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Night City Legends
Act 2: Running along the Edge
Chapter Twenty One: Won't Spare What I'm Hunting For
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Laura sat back with a content sigh and reflected on the past year, leaving that old man for her boytoy had been the best decision she could have ever made. Sure he kept her safe and got her whatever she wanted but him quitting his job meant they were on the fast track to homelessness and she would be damned if she was going back to some filthy roach infested hovel to live in.
"I didn't miss anything did I?" She turned to see her new input, Sonny walking over with a pair of wine glasses in one hand and a bottle of red wine in the other. They were sitting down to watch the recap of last week's Watson Whore before watching the new episode that would air afterward. "I didn't catch the end last week," he winked and sat down next to her. Both were dressed in their evening wear, a silky nightgown for her and a similar matching shirt and pants for him, a little something she ordered for them a while ago.
He was young, much younger than her but neither cared, she could make his toes curl and he had a decent size… trust fund that paid the bills. It was so simple to entice this young man, to twist and wrap him around her little finger until he worshiped the ground she walked on.
"We might miss the end this week too," she whispered, scooting away from him and leaning against the armrest facing him. He started to grin when she lifted her feet and rubbed them against his lap with a seductive little grin. This was a weekly ritual for her, he hated this show but glady sat through it since she liked to play with him when she watched. It was a little game to her at this point, talking to him about it throughout and either rewarding or punishing him depending on his answers.
She had him on the verge of tears last week when she stopped to go grab another glass of wine and this week he brought the bottle with him from the kitchen. Who says you can't train your men?
A small window popped up in front of the man from his implant, alerting him to someone at the door. A quick check of the vid feed showed an NCPD badge being held up to the lens making him curse, "Ugh what the fuuuuuck!" 'Cockblocking pigs!' he screamed in his head before looking at Laura "Be right back!"
Laura smiled at her lover and spoke in a teasing voice, "I'll be waiting," which made him stand and quickly march over to the rear door while her own holo buzzed with a notification of its own that made her frown, 'why is the bank trying to notify me this late?'
Sonny grinned dumbly and made it to the door in half time, adjusting his hard on before opening the door. "Yes officers, how can-" Before the door could even finish opening, his head snapped back as a large fist slammed into his nose, sending him to the floor in a daze.
-xXx-
"So 'mano… when you called asking if I wanted to help with a gig, I kinda expected more… well gig," Jackie admitted as they sat at a small scopstand in Westbrook for the last twenty odd minutes. The free meal was nice but how in the hell was Naruto eating another bowl of ramen? This had to be the tenth one already. After the fourth bowl the scop slinger running the stand looked like he just won a lottery. Then after the eighth, Jackie thought the man would bust into a song and dance routine.
He hadn't been expecting Naruto to call him but he was more than happy to bank some quick and easy eddies with his bro. It felt like it's been forever since they hit the streets together and Jackie could admit that he was looking forward to it on the way. On the drive over he wondered who the fixer was, it was in Westbrook so Wakako was a strong possibility or maybe Regina Jones, she operated pretty close by.
So imagine his surprise when he showed up to the meeting spot and found the blond digging into a bowl of Ramen like his life depended on it. One mox had even stopped to ask if he could eat other things like that which made them both choke on their food.
The blond finished the one he was working on in a flash and burped, shooting Jackie an apologetic look, "Sorry Jackie, I've had a pretty rough few hours," the man looked alarmed and concerned for his friend but the blond shook his head, "I'll tell you about it on the way," standing up, Naruto paid the excited cook who acted like he didn't want the blond to leave and waved for Jackie to follow
They walked down the busy street a little ways before Naruto started talking, "So David knows about me and Gloria now," Jackie looked at him with an excited grin only to see the less than thrilled expression on his friend's face, "he didn't take the news as well as we thought."
"Damn bro, what went down?" He bumped into a man talking on his holo and turned to mutter a quick apology to him, only to be glared at. Jackie glared back and considering his build and the large machete he had peeking over his shoulder, won the staredown.
The blond huffed stepped around a staggering drunk trying to do some questionable things to a public dataterm, "He tried to break my nose, caught me pretty good too. We fought, well he tried to fight me."
Jackie winced and grimaced as he told him that, "didn't knock 'em around too bad did you?"
"I started too Jackie. David tried hitting me again and when I grabbed it I thought about breaking his wrist." He admitted softly, but just couldn't bring himself to hurt the teen. Considering the difference in strength, it felt like hurting… well hurting a kid, "I felt like a bastard when I realized it though," he huffed as Jackie patted him on the back.
"Damn 'mano, so what'd your girl have to say?" Jackie felt like saying 'I told you so' but kept it to himself, no need to kick his choom while he was down. As a mama's boy himself, he had a sneaking suspicion that the kid wouldn't be as thrilled as they thought. Jackie felt like he would have tried to flatline whoever tried putting the moves on his own mama too… at least until she whooped the shit out of him.
"Gloria messaged me a little while ago, said she talked to him and just to give him a little time." He told him. She actually sent him a little more than that and called him a little bit before Jackie showed up but that was between them. "Hopefully once the dust settles me and David can clear the air."
"I'm sure it'll work out, Davids a good kid."
They turned a corner and Naruto stopped to lean against the wall next to a budget arms vending machine and several S.C.S.M.s. "I hope so… but let me tell you about this gig."
Jackie nodded and joined him leaning against the glowing panel advertising the, "by the way, who's the fixer?" He questioned in a low tone, as not to be overheard by any nosy passersby.
"Ah yeah about that," Naruto gave him a sheepish grin, "this is a favor for a choom so there isn't really a fixer."
The man suddenly frowned and gave him the stink eye "Wait so you're fronting the cash for this?" Naruto had already sent him the scratch up front but had he known this wasn't a regular gig but a favor he wouldn't have charged his hermano at at. He glared a bit when the blond looked away guiltily, "oh come on dude,"
"Its technically a gig," Naruto chuckled weakly, knowing what Jackie was thinking, but he didn't feel right not paying him, especially for what they'd be doing, "Gotta reclaim a stolen wedding ring, jack into the apartments subnet to plant a virus and probably cause a little mayhem while I'm at it," he finished off with a little grin while Jackie shook his head with a dramatic sigh.
"Well I do love causing a little chaos," Jackie mused jokingly before crossing his arms, "what's the plan?"
Naruto's grin got wider and he reached inside his vest, to produce something that Jackie knew all too well. "Damn, I didn't know you joined the porkies.'' he jokes as Naruto flipped it open holding out an NCPD badge, "you gonna be Officer Uzumaki?"
"Nope," he produced a business card with a little flourish and held it out with a shit eating grin plastered across his face "Detective Lin-Wang at your service,"
-xXx-
"I can't believe that actually worked," Jackie mused as he looked down at the man he'd just sucker punched.
Naruto snickered, "I can't believe he's still conscious, what happened to that cannon of a right arm you were talking about?" He asked while taking a large step over the bleeding man who babbled behind his hands and started to scramble away from them.
"W-who are you people!?" Sonny finally cried out his voice sounding odd behind his now bloody hands, "Get out now before I call the police!"
Jackie followed Naruto in and shut the door, growling at the man with his best 'fuck around and find out' glare "Shut up pendejo or next time I'll smack you around like I mean it," he towered over the man who instantly folded under his stare and smirked before glancing at his partner, "and these guns are still locked cocked and ready to rock 'mano, aint trying to kill this gonk or anything."
Naruto quickly pulled his personal link from the slot on his arm and jacked into a panel near the door, following the directions the client had given him to inject a daemon into the system. "Speaking of guns," he spun around and threw several shuriken at the woman who was trying to head towards a nearby drawer. She was already reaching for the handle when they impacted the wall and table around her, one even pierced the drawer just inches from her hand which made her jerk back in fear with a cry.
Before they knew it, both Sonny and Laura were parked back on the couch holding each other in fear. Every now and then they would glance behind them to look at the hulking Valentino looming over them while the one dressed like an escaped convict stood in front of the vidscreen still playing the new episode of Watson Whore.
Naruto took a few moments to look at the pair that he and Jackie had basically taken prisoner in their own apartment. The man was around his age, maybe a bit younger, he had one of those weird hairstyles that shaved the sides with golden EMP threading running from his matching shard slots just behind his ear. The woman was much older, probably old enough to be this guy's mother, hair dyed blond and if those tits were real then he'd eat his right shoe, even without pervy sage's training he could tell that she had some body sculpting done.
"Oh damn I forgot this came on tonight, turn it up a little," All three turned to stare at Jackie with shock, disbelief, and pity for a second making him a little self conscious, "What? I like Watson Whore!" He defended, mostly to the blond who sadly shook his head with a look of pity on his face "It's a nova show!"
"What's to like about it?" Everyone turned to look at the man sitting in his now bloody pajamas, his nose was most likely broken and holding it to stop the bleeding looked painful. He must not have expected his grumbling to be heard and quickly tried to sink down into the couch cushions as he noticed their stares.
"Hey Holmes, you sure I can't just shoot this one?" The pair sitting on the couch cowered when Jackie drew his Unity pistol and pressed the barrel against the back cushion behind them, "hey, I don't think I heard you right puta, what'd you say about my favorite show?" He shot Naruto a smirk when they were looking away that made the blond bite his lip.
"It- it's a good- no a great show!" Sonny quickly corrected himself under Jackie's intimidation, hoping that would appease the growling ganger.
"Now tell me, between the third and fifth season, which one was best?" The man looked confused only for Jackie to quickly reach out and snatch him back against the couch, pressing the weapon against his head "I SAID WHICH SEASON WAS BEST?!"
"they both sucked!" The man cried out, his face a mess of blood snot and tears now as he feared for his life, "season two was probably the best because they canned the original star and replaced her!" He sobbed out, holding onto the large gangoons arm that wrapped around his neck.
A few tense seconds passed before Jackie hummed and loosened his arm a little, "yeah you're right on that… I'll let you slide this time," both of them let out a small sigh but weren't able to relax as Jackie continued with a mean smirk "Now sing the theme song,"
"What but… but-"
The pressure around his neck returned and Jackie pressed the gun to his temple again, "I said sing the fucking song pendejo and so help me… and you better hit those high notes too,"
The vidscreen with Watson Whore on it flickered and showed a new face, not that anyone noticed at the time, "Err… am I interrupting something?" Everyone turned again to look at the source of the new voice and they were greeted by a woman sitting in a runners chair in a tank top and a pair of boxers wearing a glowing face shield with a holographic overlay over her face. It had a question mark blinking slowly on the front as she crossed her arms in confusion at the scene that greeted her.
Having been mostly silent until now, Laura's eyes widened as she recognized her, "Ofelia I should've known," the woman hissed out, going from scared to pissed at the sight of her before sneering, "What's wrong? Now that my husbands gone you don't have anyone to follow around like the lost puppy you are? I don't know why he put up with a burnt up freak like you always throwing yourself at him."
"That's Ortiz to you, cunt," hissed the woman though the vidscreen, the glowing holomask over her face flashing a middle finger while she did the same with both hands, "and run your fucking whore mouth while you still can bitch, I've blocked every single signal you've tried sending out," the overlay of her mask changed to a cat emoji, "Your all alone with my two chooms here,"
Jackie was still holding Sonny with his arm and grinned at the woman, waving at her with his pistol while Naruto gave her a thumbs up.
"And let me be the first to tell you just how fucked you are," Ortiz cackled over the call and typed away at something they couldn't see below the cam. "That secret account where you stashed the eddies you stole from Rico? Well I hope you enjoyed it, because that shits been seized by the NCPD." That made her eyes widen, she had just gotten a notification from the bank that there was an issue with her account and that she needed to contact them during business hours the next day. "Oh yeah bitchface, all the eddies you tried to cut and run with are gone. Maybe your little boy toy will be happy to let you rob him like you did Rico."
"I didn't take anything from him," she denied, noticing the look Sonny was giving her, "I know the law isn't your strong suit Ofelia, but with my husband dead all of his possessions go to his widow, me." Her tone was smug and condescending, speaking to the other woman as if she were a child. The money did hurt but she'd be able to get it back soon enough once she spoke to the right people.
"Bitch call me that again and I'll post this little vid I found in your loverboys personal files to the Net," She threatened, clicking something. Ortiz vanished from the screen and Laura was mortified to see security footage of her doing a striptease for Sonny. It lasted a few moments with her saying the most embarrassing things for him then fast forwarding, stopping several times to show them going at it like a pair of depraved animals while clearly on MDA.
"God damn look at him go," Jackie mused patting the now red faced Sonny on the shoulder, who didn't know whether to be embarrassed or not as his secret homescrolled vids were played, "oh damn, what's that one called, might try that later,"
"I believe it's called the superman position," Naruto replied with a shrug, "kinda like the wheelbarrow but a lot tougher." It was also one of the many things Cami had taught him in their bedroom escapades and wasn't the easiest position for either party. He took a moment to realize what was going on and shook his head, "hold up, can we move this along Ortiz? I didn't come here to watch this!"
The visor over Other face flashed to show a smiley face with its tongue poking out, "Fine, fine, I've already saved myself a copy, I'll send you the highlight reel later,"
"That's not…" Naruto suddenly had a flashback to his earlier visits to Rico, when he worked with 6th Street and remembered how Rico and Ortiz went back and forth like this. If he kept going it would only encourage her. "Nevermind,"
"Now where was I? Oh yeah!" Her smiley emoji changed back to a middle finger, "Oh Blondie I think you know what I want you to do!" She sang childishly while making a 'go get em' gesture with her hand which made Naruto turn to the woman on the couch with a cold look on his face.
As usual, the way his choom seemed to be able to flip a switch and go from easygoing to ice cold unnerved Jackie. It was still better than the broken dead eyed stare he had after Cami died but it could still send a shiver up his spine. Sonny saw him stepping towards his output and tried to move, "H-Hey what are you-" but Jackie cut him off and pulled him back, once again tapping the top of his head with the unity pistol.
"You stay right where you are or that bloody nose is the least of your worries," he told the gonk darkly.
Hundreds of scenarios flashed through her mind as the orange wearing goon got closer, "What are you going to do to me?" She couldn't hide the fearful quiver in her voice as she pushed herself further into the couch and quickly glanced around for anything that could help her. Ortiz was a freak and there was no telling what sick and demented thing she told them to do to her. Oh God was he going to do her.
Naruto stopped in front of her and reached down, "Give me your hand," she looked at him as if he demanded her soul and clinched her fists tightly to her chest which made him repeat himself slowly with more force, "Give. Me. You. Hand," Shaking, she slowly extended her shaking right hand only for him the frown, "the other one,"
She trembled at the thought that he might break her fingers, something 6th Street was already known for doing, Rico in particular. She'd witnessed it herself a few times and had never been so turned on in her life. Just as she never thought that she would end up suffering that very same punishment.
The blond took her hand and pried it open with little difficulty, looking a little annoyed as he had to do so. Naruto could feel how tense she was as he held her hand out and gripped her finger by the rings she wore, making him sigh, "Lady calm down, I'm not going to hurt you alright?"
Laura blinked as he slipped the rings off, her wedding rings. Simple yet elegant and worth a pretty ennie, they were gold and none of that synthetic gold either. Even the gemstones were real, how Rico managed to get it she never knew, "H-Hey you can't take my rings!"
"You're lucky that's all I'm taking," Ortiz snapped with her arms crossed and sounding like she wasn't too pleased to do so, "I asked the gonk to carve a dick into your face with his knife but he won't do it." A little devil emoji flashed over her mask several times which made the woman pale, "I'll just have to make do with that and besides, l can do more than enough damage to you my own way,"
Naruto looked at the rings for a moment and slipped them into his pocket before turning to Jackie, "Come on choom, we did what came to do," and they had. For Naruto all he really had to do for this gig was plug that daemon in and get the rings back. Ortiz had indeed asked him to disfigure the woman but he wasn't going to do that to her. Afterall, what Ortiz would do was bad enough. There was a bonus for tormenting the input however, which Jackie was happy to take care of.
Jackie nodded and released Sonny with a slap to the side of the head, "that's for being a pendejo, Watson Whore is a masterpiece," he stood back and pointed at the man with a grin, "and next time I see you, you're singing that theme song." Naruto ignored the exchange, he also couldn't stand Watson Whore but knew better than to bring it up to the man, turns out that Jackie was the reason Cami got into the show and not the other way around like he expected.
The two of them left the apartment and made their way to the elevator to leave, passing by a couple that lived on the same floor. Jackie greeted them with a cheerful wave while the blond answered his holo as soon as it beeped. "I appreciate the help Blondie, consider us even oh and tell that hunk choom of yours the same. If I wasn't already locked down I'd take him for a spin!"
Naruto snorted lightly, "I'll be sure to let him know," he doubted that Jackie would take her up on that offer either way, if he was anything it was loyal. Hearing that, the other man gave the blond a curious look making Naruto glance over to him, "I'll tell you in a sec Jack. But hey, what do you want me to do with the rings?"
"Uh just send 'em over or drop 'em by whenever you get the chance. But I gotta run, got a bitch's life to ruin. See ya!" Just before he ended the call, he heard her call out again, "Oh and if you ever need a tech or a netrunner just give us a call!"
"You got it," with that, Naruto ended the call and turned back to Jackie who was leaning against the elevator wall, "Ortiz said thanks for the help and that she'd take you for a spin if she wasn't taken," he told him which made Jackie sputter and laugh as the doors slid open, getting odd looks from the people waiting outside as they exited and quickly left the building, only to feel a few drops of rain hit them, "damn was it supposed to rain today?"
Jackie held out a hand to feel it, "small chance, I'm just glad it's not acid rain," he muttered thinking back to how one of his favorite jackets were ruined when he left it out by mistake, before nudging the blond next to him, "But i'm not too surprised about your client 'mano, the chicas just cant help themselves when it comes to your boy Jackie Welles," he said with a fake sigh before flexing an arm, "These guns are a blessing and a curse."
"Well put your guns away before you cause a scene," Naruto joked back as they made their way back down the street and over to where Jackie parked his bike near the Noodle stand. "Let's get outta here before they call the police or something."
"What're you gonna do?"
Naruto hummed and looked thoughtful, it was still pretty early and it wasn't like he had any other plans since he made sure he was free today, "Probably just go back home and call it a early night," he finally admitted with a shrug then patted the pocket with the rings inside, "I'll just send these to them in the morning."
"Early night?" He looked at Naruto with a raised brow, "It's not even close to six 'mano, come on it's been forever since we chilled," Jackie nudged the blond several times and grinned, "come on let's go have a couple drinks at the Coyote,"
"You know what, one drink wouldn't hurt,"
-xXx-
Several hours later…
-xXx-
Gloria let out a little yawn as she turned at the corner of Los Lobos and Skyline East in Vista Del Ray. There wasn't much going in this early in the morning. The Megabuilding down the road was busy with several people coming and going but then again they never slowed down with the amount of people living in them. With the street clear of any other traffic save for a few scattered cars or trucks, she pulled off a quick U-turn and parked right outside the large double doors of the Coyote Cojo, underneath one of the street lights. She's heard of the Coyote Cojo more than a few times, while it wasn't exactly a Valentino Bar it was affiliated with the gang and considered one of the safer places to get a drink.
Shrugging off her EMT jacket, she felt the weight of her newly acquired chrome safely hidden away in one of the hidden pockets she managed to sew underneath the lining, 'your definitely staying in here,' she mused with a hidden smirk, folding the coat up and sticking it in the foot behind her seat before she got out, straightening her usual black v neck along the way.
That was when she was greeted by an odd sight and just somehow knew her mainline was involved in one way or another. Handling upside down from the bracket holding up the bar's sign was a pale man with a price of tape slapped across his mouth. It looked like someone had drawn a small mustache and a pair of lips on it as well as stuck two thinner pieces above his eyes to give the unfortunate gonk a pair of large eyebrows to go along with his new mustache. For a moment her EMT training made her worry if the gonk was alive or not but when she got near, she could hear him snoring away.
"This is definitely his handy work," she mused, snapping a quick picture from the road, making sure to get the sign as well. Danny would get a kick out of this, he was always showing her stupid shit on the Net while they were on shift.
Surprisingly enough, the doors were unlocked and most of the place was dark save for a few lights here and there. The owner must still have some strong ties with the gangers if they weren't worried about leaving the place unlocked like this.
'It's been forever since I've been to a place like this,' she thought looking around at the dimly lit bar room. It had the faintest hint of that bar smell too oddly enough, she half expected it to be a lot stronger, the scent of alcohol, smoke, and potentially bad decisions. But considering her line of work, it didn't even faze her in the slightest.
"Heey…" her attention zeroed in on the orange lump currently slumped against the bar l, slowly pushing himself up. "Bars closed… and if you-"
Naruto was mostly backlit by several green neon lights behind the bar and rubbed his face as he slowly spun around on the barstool to face her, "Glo-ria?"
Gloria looked at him with a mixture of pity and maybe a little amusement as he swayed a little, "Naruto, what have you done to yourself," she said, finding the way his face lit up instantly the moment he realized she was there to almost make up for having to come get him.
"Glo-ri-a-chan," he purred with a massive grin splitting his flushed face as he slid off the stool and made a beeline towards her, "I was just thinking about-" Naruto cut himself off with a yelp and fell forward, vanishing behind the pool table that seemed out of place between them. "Ow, what the… oh damn, sorry Jackie," Gloria made her way over quickly to check on him and peeked around the table to see her lover trying not to step on a large man that was laying on the floor grumbling, one arm rubbing his side where Naruto kicked him without even waking up.
"You ok baby?" She asked, making him look over at her again as he stood up. He wobbled a little bit and leaned against the edge of the table, knocking one of the striped balls to the side where it rolled into the corner pocket with a thump. "Had a little too much to drink?" The woman hummed playfully as he looked over bashfully.
"Maybe a little," he admitted looking around for a second to get his shit together as Gloria stepped around to him and rubbed her hand across his shoulders, "but now that you're here everything is right with the world," the redhead looped her arm around him and Naruto drunkenly leaned into her embrace, "but… what are you doing here?"
"You messaged me… and called… and sent pictures," she told him with a teasing tone and couldn't wait for him to sober up completely to show him exactly what he sent.
He groaned weakly, arms snaking around her sides and around her back, "I didn't send anything weird did I?" He really hoped that he didn't do something stupid and send a dick pic or anything.
"Nothing I didn't enjoy… well most of them anyway," she gave him a peck on the cheek and sniffed him, "you need a shower," he cocked his head to the side and sniffed his shoulder, "oh and you know there's a half naked gonk hanging outside by his feet right?"
Naruto's eyes widened a bit, "oh shit, I forgot about Kirk. He still breathing?" Kirk had the unfortunate luck of annoying him with what he claimed was a 'sure thing'. The gonk of a fixer seemed to forget that his last 'sure thing' ended with him pissing off the old lady of Westbrook and trying to skip out on the payment.
"Well… he was snoring,"
That made Naruto giggle a little, "He ends up like that more than you think," they separated and Naruto looked around again, "guess I should let him down soon. what time is it?" He started to check but she beat him to it and held out her wrist, showing him the simple digital display reading 4:29 AM. "Oh… shit, I'm sorry I must've lost track of time." He rubbed his face for a second with a groan, "I didn't mean to wake you up,"
She shook her head and leaned against the pool table next to him leaning on him gently with her head against his shoulder, "no it's ok, you didn't. Work actually called me in."
Naruto froze for a moment, "Oh? Even though you took the entire day? That sucks."
She nodded, finding the little pout on his face to be adorable, "Cyberpsycho clean up, some over chromed soldier snapped and zeroed a bunch of NCPD in Corpo Plaza. I don't know exactly what happened but it was a mess." Naruto felt her deflate a little against him and run his hand across the small of her back, "I heard some media was there too, I don't know if it got broadcast though,"
"So you were called in to help with the clean up huh?" She nodded against his shoulder and he lowered his bloodshot eyes and leaned his head against hers, "it… must've been a mess for them to call you in like that… I'm sorry you had to deal with it." His hand snapped out to grab the edge of the table as he leaned a little too far back, making the redhead look at him with a amused glance, "I'm good,"
"I'm sure," she hummed softly before stepping away, pulling him with her. "Come on, let's get you home and in the shower, do you need to grab anything?" She looked around a bit before squeaking when he reached around and grabbed her ass with his left hand. "Babe!" She stared at him with shocked eyes and looked a little embarrassed, "not here!" Her face started to match her hair when he squeezed a few times until she swatted his hand away playfully, "We can play after your shower, you smell like booze,"
"And you smell delicious," he purred deeply, giving her a swat on the rear, loving the way she closed her eyes and slowly opened them while biting her lip, "but you're right, let's head back." He pulled her close, their bodies flush against each other as he leaned forward and kissed the side of her neck once then licked it, "you taste delicious too," he grinned and stepped back from her, "a little something to hold me over until- oh fuck!" He went down again.
Gloria covered her mouth with a gasp, "are you alright,"
Laying on his back, Naruto leaned up and realized he forgot about his choom sleeping on the floor. After a moment he couldn't help but giggle drunkenly as his legs draped over the man who barely even grumbled this time, "You mind us making a quick detour?" The blond asked after a he finally stopped giggling, "I don't wanna leave him here, his place is right down the street,"
She found it sweet that he didn't want to leave his choom like that and gave him a little shrug, "I don't mind. My cars parked out front, we can put him in the back seat,"
"Nah I can carry him, he lives almost right next door," the blond explained, pointing to one side, looking thoughtful and then pointing in the opposite direction, "thataway," she shook her head and helped him to his feet, wondering just how he was going to carry his choom when he was just barely able to move in a straight line and from the look on his face, Naruto had come to the same conclusion.
"Ah screw it,"
Gloria tried not to laugh too hard as her mainline reached down and grabbed the man by the back of his belt, hoisting him up like luggage in an admittedly impressive show of strength. His feet and arms still touched the ground but either way she found it really amusing. "Oh hey, is this his? She motioned to an old red duffle bag laying on the floor that Jackie had been using as a pillow. "I'll grab it for you."
Naruto looked at it for a second and took a breath, "actually it's some of my stuff… don't know why he's sleeping on it. You mind putting it in the car?" She smiled at him and stepped over to pick it up before they both headed towards the front door. This wasn't the first time he and or Jackie woke up from a drunken stupor at the Coyote Cojo so he knew how to lock the place up for Mama Welles or Pepe, he even had a key of his own. "Damn it Jackie," he cursed, setting him down to finish locking the door. Sometimes you had to pull the door while turning the key.
Gloria stepped over to her Galina parked right in front of the door and hoisted the bag in the back seat, it wasn't too heavy but it was full of something. She wondered what was inside and reached for the zipper to take a peek but spotting her work jacket laying just beside it she stopped. She wouldn't snoop through his stuff like that, they both had their secrets. When the redhead shut the door and turned back she shook her head as she saw Naruto lift Jackie up over his shoulders in a fireman's carry, "this has got to be our strangest walk ever."
The walk was a little longer than Naruto remembered it being but neither one of them complained since they were walking together… or swaying in the blonds case.
"He lives in a garage?" Gloria asked as she watched Naruto fish a small set of keys from his pocket and stare at them to figure out which key it was.
"Jackie keeps his bike and a bunch of his stuff here," he told her while looking at each key one by one, 'hope he doesn't have anything he wouldn't want me to see out in the open,' he added mentally. "I think he moved in a little while after I moved into H4… ah here it is!"
She watched as he held out the key then looked down to where the lock was just above the ground. With his choom on his back, she could see the gears moving in his head as he tried to puzzle out how to unlock it with his choom still sprawled out across both shoulders and held out her hand, "don't worry baby, I'll get the door for you,"
"Thank you," he stepped back and watched as she knelt down to insert the key, raising the door with ease to reveal the inside. It was indeed a garage, Jackie's bike was parked in its usual spot just inside the door next to several tools and a few boxes of parts he planned to install sooner or later. The other side was his workout corner with a handful of bodymod posters from brands that went out of business over twenty years ago.
"Oh this is definitely a mancave," the redhead exclaimed from what she could see before Naruto stepped through, lugging his choom inside and flipping a old switch to turn the lights on. Letting her see the rest of the room. Further back were several crates stacked on an old desk, a punching bag bolted to the ceiling and what Jackie claimed were collectable Valentino nudie posters on the wall, "oh yeah, definitely a man cave. Which poster do you like the best?"
Naruto knew exactly which posters Gloria was referring to, a well kept trio of very beautiful, moderately tattooed, lightly chromed and barely clothed ladies taped to the far wall above Jackie's desk. He kept a straight face as best as he could, a feat considering that he had to concentrate to walk in a straight line and went up to the desk where he knew Jackie hid the key to his 'bedroom'. The blond took his time too, trying to think of the best answer he could give to that.
"Well they're pretty good," 'fuck' ok maybe not the best start, "but none of them even come close to you," ok, good save.
"Aw." Gloria gave him a fake bashful look as he unlocked the door. As he did, she stepped over to get a better look at them, "the only reason I ask is cause I can totally pull off the look." He nearly fumbled the key as he pulled it from the lock and when he shot her a look, the redhead winked at him.
Instantly his mind was filled with the most enticing images his alcohol addled imagination could conceive. How hard would it be to find a Catholic vestment like that, he had to wonder… the thought of her wearing nothing but a garter belt and stockings underneath was oddly thrilling to him. Then he pictured her dressed in a pair of the shortest shorts he could imagine, laying across his couch with her sultry gaze and nothing else. And lastly, her kneeling on his bed, as bare as can be with only his bedsheets to barely hide anything. "Does it have to be only one?"
"Just you wait till later,"
Her tone suggested one thing yet her expression suggested another, tossing him into the interesting realm of fear and oddly enough arousal… he was really learning new things about himself today. "I'm looking forward to it,"
Through the doorway they found Jackie's living space, a small brick room not even half the size of their mega building apartment. His new Terminal lit up the far corner, its screensaver showing a bunch of odd green flashing symbols raining down a dark background. There wasn't really any room for a bed so Jackie made do with an old couch that he swore slept like a dream.
"Ok Jack, let's set you down nice and gently," the blond mumbled to himself before imagining the look Jackie would have if he just tossed him and giggled stupidly. Not that he would do his choom like that, "oh shit!" The man slipped out of his grip and landed heavily on the edge of his couch, making the blond scramble to catch him and shove him back over the edge with a huff.
"Eh wha da?" The man groaned and opened his eyes to look around, just as if not even more drunk than the blond, "Naroodo?" He slurred with a puzzled look on his face before grinning at him, "Rudo! Hell o-of a night huh… hehehe," the man murmured to himself for a few moments in his own drunken haze when Naruto went to step away.
"Hooold on a minute broder," Naruto felt Jackie snatch him back by the holster, nearly jerking his leg out from under him. Thankfully his Overture wasn't there but the gonk was fucking his his synthleather holster and it wasn't completely dry yet. "Just wannada say sorry 'bout da whole… punching ya thing earlier."
Naruto glanced back at Gloria who had been looking around curiously before but was now looking at them with a raised eyebrow. "It's a… strange story," he told her with a little weak laugh, "accidentally messed up his new coat and… ah, tell you later."
"It's all good, I got you back." Naruto then told the man, laughing a little at his confused stare, "don't worry, you'll know when you wake up," Jackie gave him a little 'ah' and nodded, it made sense.
After a second both burst into childish snickering but had to stop for breath when both felt a little nauseous. Both were thinking that they probably shouldn't have let the other drink as much as they did. Letting it fade, Naruto recovered first. "But yeah, it was pretty nova," the man returned his dopey grin then held out his fist, swaying slightly where Naruto met it half way with his own, "I'ma head back to my place choom, I'll get up with you later ok?"
Jackie nodded slowly and got comfortable while Naruto turned to leave, but before he could head towards the door the other man lurched over once again and grabbed his wrist. "Hey, hey, 'mano, listen to me. Listen to me 'mano… I know your…" Jackie slowed down to burp once making Naruto snort childishly. "I know you're worried about what… what happened between you and your boy. But don't worry…" Jackie thumped him heavily in the side with an arm and laughed dumbly, "It's all gonna work out bro, Davy's a good kid and you make a nova fuckin stepdad… so don't-" he looked like he was about to vomit and froze, making Naruto ease away. *Burp* "Ugh sorry bout that, so don't keep beating yourself up over it…
"Jackie… I,"
Naruto couldn't form the words and felt his throat tighten as he looked down at his best friend. 'Jackie as he searched for his pillow, latching on to it like he normally did to sleep with a slow chuckle, "Créelo mi amigo… if my oldman was half the dad you are, maybe mis hermanos y mi little hermana …would still be alive." Jackie spoke, propping himself up a bit to talk.
All he could do was stare, taken aback once again by his choom and stared at the lunk before smiling worriedly, "I hope it all works out too Jack,"
As he turned to face Gloria, ready to head out and talk about the Borg in the room, Jackie suddenly reached out again and slapped his leg, making Naruto jump with a curse, "Hey hey bro, don't forget about… about the things ok?"
Naruto cocked his head to the side, confused, "What things?" He and Gloria shared a glance and shrugged before turning his attention back to the man, "Don't forget what Jackie?"
He grumbled a few more times and chuckled, "you know the… things. Damn it… I can't think of the word, the gold things," he groaned a bit as he racked his mind before trying to snap his fingers, giving up after failing a few times,, "engage…ment, that's it. Don't… forget the engagement rings we grabbed today,"
Being much quicker on the uptake than her lover, Glorias face went completely red at the implications. "Wedding rings!?" The words just slipped from her lips before she even finished processing and seemed to echo around them.
It took Naruto a little longer to realize but as the gears in his head started spinning, any and all hints of inebriation left his body, "W-why the hell did you word it like that, you gonk! " he sputtered, quickly spinning to see the look on her face,"baby hold on, it's not what you're thinking! At least not yet!" In his panic, Naruto broke down and told her some of what happened and why he had the rings.
Several minutes later, the couple were silently riding in the redheads Galina as she drove them both home. Naruto slouched in his seat head resting on his palm against the armrest between them. "Hehehe," he broke the silence by snickering and looking at her with a grin as her cheeks went red again.
"It's not funny Naruto," she tried to sound firm, keeping both hands on the wheel and not looking at him but after a moment couldn't help but glance over to see the shit eating grin he had, "Stop it, come on it's not!" Gloria whined a little at the end but couldn't help but crack a smile too.
"Hes… he's gonna wake up with a black eye tomorrow and… and" Naruto couldn't contain it anymore and cackled, holding has side as he replayed it in his head, "and was cause you punched him"
After he stumbled through the explanation about the rings, she glanced at his choom and saw the pleased with himself grin that just pissed her off. Almost as if he were mocking her… and she might've thrown a punch and nailed the large man in the eye before she realized it.
Gloria pouted a little bit and tried to turn away a little to hide her smile, "Well I am a Heywood girl."
"Hehehe," Naruto laughed slowly, "my Heywood girl."
The two lapsed back into a much more comfortable silence and just enjoyed each other's company on the ride. She had the radio tuned in to Bodyheat 98.7 and heard one of her favorite songs start to play, making the blond look over when she excitedly turned it up a little more, "I love this song," she explained, humming along with the melody as Naruto nodded slowly.
"What's it called?"
"Delicate Weapon. It's one of Lizzy Wizzy's singles," She told him before silently singing along with the lyrics Naruto couldn't tear his eyes away from the sight and just stared at her shamelessly with a dumb smile plastered across his face. Midway through the song when the vocals faded a bit, Gloria glanced over and saw him staring, "what?" Her cheeks darkened a little, "I love Lizzy Wizzy's songs,"
"I didn't say anything… but keep going, I'm enjoying it." He wiggled his body around to face her a little more and continued smiling at her, idley trying to think of he knew what the singer looked like
"You're lucky you're a cute drunk, you know that?" Her trusty compact hatchback didn't leave much room between them so when she glanced over there was less than a foot between their faces. "But promise me you won't overdo it again ok?" She gave him a small pleading glance as she asked that. The thought to ask how much he drank crossed her mind but she doubted that she would like the answer and kept it to herself.
"I'll try my best, I promise." She smiled at his reply and reached down, placing her hand on his leg only for him to slip his hand under hers, his fingers intertwining with hers. "I guess I did have a few too many," he blamed Pepe, the guy was just too good at his job. Half of his drinks didn't even taste like booze and he watched the man mix them himself. There had to be a trick
"Was it because of what happened yesterday… with David?"
The question was like a splash of cold water and Naruto squinted his eyes, "Eh a little bit,"
"I talked to him," she saw him rub the back of his head sheepishly from the corner of her eye and squeezed his hand gently, "he's…" Naruto looked over to see her trying to find the right words, "he's still a little upset but he knows that hiding us was all on me." The conversation they had was nearly as awkward as the one they had when she found David's first BD, "and he shouldn't have hit you,"
That made Naruto smile a little and give her a short little chuckle, which earned him a look, "you know, I don't even care that he did. I mean…" he brought her hand up to his lips, "I have been doing some very dirty things with his very sexy mom,"
"You tease. But stop now I'm trying to be serious,"
"Me too." They could see the lights of their mega building in the distance, towering over most of the smaller buildings and overpasses in Santo Domingo, "But I understand how he feels… finding out that someone you looked up to has been lying to you," the lies, omissions, and half truths he'd been fed growing up and even later might have been for the best but it still hurt either way… he really should've seen it coming. He straightened himself up and faced forward, letting their arms rest on the tiny console between them, "I really am one Grade-A-Motherfucker," after a split second he smiled at her as she was about to speak "and I've already made that joke,"
Gloria plushed her lips and pouted a little, "Damn," she thought it was clever too. "But I promise you it's not that bad, David just needs a little time to process… everything."
"I know, I'll be here whenever he's ready," before he knew it, they pulled into the parking structure below the building and Gloria parked in one of her usual spots a short walk to the elevator. As he climbed out and leaned against the open door, watching her grab her work coat out of the back, "you know… I think I'm forgetting something," The redhead glanced at him then motioned to the duffle bag, "no… Well yeah, that too." Grabbing it from the back, Naruto slipped the strap over one shoulder and met her at the front of the car, "but I swear I'm forgetting something else."
"Did you leave anything at the bar?"
Looking down at himself, he realized he was still wearing Jackie's spare clothes and nodded, "That must be it," he stuck his tongue out and grinned sheepishly, "got caught in the rain and left my usual clothes hanging up to dry, I'll grab 'em later."
-xXx-
[TommyBoy: Hey guys the Boss' back.]
[TheColRed: Really, how'd he look? Wait a minute, what time is it?]
[Randel: a little after Five. He sober yet?
[TheColRed: oh hey choom, thanks. Didn't know you were up. Wait, what do you mean?]
[TommyBoy: I'm pretty sure he's hammered. Ms. Gloria is with him though.]
[Randel: Messaged him last night to let him know the paperwork was finalized. He…ah. Well, I'm not sure exactly what he sent back but I think he said he loved us. I'll just get up with him later.]
[TheColRed: lol. The boss is a softie. Yeah better leave him be. I sure as shit ain't going to be the one to cock block him]
[NoodMakerAiko: How do I mute this motherfucker? I just got to bed a few minutes ago and you guys are killing me with these notifications.]
[Randel: Sorry Aiko]
[TheColRed:¯ \ _ ( ツ ) _ / ¯
[TommyBoy: 8===D
[LemmeBFrank: : ^ ) Loading attachments…]
[TheColRed: what's that? JESUS FUCKING CHRIST BOY! you ain't right!]
[TommyBoy: Fukin lol!]
[Randel: I'm so sorry Aiko.]
[NoodMakerAiko has left the group]
[Randel: that's fucked up Frank]
-xXx-
"Go on in there and take a shower," she laughed , giving him a swat to the rear in return for all the times he'd done the same, "I don't want my man smelling like a Broseph,"
That made him grin widely, "hehe you called me your man!" He hummed while heading towards the open doorway to his bathroom, unwillingly taking a small detour into the side of his desk since he was looking at her with that grin on his face. "Ow shit!" The blond cursed, wincing and rubbing the spot on his hip while a few little trinkets shook violently and fell.
The redhead bit her lip, not wanting to laugh out loud at him hurting himself, "I got it, I got it," she stepped behind him and ran a hand down his back while sitting her coat on his chair. "I'll straighten that up, go on and shower," Gloria then smirked and pecked him on the cheek with a wink. "When you're done I'll kiss it all better for you."
Before she knew it, his clothes were left in a pile in the sink and there was a high pitched squeal coming from around the corner. "Ah ahh fuck! cold! oh God, fuck that's cold!" As soon as the water hit him the blond came alive, trying to move in every direction at once before pressing himself against the equally cold wall knocking his soap off the small ledge. If there was one thing that Naruto knew for certain it was that whoever said taking a cold shower would help sober you up deserves to be kicked in the balls.
Over the sound of his shower, he heard a stifled giggle and turned his head to see Gloria leaning around the corner, "having a little trouble in there?" She teased which made his already flushed face turn redder, "oh look you dropped the soap,"
He eyed it then her, "you wanna bend down there and get it for me?" Her response was to slowly ease back around the corner grinning, staying just far enough to peek. Steam started forming between them when the water finally heated, he made a quick adjustment to the temperature and grabbed the soap much to her enjoyment and started getting clean.
"You mind if I grab a drink?"
That made him laugh while scrubbing away at his hands with soap "sure, you know you can grab whatever you want," She knew that but she was still polite and wanted to ask before disappearing around the corner. Gloria then waited a little and eased back around to mess with him again only to be met face to face with the now soap covered blond who caressed her face and pressed his lips to hers.
"Glorias being a perv!" He joked in a teasing tone, retreating back into the steam with a laugh as she bit her lip to keep from laughing. The redhead couldn't help it once she saw herself in the mirror, he'd left a patch of soap bubbles on each cheek and another on the tip of her nose that she quickly wiped off, "You know I'm gonna get you back right?"
"I'm looking forward to it!"
She shook her head and stepped back out into the rest of his apartment, looking around at the things he collected while stepping to the minifridge. Right off the bat the first thing she noticed was her mijos school jacket folded neatly across the back of Naruto's chair, she would have to remember to take it with her when she left.
"The hell?" she raised an eyebrow when she opened it and the first thing she spotted was a plastic container of strawberries, "how are you eating all these strawberries?" Every time she's been over here there's been a container, hell he'd given them a few the week before and she took one to work for lunch. Grabbing a couple, she looked through the rest of his fridge while chewing on her snack and found the selection kinda meh.
"Baby, remind me to take you grocery shopping, there's a good place on Landre Street." Gloria called out, snagging the lone NiCola sitting inside next to several cans of RealWater and a half eaten slice of pizza.
"Lingerie shopping!? He called back, half confused but mostly sounding excited
"No! The shop on Landre street!"
"Wait, isn't that place a grocery store? They sell lingerie?"
She could hear him snickering in the shower and knew he was messing with her, "you know I could go and flush the toilet while you're in there,"
He went silent, the sound of the shower being the only thing she could hear, "I love you and you're pretty," she finally heard him after a moment, making her grin in victory. It made her cola taste even sweeter.
"I love you too Na-ru-to," Gloria said his name in a breathy tone, grinning at the thump of him dropping something followed by several curses. That drove him mad and she knew it, wanted it to... and God knows after yesterday and today she needed it. Above his fridge she spied his radio and flipped it, tuning it to 98.7 Body Heat Radio to hear the end of a US Cracks song playing, not exactly her favorite but she did like they're on stage personas.
Just a few minutes later, Naruto cut the water off and ran his hands over his hair to partially dry it. "Ooh ooh ooh I love this song!" He could hear her exclaim excitedly as synthpop started playing lightly. The sound of her soft footsteps reached his ears before the volume was turned up a little and she started singing again. "Another evening I'll be sitting reading in between your lines!" The blond stepped out and grabbed a towel, still listening as he dried off, "Because I miss you all the time,"
Wiggling a finger in his ear, Naruto looked down to see Glorias shoes sitting right in the doorway, "hmm?" Just a little further away was her socks, shirt, pants, bra, and panties forming the greatest trail of metaphorical bread crumbs that he'd ever seen. "Turn away! Another way to feel what you didn't want yourself to know!" He followed the trail and her voice right up to the nook where his bed was tucked away.
"!" The cheesy line he was about to say died on his lips and all he could do was stare.
"And let yourself go. Is that a compromise!" sitting on her knees near the middle of his bed, Gloria noticed him and fluttered her eyes at him as she continued singing, "So what do you wanna do, what's your point of view?" Her hair was hope in her usual messy bun and that was it, she held his sheets loosely against her chest barely hiding anything from him. "I told you I could pull off the look!" She winked before grinning and pointedly looking down at the towel he covered himself with, "Looks like someone likes it," he let it fall and she beckoned him over with a finger
-xXx-
David groaned as he dragged his feet over to their dropbox next to the door. He'd already had a rough night and couldn't really stay asleep so why the hell was Doc messaging him telling him to check his mail. The temptation to ignore it was strong but in the end his curiosity won out and he rolled out of bed with a huff. 'Might as well,' he thought while rolling his half open eyes mentally, it wasn't like he could go back to sleep anyway.
'What the hell doc?' He quickly snatched the tiny package out of there realizing that it was an XBD. It was a good thing his mama wasn't here, if she had found it first there were only so many things it could be and every one of those ended with him getting smacked with La Chancla.
-xXx-
Gloria gasped out, her body quivering uncontrollably forcing her to break the kiss she had been enjoying as her input continued to thrust into her from above. Her hands desperately clawed and his shoulders leaving thin red scratches in their wake before falling to the bed to pull at the sheets below her, "Oh God, baby I'm gonna…" she stopped when his lips touched her neck, teeth nipping at her collar bone making her release all the more exhilarating.
"I'm… close too!" He grunted between thrusts, one hand rubbing her thigh while supporting himself with the other. The small gasps she made every time he sheathed himself completely within her drove him closer and closer to the edge.
"Inside!" Gloria cried, suddenly reaching out to grab his face and pressing her lips to his. Naruto reached up and took one of her hands as they broke the kiss, rolling his hips against hers as she bit her lip, "Do it inside… cum in me baby!" With a strangled gasp she arched her back up, her legs shaking as he pulled back and slammed into her one last time with a shuddering breath.
"Mmm papi, I needed that so bad!" The redhead groaned as he leaned down rest his head against hers with their noses barely touching, "God my legs are shaking,"
"Papi?" Naruto repeated, grinning against the crook of her neck, nipping at it which made her squirm a little and nod with a little blush.
"I was trying to be sexy but now that I said it I'm so embarrassed," she gave a little laugh as she said it but Naruto only shook his head and kissed her, letting her know just what he thought about it, "ok, that definitely made it better." Gloria ran her arms around him and felt small indentations on his shoulder which made her feel a little bad, "and I'm sorry about biting you so hard," Both of them had small marks from where the other bit them but the blond had continued to be creative with where he left a mark. While before it was to keep their intimacy a secret now it was their little game and she felt like she went too far.
"It's fine Glo-ri-a-chan," he snaked his hand between them and rubbed her thigh close to where they were still connected, he had left a playful mark of his own teasing her before and smirked, "I left you a pretty nice one myself,"
The pair soon found themselves laying together with Naruto laying on his back with the redhead snuggled firmly against his side underneath the blankets. Taking some time to just relax; no worries, no pressures, no problems, just a cool set of sheets and the warmth of a lover's embrace, their own little paradise in Night City, the so-called City of Dreams.
Gloria was looking at the scar on his chest, tracing around the discolored scar that looked much larger now that she was face to face with it and thinking about the matching one on his back, all the while listening to his heart beating, "I wish I could stay like this forever," she grumbled with a sigh before looking up at him when he hummed thoughtfully. Seeing the grin spreading across his face she playfully swatted his chest and smiled, "No, don't tempt me. I got some work to do today."
"Even after they called you in last night?"
She snorted and Naruto could feel her roll her eyes, "My supervisors a rotten puta," she had vented to him a couple times about the woman and Naruto had considered getting some petty revenge for his love but decided not to for now. Apparently she was already on the way out but just didn't know it yet. "I got a couple of things to do today too, especially the laundry," 'and shoot Maine a message, I don't want to hold onto that chrome any longer than I have too.' "I'll take care of that and get some rest before going in… oh do you want me to wash yours too?" there was a small nagging sensation in the back of her mind, like she was forgetting something but she pushed it aside for now.
He just shook his head softly, "nah I'll take care of it. There's only a few things I need washed," he couldn't exactly just throw some of his stuff in the wash and didn't want to take it to a cleaner. They fell into a comfortable silence once again with the radio playing quietly in the background until he suddenly spoke again, "Hey… would you like to meet my chooms?" She looked up at him again to see him smiling a little nervously, "I mean I've already told you about them before and I guess you did kinda meet Jackie already… but his mom really wants to meet you and David."
She nodded slowly, he had told her a few different stories about Mama Welles and found herself wanting to get to know her as well, "I'd love too," she was certain that once he and David sat down and talked things out, David would too. Naturally Gloria hadn't told the blonde everything that she and her son had talked about the night before but David did realize just how badly he reacted and she honestly blamed his old friends since they-
"I'll let her know," Naruto's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she felt his hand play with a loose strand of her hair while he beamed "she's been asking me about bringing you over for dinner for a while, I think she might try ambush me if I don't," he chuckled before looking thoughtful, 'hm, now that I think about it she might actually do that,'
After a little more time passed, Gloria checked the time and sighed, "ugh, time really flew by." She wrapped one of her legs around his and hugged him close. David should be waking up and getting ready for class in an hour or so and she really wanted to be there when he left to wish him a good day. "I need to get dressed in a little while," she said, making him pout playfully with a little whine.
"Don't go," He turned his body to face her and pulled her close, "I don't want you to get dressed," he whined again, his hand creeping down the small of her back and giving her rear a little squeeze, "I want you just like this."
She smiled and let him continue playing with her, "I can tell!" The woman mused with a laugh that turned to a squeak when he pinched her rear, "don't forget baby. Two can play that game," she smirked and slipped her hand between them, grabbing him with a firm squeeze in warning. He only gave her a smoldering grin and twitched in her grasp.
-xXx-
Guadalupe Alejandra Welles better known to most as Mama Welles yawned a little as she stepped into her bar from the rear entrance with a large Synthcoff in one hand and the mornings screamsheet under one arm. She was a little later than usual, having to go back in the backlogs to find the particular screamsheet she wanted but who was going to say anything to her? This was her bar after all.
Flicking on the rest of the lights she took a sniff and looked around with a small smile, "Bless that boy for cleaning up," when she left around midnight the place was still going strong with Pepe behind the bar. If things got too hectic Jackie would pitch in to help out but neither him nor Naruto were in any shape to do so by the time she left.
Her mornings were relatively peaceful, going over the books from the night before, enjoying her Synthcoff and just enjoying herself while planning her day but this morning she had something else on her mind and walked around to the back of the bar with her screamsheet to sit down and read.
Militech announcement interrupted: Cyberpsycho turns Corpo Plaza into Warzone!
The picture below it was a still taken from the news they all saw the night before, two edgerunners duking it out in the middle of the street for all to see. One a large hulking cyberpsycho according to the news while the other she recognized instantly. Both wore masks but what mother couldn't recognize one of her boys?
"I really hope you're ready for this kind of attention dear boy," The situation had her worried but a small voice in the back of her head couldn't help but notice that he was wearing one of the old bar shirts she had made a while back. 'You could've at least advertised my bar a little if you're doing something like this,' she couldn't help but joke a little. Just imagine if he didn't have that vest on, the name of her bar featured live on the news like that. Then the more she thought about it the more she realized it wasn't a good idea, sure it could bring in customers and draw attention to her bar but honestly it wouldn't be the kind of attention she wanted. It would probably put him in too much danger anyway.
"Whatever the reason was, I hope it was worth it,"
-xXx-
With both her and her sons coats over one arm Gloria stuck her tongue out at him playfully as she left him sprawled out across the bed, now mostly sober but wearing a drunken grin across his face. Yesterday might have been a rollercoaster of a day but he had a feeling that today was going to be a lot better. Hopefully when David got out of class for today they would have their talk but for now he wanted to take a quick nap.
After a few more minutes his eyes snapped open, "I'm thirsty," he mused to himself after a bit, looking over to his fridge and groaning, "Ugh I gotta get up and get it," the thought of summoning a clone to grab it crossed his mind but the last time he did it the asshole shook it up and threw it at him.
Finally after another minute, he got up and did so, returning with his can of Real Water where he noticed the red duffle bag he'd brought with him from the bar sitting just below the edge of his bed where they had knocked it onto the floor a while ago, "...Oh yeah," Flopping down next to it, Naruto reached over and slipped his fingers into the pocket on the side, searching around inside while quickly downing his drink. "Ahh… there you are." He carefully took them out and held up a pair of NUSA military dog tags to the light for him to read again while setting his drink down, "... James Norris," he read while he sank down on the bed "I won't forget you dude,"
-xXx-
The Night Before
6:23 pm…
-xXx-
"Thanks for the beer Jackie," The blond held up his freshly opened Calavera Feliz to the man who met him halfway in a toast. The bar was in full swing when they showed up, both nearly soaked to the bone due to the rain worsening but luckily there were some extra clothes to change into at the bar. Unluckily, they were all Jackie's and they didn't exactly wear the same size. Although the shirt was nova, it was a strange grayish red with the name of the bar printed across the back and the more he thought about it, Jackie probably wasn't getting this back.
Then Kirk of all people came in with his 'bodyguard' Joe trailing behind, a Slaughterhouse Prime burger in his hand. Naruto really hoped that the gonk would leave him alone, he wasn't in the mood to listen to another 'sure thing' and wasn't afraid to cause a scene. The blond chatted with Mama Welles, promising to bring Gloria by soon so they can finally meet. She even threatened to break out La Chancla if he didn't, not that he knew what that was in the first place. Pepe was busy tending the bar but they had managed to grab a few free minutes here and there to catch up. Even his knife throwing choom was here and Naruto had to give it to the man, he was getting pretty good. He wanted another rematch so the blond was more than happy to tell him to bring it. All in all he had a good time and managed to keep his mind off of what happened between him and David… A little at least.
Jackie nodded, already drinking his fourth or fifth while Naruto started on his second, "No problem Holmes, I appreciate the scratch. Might take Misty out later, there's a gallery thing she was talking about wanting to see."
It took Naruto a moment to picture the man walking through a museum… in fact it was a bit hard to imagine Night City having one but then again he rarely went to the places himself. Maybe Gloria would like to check it out sometime too?
After a bit, a few of the regulars called over and invited them to join in and bet on a game of eight ball. There was also a card game going on but with the blonds luck, he had a reputation that scared all but the most daring or drunk gambler away. More than a handful of games ended in a brawl after accusations were hurled back and no one could believe that it was all luck and not some kind of high-end tech. To make matters worse, he would sometimes klep the eddies left on the table and give it to Mama Welles depending on how badly something was torn up. She called it the 'La Chancla Tax'
They agreed to make bets and soon enough an impromptu 'winner take all' tournament style game kicked off. In fact there was enough interest that the pool table was quickly moved to the middle of the floor in front of the bar and lots were being taken, even Mama Welles joined in and was considered to be a favorite to win by many.
"Naruto, I'm glad to have run into you," hearing his name, Naruto turned and saw Sabastian Ibarra aka The Padre making his way over from the alleyway door with his bodyguard Marcus shaking the water off his umbrella. The usually dour man moved surprisingly quickly compared to usual relaxed pace and gave him and Jackie a small nod, "this is not something I wished to discuss over the holo but I find myself in urgent need of a man of your talent."
The way the elderly man spoke made both Jackie and Naruto glance at each other, having never heard the Padre sound like this before, "what's going on old man?" The blond asked, still holding the beer up to his lips and taking a sip. Deciding to get right to it but the Fixer shook his head and directed them upstairs to the second floor where he seemed to age a few more years and leaned against the railing while Marcus silently blocked the way for anyone that would try to come that way.
"I need you to arrange a meeting between our heavenly Father and a lost soul." Jackie grimaced and murmured a few words under his breath as the atmosphere got much heavier around them glancing over at the blond who set his beer bottle down with a somber expression. "Just know that I do not ask this lightly. If I had anyone else to turn to I would," the fixer removed a shard from his head and held it out to the blond, "take a moment to read over the details in this and you'll understand,"
Naruto did so and slotted the shard, letting it display through his neuralware. Jackie took a sip of his drink while watching how the blond reacted to what he was seeing. At first his friend seemed puzzled, then shocked as he looked through more and more before ejecting the shard. "What the hell old man?" He snapped, snatching it from his head while fixing the padre with a harsh look that many would have never dared.
"Quite the read isn't it?"
"That doesn't even start to cover how fucked up this is," the blond ground out through clenched teeth, glancing to his choom and holding it out for Jackie to take, since he knew the guy was dying to know what was going on, "you were helping him?"
"I was simply giving a tormented soul something to channel his fury towards." The fixer simply shrugged as the other Merc scrolled through the files on the shard.
The first was camera footage scrolled from nearly a year ago, a tech had already edited it so the clip was only half a minute or so long but it showed a hooded man wearing a red Tygerclaw mask and what was tagged as military grade gear under old streetwear breaking into a kibble factory followed by several stills of what looked like Scavs. "Hold up, this gonk is copying him?" Jackie questioned, seeing a resemblance in style and technique between this masked guy and his friend, or better yet the Shino.
"His name is James Norris, a Lieutenant Colonel in the NUSA Military on loan to Militech. Over a year ago his wife and child went missing without a trace, it wasn't until the NCPD received a call from one of your associates that he got the news about his daughter. That she was discovered mutilated by a group of Scavengers… godless heathens.
In the many times he'd cleaned out a scav operation, there was only one that stuck out as it involved a child. It was also the day that the monster known as the Shino was born and the thought that someone wanted to copy that just didn't sit well with him.
According to the Padre, once Norris was informed of what happened he used every connection he had to get what he could on his child's murder. It took several weeks of investigation, his efforts being thwarted several times by bureaucracy, corruption, and just plain incompetence on the police's part but he somehow found a copy of the damaged XBD featuring the first known look at the Shinos masked face. It was assumed that the Lieutenant Colonel continued looking into the masked solo, drawing inspiration from each and every scav slaughter attributed to the ghost that seemed to put even the Saka Ninjas to shame.
Once the man began to act, the Padre admitted to approaching him with information on known scav ops, giving him what information he could and let the man do his thing. It was a mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties. But later on down the road the fixer would notice a change in the soldier, he used his position to gain access to more military grade chrome and his methods changed from military precision to brutal shock and awe… Pure carnage.
The pictures of him on the shard showed a shocking difference between the past and present soldier with data points popping up and highlighting several notable pieces of cyberware.
With all of this information, Naruto felt a wave of conflicting thoughts wash over him. He could understand what the soldier went through, the maddening thoughts that must've ripped through his mind. The self hatred, the need for revenge, to make the ones responsible suffer for the pain they caused. "Do you have any idea where he is?"
"My people lost track of him in the city center a few hours ago, I believe he managed to track down the ones responsible for his wife's tragic fate and struck them down,"
"The city center?" Jackie repeated, getting a solemn nod from the fixer as the game below continued. "But fuzz and Corpo security crack down on any Scavs trying to set up shop there,"
"I thought the same but it would seem that their operations are a lot more organized than we believed. This was the scav equivalent of their logistics department, I do not know what he found there but police and corporate security teams swarmed the place not long after he struck."
Naruto had stayed silent as the two exchanged thoughts, going over what he heard and trying to connect any dots, "Hey old man." His voice was so soft that they almost missed it with all the commotion below and the music playing. They turned to look at him and saw that he had moved and was now leaning back against the rail with his arms crossed, "which corp did the security team belong to?"
"Militech,"
His shoulders sagged a bit as he let out a long sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose with his chrome fingers, "I think I know where he's going," looking back up to them, he saw them waiting for him to continue and nodded towards the nearby vidscreen mounted above the empty booth they were by. The sound was muted but they could still read the subtitles as Gillean Jordan spoke behind the news desk with a stock photo of a fully armored police officer shaking hands with a man in a simple black suit hovering over her left shoulder. [-first day in office, Militech's new Government Relations Executive, Meredith Stout is set to announce a new partnership with NCPD.]
"I guess I should get going then." He mused, looking at his half finished beer sitting where he left it. He picked it up and contemplated downing it but shook his head and moved to set it on the nearby booth, "I'll take care of it."
"Hold on a minute 'mano,"
Naruto gave Jackie a curious look and watched as he motioned at him to wait, "Kinda need to hurry Jackie," he muttered before looking at the Padre and shrugging. Jackie however either didn't hear or simply ignored him and rushed downstairs, vanishing in the back somewhere behind the bar and returning a minute later with a faded red duffle bag in his hand.
"This guy was copying your style right?" Both Naruto and the fixer nodded at man's question as he lifted the bag and set it down on the table between them, "maybe you should have this for when you take him down." Reaching out, the solo pulled the bag a little closer and unzipped the top, opening it to peer inside. The Padre also took a peek himself and gave them both a thoughtful look at what he saw while Naruto sighed.
Inside was the orange snarling mask of the Shino. Still scratched and damaged but the side that was broken when the 6th Street gangoon Gunner shot him had been pieced back together and mostly repaired. Seeing it again after so long brought back some… complicated feelings if he was honest with himself and the patched up plate carrier below it only added to it.
With a wrinkled forehead, the fixer muttered a small prayer and nodded at the blond, "Guess that is rather fitting."
Naruto looked between the two and reached inside to pick up the mask, rubbing his thumb over the repair work. Jackie gave him a sheepish yet proud grin, "I couldn't just leave it broken, it was a pain in the ass but I managed to bond the pieces back together,"
'Considering I got shot in the face, I'm surprised it looks as good as it does.' He was actually more upset about the mask being damaged than the gash left across the side of his face and ear, damn homing projectiles. Jackie must've worked hard on replacing the missing parts, "I really appreciate Jackie… and thanks for keeping it safe for me."
"It's all nova," the man's hand came down on the blond's back with a thump, "I know how important it is to you 'mano… and hey, you can borrow my wheels if you want."
"Appreciate the offer Jack, but my way might be a lot faster."
"Then I pray you hurry, it seems as if I've miscalculated how much time we had,"
They turned to him and saw the fixer motion to the vidscreen where a panicked reporter was wordlessly describing the scene, a large red banner flashing across the bottom.
-Cyberpsycho attack in City Center! -
"Oh shit, bro. What're you… gonna… " Jackie trailed off causing the padre to turn as well just as several whips of smoke and some leftover confetti from Cynthia's party fluttered where Naruto used to be. "Seriously 'mano… the hell do I compete with that?"
Looking down, he spotted the duffle bag laying on the floor upside down. When he picked it up he wasn't too shocked to see that it was empty, "man padre, what kinda speedware you think he's chipping?"
The fixer turned to eye Jackie a bit with his eyes glowing, sending a quick message before looking around, "Marcus and I have speculated on it a few times, he believes that it may be a modified Militech model but I am under the impression that it may be something a bit… different."
"What, like some next gen alien tech?"
The man shook his head slowly and turned to look at the screen, his eyes widening, "Jackie… I believe my old organic eyes may be failing me but isn't that…"
Jackie turned back and couldn't believe that the old man had a shocked look on his face. Following his line of sight back to the screen, he couldn't help but stare slack jawed as well. "How the hell…" The Coyote Cojo wasn't too far from the City Center, it was just a few blocks past Reconciliation Park but that was still a large distance to cover. Somehow, Naruto covered the distance in the blink of an eye.
"Wait a minute… is that my?" His eyes widened as he recognized the jacket his choom wore over his gear. It was his new duel-weave hooded Edgerunner jacket, custom dyed black and red. "That fuck 'mano I haven't even wore it yet!" Jackie continued to grumble, it was a custom job too, stylish and preem as hell. He even splurged and had it reinforced with both ballistic weave and stab plates. "Well… at least it'll give him an edge just in case and… why they hell are you taking it off maldito idiota! It will fucking protect you!"
-xXx-
[Damn man, they got you working this shit too? Thought you would've lucked out and clocked out by five.]
"Captain said I could leave my gun and badge if I went home," the officer retorted with a bored look out his window, glancing at holographic koi swimming above the glass dome in the center of Corpo plaza.
[Least it's not all bad, just gotta sit around and be seen by the cameras… oh speaking of, check out the media over there, gotta nice rack on that one]
He rolled his eyes but looked either way, "Eh, not my type. But this is better than going home and listening to the old lady go on and on about her online shopping… or whatever the fuck she does at home all day." he grumbled while flicking through the pictures on his screen, stopping every now and then to zoom in for a close up of the explicit pics. Movement to his side caught his attention and he glanced over to see some tough guy standing in the rain facing the window of his rig, "hold up, got some punk at my door," he growled not wanting to have to deal with this, "Hey! The hell are you doing? You looking to get shot, back it up!"
The end of a sawed off double barrel tapped the window next, giving the officer just a second to realize what was happening before it fired. Buckshot tore through the car, instantly reducing the officer's skull to shrapnel and painting the interior of the rig red with both his and his partner's blood. The gunshots echoed throughout Corpo plaza and for a moment, the other officers and nearby civilians stood frozen in the rain, processing what they had just seen. Sparks of electricity shot from the damaged holo panel mounted to the side of the cruiser, flashing blue then red and fading to black just as quickly.
The shotgun opened and two spent shells were ejected with a loud click that seemed to echo throughout the plaza. Behind him, an officer drew his sidearm and fired with a yell that got the rest of them to follow suit. Hundreds of rounds flew through the air in the span of just a couple seconds that struck both him and the weapons carried across his back. But the man didn't flinch or even seem to react to the rounds that tore through the tac vest he wore and ricocheted off of his body, he only calmly loaded in two shells and closed the weapon, ready for more.
Dropping the double barrel, letting it swing by his side, James drew the pair of Arasaka HJKE-11 Yukimura smart pistols and spun around, firing them with deadly accuracy. With his preset targeting parameters, the smartlink ensured that each projectile veered on course for the head and he quickly ventilated seven NCPD officers within seconds.
"Got a cyberpsycho!" Screamed one of the officers hiding behind his rig and scrambling to open the truck where a heavier weapon was stored. Several others had the same idea and were now firing their own shotguns, "someone raise MaxTac now!" There was a split second where all shooting stopped before the hulking cyberpsychos arm opened and he launched a HE projectile at one officer, killing the man and three others taking cover near him in the explosion that shattered windows all around them.
"JAMES NORRIS!"
The yell seemed to echo out over all the sirens and rain in Corpo plaza and succeeded in pulling the man's attention to where another figure was standing in the road next to a bullet riddled NCPD cruiser. He had on a bulky hooded black and red jacket of his own to shield him from the rain and James quickly turned one of his pistols towards the approaching man. Undeterred by the weapon, the man ripped the zipper down revealing the well worn battle scarred plate carrier he wore underneath. The entire left portion of the plate was freshly repaired and looked slightly darker compared to the rest, but you could still see burns and melted spots around the edge of the new fabric.
He moved to fire on the new arrival when the man threw back his hood, but seeing a familiar snarling mask gave him pause. A mask so similar to the one he wore that struck a cord deep within his broken mind. One that he tried to emulate in his own way and painted in his daughter's favorite shade of red.
"...Shino…" his own voice felt foreign, almost like a distant echo.
"What do you think you're doing, soldier?" The approaching solo snapped. For a moment, James was back in basic, much smaller and younger then and being stared down by the meanest son of a bitch he ever had the pleasure to train under.
The man shrugged off the jacket and dropped it on the street behind him, "you spent all this time trying to copy what I did and now you're killing cops?" He shook his head slowly and confidently saddled up to the much taller man to growl "if you were trying to be me… you failed,"
The remaining cops behind him could clearly see the faded '6' painted across the back of the newcomers plate carrier. Those plugged into the rumors on the streets instantly knew that this was either the 6th Street Shino or a really convincing copycat but either way they were taking the chance to fall back. They'd let MaxTac deal with whatever happens back there.
Seeing them retreating officers he had previously tagged trying to escape, James activated his Sandevastan, rushing towards the retreating cops. None of them would get away. Each step he took left a splash of water in the puddles below him as he aimed to pass the Shino, raising his gun to towards their backs-
"Where do you think you're going!" It was as if the man had triggered his own Sandevastan by the way he just appeared. Then in a move that would've made Killer B accuse him of plagiarism, Naruto caught the charging soldier with a textbook lariat. If not for the extensive cybernetic modifications, his power jaw and bone lacing in particular, the force of the sudden stop alone would have shattered something. But it didn't stop the impact from jolting his soft, sending error messages through his HUD that worsened with the next impact, leaving him stunned "it's just you and me soldier, you've killed enough cops today,"
Media reporter Iris Sparks couldn't believe her luck, first she was sidelined by that bitch Gillean and got stuck covering this corpo snore fest but now she was the only member of the N54 media covering this attack. Viewers loved to see a flatline live on air and this material was solid gold, if it didn't boost her ratings then nothing would. Even now her boss was sending her a nonstop stream of texts to keep scrolling as the man blasted his way through the NCPD but now this was worthy of an action BD. Her midnight lady nearly exploded when she got a view of the 6 on his back and that orange mask. The Shino had gone completely silent and aside from the occasional copycat and the odd sighting of the Shinos goons, the Merc himself was never seen until now. This must be what her mentor meant by being in the right place at the right time, forget gold, this material could be platinum.
"You're not finished yet are you Lieutenant?" The masked blond asked looking down at the man twitching in the street then glancing over a few feet to where one of the man's pistol had fallen, "after everything you did is this really where you just lay down and die?" The Mantis Blade deployed in a flash and the soldier thrust his arm to skewer the Shino, but the merc stopped it with ease using a single kunai in a reverse grip, "that's more like it… let's do this, just you and me," the two blades separated with a few sparks and James used the chance to grab the shotgun by his side, firing it at point blank range where the Shino had been a split second before.
To the onlooking officers willing to risk a peak and to the multitude of Corpos watching from the windows of their glass towers, it was as if the solo had just vanished, leaving the cyberpsycho fire both shells towards Arasaka Towers and scratching several panes of glass, scaring several people on the other side.
Despite his large and heavy chromed frame, James Norris had enough synth muscle and strength boosting cyberware to push himself up and leap to his feet. His military grade optics scanned the area around him for any sign of his opponent, tagging several unknowns watching from a distance as his Projectile Launch System opened up for him to reload.
"I gotta choom with a cannon of an arm too," Norris cocked his head towards the voice and spotted the Shino standing a few away while loading a different projectile into it, the blade on his arm retracting back into its housing, "yours is just a little more… literal." The blond frowned a little behind the mask when the launch system was leveled at him again, "nothing to say at all?" The water on the streets below them burst, spraying into the air as they both vanished again and clashed in the middle of the street with their respective blades where the Lieutenant strained his body and chrome against what seemed like an immovable object.
"Heh you're pretty strong," Naruto acknowledged with a hidden smirk behind the mask while Norris continued his Stony silence. The blond lashed out and took hold of the soldier's forearm, angling the projectile launch system away from his body just as it fired, sending dozens of small steel spikes flying into a nearby NCPD cruiser, "Flechettes? That's actually kinda nova… but sorry, some gonk already got me with that once, ain't falling for it again!"
Iris trembled, peering through the spiderweb of cracks that suddenly took up her vision while watching the two fight. Slowly her head turned, following the jagged lines up to their source to see a small metal spike poking through less than a foot from her face. "Holy fuckin shitballs." She squeaked out, both terrified and thrilled at the same time. Sneaking up closer was definitely the right decision, this was gonna be so fucking preem.
With his arm still being trapped in the blond's grip, the lieutenant disengaged his blade and reared back, throwing all his weight behind one more swing which Naruto jumped back from, releasing his arm.
"All that chrome is slowing you down, why not use the Sandevastan?" he mused, not getting any kind of reaction or reply, "not much of a talker huh? That's alright, I think I know why you're doing this," Naruto's holo beeped and a notification popped up, making him grunt when he saw a incoming call from Stout, "just a sec," he grunted as Norris quickly moved to reload, grabbing a random projectile type from his vest with practiced ease.
"I'll cut to the chase since you're busy unfucking this situation. The guy you're fighting, disable him so that our people can take him into custody." Stout exclaimed before he could even say a word, pausing just long enough to light up a fresh smoke. "We'll make it worth the trouble."
Naruto tossed the kunai he held while the lieutenant grabbed a compact Omaha pistol from a holster near the small of his back, "Why hello to you too. Oh I've been doing ok, thanks for asking, why yes these are new clothes thanks for noticing," he replied, cheerfully sarcastic which got an eye roll in return. His kunai pierced through the man's forearm a split second before the gun fired, sending the shots wide "How about you, how have you been?"
"Nova, I'm just a fucking ray of sunshine, can't you tell?" She deadpanned, looking less than amused with her arms crossed while plucking the cigarette hanging from her lip, "not everyday that a girl's first official announcement on the job gets interrupted by a cyberpsycho." Her gaze narrowed, "Must be my lucky day, maybe I should have Julian run out to grab me a lottery ticket," her words dripped with her own brand of Corpo sarcasm as Naruto weaved around several more bullets fired at him.
"Yeah you're definitely the type to play the lottery," Naruto snorted getting closer and closer to the soldier, playing with him, "I can see it now, the poor gonk at some CHOOstation picking you up a couple cartons of nicosticks, a handful of lottery tickets, and a six pack of Calavera,"
"Fuck… you," she cocked her head and gave him her best unamused glower,"You gonna do it or not?"
"What fuck you? Nah, not with that attitude and you know what, now that I think about it I think you're more of a Donaghy's beer girl," his tone got harsher the more he spoke to her over the holo, "That's the perfect beer for a damn snake," Donaghy's was a decent enough beer made to look similar to their liquor of the same name, green bottles with a hissing cobra on the label.
From where she was watching from behind four inches of reinforced glass several floors up, Stout bit the filter of her smoke, her eye twitching "The fuck did I do to piss in your coffee?" she snapped, inwardly feeling uneasy but not letting it show on her face. His cooperation with running security for her had gained her a lot of traction in the company, the other gonks involved liked to talk and word that she contracted those masked mercenaries had spread pretty quick. Some compared her to the recruiter that made Morgan Blackhand the offer he couldn't refuse much to her amusement.
"Oh don't worry, we'll have a talk about it soon enough," he warned, ducking under another swipe from the soldier's mantis blade and drawing his own pistol. From this distance he didn't even need to aim and fired a round at point blank range into Norris' already bullet riddled vest, which didn't do more than make the man turn his torso slightly.
"And what if I wanted to have that talk now?"
"Tough," Naruto cut the call and silenced it, not wanting to be interrupted again "Sorry about the wait," his eye stopped glowing and gave the man an apologetic yet hidden grin behind his mask. "But now you'll have my full attention," The barrel of Norris' Omaha shook against his grip, the man straining against him to aim the weapon at his head while his own weapon was aimed much the same way, slightly away from the soldier's head by the lieutenant's shaky grip. "Hey tell me, is this really what you want?"
*Click*
At the sound of the Omaha in his hand failing to fire, Naruto knew he had his answer and sighed "Ok, I got it," nodding once as his eyes hardened, "if this is how you wanna kill yourself then I'll give you a hand," a nagging voice in the back of his head told him that he was reading too into it. The man had chromed himself into psychosis and was just doing what he did best, kill.
But Naruto felt like he could understand the man with some twisted kind of empathy. Suicide by cop. "Guess it's a lot easier to kill a bunch of cops than it is to just stick the gun in your mouth huh?" He gave a bitter laugh, once he killed those cops there was no backing out, the NCPD wouldn't rest until he was dead. "Yeah I know the feeling," he still had that particular bullet sitting on a shelf in his apartment, a small reminder that he didn't pull the trigger that day… unlike Lieutenant James Norris. "Alright then I won't pull any more punches, hope your ready for one hell of a fight,"
-xXx-
Stout blinked when the connection ended, leaving her to wonder what the hell went wrong and soured things. "Julian," she snapped, turning her head towards her newly promoted executive assistant without looking away from the scene below them.
"Yes ma'am?" The young man held his new company dataslate against his side, peering through the glass next to her.
"Cancel my next appointments, somethings gone wrong and I want to know which gonk I need to flatline," she pinched the glowing end of her smoke with her gloved fingers and stuck the remaining half back into her cigarette case, "and notify my security," something happened to piss off the Merc and she needed to know what before countless man-hours of work went down the drain. She needed a good rep with him to ensure that things went smoothly and if she needed to Meredith had no issues with going old fashioned and delivering several severed heads to the gonk.
He nodded and connected to the slate, "On it Ma'am," using the current situation, he sent the woman's NCPD counterpart a message canceling the upcoming meeting before glancing over to her with an unsure look on his face "ah… should I go get that lottery ticket as well ma'am?"
She didn't respond at first, only closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, "sure Julian and grab me some synthcoke and few joytoys while you're at it."
"..." Julian opened his mouth to speak but stopped several times while looking thoughtful. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before opening his mouth again while looking slightly hopeful "R-Really?"
Her unamused glower returned with a vengeance and Julian found himself faced feeling foolish, while she a bit out a single icy "No,"
He was thankful broken out of his predicament by an alert coming from his slate, "Ma'am, MaxTac is on approach should we wave them off," he questioned, passing along the NCPD dispatchers question, apparently they assumed that the Shino was there by Militechs request. The irony that they assumed Militech would bring outside security assets instead of relying on law enforcement or their own security spoke of the level of faith the two organizations had in one another.
"Shit," that left her with a choice, if she called them off it would look like she brought him in. Having just announced to the city that Militech stood with the NCPD in a new initiative to strengthen the soon to be privatized police force, it didn't look too good for her to have brought him in. This deal with the police was too important and she couldn't risk it, the gonk will just have to deal with MaxTac. 'Fucking cyberpsycho,' "No, he's currently not under our employ," she grunted out harshly, turning back to the window with narrowed eyes. Julian repeated her response while she watched the struggle below, slowly growing more interested to see what he would do the more she thought about it.
-xXx-
The blast of an AVs thrusters caught their attention from above just before the area around them glowed with the AV projecting a red outline below it. The gun in Norris' hand suddenly short circuited and malfunctioned while Naruto's cybernetics alerted him that his arm was being targeted with a quickhack. 'That's not supposed to happen!' He thought in shock, Vik helped set him up with some Self-ICE to prevent this from happening but the hack seemed to tear right through it as his hand suddenly started twitching, causing his Overture to hit the street below him. "What the hell!" Naruto couldn't help gripe before the pistol below him was shot from above, turning it into scrap "You bastards, I stole that fair and square!" He shook his fist and motioned to the AV while yelling up into the air, "hey you gonks, get off your ass' and get rid of them!"
Three blurs were seen landing on the roof of the AV as both he and the soldier vanished in a blur, sliding to a stop out from below the AV. The Lieutenant slid the battered Arasaka made Masamune rifle around his equally battered vest and began firing at the AV in bursts that pinged off the armored bottom and side, throwing sparks where the steel tipped bullets struck.
-xXx-
"Jackie!"
Jackie winced, when she used that tone someone was getting hit with la chancla. Someone had noticed what was being broadcast and quickly made it known to the others, bringing the action around the pool table to a screeching halt and having them all crowd around the various vidscreens. Marcus didn't dare block her way and smoothly stepped aside when Mama Welles came storming over and even the Padre took a single step away from him.
"Hey Mama," he saw the look on her face and felt relieved that she didn't have either la chancla or 'La Chancla' in her hand, "guess you saw the news huh?"
"Jackie, mijo please tell me that isnt-" she cut herself off seeing his sheepish expression and pinched the bridge of her nose with a huff "ese niño estúpido," he didn't say anything, personally he thought what Naruto was doing was badass but wouldn't outright say it to her now, "why did you let him go?"
"Cálmate mamá," he raised his hands, wincing again when she shot him an annoyed glare, "doubt I coulda stopped the vato anyway, you know how he is." Considering he was taking on not only a cyberpsycho but now MaxTac was involved as well so he could understand her worry.
-xXx-
"One freak disarmed, the others sporting military grade ICE!" Yelled the teams netrunner over the sounds of multiple rounds ricocheting off the armor of their Militech Manticore aerodyne while the six of them prepared to deploy.
"And our tech isn't!?" Barked their commanding officer over the noise, steadying himself by the open door while the door gunner fired rounds down towards the freak shooting up at them. "Get to it and fry his system fast!"
"Contact!" The panicked voice of their pilot came over the coms as the AV lurched to one side. Had the officer behind the door gunner reacted any later, the man would have fallen over the edge, "How the fuck did they get up here!"
"Got all your pieces?" The officer questioned holding onto a support above them as the AV lurched more violently than before. Getting an affirmative from his subordinate, who knelt down and looped his arm through a strap near the back to secure himself. "Kingfisher report, the hells going on?"
"Three contacts on the roof!" Came the response making the MaxTac unit look at each other in shock.
"What? No way some gonks managed that!" The netrunner exclaimed while connecting to the outside sensors to look for herself. There was no way someone could jump this high even with the latest cutting edge chrome and AV traffic was rerouted, even if they jumped from the nearest building their sensors should've picked something up.
"Dattebayo!" Came the sudden cry just before she connected, making her flinch and hastily sever the connection. Using the edge of the open compartment they were in, two unknown individuals swung in from the roof top, one yelling loudly as he did so and kicking the door gunner in his head, knocking him into the commander and leaving him slumped against the wall with his now broken arm still in the strap.
The other followed suit and unfortunately, she was taken down much the same way and collapsed onto the floor of the aerodyne with her squad scrambling to act against the two contacts and ending her quickhacks.
"You should just go on and pop yourself for that," the second intruder grimaced, pushing one of the four remaining officers against the wall with his forearm and catching the other's wrist when he tried to crush his skull with a baton. The clone had to double take when the weapon snapped and popped aggressively, letting off a small arc of electricity, no doubt a weapon geared towards fighting cyberpsychos. "Dattebayo?" He asked incredulously while releasing the one he was choking only to pin him back against the wall with the electrified bludgeon earning a scream, "of all the things you could do, you say that?"
"Look it just slipped out ok?" The first clone whined, his voice full of shame. He caught the squad leader with several blows to the torso, holding back mostly and maneuvering him so that he blocked the remaining officers' way. She had raised her weapon, a Militech Crusher but couldn't risk eviscerating her commanding officer. "Please just let it go," a solid kick into the armored vest the man wore knocked him backwards and Into his subordinate, "we've all said shit we regret,"
"No shit," the other scoffed behind his long eared fox mask, letting the screaming man fall then kicking the other in the balls hard enough to lift him up and off his feet. What? It worked… the unfortunate gonk related the stun baton for him to catch while instantly crumpling to the floor. It had a surprising heft to hit he found while flipping it around in his grip a few times while waiting for the other to finish "at least it wasn't Dynamic Entry,"
The two remaining officers were literally backed into a corner and were promptly overwhelmed by the masked attacker. "Let's do that next time, just imagine the look they'll have on their faces,"
"It'll probably be a mixture of confusion and the imprint left by the bottom of my shoe," narrowing his eyes at his partner the clone grinned darkly and eased the stun baton closer to the other, with his finger on the button, "or maybe something like this!" Pressing forward, he stuck it to his thigh, right below the clone's rear and squeezed the trigger.
-xXx-
Naruto had been expecting MaxTac to show up sooner rather than later but hadn't expected them to target him as well. Glancing over to the mangled remains of what used to be his revolver he grit his teeth and mourned the loss of his first firearm before getting back to the task at hand. His arm took a few seconds to stop twitching but it looked like his clones had already started dealing with MaxTac, now to get back to the task at hand.
Looking down at his feet, Naruto grabbed an empty magazine left on the street and scooped it up, hurling it at the soldier the moment he slotted a new magazine into his rifle. It hit the side of his face and cocked his head to the side, knocking his crimson mask askew, "Forgetting something lieutenant?" He yelled out while the man straightened the mask with his free hand then turned his head mechanically, "Don't forget, I'm the one you're fighting, not them." With the ease of a professional soldier, Norris quickly pulled the bolt back and turned to face the blond who reached into his pouch and brought out another kunai, spinning it around his finger a few times. "Hope you're ready, cause here I come."
The world froze in place once again, the Sandevastan on his back lighting up. Norris brought the rifle up and fired several three round bursts at the unmoving blond, only for him to vanish in the blink of an eye. There was no splash of water, no blur, nothing to indicate that the blond had ever been there. Already tense, the soldier scanned the area ready to move, still picking up several unidentified persons but only searching for one in particular. Mantis blade once again ready to strike and his Masamune in hand, he saw a blur of movement in his peripheral and struck with his blade where a single shuriken was knocked out of the air.
"Not bad," Naruto mused from behind as the Sandevastan deactivated to cool down, catching the rifle when he whirled around to face him. "You missed a few though," he joked looking at the five that ripped through the soldier's tattered vest. "You know, I really wish I could talk to you," the weapon was pulled from the Borg's grasp but the soldier only used the opportunity to bring his blade down to cleave the other in half. "Have a real talk I mean," he parried the blade aside with the stolen rifle then shouldered it. Unlike the sidearms carried by the NCPD, which could do little against cutting edge military grade subdermal armor protecting already hardened experimental cybernetic limbs made for war, the lieutenant's Masamune packed a much deadlier punch and did so three rounds at a time. "Kinda wish I had the chance to get to know you," he admitted, pulling the trigger.
At this range there was no way he could miss.
-xXx-
"AHHH! You fucking pick!" Crouched with both hands rubbing his ass, the masked clone tried to make the pain stop while the other looked at the stun baton in his hand with masked amusement, "what the fuck it wrong with you!"
"It can't be that bad ya big baby," the other dismissed, waving it nonchalantly in front of him. "We've had worse,"
Hopping to his feet, the clone snatched the baton away and pointed it at him, "how about you try it then? See how you like it?" He growled, raising it above his head and rearing back, the baton snapping to life once again. Not wanting to be cracked over the head with the thing his partner threw up his guard to block, obscuring his vision like he hoped. "Take this!" He had an evil gleam behind the eye slits of his mask and brought the baton up and into his target's unprotected crotch.
-xXx-
"..." Naruto stood there, eyes wide open with a thousand yard stare as not even a single shot hit its mark. His face instantly turning red from embarrassment then anger, 'Ill kill them, I'll find a way to fucking kill them!' He roared in his mind, mentally ripping his hair out once the shock of the clone's memory quickly faded. Not only were they fucking around but the agonizing memory made him miss a point blank target… no, this was less than point blank… damn this was mortifying. "Ah…" unable to see the Lieutenants face behind the mask, the blond had a feeling that cyberpsychosis or not the soldier also felt embarrassed for him, "hahaha, so can we pretend that didn't just happen?" He couldn't help but wonder with a sheepish laugh.
His answer came in the form of another slash from the soldier's blade, making him duck underneath it, "is that a yes?" Norris didn't answer and raised his other arm, the barrel of his PLS deploying again but the blond shifted his aim and fired another burst that tore chunks of synthskin from his arm just before the weapon fired.
The projectile sailed across Corpo plaza and exploded harmlessly against the office windows of Arasaka Tower with a burst of electricity. But like most Megacorp buildings, the place was built like a fortress and most external windows were designed to resist such attacks. Although it didn't stop several corpo office gonks from nearly soiling themselves.
"How many of those things do you have!" Naruto couldn't help but ask when the other man tried to skewer him with an uppercut but only to be shot once again in his other arm, the steel tipped bullets damaging some of the blades internal housing mechanisms which locked it in place. Then to Naruto's surprise, what he thought was a knee pad on the lieutenant's leg extended out and unfolded in mid-air to reveal another blade. It was blocked by his rifle again but this time striking the magazine and shattering the thick plastic sending bullets flying everywhere. "I wish you guys would stop breaking my stuff!"
"..."
Disengaging, he leapt back and gave the man an annoyed glare before laughing lightly, "Earlier I said I wouldn't pull any more punches didn't I?" He ejected the remaining bullet and caught it while dropping the gun, "I'm sorry, truth is I could've killed you…" he trailed off with a calculating gleam in his eyes only to shrug, "more times than I wanna think about. … I guess I just pity you. Losing your family like that and having no one to help patch you back together in the aftermath?" He felt that he would never be able to repay his chooms for helping him though those days, "if it wasn't for them…" he trailed off and sighed, "well I doubt I'd be here right now."
Above Corpo Plaza, the MaxTac AV that was still hovering above them banked and started flying off, building up speed as it did. Later on, those able to see from the nearby buildings would recount seeing an insane masked man standing on one of the AVs mounted auto cannons next to the cockpit and holding what was speculated to be an explosive device.
"And here you are, all alone," Naruto sighed and shook his head, "I wouldn't wish that on anyone…" he let that sink in for a moment and rolled the bullet around between his fingers, "MaxTac is sending more gonks our way so I guess it's time to really end this. But I promise I will find out the truth about what happened."
While he wasn't the quickest on the draw when it came to puzzling things out on the fly, Naruto didn't need Shikamaru to slap him upside the head and point out that Militech was more involved with this whole fiasco a lot more than it seemed. NCPD responding quickly to calls about gunshots in one of the only districts they had a strong grip on wasn't special but Militech goons showing up nearly just as quick and now they even announced a partnership? Yeah he and Stout were definitely going to be having a conversation. Or who knows, maybe he was just overthinking this entire thing and it was as simple as the man snapping and lashing out at the Megacorp he was on loan too. But he just couldn't shake the feeling that Militech was more involved with those Scavs, why would they show up to a scav haunt and not only that but one connected to multiple other groups?
"..." Norris reloaded his PLS while the blond continued to speak
"Choom of mine keeps dreaming of making it big and making a name for himself, but the only way to become a legend here seems to be to die in a blaze of glory. I don't know if it matters to you but the only thing I can do for you now is make sure the Corps can't take you alive." He could just as easily make him vanish, hide him away and keep him safe but he didn't have the ability to keep those around him safe twenty-four seven. Much less help him heal cyberpsychosis which he didn't even know if it was possible or not. There was no telling what the city would do to him if they got their hands on him. The things they might use him for, he's made a lot of enemies and in this condition… a merciful death was for the best. It had to be better than whatever fresh hell the City would subject him to, whether through the NCPD or via the Megacorps.
He tossed the bullet up into the air as the soldier began raising his arm to aim at him, "I'll make it quick," he liked to think that the man would do the same if he were in his position and just before he fired Naruto gave him a little nod and once again blurred away.
The moment he processed this, Norris activated his own speedware that had yet to fully cool down to keep up, aiming to end it quickly. But just as the world around him slowed down, Shino was already upon him with a glowing blue orb of swirling light screaming at him in his outstretched hand. For a moment his neural processing software failed as a massive surge of feedback flooded his system, all he knew was that the moment he activated his Sandevastan, he got to see his arm be reduced to nothingness by a glowing blue orb in a fraction of a second. Sparks flew from the exposed inner workings of his chrome, the feedback through his overtaxed system making his body twitch uncontrollably and forcibly shutting down his speedware.
When his optics managed to come back online, he was laying on his back several dozen feet away staring up at the digital koi fish swimming through the air above the plaza without a care. The biomonitor was sending critical error notifications and warnings back to back, displaying the outline of a human body with one arm and a good portion of his chest flashing red.
"Well damn, didn't expect you to survive that," Naruto exclaimed next to him while lowering his eyes to the carnage below him. Before being blasted away, his Rasengan had destroyed the lieutenant's arm and a large chunk of his chest below the shoulder leaving gore and broken chrome in its place, "If it wasn't for all that chrome, you'd never even know what just happened," he muttered under his breath and looking at the pair of dog tags he had grabbed during the attack, "but it'll be over soon,"
Naruto looped the broken chain hanging from them around it and held them in his fist as three more Militech made Manticore aerodyne baring MaxTac marking swooped into the air above Corpo Plaza to surround them "Goodbye Lieutenant, I won't forget you," The last thing Lieutenant Norris saw before everything faded away was the Shino staring down at him as the MaxTac officers in the AVs above them began to deploy.
-xXx-
"Ahh!" David desperately tried to snatch the BD wreath off of his head, slapping himself several times in his mad scramble as his heart pounded in his chest, a massive grin across his face, "Holy shit Doc! This is fuckin wacked!" The device fell and clattered to the floor from his spot on the couch. He winced when it did, damn thing was expensive and he definitely couldn't afford to get it fixed right now. But for now he enjoyed the adrenaline high the XBD gave him, feeling his arm which had been blown off at the end which had felt so real. "My heart feels like it's about to explode," David had been up for a while and since his mom had been called into work he took the time to check out the new XBD the Doc sent him just hours ago.
[DB: Take a breather choom, you just hitched a ride in the mind of the certified cyberpsycho and felt what it was like to get zeroed by the Shino himself.] The doc laughed while the teen calmed himself, still reeling from the raw sensation of being ripped apart. [DB: freshly scrolled only hours ago, got the adrenalin junkies foaming at the slots hehehe.]
Listening to the man over the holo, David once again checked himself over. XBDs gave you an unedited experience of the person who lived it and that kind of cyberpsycho took it to another level. "Man you gotta tell me doc, who keeps feeding you these nuggets?" This was probably the most intense one yet.
[Kurosaki, who else? Ain't no other editor churning out BDs this sweet and preem!] He boasted while David popped out the XBD chip and looked at it, a neon green stylized ER on the label marking it, [won't pull nothin like that off a shelf either.]
The teen leaned down to grab the wreath off the floor and looked it over, inspecting it for damage, "No shit, brains still buzzing," he laughed lightly, happy to find that it wasn't even scratched.
[Like I said take a breath, you just left the mind of a skeezed out chrome junkie and cyberpsychosis ain't no joke. Anyway, either hurl or don't, got more chips for you to slot.]
David looked at the packaging he'd gotten and found a few more packaged XBD chips. "These different?" He asked, having thought that they were the same, "what are they?
[Hehehe, something special…]
With a shrug, David inserted the next chip and placed the wreath over his head. It didn't take long at all for it to boot up and he quickly found himself staring at a nude woman gasping and riding him for all he was worth. Blood instantly rushed to both heads and he sputtered making the Doc laugh, "what the-" he disconnected the chip from his wreath in a hurry, "H-Hey cut the shit! I don't want to watch that with you on the line man!" The Doc just continued to laugh and his expense while David grumbled and checked the time, "gotta get ready for class, I'll drop by soon for that soft I asked you about,"
A new notification popped up on his Holo, it was for Mom saying that she would be home in a little while. Good, that will give him a chance to pack away his new XBDs and hide them in his bag. He could easily sell these off pretty quick, especially that cyberpsycho one. But first thing he needed was to grab his uniform and get ready, only to find his pants still in the washer,
"shit… well at least the washer and dryer are paid up." He sighed, there had been days where he didn't have clean clothes to wear because the eddies were tight and of course using the washer or dryer cost money. Taking the clothes out of the washing machine on the bottom he tossed them into the dryer above it and pressed the button to turn it on before leaning back against the bathroom counter only to remember what he did with his uniform jacket yesterday.
"Ugh I fucked up,"
Yesterday definitely shouldn't have happened and thinking about it, he should've been happy that his mom found a guy as good as Naruto. There were many gonks out there that were much worse than him after all. With all the shit he put up with in Arasaka academy and trying not to react to their degrading remarks, he took what should've been a happy moment for them all and royalty gonked it up. The thought that Naruto was only nice to him to get with his mother had brought back old painful memories of being used by his former chooms. It was like dropping a lit match into a puddle of CHOOH2, making him explode on the wrong person.
Truth be told he was kinda scared to face Naruto now, not that he thought the man would do something to him. He was more ashamed that he might've ruined their friendship or his mom's relationship.
"Hmm…" Speaking of the blonde.
Thinking back to the XBD, there was something familiar about the Shino, the way he moved and fought, too bad his face was partially blurred and he couldn't see anything aside from part of the snarling mask he wore. But David could still vividly remember the strange feeling of a knife going through the cyberpsychos arm. It was a kunai wasn't it? The same kind that Naruto-
"Mijo I'm home!"
Snapping out of his thoughts, David turned to the doorway "Hey mom," he called back, hearing her enter their small apartment, "I'm in the bathroom, just waiting for the dryer to finish,"
"Oh I forgot to put them in the dryer before I went to work, I'm sorry Mijo,"
"It's ok Mom, I got 'em going," even if he was running late they wouldn't say much to him about dress code. He's worn dark sweatpants more than once in place of his uniform pants and only got a curious look from the administration.
Gloria stepped around to the doorway and held up his black and red jacket for him, "I stopped by and picked this up for you," she told him softly then motioned to the side, "I'll set it on the back of the chair here,"
"No I'll take it," the teen exclaimed, pushing himself up and reaching for it, "I probably need to clean it," he remembered throwing it at Naruto yesterday and couldn't quite remember what happened to it afterwards, it probably got dropped on the floor while he was trying to knock the man's teeth out.
She handed it over to him then shooed him out so that she could use the bathroom herself.
"Hey mom, did you talk to Naruto?" David couldn't help but ask as he took the jacket and looked it over, only to find that it had been cleaned and didn't even have any wrinkles. A cursory sniff told him that it had been cleaned with something he couldn't quite place, "did he… say anything?"
"We talked," she admitted, already knowing exactly what he meant, "and he wants you to know that he doesn't hold what happened against you."
"You think he'd wanna meet up this afternoon… you know, talk things out?" He asked in an almost hesitant voice.
Gloria walked out while drying her hands and tossed the cloth into the dirty clothes she would wash today, "trust me Mijo, I'm sure he'd like nothing more." She messed with his mohawk as she passed him, getting an indigent squawk from him. "Just give him a few hours to get himself together though."
"Huh?" He looked over at her confused, fixing his hair "did something else happen?"
"He had a long night and just got home a little while ago." She wasn't going to tell him that she picked him up from the bar… or that they had spent a good long while just fooling around. "He's probably asleep by now." Gloria then made her way over to the couch then shrugged off her EMT jacket, sitting it down on the cushion before turning back to David, "oh I almost forgot, you need money for that update today don't you?"
He did but the Doc could hook him up with some software that was compatible at a much cheaper price, "it's all good mom, I'll handle it," she blinked her eyes and gave him a puzzled look. "No really, I get it all set,"
Gloria's Mom sense was tingling, "David, Mijo don't go cutting corners." She gave him a pointed look with her hands on her hips, "I've already got the money together for it so you'll get the update right, you understand me?" Naruto had given her the money no questions asked a while back and said he wasn't worried about getting paid back but she made a point of saying that she would give him the money back later.
David sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Mom seriously… " he started only to stop as she only looked at him expectedly and huffed, "alright fine I'll handle it," he begrudgingly accepted the transfer to watch a transfer of 500 eddies be added to his account. "I'ma go brush my teeth and finish getting ready,"
"You want me to drive you to school?"
David waved it off, "Nah I'll take the NCART, you look exhausted," he told her genuinely, seeing the half sleepy look on her face.
"Yeah I wasn't really expecting to be called in last night. Especially that mess on Corpo Plaza."
"Wait, I thought that was you on the news last night!" David remembered seeing an aerial shot of the Plaza and spotting a redhead and a reflective jacket by an ambulance and thought that it might've been her, "Mom you were on the news that's so nova!" He laughed only for her to shake her head.
"No David, it wasn't nova, it was a bloodbath!" She told him firmly which made him grimace just as the screen mounted on the wall behind him flashed with the N54 news.
[This just in, a military grade implant was found missing from the body of Lieutenant James Norris, the man who went on a rampage in Corpo plaza yesterday killing over a dozen officers.] The screen flashed a small clip captured from the media on scene to show the large masked man blowing up a police cruiser with some arm mounted cannon that David remembered experiencing just earlier. Gloria grimaced at the news herself, she needed to offload this chrome to the junkie soon, she knew that Sandevastan looked odd but military grade?
The screen changed to the aftermath, thes entirety of Corpo plaza was cordoned off by NCPD with dozens of techs and even Corpo security scanning the scene. In the background, a familiar redheaded EMT was seen pushing a stretcher into the back of a Meatwagon.
"Hey mom, that is you right?" David couldn't help but ask only for his mother to change the channel with a sigh.
"Yes Mijo, that's me." She admitted reluctantly before shaking her head at the expression he wore, "Seriously Dee, I might be on the news but what happened there is far from nova." Gloria knew that she couldn't fully explain the extent of what she saw down there. There were dozens of flatlines, NCPD took the brunt of it but there were civilians that got caught in the crossfire and were hit by stray rounds.
Little did she know that David knew a lot more about what happened last night than she thought. Sure the scene was broadcast live, something that she overheard several people comment on before, mainly the surviving officers who were less than pleased that their chooms murders were seen live on air like some sick entertainment but there was little they could do after the fact. Even if they managed to get the media to suppress it there were probably hundreds of recordings by now.
The sound of the dryer buzzing several times in quick succession caught their attention, letting them know that the dryer was finished, "Alright mom, I'm gonna go get dressed and head to class." She smiled at him and ruffled his hair again, "oh come on, I just fixed it!" He whined again making her smile while continuing to mess with him
"I love you Dee,"
He rolled his eyes but tried not to laugh when she stopped, leaving his hair mess jutting out in all directions, "I love you too mom,"
-xXx-
Watching her son leave, Gloria sat down and grabbed her jacket and opened the hidden seam to look at the still blood spattered chrome she klepped from work. 'a Military-grade Sandevastan huh?' She mused to herself while looking it over, flipping the sealed bag over a few times. 'never seen one like this before,'
[G: Hey Maine, I got something you'd be interested in. Remember what you asked about a while ago?]
[M: No shit, been hunting one for a gig coming up. You got your hands on one?]
[G: Even better than you were looking. Need it gone soon.]
[M: what's it gonna run me?]
[G: 30 at least]
[M: Goddamn girl, a QianT off the shelf is 28. I'm thinking 15.]
[G: It might be but you can't find them anywhere in the city right now. I'm sure someone will be willing to pay for this next level chrome.]
[M: Fuck Gloria, come on you know I need this chrome for a gig. 20k.]
[G: And you know I need the eddies. I just asked you first since I know you're good for it, but if you don't I'm sure someone out here would be happy to pay at least 26.
[M: Goddammit girl… hold up a sec]
[M: Look 25 is the best I can do. 20 now and 5 cash on delivery, only because I know you're solid.]
[G: Deal, same place?]
[M: Yeah, same spot. Got some biz to finish first so it'll be a few hours at least.]
[G: Nova. I'll be waiting. Oh and tell Dorio I said hi]
-xXx-
To be continued…
-xXx-
AN: Chapter 21 is done yay! I hope it holds up and you all enjoy it. I really wanted to go a little further but it's already running a bit long and I don't want to make you all wait too much longer. I'll probably start working on the next chapter in a little bit, there's a lot of moving parts now that Edgerunners is officially kicking off and I haven't even had the time to really play Phantom Liberty yet. I'm probably forgetting something lol.
But as always feel free to send me a PM or ask me something on Discord, I'm usually lurking on AizenTheGoat's server whenever I step out of the lab.
Oh and one last thing…
This is just an idea that I played with so don't expect this to go anywhere. If you wanna take it for your own and change things then have at it. The idea was what if Naruto ended up in Night City earlier and David was his son.
Night City: 2060
Naruto stared at the bowl Gloria placed down in front of him and trembled at the sight as she looked on proudly, "it's the first time I cooked for you in forever and in our new home!" The love of his life gushed happily while bouncing on her feet, a sight the blond would've loved to see if he wasn't fighting back tears and struggling to keep a straight face.
"You said this was your grandma's special… what now?" He asked, turning to her with a foxy grin hiding the anguish he felt within. Gloria, his redheaded love was many things, smart as hell, patient enough to put up with his jokes, wild in the sack… he would and has killed for this woman on more than one occasion. Not that she knew. But what he quickly discovered early on in their relationship was that this woman had absolutely no business being in the kitchen.
None whatsoever and even Gloria herself would agree…she could burn water. The one thing she could actually cook though was-
"It's my Abue Lucia's Chilate de pollo," she cheered with her proudest grin before looking down as a two year old David tugged on the leg of her shorts, "woah Mijo, don't tug on mama's shorts like that!" She giggled bending down and scooping him up into her arms making the boy giggle as well, "mamas not wearing any underwear,"
Naruto already knew this and didn't react, after all he was the reason she didn't have them on anymore. Thank God David was such a heavy sleeper. But his attention turned back to the food, her grandma's fiery chicken soup, the only thing she could make with ease. She was so proud of it and Naruto couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't really like it… he didn't know what fresh hell she got the spices and peppers from but she had to be on a watchlist somewhere.
Gloria continued playing with the toddler for a bit and bounced him on her hip, "oh mijo your getting so big, what in the world am I feeding you." She joked playfully while moving to sit down at the table with Naruto, "are you ready to eat dinner with daddy?" She then looked back up to Naruto who smiled at her, "I didn't make Davids spicy at all, he's gotta wait a while before he has the real thing,"
Naruto side-eyed David's bowl, a dark whisper in the back of his mind telling him to switch his bowl with the childs. No… he couldn't do that… she'd definitely notice when David's kiddie bowl with the cartoon characters on it was switched with his regular one.
David laughed happily while she sat him down on her lap, "let mama help you out," she cooed, taking the spoon and blowing on it to cool the soup down. While Naruto was contemplating the switch his eyes met Davids and the toddler seemed to smirk and slurped the nowhere near as fiery chicken soup up loudly while waving his arm towards the blond, "is it good Mijo?" She looked up at him and continued smiling, "how about daddy, did he like it?"
'You little shit!' Naruto felt his eye twitch, swearing that the toddler did that on purpose as he quickly speared a piece of the red chicken and held it up. He felt a cold breeze on the back of his neck and swore that the grim reaper loomed over him. It was either here for him or his ass cause if the heat didn't kill him on the way in it probably would on the way out.
"Mm it's great," he had to force down a cough, "got some kick to it too," he hummed quickly chewing and swallowing it down before standing, "I'm gonna grab a drink, you want one?" He asked while thinking, 'please let the milk be in date!' He couldn't remember if he grabbed some or not.
"Oh yeah I'll take one and can you grab Davy's bottle too? I put it in the fridge," he nodded and she looked down to David, "say, thanks daddy!" The boy waved at the blond and repeated it with his childish lisp making them both smile. Then just as he opened it she called out again, "oh that reminds me, we need to pick up some more milk. There was just a little bit left so I put it in Davy's cup."
Naruto's eyes lost focus and glazed over, a single tear falling from one eye. He blinked and focused in on the child's cup, a bright orange sippy cup with a cartoon fox on the side. 'David you're so lucky I love you,' he would just take it otherwise, desperate times call for desperate measures after all. Grabbing that and two cans of Nicola he returned to the table, leaning down to kiss the redhead much to her surprise and enjoyment. "I love you," he whispered, stepping back and setting the drinks down well out of the toddler's reach and making a funny face at David who laughed, "and I love you too kiddo, don't ever forget that,"
Gloria licked her lips, "mmm spicy," she continued to feed the toddler while Naruto put on his game face and picked up his own fork. "Oh Mama Welles called earlier, she wants us to come over for dinner this weekend if we're free. Cami and Jackie will be there too. You free?
"I don't have any plans," he grinned, actually looking forward to it. It felt like forever since the last time they all got together, "did she say if Pepe was gonna be there?"
Gloria smirked, "not this time, apparently Pepe's gotta date with that Cynthia chick,"
"Really?" He blinked, Naruto had seen Cynthia two or three times around Haywood and she really didn't seem to be Pepe's type. Then again, the same could have been said about him, when he and Gloria got together at the time a lot of gonks didn't expect it to last since she was in school to be a Medtech and he wasn't exactly an upstanding citizen and was on plenty of shit lists. "I'm glad, choom needs a little love in his life."
As Naruto finished up his food and downed the surgery drink in hopes of it combating the liquid flames of hell coating the inside of his mouth Gloria made a face and gave the boy an accusatory look, "Mijo did you-" the boy didn't answer but the smell was all the answer she needed, "Yep… sure did." Naruto couldn't help but bite his lip at the face she made when she realized that the child had as Mama Welles once said, 'shit that damn diaper full' "I'll be right back, gonna go change him,"
When she moved to get up Naruto got a message and huffed, "damn, hey baby I gotta get going," he stood up along with her and kissed her again, "almost forgot I had a meeting today, Jackie will be here in a minute."
"Be careful baby," Gloria frowned as soon as she heard him. She didn't like what he did for a living in the first place. Sure he made plenty of eddies but she was afraid that one day something horrible would happen, that she would lose him and David would lose his father.
Naruto knew this and brought them close, "trust me baby, everything is going to be fine.. and I know you don't like us taking a chance to work with the Valentinos but Gustavo and Jackie go way back. Apparently Cami's his sister too so I'll give this a shot." He kissed her and she whispered something in his ear, making him choke on his own spit then grinned,"I'll hold you to it,"
Looking down to the toddler in her arms, Naruto smiled at the boys shining blue eyes looking up at him, "Your old mans gotta go do some work Davy, make sure your mother behaves alright." He kissed the boy on the head much to his enjoyment then raising up to whisper back in her ear, "cause I might just have to give her a good spanking when I get back,"
"Promise?" She asked, fluttering her eyes and turning away from him while glancing over her shoulder with a shy yet sly grin and her hip cocked out for him. He nodded and she giggled when he gave her rear a pop before walking into the other room, heading towards the nursery for a fresh diaper.
Stepping out of the kitchen himself Naruto paused and leapt back over towards the table and snatched up David's cup, downing half in hopes that the milk would help, 'sorry shitty britches, Daddy loves you but desperate times call for desperate measures.' He would have to stop by the nearest 24/7 convenience store and grab more and a clone would bring it back while he handled business.
Stepping out onto the deck of his newly purchased suburban home in Rancho Coronado, Naruto was greeted by the sight of several Sixth Street gangoons hanging around by the various cars parked along the side of his street. Most were laughing at a young man being chased around by a mini ground drone armed with a taser. One of the gonks was already laid out on his front lawn, small tire marks across his back from being run over by it.
"Hey Captain!" One called out, noticing him walking down his steps. Each one stopped what they were doing to greet him including the one running from the drone only for him to scream and hit the ground with the little drone climbing up onto his back like a proud hunter atop its prey.
While they were all members of the gang, each man and woman considered themselves separate from Sixth Street as a whole. The General didn't like it, especially since they didn't exactly follow his orders but the way they saw it the others had lost sight of the founding principles the original members put in place. acting more like the boosters and thugs over protectors and guardians. Some joked that they were Marines of Sixth Street, separate from the rest but technically a part of the same group, although none of them really took it that seriously. Or too seriously at least.
"Hey guys, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," he grinned while making his way over to them, narrowing his eyes when he saw a plastic flamingo in the corner of his yard, "I don't know which one you put that there but you're asking for it" Several knowing grins were exchanged but no one owned up to it while the man made his way to them.
"Not too long," one of the older members mused with a cigar between his teeth, "we were just catching up and one of our new recruits wanted to show off her toys,"
"New recruits?" He asked with a surprise look on his face, they rarely brought in new people.
"Yeah let me call em up," the man turned and barked out, "Hey newbloods front and center!" One of the half open car doors swung open the rest of the way and out stumbled a young woman with a cyberdeck in her hands. The young man laying in his yard with a tire track across him groaned and pushed himself up, spitting out several blades of grass and stepped over to the other man, helping him up after the drone scurried away towards the girl. It took a second but all three stood in a line in front of the blonde as they were introduced, "Captain let me introduce Corporals Richard Morton and Enrico Rodriguez," he said motioning towards the two men then toward the woman with the drone parked next to her, "The techie with the drone is Specialist Ofelia Ortiz. Watch yourself around that one, she bites," the woman in question gave him a toothy grin in response.
-xXx-
I love you guys
