monarch 3516. Hildegarde just swatted his bullets out of the air and continued to gain on him with inhumanly enhanced speed and dexterity. A bone-shattering punch launched towards V's gut, the hapless merc dodging out of the way at the last second, the air displaced from her punch skimming past his body. He took this chance to stick an incendiary grenade to the back of her outstretched hand. As the outlaw pulled back in surprise, he delivered a kick directly to her tits and knocked her back from him.
"Wha-What?", Hildegarde stammered as she just looked at the grenade stuck to her hand. She shook it a few times, but the device didn't move, it just exploded at point-blank range with a fireball engulfing her body. "Gyyaaaaauuuugggh! V, you fucking bastard!"
The explosion and fireball knocked Hildegarde off balance and backwards, the outlaw stumbling for a few seconds as she burned. She backflipped a few times in the chaos, slammed into a pillar and staggered off into the arena in a panic. V traced her movements and fired a few more penetrating shots from his Monarch 3516 that continued to bombard the plum-purple woman as she stumbled towards one of the pools of water before falling in flailing. V just tossed another incendiary grenade into the pool, the water's surface now also on fire. Hildegarde still needed to breathe, so this wasn't going to end well for her. He deactivated his Focus core and reactivated his Constitution core.
V just crept slowly around the burning pool of water. Hildegarde didn't resurface. He idly wondered if he'd actually won this fight. He also feared that he'd actually killed her this time. He could see Siegfriend standing up and looking down upon him, the same hereditary scowl engraved on his face. V just continued to creep around the pool, searching for any signs of movement beneath its surface. He jumped backwards as a hail of rail-gun bullets shot out at him, some of them striking him in the chest and shoulders. He retreated back behind cover as Hildegarde launched herself out of the pool at mach speed.
Hildegarde had apparently forgone any kind of fireproof or impact-resistant body-suit this time as most of her clothing had been burned off. Only the stylized golden trim remained and still outlined her massive assets, looking like some kind of metal bikini. Both of her gloves were gone and only her combat pants and eye-patch remained. Her cybernetic feet and arms were fully exposed and really didn't look human at all, the dull-metallic limbs looking militaristic and her feet having the same three-toed design as his own, albeit slightly narrower. V just tossed another incendiary grenade, this one being shot out of the air immediately and exploding in the middle of the arena, covering the area in sporadic blobs of flame.
"Ooh... It's been a while since I've had to fight like this, V. If you'd had done this two years ago, this world would be very different...", Hildegarde mocked. "Don't get too distracted by my chest decorations..."
Hildegarde just launched towards V again with accelerated speed, the hapless Crown's Guard stumbling backwards and tossing his last grenade, this one sticking itself to her ample chest. Hildegarde just looked down for a second before ripping the grenade off herself and throwing it back towards its source, V dodging as the grenade exploded. A few bits of flaming napalm landed on his armor and burned for a few moments ineffectively. During this, Hildegarde had closed the distance and proceeded to fire six shots at point-blank range directly to V's gut, the merc stumbling backwards as he took the hits.
V expected there to be pain, but there was none. His Constitution core had numbed all the pain for him. He felt nothing. He just leveled his eyes with hers as he quickly disabled his Reflex core and activated his Strength core. He just punched Hildegarde in the chest, denting her metal bodice and knocking her away and onto her back.
"Well, that's uncomfortable...", Hildegarde noted from the ground as she tried to bend her bodice back from the blow. It was painfully crushing her left breast. "Come on V, aim for my head, I can take the body-shots!"
V just ran over to her and kicked her in the side, the outlaw reeling from the blow. He raised his foot and slammed it downwards towards her face. A skull-crushing blow. Jericho would be able to fix her smashed head, right? Right. Unfortunately, Hildegarde just rolled sideways away from V's foot and spun herself back to her feet before unloading another dozen shots into his body, the gunfire staggering him, but not knocking him prone. He just took the hits and continued slowly towards his prey. Overloaded, his Constitution core shut off and was replaced with his Reflex core again. He dodged the remaining few shots, but felt the pain from his previous injuries. He winced and staggered once again, limping away from the gunfire as quick as he could. Hildegarde closed distance with V again, this time cold-cocking him in the face before aiming her rail-gun at him at point-blank range against his temple.
"You lose.", Hildegarde's gun just clicked, out of ammo. She stared at the gun for a moment before pistol-whipping V in the skull instead, the Crown's Guard taking the hit and falling prone onto his hands and knees.
V just attempted to crawl away, but the outlaw just yanked him upwards into the air by his armor. She proceeded to slam her knee into his chest spiking his body higher into the air before she slammed him into the ground, twisting around and landing a back-breaking elbow-drop into his spine. Out of either pity or for sheer entertainment, she also slammed a MaxDoc into his body and healed him before picking him up again and throwing him head-first into a nearby pillar. His head shattering the concrete with a resounding 'crack'.
"Don't die, V. We've only just begun...", Hildegarde hissed as she looked at his battered body.
V shot up, using the last of what his Strength core could offer and lunged at Hildegarde. He slammed his Monarch 3516 into her throat and pulled the trigger, using up the last of his ammunition for the gun. Hildegarde pulled away at the last second and wrenched the gun from his hands, tossing it across the arena.
"Not again, V. Not again... You had your chance... But you failed."
V just pulled up Archangel and retried the same attack, this one succeeding and the rubber bullet smashing into Hildegarde's throat. The outlaw grabbed her neck in agony as the gunshot's concussive force caused her to retch and gag as she gasped for air. V quickly delivered a backhand that struck the plum-purple woman across the face, twisting her head around with her body following as she spiraled into the sandy floor. V's only cores left were his Reflex, Dexterity and Focus. None of the other ones left mattered. He focused on her as she tried to recover and fired a few more times with Archangel, the gunshots hitting her in the chest and gut before he ran out of ammunition. Hildegarde just reeled on the ground clawing at her throat.
"You done yet?", V mocked back. "Got you on the ropes..."
"Never...", Hildegarde gasped as she spat a wad of silvery synth-blood at V's face, the wad hitting him in the eyes and temporarily blinding him.
V tried to use his Focus core, but it also had run out, leaving him with only Charisma, Reflex and Dexterity. The outlaw just front-flipped onto her feet and delivered a bone-crushing roundhouse kick to V's torso, the impact sending him flying backwards into the nearest wall. He hit and slid down, just like he'd done two years ago. His body was on fire from pain. He struggled to get back up. He wasn't done yet.
Hildegarde just ran over to his prone body as he struggled to stand again. She just grabbed him by the head and threw him into the air, a Chipset-enhanced punch landing into his chest and tossing him farther away. She quickly caught his falling body and delivered another punch to his face, this time slamming him head-first into the ground; he saw stars upon impact. He raised Archangel again, but the gun was ripped from his grip and used against him in another pistol-whipping blow. He was lifted by his neck this time, raised into the air as the outlaw's left fist pummeled him. He felt his consciousness begin to fade.
"...Johnny...", V gasped.
"No, there's no Johnny to save you, V. You lose.", Hildegarde mocked.
V just used the last of what he could muster up. He kicked Hildegarde in the gut, staggering her for a moment before he ripped free from her grasp. He used the last of his enhancements to run around into cover. He frantically looked around for his target, but she was already in the air above him, her feet impacting his head and knocking it against the short wall he hid behind. He used the remainder of his Reflex core to trace her movement upwards as he wrapped his arms around Hildegarde's neck into a headlock. He pulled her into himself and simply began to twist her throat. Time to end this. To the knockout, or to the death?
"And that's Time-Out! An incredible show from both of our combatants!", the announcer announced.
V just let his grip go limp. What? What had happened? The match was over? Hildegarde just shoved V off of her before turning and walking out of the arena. V struggled for a moment, hesitating to run back over to her and finish the job. The match was over. They'd run out the clock. It would be unsportsmanship like to launch a surprise attack on her. He just sighed long and hard. Nobody had won. It was a draw. At least he knew he could fight the infamous outlaw to a standstill if it came to that, but then he realized that this was to the knockout, not the death and this meant absolutely nothing in the real world.
"Well then! I've never seen The Genocider so equally matched before! As a personal request from Monarch, Sir Vincent will proceed onto the next round against the Mysterious Nuclear Nomad!", the announced shouted. "We will have another intermission, this one for an hour. Souvenirs are in the gift shop!"
V just slogged his way back into the underground levels of the Arena. He had been beaten thoroughly and needed some time to recover. As he sat in the locker room, he slammed a few MaxDocs and began to heal himself. He sighed again heavily. Hildegarde was a tough opponent. Tougher than Adam Smasher and definitely more capable. If her gunshots had been live, he would've bled to death in the first few minutes. Constitution core or not, he was still human and still needed to have all the blood stay in his body. This was bad.
After taking some time to dress herself, Hildegarde rejoined her lover and her family in the VIP booth. She was once again dressed in her usual body-suit and jacket combination. She leaned towards Jericho, taking subtle notice of the stares she was receiving from both her father and brother. They knew. They knew how strong she'd become. More of a reason to trust her with the more delicate things in the corporation. Just like Adam Smasher, is what V had said and he was right. She was Adam Smasher, only better. And a lot sexier.
"Did you go full-power?", Jericho asked.
"I did. If we'd had the time, V would be drooling into the sand.", Hildegarde sighed.
"Alright, then. I shall also go full-power. Perhaps I will break your record for Fastest Knockout."
"Go for it. Teach him a lesson... In futility."
Jericho just flexed his fingers before standing up and heading down to the Arena floor. He walked slowly and mechanically towards the starting balcony. V would be here soon. He had the time to recover and he expected the merc to put on a good fight. A good fight, but a needless one, as he knew that V had no way of fighting against the Nuclear Nomad himself. His weapons had not been replaced with non-lethal versions, but he knew just how much pressure to apply. No nano-ceramic blades, V still had a job to do. The Gauss Cannon though, could shoot non-lethally and V would soon see his maker.
V stood up from the bench in the locker room. His body ached, but all of his core-processors were active again. He'd at least put on a good show if nothing else. Jericho was the "Final Boss" of this whole thing and he knew he couldn't take the cyborg down by himself. He activated his Dexterity, Reflex, and Constitution cores again in anticipation for the fight. He'd need the speed, dodge and damage reduction each one provided. He sighed and made his way towards his starting balcony.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Our final fight of the night is upon us! Sir Vincent against the Nuclear Nomad! A man against borg! Man versus machine! Let the fight... Beeeegggiiiiiiiiinnnn!", the announcer yelled into his microphone. The Monarch Trumpeters heralded the final match with gusto and fervor. The crowd cheered. Siegfried just sat back. Hildegarde stared at both of them from her seat. This was going to be interesting.
V readied himself, but it was pointless. Jericho had already shot at him with his Gauss Cannon. Radiation spiked for a moment before dissipating. V just took the full blast straight to his chest, the blow searing throughout his entire body, frying every last nerve-ending as he screamed silently into the void. He felt pain like he'd never felt before, he felt like his ancestors had felt that blow. V stumbled and staggered off the top of his own starting balcony in a daze. What the hell was that? Disintegration, but he'd managed to resist. He coughed a few times as he caught his breath, slogging behind cover.
V's cover was of absolutely no use to him. Jericho was already on the battlefield and simply punched through his cover like it was tissue paper and wrenched the Crown's Guard from his hiding place. Jericho just lifted him by his throat, leveling V to eye level, glowing blue eyes scanning him before throwing him bodily through the air across the entire coliseum. V landed in a heap against one of the columns before standing up and staggering to his feet. He saw Jericho slowly lumbering towards him and let off all of his gunshots, duel-wielding his guns and emptying them in a hail. Jericho didn't stop, he just shrugged off all the gunfire as if it were desperate tears cried in the rain.
V staggered to get up. He activated his Strength core, swapping out Dexterity for now since he had burned up all of his ammunition. As Jericho approached, he swung outward with a Reflex-enhanced punch that was amplified by his Strength-core. Jericho just caught his fist as it neared his face, staring at V's arm for a moment before delivering a counter-attack that slammed V in the face. The force from the punch ripping V away from the cyborg as he tumbled arse-over-tit across the sandy floor.
V just hopped up, looking around the arena in a daze as he tried to pinpoint the cyborg. He had no time to mess around as he was shot again by the same Cherenkov-blue blast that had seared his body. His limbs shook as his body was wracked with pain that not even the Constitution core could numb, the core deactivating and his Dexterity core reactivating instead. He quickly reloaded both of his guns before blind-firing a barrage of attacks at where Jericho had been, the cyborg dodging his bullets so fast that it appeared that they'd simply phased through his body as if he were a phantom. V just holstered both guns before taking off at full sprint around one of the low walls. He didn't even have the time to take cover before Jericho just smashed through the wall and stood in front of him again. V just turned around and ran.
V was caught immediately by the back of his armor. He was pulled back and slammed at the base of his skull, his vision blurring for a second before he was thrown back into the air, skeet-shot like a target by yet another blast of blue energy, and falling singed to the ground in a heap. His vision darkened immediately and the sweet embrace of unconsciousness wrapped itself around him. V's body tumbled a few times across the sandy floor like a ragdoll before it got back up again, a new kind of fervor in his eyes. A determination that hadn't been there before. Johnny-V was alive.
"How interesting...", Jericho noted, as he saw Johnny take over V's body. "I truly wonder what would happen if V were to take more damage now that an AI is controlling his body. Can you feel pain, Johnny?"
"Dunno... Let's find out!", Johnny retorted as he let loose a powerful punch towards Jericho. Johnny didn't need to switch between the core-processors, he could use them all whenever he wanted.
Jericho just caught his fist again, this time forcing Johnny-V's arm backwards and staring deep into his eyes. Johnny-V just punched again with his other fist, hitting Jericho in the side of the head. The cyborg didn't even wince or even notice the blow so Johnny-V just punched over and over again in futility. Jericho was taking no damage at all.
"Ah, I was afraid of that. Looks like only one of you can use the Chipset to its fullest. Either V or Johnny but not both. A shame.", Jericho noted as he wrenched Johnny-V's arm downwards and delivered a bone-crushing knee-shot to his chest bending the mercenary in half.
Johnny felt pain for the first time in decades. He had felt the rush of alcohol through his system, and the stimulus of nicotine when he smoked back when he'd taken over V's body back in the Afterlife Bar. Now he just felt pain, actual pain. Pain like he'd felt back when he'd failed to reach the helicopter in 2023. Pain that he'd felt when he was nearly ripped in half by Adam Smasher. Pain that he didn't know was even possible given his situation. The sensation ripped Johnny back into reality and this sudden realization of mortality shook him to his core. He didn't want to die. He did not want to die. This was bad. Terrible. Horrifying. Johnny-V just stumbled away in fear. If V died, then so would he. He ran away as fast as the Chipset would allow him to, he jumped behind cover in a futile attempt to protect himself. He thought he was just an AI, but he wasn't. He was real.
Johnny hid for a while, occasionally peeking over his cover to stare at Jericho, who didn't move from his position. Perhaps the cyborg was contemplating his next move. A game of chess. How to kill V, but not kill V at the same time. A test. A challenge. Johnny-V's body was suddenly struck by both shrapnel from the wall exploding and another Cherenkov-blue blast of energy. Johnny screamed. The pain shot through his body- V's body, burning every last nerve-ending. His arms curled up and limply grabbed at his face. All of his limbs shook and spasmed in agony as he felt V's skin begin to melt, as his skeleton began to disintegrate, as his entire being was shredded. The darkness of the void beckoned to him again, and Johnny knew that bleak nothingness that awaited the two of them. V was unconscious, so he probably felt nothing as his body began to fail; Johnny on the other hand felt sheer hopelessness and failure. He just felt white hot pain and relished the sweet relief that death soon would bring forevermore.
Jericho stood over V's body as it was wracked in pain in a fetal position, spasming and twitching. He just knelt down and slammed a MaxDoc into V's chest, healing any damage that had been done. V's eyes fluttered open and closed for a few seconds before closing gently. V or Johnny lapsed into unconsciousness, their breathing stabilizing as they laid unmoving on the sandy floor.
V would survive, this would be a learning experience for both Engram-V and Engram-Johnny, either could use the body but only one at a time as that was the problem with V, his Chipset, and his unique situation. Perhaps an RTG could further enhance his abilities, but he'd need V's consent before the surgical process was done. Jericho just stood up and walked out of the nearby exit leaving Johnny and V lying in the dust unconscious.
"And the match is over! The Nuclear Nomad triumphs over our Crown's Guard! Public Announcement from Monarch: Do not engage the Nuclear Nomad, this was a fight to the knockout. You will die if you try this outside of the arena.", The announcer announced. The crowd was silent for a few moments before they broke into loud cheering for the new champion. "Now that this is over, we thank you for being present for our First Annual Gladiatorial Games! Who would you like to see enter the arena? The Genocider vs. The Nuclear Nomad? Place your bets!"
Hildegarde and her family along with Jericho stood in the CEO's office of Night City's Monarch Tower. The plum-purple woman shaking her head as Jericho explained the entire immortality program. Both her father and brother were ready for the procedure, but both of them wanted to talk about V for some reason.
"He's durable, I'll give him that. Took some hits and kept on keeping on.", Siegfried noted.
"He did take several Disintegrations. He resisted them all, which is considerable.", Jericho stated, taking pride in V and his abilities. "Even at half-power, most would be reduced to ash."
"Honestly, he's annoying. He likes to faff about and take in the sights around the city, but when he's focused, he can actually get shit done.", Hildegarde sighed. "He's not the worst, but he's also not the best."
"He put up a good fight against you, Hilde. And you've got decades more experience than he does. I'm proud to see such a warrior join my ranks.", Siegfried added. Hildegarde sulked slightly. "Is he recovering?"
"He is. He'll wake back up in his own home, safe and sound.", Jericho noted.
"Good. Bring him to Monarch Tower when he's awake. Err- The one in London. I wish to speak to him.", Siegfried commanded.
"Done and done. You can count on me.", Hildegarde confirmed. V would be absolutely over the moon to see her in his house again. She knew it would be both fun and funny.
"Don't hurt him, though...", Sigmund added. "We need him in the best condition."
"Me? Hurt him? When? I'd never do such a thing!", Hildegarde replied somewhat sarcastically. Sigmund just eyed his older sister, he was wary of her and her methods.
"Regardless, I'll be back in the capitol. Send V to me when he's awake. Sigmund, get back to work here. There is much to be done. This little break between jobs has caused a surge of approval for Monarch. Take advantage of it.", Siegfried concluded before walking off towards the elevator and heading upwards towards his Royal AV.
"Well then, that's that I suppose. I'll take over here. Monarch's popularity rises again. Next year's Gladiatorial Games, I suppose that Hildie and you, Jericho, will fight each-other.", Sigmund noted.
"Perhaps. It would be interesting...", Jericho mused.
"It would end in a draw.", Hildegarde noted.
"Perhaps.", Jericho noted.
"Jericho!"
"Perhaps..."
Jericho and Hildegarde just stared at each-other before they both realized that they were playing with each-other. Perhaps there would be a fight next year, or perhaps that fight would end in something that could never be broadcast. Who knew, only time would tell. For the time being though, V would soon awaken in his home without a care in the world. All of this would be just a dream to him. A dream of grandeur and nothing more until reality came and smashed his face in. Only then would he realize just what he'd gotten himself into.
Chapter End.
A/N: I'm really trying to not make the EPILOGUE last longer than the actual story, but it seems like this is becoming its own Alternate Universe. I'd like to write about Jericho and Hildegarde, but I doubt anyone would actually read a Cyberpunk 2077 Fanfic that doesn't include any of the canon characters. NGL, Hildegarde is super-fun to write, since she's based on a real person. Jericho... Not so much.