The burning California heat had taken the day but the full moon had brought with it the Chill of Night as Night City was now in it's natural state.
The Parties, The Night Clubs, the BD Clubs, and most of all the Street Races.
Night City was Alive, and The Danger was at it's height during this time of the day.
But for Maelstrom that is life, they had accepted Night Cities Culture fully and cranked that way of living past 11.
For The Night was everything at once.
It was fun, it was violent, and most of all it was a money making oppurtunity.
But to be part of Night City others had adopt they're way of thinking.
Such as the Heywood Valentinos, the always rivaling Animals in Rancho Coronado, The total opposites in 6th Street in Santo Domingo and the Tyger Claws in Westbrook.
But Despite that Maelstrom had made they're presence known in every district in Night City.
Even Pacifica had gotten a taste of the Cyberpsychotic Cult that was Maelstrom.
And Royces reasoning for it was simply.
"We got to equal out that Voodoo shit somehow"
As if that was proper reason, but he wasn't going to waste time arguing with Royce.
That's wasn't his job and even though he didn't care for Royce he still had to take his orders serious.
Because he had to work around Royces bullshit.
But Right Now wasn't the time to be worrying about Royce.
Now was his time to relax as he had been driving around Kabuki.
Driving around in his Yellow Thorton Galena "Gecko".
Usually Maelstrom wouldn't drive these Badland Customized vehicles, but he recieved this vehicle as payment for one of his clients in Maelstrom.
Said the car would fetch for a good price that would pay off the Cyber Deck implant he installed.
But Rich decided to keep the vehicle, it was good to get out of All Foods and hit the town once in a while.
The problem as always was getting the wrong attention.
But if you played your cards right and hit up the right spots for the right reasons even a Maelstromer could have some fun without having to gut others or put them in the ground.
Right now he was just enjoying the city lights while listening to some Electro pop music.
Yeah if Dum Dum or anybody caught on that he listened to this shit, he would never hear the end of it.
But right now it was just Him and the Road.
And that's all that matterd.
At least until he got passed by a flock of cars that were going 80 on a 30 as bullets went flying.
A Death Race as some strays got caught on his ride so Rich did the only thing he could do and that was to make the fuckers sorry for ever crossing him.
So Rich speed the fuck up as there was a total of 8 cars ahead of him.
But that wasn't going to stop him as he had already hacked the drivers themselves he just needed to decide they're posion.
As he followed them the first car he saw was an Archer quartz as he decided this fucker was going out by they're own stupidity as he hacked the driver and Rebooted his optics which caused the fucker to crash straight into a truck.
Next Vehicle was a Villefort Cortes V5000, as the bastard on the back of this ride was using a LMG blasting at the Chevellion Thrax Ahead of them.
The posion he decided on these 2 was the "Cripple Movement" quickhack as the drivers movements were locked in place as they're foot were on the gas pedal and they couldn't turn to save them selves as the Cortes back ended the Thrax as the Thrax Exploded upon getting tailended and crashing directly into a pole.
Both drivers and Shooters were dead.
The Next cars he followed were both Thorton brand as he was now targeting A Colby and Mackinaw.
He was going to make this quick as he Burned the Synapses of the Mackinaw driver as he went crashing over a bridge.
And the driver of the Colby was hit with Contagion as the driver died to suffocation causing the vehicle to stray into an abandoned building.
The Next Vehicle was a Villefort Alvarado as this driver was in third place as the shooter had recognized him and was now taking shots at him and his ride.
Rich was going to make them feel every inch of pain he was going to deal to them.
He hit the shooter with "Overheat" as he watched the shooters head burst into flames before his very eyes and then hit the driver with a Short Circuit as the driver spassed the fuck out and hit the side of the curb causing the whole vehicle to lose control and flip to its side and then fall on it's back as the whole car had flipped over.
And the last 2 vehicles he couldn't even catch up with but he did have a strong connection with the leading vehicle which was a Quadra Type 66 and he decided that he would end this just for the sake of getting 7 out of 8.
As he used Detonoate Grenade as the driver activated a grenade and blew him and his car up.
The now leading and only survivor of the Death Race he could not see and lacked a strong enough connection to care about killing.
So Rich left the last racer alive.
His mood was ruined and now he had to patch up his car when he got back to All Foods.
That's what he gets for just wanting a quiet drive.
While he was driving he couldn't help but think of the racers he killed.
Why the fuck was everyone in this town so fueled to get to an early grave.
He knew he wasn't one that should speak on such topic because of who he was associated with, he was part of the most dangerous group in Night City.
Fuck he and Dum Dum probably had bigger Body Counts then those posers and for sure went passed anything Royce or Patricia had to do to get in they're spots.
And that's to be expected they were around before Royce joined up with Brick.
He was just as much as an ass hat then he is now.
You know what, fuck it, simply driving wasn't doing the trick so maybe a drink would do it.
As he recognized what area he was in.
Kabuki.
The Kabuki area is very much a Japanese American dominated district one of its strongest income areas was "the Roundabout" a shopping center area that was somewhat of a mixed spot between Corpos, and Street Kids.
And who can blame because if yoy go west of Kabuki you end up in "Little China" poor area most normal poor income families live but if yoy North to North West yoy end up in 2 different spots.
The Northside Industrial District which was basically Maelstrom Turf and the Arasoka Waterfront where you will high tech and a bunch of pricks with large stick far up where the sun don't shine.
And Kabuki was in-between all of that which is what makes this little visit viable for Rich as one of the historical and popular Spots in Kabuki was a little bar.
"Lizzies Bar".
Of course The Mox weren't happy to serve Maelstrom, but they have something that He currently Needs.
Now though he didn't know what to expect.
It's been a long time since coming to this side, but who knows maybe lightning can strike twice.
For the most part finding parking at this time of hour was difficult at Lizzies.
Lizzies was always a standard quality when it came to BD's and Overall Material in this field.
Always having the Preemist of BD Makers and Editors around.
But the secret Sauce that nobody knows about anymore was actually the Drinks, the Original Mox Lizzy brought up made some of the greatest drinks in All Night City competing with even the Afterlife.
At least that was what he heard from gonks from the Afterlife after getting Flatlined for being on the wrong side of town for too long.
But he found a spot a block down from the actual bar as he walked his way to the parking lot and made his way to the front door.
And there was a line, he could just use his implants to get to the top and get in from there.
But he was trying not to bring attention to himself.
But that wasn't going to be Easy as he looked the part of a Maelstromer and was most likely going to get shit for it.
He had a makeshift Maelstrom Gas Mask on.
While also sporting Boostknit-polymer Military class Techgogs.
He was rocking a Psycho Fleweave long-sleave.
His old worn Punk Coat.
Secondhand Maelstrom Neotac pants.
And Electric Marble Ultralight Athletic shoes.
Let's just say, for a guy trying not to stand out.
He stood out like a fucking Neon blinking Sign for everyone to see.
As most people in line did one of 2 things .
Stepped aside.
Or decided maybe Lizzy's wasn't the best idea as they sped off to they're cars.
Eventually Rich made it to the front of the line and he was was stopped by the bouncer.
She had blue/purple hair tied up into knots on her head, she was pale like the full moon, and she had the Mox logo tattooed on her chest shown for everyone to see.
She repped her gang and she was damn proud of it.
She had a Baseball bat in her right hand as the finishing touch to show she was not meant to be fucked with.
Of course to Rich there are alot of people he can think of that could rip this women to shreds.
Buts that's just his critique of her weapon of choice.
"So What brings a Clank to a Mox protected territory" spoke the women as she showed all the confidence in the world.
"Hoping to start something" continued the women as she put on a grin as it started to make sense to Rich that this poor women was bored as all hell.l and was itching for a fight.
"Just a Drink is all" said Rich as his words put her excitement through the floor.
Even though she didn't show it with her voice her body language gave her away. he could see it all in her eyes, she had most likely been here in front for hours dealing with the usual customers and she was about done with the mundane activity. At least that was what she was trying to project.
This is why most Maelstromers got rid of they're eyes.
It was to show that they couldn't be read easily.
"Damn It All, Fine be boring, House Rules First, when you get in all pieces are confiscated until you leave, Importantly you go sit down and look at a catalogue, You See A Girl You Do Not Grab Her, You Request a BD and give the name you found in the catalogue.
Now that all house rules are down, Have Fun" spoke the Bouncer the doors moving behind her as he went inside and handed over his DR-5 Nova Revolver to the lady up front.
Now was a Time for him to enjoy himself.
So Much For a Silent Drive.
To Be Continued.