Chapter 8: Night on Fire
Adam Smasher vs V, Jackie and Val: Night on Fire by JT Music. Had to be this way. And Ghost of Tsushima OST - sword draw. Bury the Light.
-Konpeki Plaza, Night City-
As V and Jackie got out of the car, the latter of the two grabbed the Flathead and led the way to the front door. The bruiser went first, and their bot got noticed by the security gate.
"Hold it. Care to explain why you're bringing a military grade robot into Konpeki Plaza?" The guard questioned, prompting V to speak up.
"We're arms dealers." He told him.
"Excuse me?" The guard asked with a raised eyebrow.
It was then that one of the front desk workers approached them.
"Ah, you are here to see Taki-san, correct?" The man questioned. "My apologies for the confusion. Please, come in." He continued with a bow as they walked into the front desk.
"Yokoso, and welcome to Konpeki Plaza." The receptionist bowed.
"Yes, thank you." Val nodded in reply.
"You are here to see Taki-san, correct? I will inform him of your arrival." The receptionist said as she started typing away.
"Shit, that's not part of the plan! V, stall her!" T-Bug panicked, and V quickly spoke up.
"That won't be necessary." The Nomad interjected. "We'll settle in, and alert him ourselves." He added.
"But… Taki-San is expecting you, no?" The receptionist questioned.
"Seniorita. Do you know how long we've been traveling?" Jackie questioned. "Fifteen hours from New Barcelona." He continued.
"All delayed because some cyberpsycho blew himself to bits in the cockpit!" V continued.
"Oh, a nightmare..." Val groaned.
"I understand." The receptionist nodded. "Your room will be the Lapis Lazuli suite on level forty two." She told them.
"That's the one. Thanks." V nodded as they got ready.
"One more little formality, please verify your VFID chip." The woman told them.
"All yours, 'Harry'." Jackie prompted. V then put his hand on the scanner and the scan was done in a second.
"Thank you, and welcome to Konpeki Plaza." The receptionist bowed one last time before the group moved on.
"New Barcelona? Really?" T-Bug couldn't help but chuckle.
"Yeah, it's called Improvisation." Jackie quipped.
"It's more effective than you think." Val added, recalling a few times when she had to improvise in a tough spot back when she still drove with the Bakkers.
As the trio walked to the elevator, Jackie decided to strike up idle chit-chat in line with their roles, and sell the bit.
"Seems nice." He hummed.
"Hmmm?" V questioned.
"Quaint, not like that place we stayed at during that convention in Zurich." The Street kid said as they kept walking.
"Yeah, Nero's Palazzo, right?" Val nodded, playing into the bit. As she said that they entered the elevator and headed to their room, ready to get started on the heist.
"You two know how to blend in." V commented. "Though if one of us was a Corpo, then that would be made easier." He added offhandedly.
"In another timeline, maybe." Jackie shrugged.
Exiting the elevator, the three headed to their room and got settled in, Jackie quickly getting the Flathead out while Val took the control shard.
"Okay… Let's get this sucker into the dwellers den…" She hummed as she started controlling the bot manually. "Hm… So far, so good. No issues yet." She reported as she moved through some other rooms on her way through the ducts.
Right as she said that, though, she hit a snag in one of the rooms on her way to the dweller. One room was being cleaned up by housekeeping, and one of the women cleaning it was in the way of the duct she needed the Flathead to take.
"Crap! Bug, we got a problem. Housekeeping is in the way." She reported, seeing the two employees through the bot's optics.
"Hang on, I'm gonna have a look around." The netrunner told her as she started looking.
"Terrarium looks like a good thing to sabotage." Viv suggested.
"Good move, I'll tinker around with it." The Netrunner nodded before getting to work. "Alright, should be seeing results… now." She added.
Sure enough, housekeeping noticed what happened to the terrarium and went to investigate, opening the way for Val to drive the Flathead forward through another duct. After getting through a maintenance passageway, she arrived at the hotel's dweller area.
"Okay, I'm at the dweller's area. Heading through the door." The assassin reported.
"Dweller's in the next room. Think you can get the bot through that door?" T-Bug questioned.
"I'm all over it." Val grinned before trying to get the little bot through the door, but ran into some trouble. "Or not. Little guy's having trouble." She amended.
"Find a secondary vent. Should be able to get through from there." The woman told her.
"OK, think I found it. Sending the bot there now." The Nomad nodded.
"I see him. Now I'll sick him on the Dweller." T-Bug nodded.
Then Val watched as T-Bug took over the Flathead remotely and set it loose on the dweller. It only took a few seconds.
"Boom! Love those daemons!" The netrunner grinned. "Alright, Jack out, I'll take it from here." She told her companion.
Val did so and put the shard away.
"Okay, bad news, ICE is a bit tougher than I thought. Means this could take longer." T-Bug told them.
"Anything we can do to help out?" V asked his output.
"Kind of you to ask, but don't worry. I can handle this on my own." The netrunner told her lover in reply. "It'll probably take me a couple hours." She added.
"A couple hours?! Can't you do it faster?" Jackie questioned in disbelief.
"Do you want my head to burst into flames?" T-Bug retorted. "Just sit tight for now and soak in your "fancy digs" for now." She told them.
"Alright. Holler if you need any help." Val told her.
"Gotcha." The netrunner nodded before getting to work on Konpeki's ICE.
(A few hours later)
After a bit, V, was sitting on a seat reading a magazine while Viv was laying on the bed, watching TV, and Jackie was looking out the window.
"Hey, why do you think he did it?" Jackie questioned.
"Who did what?" V asked, looking up from his magazine.
"Yorinobu Arasaka. Given' up the good life, I mean." The bruiser elaborated. "All the eddies in the world, an education… Hell, his dad can snap his fingers and turn half the planet into a nuclear wasteland. Why'd he give it all up?" He wondered.
"Yeah, I mean, you got all that–then you give it up. Ghost from your fam, and then start a fucking gang! Steel Dragons or some shit." Val nodded. "Sounds dumber than Silver Shoguns…" She scoffed, flipping through the channels.
"He probably wanted to escape the system." V shrugged, David appearing and leaning against the window.
"And?" Jackie questioned.
"Kinda hard to escape when the system is your own dad." Val chimed in.
"'Least it's better than being a son of Rahul Welles…" The Street kid mused.
"Yeah. And then the kid came back with his tail between his legs. What a wimp…" V scoffed.
"Wimp or not, he just walked in the front door." T-Bug interjected, causing the trio to snap to attention.
"Are we good to go, Bug?" The male Night sibling asked.
"Yeah. Penthouse security is neutralized. Get moving!" She told them, not wanting her companions to be there when Yorinobu reached the penthouse.
"Well." Val sighed as she hopped up. "Let's get this show on the road." She added as she headed out.
"Yep, let's roll." V nodded as he rubbed David's necklace with his ring hand for good luck. All three of them walked into the hall, and into the elevator.
"Let's start the show." Jackie nodded. "Hey Bug, were you on comms the whole time?" He questioned.
"All two and a half hours." The woman replied flatly. "Thanks for smacking Jackie after he made that remark about me having a stick up my ass, by the way, V." She added.
"Not a problem, Tia." The Nomad replied as they went up in the elevator.
"There's the awkward silence." Jackie sighed as a beat passed. "Hey, anyone wanna hear a joke?" He offered.
"Really? Now?" Val questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Why not?" The street kid shrugged before clearing his throat. "Okay, here goes: Why'd the rockerboy kick his roommate out of the apartment?" He started. "Because he wasn't 'chipping in'!" He finished with a laugh… Which V didn't share, but Val did mostly because V didn't get it.
"Heh, who knew you were into Samurai?" The assassin snorted.
"Oh, so that's what it was about." V blinked.
"We really gotta get you to listen to Samurai." Jackie told him.
"I never really listened to Chrome rock, our dad did though. Mom always tried to get me into the stuff from her generation." The man shrugged as they reached the penthouse.
"OK, let's get to the chip." Jackie nodded as they went to the storage area and got it up.
"Val, jack in." V told his sister.
"On it." The assassin nodded before she plugged in her personal link, and saw the hacking progress was going WAY too slowly. "Ugh, V can literally move faster than this! I'm helping out!" She groaned in exasperation before she started doing what she could to accelerate the hacking process.
"Got it! Now get the chip–shit shit shit! Yorinobu's penthouse bound!" T-Bug told them as V dashed over and grabbed Yorinobu's gun, tossing it to Jackie as he took the chip.
"Quick, behind the TV!" He exclaimed, leading them to the back of the TV and getting them into it through a backdoor. Not a moment too soon, since a bunch of AVs flew up and landed on the roof before Yorinobu walked in with…
"Smasher…!" Val hissed with a glare as she watched the boogeyman of Night City walk out of the elevator after Yorinobu.
"Wow, never thought I'd see that mug again." David whispered.
"I'm pissed, too, cool it. We need to get out of here alive." V whispered, blocking out David for the moment.
"Are they here, yet?" Yorinobu snapped.
"They're on the rooftop…" The AI replied.
"What're they talking about?" Jackie questioned.
"No way, no fucking way, this isn't happening!" T-Bug gasped.
"What is it?" V questioned.
"He's here! Saburo Arasaka…!" The woman breathed right as the gang saw the Japanese centurion in question come down the stairs leading to the roof with a bodyguard.
"The Emperor?!" Jackie gasped. "Yet another ass licking legend…!" He added.
"Oh shit…!" David gasped in shock, never once imagining that the Emperor himself would arrive in person.
V, however, found his attention focused on something else. Specifically, where his father's killer was looking. He wasn't watching over Saburo or Yorinobu.
He was looking right at the TV.
He knows they're there.
'Shit…!' He gulped.
"I told you not to meddle in my affairs." Yorinobu growled at his father as the man walked into the forrie of the room, all while Saburo's bodyguard started scanning the room.
"I am not meddling with yours. I am merely tending to my own." Saburo replied with a level of stoicness only those as old as him could achieve. "Leave us." He told the bodyguard, Takemura.
"Arasaka-sama, I have yet to do a full sweep." Takemura told him.
"This is my son. I can handle this." The man rebuked. "You may go." He added.
Takemura wordlessly bowed before he left the penthouse, Adam following suit after giving one last look to the TV.
"Shit… If he'd sniffed us out…" Jackie gulped.
"Too late. Smasher already did." V told him quietly.
"Crap…!" Val hissed.
"Quiet. I doubt this cubby is soundproof." Jackie told the two Nomads as they watched the two Arasakas.
"Did you think I would not know what goes on under my roof?" The Emperor questioned.
"Actually I didn't think about you at all, ever!" Yorinobu snapped back. "That's your problem, old man! You think the world revolves around you! Arrogant!" He yelled.
"Yorinobu…" Saburo sighed, looking at the younger man.
"Why did you come here?! Did you just come here to make sure your son knows his place?" Yorinobu yelled, getting up. "That your 'vessel' is still for you to use?!" He demanded.
"Vessel?" David wondered, looking confused.
"No clue on that." V replied with a small shrug.
"The nail that sticks out will get hammered down." The man said.
"Wow, couldn't think of anything original?" Val questioned at the same time as Yorinobu.
"And you thought it 'original' to sell our greatest secret to these westerners? To these… barbarians?!" Saburo shot back, a faint amount of anger in his ancient voice.
"Barbarians? Rude." David scoffed.
"Our future? Ours?! You're mistaken if you think that you care about anything but your sick schemes!" The younger Arasaka yelled.
"There are many things I would forgive you for, but treason… No." The centurion declared, sounding more weary than V, Val, David or Jackie could imagine. "It is fortunate your mother is no longer alive. She is spared all of this. The heart should break only once." He lamented.
"Mind the glass." David said before, suddenly, Yorinobu throttled his father by the throat and slammed him against the glass, strangling him with all his strength.
"You will never have to forgive me for anything again!" Yorinobu yelled as his father fell to the ground, dead.
V, Viv, David and Jackie could only watch in shock and horror as they got front row seats to Yorinobu committing patricide against Saburo.
"Fuuuuck me…" Jackie whispered. "That's that, we're done for." He added.
"Bug, I think you better jack out, now." V told his output.
"Why? What's happening?" The netrunner asked.
"Yorinobu just offed Saburo!" The Nomad hissed.
"What?!" T-Bug gasped in shock.
"I wish… to put the hotel on lockdown." Yorinobu said, checking his father's pulse.
"May I ask why?" The AI inquired.
"... Saburo Arasaka has been murdered." Yorinobu sighed after a moment.
"Affirmative. Initiating code red." The AI blared as the lockdown lighting turned on. "Attention: Code red has been initiated. Please return to your rooms and follow all instructions given by hotel staff!" It continued, sending an address to the whole building as Takemura and Adam returned to the room, the former rushing up to Saburo's lifeless body.
"What has happened?!" The bodyguard gasped as he examined his now late employer's body.
"Someone… Someone has poisoned my father!" The Arasaka failson explained as he paced around.
"Poisoned?" Takemura questioned.
"Yes." The younger Aarasaka nodded in reply.
"I… find that skeptical." Takemura frowned, causing Yorinobu to stiffen.
"What is your duty?" He questioned, much to the bodyguard's confusion.
"I-I-I don't follow." He responded.
"It is a simple question, Takemura. Answer it!" Yorinobu ordered.
"It is… to serve the Arasaka family." Takemura answered.
"I hope you'll do a more productive job from now on." The patricidal man stated firmly before he headed to the elevator followed by Adam and Takemura. The second the elevator doors closed, V, Val and Jackie exited the TV.
"Son of a bitch, this is not our day!" Val cursed in well placed frustration. Saburo showing up was bad enough, but Yorinobu offing him made things worse.
"His own fuckin' pops!" Jackie exclaimed as V went over to Saburo and prayed over him.
"Requirescat in Pace, your majesty. I'm sorry it had to be this way." The Nomad said as he closed the old man's eyes before he took his dog tags.
"Guys, make your way outside. There's a maintenance walkway leading to a ladder… A… ladder…" T-bug started to instruct before trailing off. "No… No no no...! Guys, I've been made–!" She started to exclaim before she screamed as she went offline… And her biomon said that she was dead.
"T-BUG!" V yelled in horror. "NOOO!" He wailed, falling to his knees, distraught.
"V, I know you wanna drop everything and go straight to Tia, but we need to get out of here!" The assassin told her brother, a hand on his shoulder.
V was silent as tears poured down his face…Before a look of anger overtook it. "Come on, they must've parked Saburo's AV up top, we can use it to escape!" He barked at his sister and choomba.
"Right!" The two nodded as they rushed to the roof and took out two guards before they tried to access the AV.
"Unauthorized access detected. Stay where you are. Security will be here shortly." It told them.
"Val, hack it!" V ordered.
"On it!" The assassin nodded before she got to work.
But as the girl was working her magic, two goons and a robot walker appeared, though it seemed like the rest of the Plaza was unaware of their presence.
"We'll deal with them, the Arasakas are none the wiser! Jackie?" The Sande user prompted.
"Gotcha broder!" The Street kid nodded, bringing out his arm cannons. "Hasta la Vista, baby!" He laughed, blowing them to kingdom come.
"Nice one!" Val grinned.
"How's our getaway AV lookin', sis?" V asked,keeping his eyes peeled for more security guards. He was itching to kill something.
"Checking… It's taking a bit longer than I'd hoped. I've cut about halfway through the ICE." She reported. "But I can tell you that the AV only reported the break in to the nearest guards. The rest of the chatter seems abuzz about finding the person who poisoned Saburo." She added.
"Good, that's good, now all we gotta do is get this thing in the air." V nodded, setting the Relic case inside the AV.
That was when…
BOOM!
A mechanical giant landed right behind them after leaping off the stairs.
"That would be because I had the systems get routed away from here." A deep and electronic voice said as it walked towards them. "I wanted to deal with you personally." The figure said, revealing himself to be Adam Smasher.
"Shit! We can't fight him! Nothing we got is good enough to scratch him!" Jackie cursed, his legs shaking from the feeling of fear he got from Adam's presence.
"Like hell that's gonna stop me!" V growled as he stepped forward to fight the boogeyman, much to the shock of his sister and choom. He fucking just lost his lover, so he fucking needed this. "SMASHER! Remember me, ya big ugly ogre?!" He yelled.
He then threw off his suit, revealing his street clothes underneath, slipping his Edgerunner jacket on.
"No. Am I supposed to?" The borged out man asked uncaringly.
"They say you're the boogeyman around here." V said as he rolled up his sleeves. "If that's the case, then I'm the one people send to kill the fucking boogeyman." He declared, deploying his blades.
"Big words for a brat like you. You'll die just like the rest." Adam grunted before he tried to slug the Nomad, only for him to use his Sandevistan to dodge the blow.
He then moved with the momentum of his dodge to go into a top spin and started slashing at the borg like a food processor. He then turned on his hand and kicked Smasher in the face, using his hydraulic legs to add extra power to it–making the brute stumble.
"Rgh! You little shit!" He growled in irritation before he tried to use his wrist cannon, only for V to dodge that too. Then deflect a second shot with his blades.
Jackie then went in, shooting at Smasher to get his attention, allowing V to jump on the Borg's back and start hacking at him.
"Ohhh, now I recognize you, you're that punk ass runt that tried to flatline me five years back. How's your old lady doin' these days, kid?" The bodyguard growled as he grabbed V by the jacket collar and hurled him into Jackie.
"You keep my mom's name outta your filthy voice box Smasher, if you wanna live!" The Nomad growled as he got up while Viv kept hacking the AV.
'Damn! V needs an edge, and he needs it now!' She thought before looking at Saburo's sword and got an idea. 'Okay, this is gonna take me a bit!' She thought before she split her attention between hacking the AV and improving Satori with what she had on hand.
Meanwhile with the boys, Jackie took a punch to the gut and was sent flying into an air conditioning system, denting it.
V, was still fighting Smasher, and now he was punching him with his Synaptic Accelerator active.
"You remind me of a lot of people I hate. Morgan Blackhand, Johnny Silverhand, William Night. Their similarities? They're all dead. What chance do you got?" The borg questioned, towering over the Nomad as he tanked the light punches.
"How about because I know how you tick?!" V exclaimed as he proceeded to continue fighting while exploiting the weaknesses of each of Smasher's implants, sticking grenades in his chest plates.
"Get stronger then. Come back later, then prove it." The boogeyman told him, trying to ignore the system errors popping up in his vision.
"Sure, after you shove off!" He yelled, double kicking him back with his reinforced tendons and made him fall on his back, right as the grenades went off…
Only for the borg to get back up with a groan, his chest being damaged, but not nearly as much as what would be considered 'decent'.
"That's good, boy. That's very good. But not good enough." Smasher growled as he started firing at V with his automatic arm shotgun.
"Shit!" V yelped as he used his Sandevistan to dodge the shots. However, the borged out man was able to track him, and one of his stray shots ended up hitting the biochip's case.
"Motherfucker!" Val cursed before she quickly took the biochip and slotted it into her neuroport before it could drop below one hundred percent. Then she got back to work.
V gasped as he shakily got back up, his body bleeding. Taking one of the only five MedDoc that he had on hand to heal himself up.
"We're getting our asses kicked here, V." David said as appeared next to his healing friend.
"Tell me something I don't know!" V growled as he reared his fist back before he just ran in and punched Adam in his metal chest.
The Night City boogeyman raised an eyebrow, but V didn't care as he used his Sande to land a flurry of punches on him at Shonen speed.
When he finished, Adam looked at him with a look in his optics that just screamed 'What else you got?'
V growled as he started again, going into Psycho Mode and punched Smasher even faster than before, and with even more power–pushing the borg back inch by inch until he ended it with a Shaolin double punch to the borg's exposed chest, forcing him a couple feet back.
And this barrage managed to do damage, but Smasher just didn't seem to care.
V's eyes still twitched, showing his new "mode" to Smasher, where the man recognized both his jacket and Sandevistan.
"Wait a damn minute, that jacket and Sandevistan… Those belonged to that Martinez kid!" He growled. "How the fuck did you get those?!" He demanded.
"His crew gave them to me. What? Surprised that they were able to slip past your watchful eye?" The Nomad grinned, wiping the blood from his mouth.
"I'll pry that implant from your bloody corpse!" The boogeyman yelled angrily. It was at this moment that Viv made her move.
"Bro, catch!" She called, tossing him the new and improved Satori.
V caught the sword and slowly pulled it from its sheath over his head as lightning flashed.
"Fuck yeah…" The Nomad grinned as he stood ready to strike, and he was going to make Adam fucking bleed.
Adam tried to go in for a haymaker, but V parried it, leaving his opponent open. The Psycho Mode merc then did an upper slash, an aerial rave jump slash, a perfect rapid cut, then drop kicked the borg to the ground before continuing his assault.
He did a quick slice before he blitzed past the boogeyman, grabbing a discarded SMG as he went and fired all its bullets at his target. Then V went in and moved so fast he somehow left an afterimage of himself that mirrored his movements, allowing him to inflict double the damage.
Kicking the borg into the air he then started twirling his sword, causing him to bounce on it several times before going into the air again–and then the unthinkable happened.
V sheathed Satori, and then he did a quickdraw worthy of its name. Space itself seemed to be cut several times over as the Nomad slowly sheathed his sword.
Then…
"I am the storm that is approaching!" V's personal radio blared.
Click.
Space itself shattered, and not only did Adam now sport numerous cuts across his body, but several air conditioning units around them were damaged.
Viv and Jackie watched in awe as V stood victorious while Adam crashed to the ground, lightning flashing in the background.
That's when something clicked for the mechanical bodyguard.
"Now… Now I get it." The boogeyman of Night City groaned as he struggled to his feet, his metal plating falling away.
"Recognize me now, Smasher?" V sneered. "My name is Vincent Night, son of William Night." He added.
"William Night... Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time." The borg mused. "The Nomad pirate who took this City by storm." He chuckled almost humorously. "He almost flatlined me, didja know that? All 'ganic, not so much as a couple implants." He told the Nomad. "And that old coot was even with me. ME! Adam Smasher! And he died standing, never once turning his back." He added with a laugh that sounded completely psychotic.
"You… Sound as if you respected him." Val coughed.
"Yeah, kid. I respected your old man, always have. And likely, I probably always will." The borg coughed.
"That I have a hard time believing that." V growled as Smasher struggled back up.
"You ever been punched by an earthquake before? That's what it felt like to get hit by one of your dad's punches." Adam told her with a grunt. "Punched him 365 times in 20 seconds, the man didn't even move. It was like hitting a mountain! William Night was no mere man, he was like my antithesis. A force of nature in the 'ganic form." He continued, recounting his experience with the one man that he might as well call his equal.
"Wait, he was that strong?!" Jackie gasped in shock.
"That he was." Smasher coughed, shakily standing, his metal creaking. "And it looks like you're well on your way to matching him, boy." He continued, looking at V. "So go, take your prize. And fight me again sometime. I wanna see who's better when both of us aren't holding back." He added.
"Gladly." V nodded curtly before he walked to the AV. "Val, get us out of here." He ordered.
"On it." The Nomad woman nodded as V helped Jackie into the AV, allowing them to escape the building, with no one else the wiser…
And back with Smasher, he started forcibly powering down, his mechanical body's nano machines beginning to repair him.
(Elsewhere)
Meanwhile, at a landing zone away from Konpeki, the AV touched down and dropped the mercs off–flying off as they left and going back to the Plaza–programmed to wipe its records upon arrival.
And right on time, Delamain was arriving to meet them.
"Greetings. I trust that your excursion was a successful one?" The AI greeted them casually.
"Yeah, Del, we were able to get outta dodge." Jackie nodded.
"Take us to the No-Tell Motel, quickly." V told them.
"Of course." Delamain nodded before their taxi drove toward their destination.
"V, Jackie, there's… something I gotta tell you." Val began, her tone nervous.
"What's up, chica?" The bruiser asked as he relaxed.
"During that fight with Smasher, one of his stray shots hit the biochip's case. I had to slot it into my neuroport before it could sustain any damage." The assassin told them.
"Fuck… Let's hope this doesn't alter our deal." V sighed as Delamain drove them through the streets of Night City.
"Yeah." Jackie nodded. "That aside though…" He hummed.
"Woohoohoo!" The three cheered.
"We did it!" Viv whooped.
"In and out, bitches! For T-BUG!" V cheered as he flipped off Saburo's AV as it flew away. "We did it, guys! We fuckin' made it! We're in the major leagues!" He laughed.
"Fuckin' right we are! Woo! Mama's gonna love me so much after this!" Jackie hollered with a grin.
"Congratulations, guys. I mean it." Val nodded.
"Don't sell yourself short, sis. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have been able to get out of there in one piece." V told his sister.
"Yeah, but you arguably did more than I did. Nobody's been able to square off against Adam Smasher and live to tell the tale. You two are gonna be living legends for that." The Widowmaker told the two men.
"Same as you, huh, Chica?" Jackie chuckled.
"Guess so." Val shrugged.
(Later)
Delamain slowly pulled up to the safe house, allowing the trio to step out. All of them now had their gear back, with V leading as they went to the designated room, allowing him to knock on the door. A moment later, some huscle answered.
"He's waiting." He told them, allowing them entry. The trio saw that Dex was sifting through the news channels.
"V, my man, you're blowin' up all over the news." Dex smiled at them.
"That wasn't us, Dex." Viv chimed in. "We were out of the penthouse by the time the hotel was on lockdown." She added.
"So I see. I must admit, my intuition about your improv skills were on point." The fixer nodded. "Now, ya got the chip?" He questioned.
"There was a… complication, as we got ready to leave." The assassin sighed. "One of Smasher's stray shot's hit the case, and I had to slot it in before it could drop below one hundred percent." She explained.
"That is unfortunate." Dex sighed. "But it was liable to happen, I suppose, given who was involved." He mused. "Luckily, T-Bug figured out a work-around." He continued. "But… Due to her unfortunate demise, you'll have to do it." He added.
"On it." Val nodded as she started up a machine in front of her.
"Now, why don't you all get cleaned up?" Dex suggested.
The trio then went into the bathroom after Val got things handled, and took turns getting the blood (or oil, in V's case) cleaned off their faces. Luckily, it was all still fresh, so it came off easy.
When they came out, however, Dex's duo of huscle suddenly had them restrained.
"Just take the fucking chip, Dex!" The Nomad gasped as he tried to break free from the huscle's grip.
"Every Corpo and cop is gonna come busting down these doors looking for us." The fixer growled. "We didn't need all this cocksucking attention, dammit!" He barked.
"You think we had a choice?! We fuckin' didn't!" Jackie snapped back. "Hell, we didn't expect Adam-fuckin'-Smasher to come after us himself, either!" He added.
Dex nodded at his huscle to start incapacitating them, only for David to figuratively slap V awake.
"Come on, man! Move!" He yelled.
V growled before he threw off the huscle, distracting the other one and allowing Val to get free and activate her sniper cannon, the point blank shot killing him.
V then sliced the guy holding him apart before stabbing him through the chest and then swiping at the guy holding Jackie–allowing him to kill the guy with one blast.
Panicking, Dex brought out his personal pistol and shot the Widowmaker in the head, causing her to fall over.
"VAL!" V yelled in horror before he glared at Dex murderously. "I was gonna let you leave this fucking city, but now? Now I'll just kill you, BLACK MARKS BE DAMNED!" He roared.
"You thi–" Dex started to say before V swung his mantis blades at Dex's neck and decapitated him, causing his body to slump over, dead.
Taking the man's gun, he then ran over to his sister.
"I don't care if we get a black mark for that! Nobody fuck's with my family and lives!" He growled as he picked her up bridal style.
"We can worry about getting the chip out later, for now we need to get Val to a Ripperdoc, and quickly." Jackie told him.
"How close is Vik's?!" V demanded.
"Should be close enough, come on!" Jackie said as they ran out of the hotel, getting into Delamain and driving off.
It was now a matter of life and death…
ThermalsniperN7: Well… That was a trip and a half. V was actually able to go toe-to-toe with Adam Smasher and not only live to tell the tale, but also proved that he's on his way to being just like his old man. Hell, Adam even respects Willie! That's a feat unto itself.
Dragon Emperor0: This makes me wonder just what the hell happened in that fight. That aside, Jackie is alive… But T-Bug was still killed, and Dex still betrayed them. Though that makes me wonder why.
ThermalsniperN7: Hey, you know what Evelyn said about people like Dex: They bet with their intuition, and if they lose that bet, it's the last one they'll ever make. Dex bet with his intuition, and died cuz he thought he could backstab them and run. That aside… Did V just pull off that insanely cracked combo from DMC 5? Without any supernatural powers?
Dragon Emperor0: I think he just did a cyberpunk version of it, yeah. I mean, digital distortions are a thing here. But I'm more surprised that Smasher was basically like Senator Armstrong this entire fight. He was nearly unstoppable.
ThermalsniperN7: Damn right he was! He took all those punches like a champ! He was gangster until Val gave V Satori. Then he wasn't gangster anymore. It's actually pretty sad that T-Bug still died. Now V is a widowed father, and he's gonna struggle in making ends meet for his son. Finding a trustworthy babysitter in a place like Night City is a fantasy at best, and a delusion at worst. Anyway, see you guys next time in the race to save Val's life–the start of Act 2!