AU NOTES

I tried to resist making this joke, but I guess I was not strong enough: "High time he inked the fuck up!"

Okay, okay, put down the stones! Enough of corny lines! For now, anyway.

Still, another chapter of Deibidoo and Jason. Enjoy it and see you later, Ryujin Maou out!

Chapter 04: [Beginning the path]

"How's the arm, feeling anything?" Jason asked, tapping the left upper limb in his hold.

David shook his head. "Not a thing, choom."

The Jungle warrior rolled his eyes at the expression and got his tools ready. "I'm going to explain how this works, and you better pay attention, choom." He capitalized the last expression, grabbing his equipment.

David nodded, excitedly looking at his extended arm over the kitchen's counter and at the tools that Jason unpacked from his leather pouch. He was sort of confused when he saw mostly manual stuff. Weren't tattoos supposedly inked into your skin by machines?

Jason noticed the curious look his young ward had. "That's why I deadened your arm, D. I'm doing the basic one, and it will already take quite a while, so sit your skinny butt down there and wait."

David blinked, curiosity all over his face. "Basic one?"

Jason took a small container from his bag and opened, revealing it to be a murky black fluid. He also got another set of tools that looked more for carving stone than anything else. "The tattoo is much more than just ink on skin, D. It is a representation of your skills and it trails a path; the path of the Jungle Warrior." As the tattooed man explained, David found himself enthralled by the words. It seemed almost mythical.

Jason dipped the metal tip of one of his tools into the ink and approached it to David's brown-toned skin, grabbing a smaller mallet. Touching the metal to the teen's skin and seeing no reaction, Jason lightly began to tap the mallet on top of the tool, the process almost rhythmic.

"The Rakyat ink their warriors' skin to display their skills and as a warning to their rivals. The greater the tattoo, the greater the number of skills that warrior has learned, and the deadlier he has become." He preached on, pausing his tapping to get a previously sterilized cloth to wipe the excess ink away. Once he cleaned David's arm, he pointed to his own arm, at the very base where supposedly the design began. "The warriors inspire themselves in the animals of the land, learning from them to become just as deadly."

"The Heron is a creature of grace that knows exactly how to move and can get its prey without exposing itself to danger." Jason explained, pointing towards the various bird-themed parts of his long arm-sleeve tattoo. "The Shark is a ambush hunter that attacks prey with a single, calculated assault and can live for long periods, even while wounded due to its incredible fortitude." This time he pointed to the many shark-themed inks, all of them very aggressive in nature. "And, finally, we have the spider: small, but deadly; the perfect assassin who can blend in almost any environment and survive." Lastly, Jason pointed to the various spider-themed pieces that compounded the complex tattoo piece.

David paid rapt attention to the entirety explanation, more so than any lecture or meditation session back in Arasaka. The way Jason described things, the zeal and passion behind his voice really conveyed the feeling that he very much cared for what he was preaching. It wasn't an uncaring monotone of an interactable interface or low-level AI. This was real human emotion. David also spotted a few other intricate designs that did not look like animals; a large knife, a masked-demon, a flaring flame. The pieces further embellished the tattoo, adding to the sense of wonder as Jason continued both the inking process and the explanations.

David lost sight of time, only noticing the darkening of the sky when his stomach grumbled. Jason had just about finished the work, the patch of black contrasting against his light brown skin. It was...inspiring. David never felt more invigorated than now, the ink feeling almost as if something that should have always belonged there.

"Now remember, D. You have begun to walk the path of the warrior." Jason stated, putting his tools aside. "Now, you are no longer a boy. Growing the tattoo means growing as a person and truly mastering skills, so I'm only going to ink you if you prove to me that you have done exactly that."

David nodded, still feeling euphoric over his tattoo. His arm had been regaining feeling back and it lightly stung, but the small pain was very much tolerable. It was also definitively worth it.

Jason sighed in amusement.

The teen did a light scan over his tattoo and then back at his friend's one. "There are some that are not animal-themed. Why?" His question was further pointed on by his focused stare on the knife piece and the flared flame on Jason's wrist.

The Jungle Warrior grabbed his tools and headed to the sink, turning it on to wash away the leftover ink and begin the sterilization process. "Some paths cross with others and some skills are very much teachable, but each warrior personalizes their own tattoos, as no one's path is equal to the other. We may have similar experiences, but we are still different from each other after all." His explanation seemed to suffice for the moment, David turning his gaze to his own left arm, seeing the tribal design wrap around his limb.

It was still very easy to hide for now, but the teen couldn't help but salivate at the thought of a full sleeve akin to the one painted on the Caucasian's left arm.

"Let's get some grub, then I'mma let you get some rest. I'm calling Vik to check on your mom, but for now you focus on your school, D." Jason stated, pacing for a few moments as he got used to the weird sensation of thinking your call. He also saw the bitter and frustrated face David was making. "Nah ah, none of that, Davy boy. As much as I hated school, I still finished college."

That got the young teen thinking, the surprise painted on his face making Jason swat him with a wet cloth.

"Thinking that I was some dumb muscle-brain, right? You lil' shit."

David flinched, trying to create an excuse and failing miserably at that.

Jason barked in laughter, shooing the teen away back to his room. Seeing himself alone in the kitchen, Jason sighed in satisfaction. He took his time by the sink, washing his tools and then setting them separated on a small basin with alcohol to sterilize them. Maybe a side-gig inking people would be interesting; he was used to part-time jobs more than full-on regular ones anyway, although if he were to think on it, being a mercenary/pirate-hunter had been his most stable and lucrative source of income as long as he could remember.

"I think you would like him, Riley. Bit of a hothead, but I guess that not everyone could be as cool and calculated as Grant." Jason whispered to himself. Doing his best cosplay of Captain America may have landed him in the future, but then again it wasn't exactly with his specific say in the matter. Should have never told the government about those vaults he found on Rook Island, but then Lisa had to sweet-talk him into "sharing his experience". Great fucking results that netted him.

The Jungle Warrior took a glance at his tattoo, eyes specifically focusing on the Rakyat blade. He wasn't really hurting for money, but his body was begging for more action. He had to admit, he turned into an adrenaline-junkie alright, but then again there were worse things to get hooked on, especially in Night City. It had been a long while since Jason had really flexed his muscles and went on a rampage. Still, there was plenty of time for him to get his hit on.

The smell of spent gunpowder in the air. The slick feeling of blood in his hands and a solid gun within his grasp. Doping in stimulants and sinking a blade straight through heavy layers of Kevlar body armor with nothing but the sheer strength of his arms.

He had arrived in Night City with this purpose after all. Taking care of David had been a nice and welcoming change, but make no mistake. Jason had arrived in NC to get rich while killing scum and not having to worry about the police breathing down his neck. If he got some fame for it, then so be it. His time with the Bakkers taught him whom he could massacre and who he had avoid messing with after all; Scavs and Maelstrom? Fair game to the butcher-express! Corpo suits and executives? Unlikely he would meet many out in a stroll, but it was preferable to avoid them unless doing a rescue job or hooking up for a one-night stand or whatever the equivalent of it was these days.

Jason smirked, amused. He was not an old man, but damn did these new slangs and terms got him somewhat twisted. Choom, choomba, input, output, mainput, gonk; some were easy enough to guess the meaning behind, but damn was it still weird hearing them.

[Edgerunners;]

[Edgerunners;]

The next day David diligently woke up early, ate some of the leftover dinner and left for school. He did secure his mother's jacket in his room together with its secret treasure. Taking the NCART, David observed the city through the windows, the view something he was used to, the teen dull to the usual happenings in the morning. It was how most everyone went about in their lives, after all one of the best mottos to follow in NC was "Don't stick your nose in other people's business" since that would be a great way to get introduced to the concept of chrome to the dome. Yet, he was only here today because someone got into his business.

He could still remember the rifled barrel coming out of that cyberpsycho's arm pointed at him. It wasn't to the point of nightmares, but it did decrease the quality of his snooze time. The memory of mama Gloria unconscious and bleeding ate away at his stomach.

Still, David opted to follow with Jason's advice and not fuck things up. As much as he hated to admit, he had not made proper use of his position as an Arasaka Academy student. Getting good grades by memorizing a bunch of useless info and pushing the occasional BD here and there, it had netted him some repeating costumers with some of the rich folk and the odd favor here and there, but nothing that grand in the scheme of things.

The ride today was rather peaceful and David did arrive at 'saka Academy with no problems. He took his place, aware of the myriad of eyes and optics that were focused on him. Maybe some rumors originating from Katsuo had been spread, the fucker had managed to get some personal info on David after all (shit that he only told the principal) so maybe they weren't expecting him to be present today – or ever again for that matter.

Still, he took his seat among the meditation chairs, only now aware of his lack of a usable wreath due to Katsuo's bullshit. It meant that he either had to borrow one from school (and pay a damn usage rental fee) or he had to watch his lessons through the screens of the computers. Needless to say, the mini-suits would be talking smack behind his back either way so he might as well avoid giving any more of his hard-earned eddies to these greedy corporate fucks.

Taking a deep breath to calm down and lightly touching the covered tattoo on his arm, David shifted a bit in his seat to get comfortable. He had to wait until it was time for the teacher A.I to begin classes, so there was nothing much to do besides waiting. He could hear whispering, but it wouldn't do for him to get angry at their nonsense now. As Jason said, he was now no longer a boy, the tattoo inked on his arm was a proof of that; and so, he had to walk the talk.

"Oh me, oh my. Look at that..." Katsuo's voice almost triggered something in David, the smug and condescending tone irking the teen from Santo very much. The blue-haired bastard was walking towards him, his usual cronies not far behind as they smooched off him.

David clenched his jaw, biting back an insult.

"You really are one shameless guy, Davy." Katsuo stopped right in front of David's seat, looking down on him. "Right back in school, not even two days before your mother was supposedly in an accident, right? You gotta have one chromed-out set of balls to lie through your teeth like that, choom." Katsuo's voice was loud enough that most everyone had surely heard him speak.

David frowned his brow and stuffed his hands inside the pockets of his pants, further clenching his jaw shut. His feet almost began to pace, but he managed to hold back from reacting to the taunts. Katsuo noticed that and tsk'd, leaving David alone for the moment. It wouldn't do to provoke him too much since the room had cameras and the A.I teacher was already alerted of their presence. The Tanaka young heir left for his seat, but not before giving David one last condescending glance.

The teen from Santo unclenched his jaw, almost fearful that if he tensed any further, he might have cracked a tooth. It took all his self-control to not swing on Katsuo, David almost feeling regretful that he didn't chip in the Sandy from yesterday, but he didn't need a reminder of earlier beating in the week he had received thanks to the blue-haired tech-cunt.

It wouldn't do to get detention or anything like that now, he still had to check on his mother in Vik's clinic. Besides, Jason put his trust on him to not act stupid and honor his tattoo, so David would answer that trust for sure.

The class went on without any new development, although David struggled a bit to follow through, since he had to use a screen and thus deal with a whole new set of challenges for his courses. Where normally you would your neural link and merely think about something while connected to the wreath, using a holo screen meant that he had to manually input just about every single command for any action that he wanted to take. It was hard and took a while to get used to, but eventually he managed to follow along the class.

As classes ended, David made a mental memo to get himself a new second-hand wreath. Maybe he could take some part job or push more BDs in school. Options for him to think on.

He left his classroom as soon as the lesson finished, noticing that it took a few seconds for the peeps connected to the wreaths to log out and fully regain control of their bodies. An advantage of not having your brain jacked into the net, he figured. He quickly got to stepping and left ´saka Academy, taking the NCART and heading straight home. The ride was also eventless, although there was some commotion in the division behind them.

Martinez got off at his station and was heading towards his home, observing the streets and the people in Santo Domingo. It was interesting to see the different interactions that people had, even if they were unaware of it. He did decide to stop by the Doc, just to see if the man had new XBDs for him to check out. As David reached the hole-in-the-all that Doc called a clinic, the youngster couldn't help comparing the dirty shithole to Vik's place; although Vik's clinic was underground, it was clean and well lit, unlike Doc's place, which had trash and filth just about everywhere.

Now that David noticed too, there was this sour smell in the air that stung his nose. He figured he must not have noticed before because he had been too distracted by the excitement of getting a new brain-dance or any other thing that could hold the attention of a teenager. The teen opened the door leading inside the clinic, seeing Doc seated on his own operating chair, the fucking bastard high as a kite while being sucked off by a joy-toy firmly wrapped around his crotch, the wet noise it released making the teen cringe hard.

David swaggered close to the lanky ripperdoc, keeping just out of reach to avoid any accidental accidents that would land him in the "splash zone". Cocking one leg up, David wound up a kick, hitting the older man square on the ribs and dropping him on the floor almost like a bag of scrap parts.

*KICK* *THUD*

"Eyy!" Doc's voice reflected with a hint of pained surprise, the man lifting his wreath to focus his eyes upon the organic youngster. "De fuck do you want, D?" His thickly accented voice made David smile. The man slowly picked himself from the floor, the joy-toy never stopping its motion.

"Can't you be decent for once and shut that shit off when you have visitors?" David questioned, a bitter expression painting his face at the machine's wet noises.

Doc scoffed at him, returning to his chair and waving the teen off. "Unless you are here to get a BD or chip in something, then I suggest you fuck off, choomba. I got better things to do dan waste time talking to a runt like you." He placed the wreath once more over his eyes, though his head was still pointed toward the teen.

David clicked his teeth, stuffing his hands inside his school uniform's pockets. "Real ray of sunshine, doc. What you got in BDs? I need to sell some off."

The ripperdoc took a deep breath and sighed in disappointment. He lifted his wreath away once more, the motion of his joy-toy finally stopping and relieving David's ears from the cringe-inducing wet noise. "Alright, alright, Davy, you win." The display racket above the chair buzzed to life, rotating until it hung above Doc a pair of normal-looking arms. The shady man lifted his current limbs up and let his hands touch the metallic belt, the metals snappily sticking to each other due to the magnetic force. A small hiss and the limbs disengaged and disconnected, exposing the connection socket for a moment as the man swapped limbs. Now if only he could do the same with that geriatric looking diaper and the joy-toy connected to his taint. "You had a JK last time, right? What did you do with the eddies? Don't tell me that Davy boy is hitting the glitter now that he is blowing through his savings to score some?

David immediately frowned, his expression something fierce, especially for a young teen like him. "That ain't your fucking business! You got anymore or not?"

The borg'ed ripperdoc smirked. "Aye, you right. Best we remain business-only." The man searched for a bit in his cabinets until he found the items that he was looking for. Three sets of BDs neatly packaged. "These ain't no JK, but dey can get you some scratch." The man placed them inside a brown paper-bag, almost handing them to the teen. Just before the teen could accept the bag, the man withheld it and waved it right in front of the teen. "Nah ah, my scratch first, Davy boy."

David furrowed his brow, his mouth twisted into an annoyed smile. A screen lit up in the corner of his sight, the teen invoicing the doctor some of his hard-to-come-by credits. Though, he was smart this time and only paid half of the normal amount.

The borg'ed elder narrowed his eyes as he checked his account. "Dis ain't a charity, choom."

David scoffed at him and quickly swiped the brown paper bag from him, quickly checking over the contents to make sure they were still in there; with how some mods and chrome worked, you could swear people were doing magic right in front of your eyes. "Tough luck, doc. I'll pay you back the rest when I sell these." He tried to put out his best tough persona, praying in his head that the pervert old man took the deal.

The borged doctor grumbled and made an ugly face, but eventually sighed in frustration and laid back on his chair. "Alright, alright. You can do dat." He slid the wreath back over his eyes and made a shooing motion with his right hand, the left one touching some buttons on the side of his chair. "Just don't forget to pay me back, or else I'll come over to flatline you, choomba." The threat couldn't be more clear, though the renewed motion of the joy-toy sucker did take off some of the edge.

David nodded, but noticed that the borg doc could not see him anymore, distracted by whatever he was experiencing through his own BD. David exited the hole in the wall the man called a clinic and made his way home, disgusted with the prospect of even asking for a wreath to borrow from the man. Knowing his luck he would get some daemon-infested piece of crap, so maybe it was time to expand his pool of contacts.

Reaching home, David was greeted to the sight of his empty and clean condo. He had always been a bit of a loner (not truly by choice), but it felt strange. Before he always knew that momma Gloria would always come back and be present, even if passed out by the couch, tired as all hell. Now it felt almost crushing, the loneliness. He always heard through gossip along the students' grapevine that most kids preferred to avoid their parents almost like they were the Data-Krash plague, but he could not imagine so far a life without the presence of his mother.

Sitting in front of his own computer, David threw the paper bag across his desk. He sat on his chair and took a deep breath before turning on the screen of his unit. The screen took a minute to light up, all the while David began fiddling with his previously broken wreath. Sure, the visor and synch chip were broken, but the connection port was still intact, as was the chip reader. He was not a techie type of guy, but he wasn't stupid. A screwdriver, some patience and a few manuals had him disassembling the broken wreath into its most important components.

Tinkering with the tech wasn't as difficult as it was time consuming for him (not mentioning the few electric shocks he received for his efforts), and soon enough he had a bootleg version of a wreath that could work, so long as it was connected to a computer and you were willing to deal with some input lag and the occasional freeze.

He connected the first BD from the bag into his scuffed project and the reader managed to work with it, though the display slowed the dance into a crawl. David had the pleasure of watching a 25-minute BD be extended into almost an hour, time which he managed to get quite well acquaintance with the sexual content of the video. He wasn't exactly content with it, but he had to push past his discontentment so make sure it was properly cut, else he could loose credibility among his clients back in school.

An hour later David stretched his arms up, trying to work out a kink in his back due to his slouched position over the screen. He looked over at the paper bag, fearing having to push through the other two. He hoped they were something violent or gore-related. There was only so much one person could withstand seeing genitals going at it before it became weird.

Speaking of weird, the BD finished, the scene paused on his screen being that of the "highlight" of the recording, a creampie from the chrome-enhanced guy into the tech-ed girl. David sighed and was about to pull the BD chip shard out when he heard a wolf-whistle.

The teen was startled and jumped from his chair, ending up on the floor due to the fright. He groaned a bit and glanced at the door, finding Jason to be leaning on the frame, an amused smile carved on his lips. He stared at the screen for a few seconds before he blinked repeatedly a few times.

"That is a money-shot." The Caucasian tattoed merc exclaimed in his amused tone, getting closer to the screen while leaning on the backrest of the chair. "I can't believe you people actually let these quacks close to your junks with drills and shit."

David cringed and groaned. "It ain't like that."

"I ain't here to judge, kid. You do you." Jason shrugged his shoulders and David felt like asking for a temporary flatline screen to appear to him. "Though between you and me, I'd not be too crazy about these." The Jungle Warrior pointed to the screen.

David cringed again. "Those ain't mine, I swear choom. I was hoping to pawn them off at school, get some eddies and stuff." The more he spoke, the more David realized he was only further digging his own grave, especially since the amused expression on Jason's face only grew the more he denied owning the BD.

"I'm sure you were, buddy. I'm sure…" He chortled and offered a hand to the teen on the floor, though before the offer could be accepted, Jason retracted his limb. "You wash your hands?" He jokingly asked, making the teen from Santo groan at him.

[Edgerunners;]

[Edgerunners;]

The duo was taking the NCART to reach Vik's clinic, David wearing his usual school uniform while Jason kept to a simpler combo of jeans and a deep blue shirt. They kept on making small talk with each other, David noticing that Jason would occasionally sweep his gaze across the entirety of the wagon. It was subtle and he only noticed due to his proximity, but it was either a quirk of the Caucasian or had another deep reason. He couldn't really understand the point, since their ride was filled with the usual amalgamation of people from NC. Low-level suits, people going to their jobs or returning from them, the odd punk and then the two of them.

They reached the station rather quickly, noticing how much more lively the streets got during the night. Well, it was only sensible that a place called Night City would have a high influx during both day and night times. Still, David was used to remaining at home during the nightly hours, as previously the most dangerous activity he was used to doing being a short walk through the neighborhood to get some exercise.

Walking through the small crowds and avoiding some spicy invitations from some of the more raunchy places, the duo was quick to reach Vik's clinic. The underground had more costumers now, Vik currently working on implanting some dermal plates under the skin of a punk.

Their entry caused the duo to gain some attention upon them, though it was quick for it to be dispersion on the teen and focused more on Jason. More specifically, along the length of his left arm, his tattoos clearly calling attention. It stood to reason; new ink normally meant new gang, and although NC had its fair share of household names, everyday new gangs were birthed and died along the streets and alleys here. Even now the dying far-away echo of a gunshot could be heard if one strained their ears.

Jason remained calm and collected, his amused expression never leaving his face as he headed towards one of the few empty seats. "Yo, Vik! We came for that check-up." His voice was unchanged too, the man not intimidated by the hard-looking figures present.

David wished to say he had the same confidence, but it would be a poor lie. He wasn't shaking in his boots, but he was certain his voice would crack if he were to say anything. Opting to avoid becoming a laughing stock, the teen merely followed along, trying to keep his face as neutral as possible.

Vik acknowledged them with a wave of his hand, eyes fully focused on the man being sliced away under his touch. Jason nodded and took a seat, motioning for David to do the same.

The teen did as instructed and sat down, taking the time to observe his surroundings, much like how Jason had done previously. To say that there was a mix of different people in the clinic would be an understatement; David could identify some 6th Street members, some Aldecaldos, and even one person proudly displaying a MOX tattoo along the length of their left leg. It was an impressive mish-mash of factions (specially since they didn't actively looked like they were on the verge of a gang war) present.

He wondered if Vik's place was considered a neutral zone by these groups, which in turn would grant him protection by proxy against any other groups that would be stupid enough to attempt anything on the ripperdoc. NC might be a near lawless land, but a rule to follow through was that you did not mess with ripperdocs; there were only some many people that could patch you up from a bullet hole and pissing off the guy that would be arm-deep within your guts searching for the lead bits sounded like a very bad idea if you enjoyed living.

David was pulled out of his musing thoughts when Vik loudly whistled, gathering both his and Jason's attention. "You two go on back there, I'll be with you in a moment." The doc was still busy slicing away at the guy on his table, but he spared a moment for the two.

Jason nodded in a thankful manner and motioned for David to follow him, the two heading to the backroom pointed by the proper-looking doc.

The following news that David would receive were bad, but the worse of the storm was yet to come.

[Edgerunners;]

[To Be Continued]

AU END NOTES

Send your reviews and give me your thoughts. I do prefer longer chapters, but currently my time has been rather limited for story-writing so I figured that shorter, but more frequent chapters should also do the trick. Yet I long for longer chapters.

…

Fuck!

Well, anyway, just a little something for this story and to get my mind flowing again.

Ryujin Maou out!