— Maine —

Fuck, he hated workin' right now.

This gig was a lucrative one, but the second that bearded merc tore through his gang's car and killed Sylo, he knew shit was going to go sideways, fast.

He was the strongest among the people gathered here; more than that, he was their leader. He could call an end to this job at any moment, and they could all go home. Considering that at least one of the guys they were facing had Nen, Maine didn't like their chances much.

Of his boys, only he had the potential for Nen, and it wasn't much either. He had to grind every second of every day to get as far as he could. Takeo had Haki, and it came much easier to him, but with the guy being chromed the fuck out, it didn't mean much if he could go cyber-psycho any day now.

They all continued to rain bullets down on the two mercs. They failed their job anyway. Lindel is long gone, and they had no real way of catching up.

But Maine knew what would happen if they tried to run. They'd be chased. They needed to end this now.

He peaked over the cover, aiming his secondary pistol at the Nen merc's head and pulling the trigger. He watched as the bullet thumped against his head, and he hid back behind cover.

Ten.

If he was using Ten now, then this entire gunfight was pointless.

"Focus on the one to the left!" Maine barked out, and the guys behind the car with him nodded.

He alone would deal with the Hunter.

And he would win.

Maine pulled out his Kang Tao L-69 Smart Shotgun, prepared himself, activated his Ten, and ran out.

*BOOM*

He blasted himself forward as he pulled the trigger, the bullets flew toward the merc, and he just narrowly dodged behind cover as the shells tore their way through the side of the wall.

Damn it, he almost got his ass!

The fucker probably never faced Nen-enhanced bullets yet. A grin formed on Maine's face as he cocked his shotgun and approached the merc slowly.

If he had never seen a True Hunter in action, Maine would bemore than happy to show him.

— Maliketh Aeneas —

Holy fucking shit!

I looked at the holes in the wall right beside me. That shit had almost hit me.

And I know for a fact that it would have killed me.

Maine was no fucking joke; I didn't expect the fucker to have Nen!

I activated Zetsu and quickly bolted around the building. Fuck that, I wasn't going to face that fucker head-on, not when I didn't have a decent ranged weapon that could hurt him. Which means I would have to use my Inverted Spear of Heaven.

I pulled it out of my pocket dimension and waited for the fucker to come around the corner. The moment he did, I'd drive this shit through his-

*BANG*

I felt a force hit me and then a burning pain in my back. Luckily, my Observation Haki had warned me just before he shot so I could activate Armament Haki in my arm and block some of the damage, but it didn't save me fully.

The fucker got me!

I activated Ren and my Sandevistan, slipping around the building and locking eyes with Maine. Smart shotgun in hand.

Fuck this guy!

I rushed him, the speed from both Ren and the Sandevistan giving me a huge advantage over him. I pushed my blade toward his neck, hoping to end this shit once and for all, but I saw his finger clench around the trigger-

*BANG*

I dodged the shot just in time, moving to the side and blasting away for distance.

Damn it! Even if I could get close, the fucker had incredible reaction time, and with that bullshit shotgun of his, I couldn't hope ever to reach him.

Which means I had to switch up my strategy.

I continued running from Maine, and all the while, my eyes drifted over to Norio, who-

Was already done with Maine's gang.

All of them… were dead. However, it seemed like he was interrogating one. Likely trying to get Faraday's location. Good, seems we'd be getting a payday after all.

Now, I just had to deal with Maine.

Once across the street, I felt my Sandevistan's effects run out. I spun around, pulled out my Ticon from my pocket dimension, and aimed it at Maine's head.

*BANG*

I watched as the bullet hit his head. Maine didn't even flinch. His Ten aura shrouded around his body.

Yeah, not much I could do about that, but at this distance, he couldn't do shit to me either.

Both of us stared at each other from a distance. I was thinking of a plan and was almost certain he was.

It was then that an idea clicked in my mind.

Sure, he had the range disadvantage-

But I was faster.

Closing the distance wouldn't work, which means I had to make him the one to close the distance, but he had a fucking shotgun! He was going to play defensive this entire fight, which means I need to have better offense.

"Gotta go fast," I whispered to myself in order to hype myself up as I activated my Armament Haki on my forearms and Inverted Spear of Heaven before I rushed him again. Upon getting in his range, and as expected-

*BANG*

He fired, but I formed an 'X' over my body with my haki-coated arms, which absorbed most of the damage from his gun. Now that I was close enough; I threw my blade out, aiming for the fucker's heart-

And hit his shoulder. The fucker had twisted his body in time!

My eyes widened as his shotgun was pointed directly at my chest.

"Game over," Maine said seriously.

*BANG*

My body flew backward several meters, and upon landing, I rolled a few times before coming to a stop.

Burning pain clenched at my chest. He got me point blank, and even switching from Ren to Ten at the last moment hadn't saved me much.

I looked at my chest and saw blood leaving it. It looked like I had been clawed by a bear or something similar with how much blood was leaving my body.

"...F-Fuck, this blows," I admitted, resting my head on the cold, shit-smelling ground.

This was it, huh? All the work I did leading up to this, and this is how I die.

Cold, alone, and brought down by a fucker with a bullshit shotgun!?

That fucking sucks!

I heard the sound of metal hitting metal and then another shot from Maine.

Huh, was that Norio?

Good, hopefully, he could take that fuck out. Maybe get me some payback… avenge me.

I closed my eyes and clenched my haki-covered fists.

No.

The fuck am I talking about!? I wasn't just going to lay here and die in this shitty place!

I was destined for so much more! Not some meaningless death to some shitty thug!

I pushed myself onto my side and on my knees.

I was better than him! I was better than everyone! And it was time to prove it.

Slowly, I pushed myself to my feet, shakily walking towards Norio and Maine's fight. I blinked at the amount of blackish-red shine over Norio's arms and legs, as well as his helmet and sword.

Norio was a Haki-man?

Go figure.

*VROOM*

I spun around to see four cars pull up around the corner. All of them stopped on our street, and a bunch of guys hopped out.

*BRRRRRTTTTTTTT*

A rain of bullets aimed at Norio and I were fired. I activated my Ten and used my Armament Haki-coated arms to cover my face. Norio did the same, slashing at many of the bullets in the air as they came to him.

"Norio!" I shouted, watching as Maine shot at him again, which he dodged.

"What?!" He shouted, sounding very annoyed.

"Take care of those bastards. Maine is mine!" I ordered.

"Tch, you almost died, gonk!" There was no concern in his voice, only stating a fact. He didn't believe I could take Maine on in a fight.

That pissed me the fuck off.

"Do as your fucking told; he's fucking mine!" I ordered him for the last time. This shit was no longer about winning a fight; it was aboutdefending my pride-

Which this fuck had destroyed!

"Tch, whatever, just don't mess up again." Norio groaned, rushing off toward the fuckers who were still shooting at us.

"You and me, Maine!" I shouted, hardening my blade with my will.

"You just don't stay down, do you?!" He shouted, aiming his shotgun at me.

That's right… I don't. Not to him, not to anyone. I can never stay down.

I activated my Sandevistan again, as well as my Ren, and rushed forward. I was noticeably slower with the wound I suffered, but I didn't care; I didn't let that fuck with my resolve.

I would win; I'd do it because I had to!

*BANG*

He shot, but I dodged the blast. I knew it would take less than a second before he could take another shot, so I pushed myself over the limit, closing the distance and once again launching my blade for his heart.

Once again, he aimed the gun at my gut, and a malicious grin tugged at my lips.

*BANG*

Before he could get the shot off, I waved my blade against his shotgun, slashing the gun out of his hands and away several meters.

Now, he was unarmed-

And it was time to get my payback.

I shoved my blade forward, aiming for his head. Still, to my surprise, his arm started changing, forming various holes with one that looked eerily similar to a gun's barrel-

Oh, shit-

*BOOM*

An explosion erupted between us, sending both myself and Maine flying backward. I quickly pushed myself to my feet, holding the wound Maine had given me earlier with anger.

This son of a bitch was giving me trouble, and now he broke out the Projectile Launch System.

I narrowed my eyes at his form as he rose to his feet, glaring at me with rage. He aimed his arm at me again, and an explosive was launched toward me. With my Ren, I jumped out of the way-

*BOOM*

I easily avoided the attack. If this was his game plan now, to play cat and mouse until he was out of projectiles, I was fine with that.

I would get my win and reclaim my pride.

Again, he fired a projectile, and I dodged with little effort.

Maine was still glaring at me with anger, but something was wrong, I could tell. His entire game plan had changed foolishly.

Sure, there was no way I was going to allow him to pick his shotgun back up, but to keep firing at me like this, knowing I would dodge it with no effort… He had to have some sort of plan, right?

He fired one more projectile, which I dodged, and this time I landed by his shotgun. I quickly picked it up and stored it in my pocket dimension. I wouldn't be risking him using that shit again.

As I stared at Maine, I realized that something was definitely up. Why the fuck was he relying so much on his tech? He's a Nen user, after all, a Hunter! So why?

My eyes shined brighter, boosted by the aura nodes I had opened. I forced a lot of Nen into my eyes, inspecting Maine's body.

And I damn near cringed at what I saw.

His Nen… it was shallow.

What I mean by that is typically, every Nen user has an aura around them whether they're using Ten or Ren; either way, you would see the aura around them. I had thought of Maine as nothing more than a normal Nen user this entire time, but it seems I was wrong.

He must have been, once upon a time, but not anymore.

Whereas a normal Nen user would have a relatively dense Nen aura… Maine's was loose. It wouldn't be incorrect to call that shit thin.

It was nowhere near as dense as a normal person's Nen should be; even if they had no talent in Nen at all, it wouldn't be that thin.

Which means he had fucked up somewhere and done something he shouldn't.

My eyes scanned his body, hoping to find an answer to this question I had.

Even as he launched another projectile at me, I easily dodged it and continued to stare at him, scanning both his body and cyberware.

I could see the cyberware around him flowing with Nen aura, but that wasn't unusual; hell, mine was as well.

But his… it seemed… different. The Nen flowing through his cyberware wasn't actually flowing but remained stagnant in it. But the thing is, it wasn't boosting his cyberware.

I thought someone like Maine would be an enhancer, but for his Nen to remain stagnant like that, was he a manipulator?

I needed this shit answered. As he launched another projectile, I rushed him this time, reaching him in a second and stabbing my blade through his other shoulder. I didn't need him dead… yet. That would come in a second-.

I had almost lost to this fuck, and I wanted to see why he wasn't putting up such a fight anymore.

His hand came up again to launch another projectile at me, but I waved my blade at it, cutting his arm off.

"What the fuck did you do to yourself to make your Nen Aura so weak?" I asked him directly, staring down into his hazy, almost lost eyes. There was still some anger in them, but it was almost as if he wasn't here at the moment.

So, I kicked his head hard. That seemed to snap him back to reality.

"Answer my fucking question, what the fuck did you do to yourself to make your Aura so weak?!"

Maine glared at me, his other arm coming up to attack me, but I stomped on it hard with my Ren-enhanced body. With my Aura being denser than most and Maine's being thinner than most, there was no competition. He was completely at my mercy.

"You ain't gonna answer?" I asked, just about getting fed up with him. Fine, I'd just have to get a closer look at his Aura Nodes.

With my incredible eyes, I focused on the aura leaving his body through the many nodes all around. The Aura was leaving him in weak droves, which meant the problem affected his body and nodes.

Now, to discern what that problem was.

My eyes scanned back to his cyberware, and again I noticed that there was still some aura in it. Quickly, my eyes snapped to the arm I cut off, and I couldn't help the narrowing of my eyes as realization flooded my mind.

The aura in the arm was still there, albeit to a much lesser extent.

If he was a manipulator like I thought he was, the aura should still be the same or completely gone as he discards it.

Which means that he forced himself to use manipulator techniques on his cyberware.

And if I had to guess, this forced application of manipulator techniques had horrible consequences for his Nen Aura and potential.

"You completely fucked it all up, and for what?!" I asked, angry and honestly curious. If he was going to throw his fucking Nen away, I wanted to know why.

Once again, I could see the haziness in his eyes. The faraway look he had as he struggled.

"G-Gotta… keep… runnin.'"

I got off of his arm and jumped backward. Everything made sense now. I don't know what kind of Nen-type Maine was, but he wasn't a manipulator. Yet he used manipulator techniques on his cyberware-

To avoid going Cyber-psycho.

He used manipulator techniques as a deterrent. And now that he had practically lost all of his Nen, all the chrome he had installed was catching up to him.

The crazy thing is, with the amount of Nen he had during our fight, it likely didn't even do much for him! Hell, I'd give him another few weeks to a month before he would have fucking lost it and went psycho.

"You fucking idiot!" I shouted, pointing my blade at him. He rose to his feet, his eyes switching between hazy and angry. "You wanted to chrome the fuck up like the junkie you are, and look where it led you! You're here, right now, losing your fucking mind! You squandered all the potential you had on a month of power! You fucking dumbass!"

*VROOM*

My eyes quickly turned to the approaching vehicle, and my nerves calmed down once I saw it was Gustavo's car. Seems they brought Lindel to the Militech Tower safely.

Maine's lone fist clenched in anger as he took heavy yet slow steps toward me. I waited for him, staring expressionlessly at him. Once he reached me, he threw a punch at my face, which I dodged before smacking him hard to the ground. I put my blade into my pocket dimension again.

He wasn't worthy of dying by it.

Again, he rose to his feet and tried to attack me, and again, I smacked him; this time, I combo'd him up with a right, then a left, then a kick that sent him flying away.

The car doors opened, and Jackie and Gustavo hopped out, guns drawn.

"Everything alright, mi amigo?" Jackie asked, running over to me.

"It's over now." I glared at the form of Maine, who tried to get up again but couldn't.

"G-Gotta… keep…" His body dropped back to the ground and remained unmoving. He likely lost consciousness. He wasn't messed up enough to be dead.

"What about Norio?" Gustavo asked, and I shrugged, jabbing a thumb at the lone man standing over a mountain of corpses.

"Hah, looks like you two handled yourselves well." Jackie patted me, and I stepped forward toward Maine.

I looked at his downed form and glared. The guy didn't have much potential to begin with, but with how hard he worked, I'm sure he could have made something of himself. If he was enhanced like I previously thought he was, he could have built his cyberware around that and chromed up sparingly, but instead, he pushed himself over the edge.

I pulled out his shotgun from my pocket dimension and coated it with Armament Haki before bringing the but of the gun down hard on his head.

*SPLAT*

*SPLAT*

*SPLAT*

I hit his head over and over until it was a mushy mess of blood, hair, and brain matter.

Both Jackie and Gustavo stayed quiet as I finished up.

A damn shame that son of a bitch really almost beat me. I realize now that I need to work a lot harder if I want to own Night City.

And I would. I swore it.

Night City would be mine, and no one would get in my way.

— Chapter End —

Author's Note: Pushing out 5k word chapters on has made writing more fun believe it or not. Writing 2k words seemed like it was a mandatory (finish a chapter real quick and go about your day) kind of thing, but writing twice the chapter size makes me feel like I'm actually building a story rather than going through the motions.

I think it was chapter 17 or 18 when this fic reaches the extended word count, so look out for that.

One more note, this one addresses the whole adding Cyberware breaks down Nen ability thing. I always considered Nen to be a spiritual energy stored within a physical body kinda thing, because I assume that's what it is. Which means while adding Cyberware implants does remove the Aura valves a person would have in that place, it does not outright take the Nen they should naturally produce. In my mind, it's kinda like chakra how the main source of their chakra would be circulating through their bodies, energy produced by mental energy and physical energy. Losing an arm wouldn't mean less Chakra/Nen, it just means you can no longer release Chakra/Nen from that area since it is gone.

I hope that explains the way I'm going with this fic. Cyberware enhancements were never going to be a permanent thing for our MC anyways, just something to kick him off right.