Edgerunning

Robin needed materials and resources. Living in a city where everyone had chrome and life was cheap at best, someone with no chrome had to make due with whatever he could get. It wasn't so different as in the insect world. Every creature had to either find a way to survive by adapting and using its resources or make them better fight against the bigger and more dangerous forces around them. Which meant that Robin had to work twice as hard at acquiring what he needed to survive in this chrome dominated world. Thankfully, he was never short on help or on jobs amongst the suburban community of Sandy Shades.

"Alright, here's the problem." Robin pulled out a busted starting cable. "The cable's wiring got punctured by one of the bolts. I can fix it but it would be easier to buy a new one." He turned to the man.

"I can't afford that, man. This is the only company car that they lend me and it's my responsibility. How much would it cost to fix it here?" He asked.

"Well, I can try to fix the cables and then weld them together. You won't run as smoothly as you used to but you'll be able to still do your job and then get a new cable to replace this one. I think it's best to take it to your boss and show him the damage." Robin picked up the welding equipment. "But from what you've told me, he'll most likely have you pay for it."

The man thought about it. His eyes lit up, probably asking some of his co-workers to give him some advice or to check up on the information and prices for the cables that he needed. His eyes widened at the sight before him as though he'd seen his own face become a ghost.

Robin didn't need to look on the web to know that the cable would be very expensive. The car was a model that wasn't as popular as it once was and the parts to repair it were becoming scareser by the year. It was most likely going to cost the man an arm and a leg just to get the cable before even putting it in. Not that he wouldn't do it even if it wasn't what he suggested.

"Man, that's a lot of Eddies. How much would you charge for fixing it yourself?" the man asked, hoping for a number with less zeroes.

"It'll be about a quarter of what they're asking for. It will dent your wallet but you'll still be able to drive out of here." Robin showed him the number on his phone.

The man nodded in understanding.

With the man's blessing, Robin got to work. Thankfully, he wasn't alone on the job. He secretly called forth some of his ants to help him clean up the cable as best they could. Their tiny mandibles took out any of the burnt plastic, cleaning the wound of any infections in a manner of speaking. The advantage of having so many little helpers didn't stop there. Things like their great combined strength and coordination allowed Robin to work fast and put everything back in order in a fraction of the time. It almost made him wonder how this could've been applied to medical rooms or bigger more dangerous assembly lines for the workers to put machines and chrome together. He started the final step of the work and was helped getting the wiring close for him to weld it. The cables fused before their eyes as he quickly made them work. It wasn't pretty but it worked well in comparison to the botched look that it had when he was first working on it.

Robin knew all too well about welding and putting things together with as little as he could get. Plus, his job as a mechanic did give him plenty of practice and work to fill his pockets out in the middle of nowhere. He wrapped the exposed cables in a strong stash of tape before putting the cable back where it had originally been placed. It would hold the driver at least a couple of months if he drove carefully and there was no drag racing involved. Plus he had saved himself a good amount of money with this quick patchwork.

"Alright, let's see if that did the trick." Robin turned on the ignition, bringing the car back to life.

"Ah thanks man, you're a lifesaver." The man hugged Robin before hopping on his car. "Purrs like a kitten. Now I can get back to my deliveries."

"Just be careful and try not to overload the electrics. Once you have the new cable, bring it back here and I'll install it for you," Robin said, earning a thumbs up from the driver.

As soon as the driver left, Robin checked his phone as his work was paid in full. It was always nice for people to pay up what they were owed, even if that led to conflicts and butting of heads. Sadly, some of the people in Night City were not all that thrilled to follow those rules and fights often blew up because of that. But that was life and as much as he'd liked to have a more peaceful one, he had a job to do and that involved getting back at Arasaka for what they'd done.

After closing up the entrance to the garage, he climbed up to his 'room' to where he hid his latest map for revenge and retribution. He pulled out a big board from underneath his bed, placing it on top of his working station. The board had pictures and printed information on Arasaka's movements along with the pictures of several of their high ranking executives along with their personal attack dog and fixer, Adam Smasher. Robin had tied and connected the dots that led him to Night City and was now on the next state of his plan, moving up the ladder and hitting the corporation where it hurt. And that meant hitting their profits. Corporate espionage and destruction of property to make their stocks plummet and bring out the damn pitbull for him to take down. It was a long term plan that had been in the works for two years and was moving slowly, but efficiently.

Robin had little to complain about his situation and his progress. Keeping his head on his shoulders and not six feet under was a good thing in his book. But there was a problem he had to face. Arasaka, like any big corporation, had a lot of muscle and guns. And sadly he had lost his only gun while saving Pepe the other day. So first things first, restock and find the components he needed to put his arsenal on par with what he had in mind.

"Okay, I can't just go in and buy a gun in the streets, those come with a lot of strings attached to them and the stores will either try to run a background check on me or charge me through the nose." Robin paced himself as the ants around him gathered to help him think. "Plus, there's a chance that they might trace my purchase if I'm not careful. Plus, the Firebite Blaster is a lot more powerful than any single hand held weapon any Cyberpunk could hope for. That settles it, I'm going shopping to fix my weapon. Pack up guys, we're going on a grocery run." Robin pulled out a list where he wrote down all the materials and pieces he needed to get himself a new blaster.

Going in and out of Night City was the easiest thing in the world for Robin. With no cameras picking up on his fully organic body and no chrome on him to identify him with, he was like a ghost to most people. Someone that just passed through life like a common wanderer, a hobo, a modern man with no name. Then again, that didn't stop anyone from looking in his direction. If he wasn't careful or was caught red handed, well it was all over. Which meant that he had to watch his step and move with purpose every time he went into the city. Which was why he always dressed for the occasion.

His first stop was one of the construction sites on the west side of town. There were always projects and gentrification going on so the basis of his new blaster would be easy to snatch. He spotted a worker working on some steel plates with a blow torch, cutting it through with ease. Robin smiled behind his helmet as he rode on top of one of his ants. He flew down to the construction site and where the worker was adjusting the blow torch on an extendable cybernetic for the construction site. He landed in the shadows before growing to his normal size. Picking up a spare wrench from the ground, he tossed it over the worker's shoulder, making sure to hit one or the barrels for him to hear.

"What's that?" The construction worker turned around. "Hey, you gonks better not be screwing around on the job! These tools are not toys, damn it! Who threw this?!" He ranted as Robin made his move.

Robin quickly pulled the blow torch from the attachment cybernetic, turning it off. He looked it over, making sure that there was no significant damage to it before moving on. It looked good, the tank was full too, which was a big plus in his book. He looked down at the gas canisters figuring out that he'd struck luck. He reached out to grab them, only to hear the worker turning back to his work.

"Honestly, these brats are gonna make me go psycho before the chrome does. How do they just lose their equipment like that?" The worker went back to work before noticing the missing blow torch. "Huh?! Where did that blow torch go?!"

Robin flew away from the scene looking at his haul on top of his flying ant.

"Great, only three canisters counting the one that's on," He scoffed at his luck. "Well, not my worst bit of luck. Now what's next on the list?"

He scoured the city in search of the next three pieces of his new blaster. As powerful as the blow torch was, he needed something to turn the heat into a blast and something to better pull the trigger. And for that, he needed conductors, a laser pointer and a better trigger function. Junkyards would be the best places to find materials like spare wires and metal pieces to adjust the trigger in a makeshift blaster. Another place he could look for would be some of the Reaper stations, he'd gotten a few locations from his ants, so he knew where to look for them. Good thing nothing was getting in his way to find any of those things.

Robin started his search in the local junkyard for the pieces he needed. He called upon his ants and the ones nearby to give him the lay of the land.

"Alright, let's start looking for the pieces. This place is used by armories and other development companies, so there's bound to be some juicy stuff." Robin jumped off his flying ant before looking at the rest of the junkyard. It was a wasteland. "Time to call in the search party."

It didn't surprise him that there were more ants in the junkyard than anyone expected. Heck, there were more ants under the feet of everyone in Night City than any of its citizens were aware of. He watched them work with strong and fast coordination, looking for what he was looking for. In a matter of minutes, the ants found his prize. His eyes landed on enough enhanced conductors to make ten Firebite Blasters.

"Good girls." Robin scratched the ants under the chins. "They are a little dirty but they should do the trick." Robin and the ants started picking apart the pieces they needed.

Once they had all the pieces inside a bag, Robin and the ants moved on with the next item on their shopping list. The ants carried the pieces of the trigger and the conductor in small bags that had been shrunk down beforehand, which made the transportation of the spare pieces and parts that much easier.

The last piece he needed, the laser pointer, he could get it from any store in Night City. He landed in a secluded area, making sure to cut out any and all cameras before growing back to his full size. He hid his costume in his bag along with all his other recovered goods. The last thing he needed was to get caught with all sorts of pieces and resources while having no chrome on.

Besides, he needed to pass for a common civilian every once in a while to keep his cover. Plus he needed to buy groceries along with the laser. He spotted the store just a block from here he had changed. A common supermarket had all the stuff he needed and no one would be the wiser. He started walking across the street when something caught his attention. The sound of gunfire and something else.

It was a tall man and a young short girl getting into an insult fight with a group of Steel Slaughter Slammers. The sight of the slammers made Robin's hair stand on end. Not only were they packing some serious heat in terms of guns, but they were dressed like some of the rock bands that he used to listen to. He'd heard from the suburbs that they were particularly a bad crowd to have at a party. Pepe once told him that he saw some of the gang members play at a bar. Didn't get two songs out before everyone was fighting and turned the bar into a living moshpit. All the members of the gang sported rocker looks and outfits, from leather jackets with spikes on their shoulders to loose pants with many belts keeping them up, from spikey painted mohawks to enough face paint on them to make them pass up like they were about to play clowns.

"Great just my luck," Robin muttered to himself as he looked for a place to run away from the fight. "Better get out of here before-"

"You wanna repeat that, long arms?!" A thug punk asked.

"I thought you'd never ask, metal bitch!" The man snapped. "I said, and I quote, 'YOUR MUSIC SUCKS!'. End quote."

"That." Robin sighed.

"So how about you take your crappy instruments, your boy band and your stupid looking hair and buzz off!" The tall man flipped the rocker the bird with his long metal fingers.

"Yeah, I gotta agree with my bro's taste in music this time. You're not very nova guys," The short girl said. "So, how about we all move on with our lives from here and have a nice day. What do you say?"

It wasn't odd to hear the sound of a gang going at it with another gang over power, territory or money. It was uncommon for someone to use diplomacy before a bullet storm hit the fan. And it hit the fan big time.

The Steel Slaughter Slammers all pulled out their guns at the two siblings. Robin felt like he had to intervene, but he didn't have a weapon or a reason to. This was normal in Night City, and yet, Robin still felt like there was something wrong.

The two siblings pulled out their own weapons against the Slammers. The tall man tossed them a bunch of grenades at their feet while the short young woman fired two of her pistols at them.

"Eat shit, you guitar hero wannabes!" The short girl fired.

The block quickly descended into chaos, with bullets flying and grenades going off like they were fireworks on the fourth of July. The two siblings ran away from the scene, cursing and calling out the Slammers who shot back in return.

It was the first time for Robin to hear someone cursing like a sailor and laughing like a mad man loud enough to cancel out the sound of explosions.

"Get out of the way, gonk!" The owner of the voice stepped on his face, knocking him back.

Robin fell down to the ground as the sound of bullets tore through the air around him. The feeling of the boot pressing on his face was new and definitely not something he wanted to feel again. His ears heard a few more curses, but the voice was all wrong. Looking up, he was met with the two siblings running away while discussing or snapping about what had happened. He felt them pass through him, knocking his survival instincts back online. Grabbing one of the discarded glass bottles, he tossed it at the head of one of the Slammers, knocking him back. This gave him the opening that he needed to run away. He took off running away from the bullets and the angry rock cyberpunks. He didn't know why but they got the idea that he was either involved with the two siblings or just in the way and they didn't want to aim more carefully.

"Get those pricks! And whoever is with them!" The Slammer leader snapped, firing his rifle.

"Shit, just my luck." Robin muttered, spotting the supermarket not far from where he was running towards.

"This is all your fault, Pillar!" The short woman snapped, firing back. "Why couldn't you have tipped in for a damn cab?! Or better yet, take the sub?!"

"Hey, this is our city! I'll walk wherever the damn well I please! You know that Becca!" The tall man named Pillar dodged the shots aimed at his head, using his extra long arms to almost swing around like a chimpanzee in the jungle. "Besides, since Maine is still looking after his goodies, he ain't exactly in a sharing mood. I ain't planning any trips to the Reapers because I pissed him off."

"We're all going to be going to the morgue if you don't shut up!" Rebecca snapped at her brother.

"This is just brilliant," Robin muttered, cursing his luck.

The two siblings looked at Robin with confused looks on their faces.

"Um, who are you, choom?" Rebecca asked.

"The guy that just got caught in this mess. The name's Robin." Robin greeted, ducking under a shot.

"Oops, sorry." Rebecca shrugged as she shot back once more.

"HA HA HA HA HA! You got some shitty luck bird boy!" Pillar laughed as one of the shots clipped a few of his hairs off.

"Shut up!" Rebecca kicked Pillar on the side, knocking him into an alley and a bunch of garbage bags.

"This way!" A Slammer shouted before firing.

Robin thought quickly, he grabbed Rebecca by the back of her jacket and into the supermarket he was going for. He pulled her in as the shots missed them by a hair. They ran behind one of the produce sections as the Slammers ran in after them.

"Everybody out!" The Slammer leader shot the ceiling.

All the normal customers obeyed without a second thought, getting their groceries, and running for the door. That left only Robin, the girl and the Slammers alone in the store. Not the best situation.

"Spread out. Find them." The Slammer leader ordered his fellow cyberpunks.

Robin heard them loud and clear as he hid behind the watermelon stand. His eyes shifted around, looking for any way out that he could spot. He was unarmed and these psychos wanted his head because he got caught in the crossfire. And he did throw that bottle at that one guy too. So both sides were to blame for this situation. His eyes landed on the signs that spelled 'EXIT'. He smiled, if there was a back entrance then he could escape, put on his suit and come back to take care of the punk rockers no problem. But he had to avoid getting shot by them and their guns. And in order to do that, he would need a divers-

"Hey, can you let go of me already?"

The voice snapped Robin from his thoughts. He looked down at the short woman that he'd pulled along with him into the store. Her annoyed look told him that his complete dismissal of her was not something she appreciated in the slightest.

This was the first time in all this madness that he got a good look at her. And he had to admit, he was liking what he was seeing. She was short, just up to his chest or neck if he was to guess. Her hair was a light almost pale green that reached to her back, tied in two pony tails with the help of a black diadem that made it look like she had cat ears. Her skin was pale, almost completely white apart from a few pink tattoos that he got a glimpse of, one around her neck that looked like a skull wrapped around her neck, and one around her right thigh that looked like it had words written on it. But the thing that caught his attention the most were her eyes. They were green with the iris and sclera being a bright pink just like her tattoos. She wore a large jacket, big enough to hide two of her inside it and still have space. A dark blue sports bra was all she wore underneath the jacket along with a pair of black short shorts and black sneakers with white soles. Robin almost could've mistaken her for a kid if not for her breasts just tucked out of sight.

"Sorry, I get stuck in my head sometimes." Robin let go of her jacket.

"Yeah, you looked like you were getting a good head memorizing my measurements," Rebecca growled. "What the fuck were you thinking dragging me in here?"

"I thought that this would be a good place to hide from the Lords of Shooting at Us before going on our merry way." Robin rolled his eyes. "Also, I wasn't doing that. You're welcome, by the way."

"Really? You sure your eyes aren't cameras?" Rebecca spread Robin's eyelids, only to be shocked. "Whoa, these really look like eyeballs."

"That's because they are." Robin grunted before a shot whisked over them.

Robin grabbed Rebecca, picking her up as they took to running into one of the isles as she fired at the Slammers. She managed to hit one of them in the shoulder as Robin picked up an apple and tossed it at another one of the cyberpunks. They stopped by the cooking ware, where all the pans and stoves were waiting for them to arm them.

"We gotta get out through the back exit. That should get us enough time to lose them." Robin explained as Rebecca reloaded her pistol. "What do you think?"

"Huh? Oh yeah. Back to the other thing. Holy shit, you have meat eyes." Rebecca looked deeply into Robin's face. "Wow, you don't have any chrome on your face. This is some scary shit right there. How do you function without them? I mean, how do you go around like that?"

"I manage. I'm Robin, by the way." Robin grabbed a couple of pans and trays to use as improvised armor. "Just in case you were wondering."

"Oh Rebecca, nice to meet you, choom!" Rebecca smiled, shaking Robin's hand. "So, you got any chrome to help us out? Or packing some heat of your own?" Rebecca prepared her pistol.

"Not really, I'm all meat as they say," Robin replied.

Rebecca stopped herself for a second. His words registered in her brain like a small beeping noise. It was impossible that he was telling the truth. But if the eyes were all organic as she had seen, then how far was it? She looked at him, getting a good look at his body and noticed that he didn't have any visible chrome that she could see. There were no marks of his keys or wallet or even a cellphone. It was crazy. Her daily life with her crew exposed her to many kinds of chrome and to many cyberpunks that used giant metal arms and legs like they had been born with them. But to see a fully organic human being that wasn't a baby? Now that was like seeing one of those sights that often came once in a lifetime.

"And you're here in the middle of Night City? Choom you're freaking crazy!" Rebecca fired a shot at the leg of another one of the Slammers' taking them out. "I love it!"

"Yeah, I like to live on the edge." Robin used a frying pan to block a bullet before throwing it at the Slammer's face. "Now, let's get out of here!"

Robin and Rebecca ran to the next aisle, dodging more fire coming their way. Robin acted as the shield, blocking the shots with his makeshift armor before Rebecca shot them. They ran as the shots tore through the stalls and the shopping isles, going through the stuffing of the teddy bears and the cereal boxes as they ran from the Slammers.

"Come back here, you damn gonks!" One of the Slammers cried out. "We're just getting started with the real music!"

"Fuck off!" Rebecca shot the Slammer before Robin pulled her behind a fridge. "I've heard better shit in the bathroom whenever my bro has to take a dump! You guys aren't real rockers, you're no good wannabes! I bet you don't even know a single Johnny Silver Hand song!" She fired her gun at the Slammers.

"Do you have to antagonize them so much?!" Robin snapped, just as one of the slammers pulled out his guitar at him.

"It is how I roll, Robs!" Rebecca ducked under another shot from another Slammer. "Asshole! Did they invite their groupies too?!" She shot the Slammer in the face, wishing that she had packed more than her usual pistols that day.

Robin jumped under the attacking guitar, turning to punch the cyberpunk in the face. He winced as he struck metal, but he didn't stop. Just as the Slammer swung his guitar at him once more, Robin ducked and kicked the Slammer between the legs as hard as he could. Reeling from the pain, the Slammer then only had one second to react to a frying pan smacking him across the face. Robin used this chance to turn the Slammer around, using him as a shield as another Slammer fired at him. He felt the bullets hit the body, feeling some remorse from what had to happen to the cyberpunk. But he couldn't stop and cry about it. He had to move.

"Let's go!" Robin grabbed Rebecca over his shoulder, running to the exit. "We gotta get to the exit!" He snatched one of the rifle magazines as an idea popped in his head.

"Gotta say, for someone with apparently no chrome on, you are one crafty and tough choom, choom!" Rebecca laughed as she fired back.

"Thanks, and you're a trigger happy gremlin!" Robin shot back as he continued running through the isles with chips and sauces sprayed on the floor from all the shooting.

Amongst the cyberpunks, their leader stepped up, looking like a full on rockstar. He was a big man, but with lean muscles and seriously cool chrome to boot. He wore a sleeveless leather jacket, black torn pants, and armored heavy boots. His arms were completely made out of chrome and metal with silver rings in each finger. The lower half of his face was turned into a pair of large metal crushing teeth. His hair was dark brown, tied in a ponytail behind his head.

"Step aside guys, it is time for the epic guitar solo." His voice was smooth, almost like jazz music but no less threatening.

"Step aside chooms! Silver Wind is going to make it rain!" One of the Slammers called everyone else from shooting.

Robin noticed this as Rebecca managed to get two more Slammers before they stopped shooting. He grabbed a piece of glass from the floor, poking it out to see what was going on.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Rebecca asked. "Why are they stopping?"

"Don't know, but my guess is that this Silver Wind character will pull out some crazy piece of chrome." Robin narrowed his eyes at the sight of Silver Wind. "Ever heard of him? He looks to be their leader."

"What, are all cyberpunks supposed to know each other? That's stereotyping!" Rebecca poked at Robin's chest with a pout.

"What? No, no, no, I didn't mean that!" Robin held his hands up in his defense. "I mean that these types of guys have some kind of reputation and maybe with you being a cyberpunk too, I figured that you might've heard something." Robin explained, sweating and blushing in embarrassment before shaking his head. "Look, I didn't mean anything offensive by it but unless you didn't notice it, I don't hang out with them so I wouldn't know."

Rebecca smirked, liking that the new friend she had made had a spine stronger than any chrome. She had met plenty of guys that were big talk before and they often turned into running little bitches when the going got tough. But Robin was a different breed altogether from most of the punks. Not only did he try to help her survive the bullshit her brother had gotten them involved in but he'd also stayed by her side the whole time. She still didn't trust him that much but so far she was liking the guy. Plus there was something fun about him blushing even in the face of danger.

"Heh, I'm joking, choom. You don't have to get like that for little old me." She smiled like a cat as Robin frowned. "But nah, I haven't heard anything about this tool. He must be some Johnny Silver Hand wannabe if he called himself Silver Wind. Probably doesn't even know how to play any instruments or has any guns to pose a threat. Leave it to me, I'll pop that sucker no problem." She twirled her pistol before winking at him.

Not that Robin didn't believe Rebecca's words after knowing her less than an hour or two, but he had to make sure. He looked out to the mirror shard once more. The last thing he wanted was to be caught unprepared as the enemy pulled something he didn't expect. Just then, his eyes narrowed as the rocker pulled out a… a guitar that he plugged into his arm.

The guitar lit up with lights and electricity coursing through it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the first solo of Silver Wind's first ever supermarket special!" Silver wind pulled out a guitar pick, holding it up in the air like it was the key to all power. "Whirlwind of Power! Rock all day and night!" The guitar's neck opened up as he played the chords, unleashing a silver colored whirlwind at the entire aisle, sending everything flying.

Robin and Rebecca didn't have time to react as they were sent flying, pushed by the strong winds out of their hiding spot. They were caught by the winds and the flying debris, unable to move or even direct themselves to where they needed to go. It was like they were on top of a rollercoaster with no seat belts to hold them tightly as it moved at great speeds. The winds threw them into the other stands, knocking them down and them to the floor. Rebecca reached out and grabbed hold of one of the stands, grabbing hold of Robin but losing her gun in the process.

Her fingers dug into the steel as she held on to his hand with all the strength her short body could muster. Her teeth gritted as she tried to pull him but the wind was too strong. If it got even stronger then they would be pushed all the way back to the walls of the supermarket. She cursed under her breath as her grip grew ever weaker against the strong winds coming from the damn guitar playing in front of them.

Robin looked up, trying to think of something. He reached up to his ear, trying to call all the ants that were nearby, including his own. His smaller transmitter sent the signal to all available ants in the area. They all rushed to Silver Wind and the rest of the Slammers as Robin and Rebecca were slammed into the wall by the wind.

"Any bright ideas, Rob?" Rebecca shouted as the wind pressed them into the wall.

"We hope that he breaks something?" Robin struggled as he focused on bringing down the guitar.

"Ha ha ha! Nice try there folks, but the good fellas at Arasaka made this puppy virtually impossible to be wrecked!" Silver Wind played his guitar sending boxes and other loose items towards them like a barrage of bullets.

"A-Arasaka?" Robin asked, looking at Silver Wind through all the air blasting towards them.

"That's right! We're going to the top and I'm going to become the next Johnny Silver Hand!" Silver Wind bangged his head along with the rest of the Slammers. "The whole world is my stadium and I'm gonna rock it to the sky and then the moon! Ain't that right, guys?!"

The Slammers cheered for their leader as he continued to play and rock on. His melody was powerful and completely devastating as the whirlwinds picked up strength from it. They were so high up on their own victory that they didn't notice the group of ants making their way to their weapons without their knowledge.

Robin did his best to stay focused on the task at hand. He couldn't distract himself for a single moment or else the ants would lose sight of their objective. But there was something at the back of his head gnawing at him to think about. The technology that Silver Wind and the Slammers was using was Arasaka just like the one he had taken a few nights ago. But he remembered that he'd seen it somewhere before. Which led him to believe that there was more to this story than the Slammers themselves knew about. He shook his head, getting his head back in the game.

His commands got the ants to do what he wanted. They crawled up to the cables and the parts of chrome that were being used to control the dangerous guitar. They went into the connection, squeezing into the tight spaces and into Silver Wind's arm. They worked quickly and started tearing apart the wiring from the inside. Their mandibles made short work of the plastic and the wiring connecting everything. Chrome might've been strong and more resistant than flesh, but when everything depended on the tiny cables inside, then there was an argument about which was better. And when it was reachable by the smallest and less noticeable creatures on the planet, then that was a very dangerously exploitable weakness for anyone to have.

Silver Wind's hand twitched and snapped into a frenzy, cutting his solo short.

"What the hell?!" Silver Wind looked at his hand as sparks and little explosions sprouted out of his hand. "Ah! What's going on?!" He stopped playing as his own chrome electrocuted him back, making him drop his own guitar on the floor.

With the stop of the guitar and the winds, Robin and Rebecca dropped down from the wall.

"Damn, talk about how close that was." Rebecca picked up her gun with a smile.

"Yeah, that was a close one." Robin smiled, noticing the exit next to them. "Let's make a run for it!" He pointed to the exit.

"You go, I'll cover you!" Rebecca fired her pistol at the Slammers, getting their attention.

Robin used this chance and ran for the exit, hoping that Rebecca would come with him. But one look told him that she was pinned down by the gunfire. He needed to go back and save her. Plus, there was a lot of salvageable tech that he could snatch and take a good look at. It wouldn't do if those clowns got to keep such dangerous chrome and used it in such a haphazard manner. He called his ants out of his bag as he pulled out his suit.

"Alright guys, you did great, but now it's time to save the damsel in distress." Robin looked at his ants.

"COME AND GET IT COCK SUCKERS!" Rebecca called. "I'M GONNA BURY ALL OF YOU!"

"Even though she's more like a wasp than a damsel. But she seems nice enough to save and all that." Robin put on his suit before shrinking down for round two. "Now, let's show them what these little guys got." Robin hopped on top of one of his flying ants before taking off with the army of ants behind them.

Rebecca cursed her luck as she was out of loaded magazines and there were still a few of the gonks standing. She looked out from one of the meat refrigerators as the four Slammers closed in on her. Her eyes flared as she tried to call her brother or anyone for that matter to give her a hand. Maine would give her an earful for getting in this situation. But she preferred to be alive to get a scolding than to be dead with a bunch of holes in her sexy body. Finally, she got to her final resource, Falco.

"Hello, Falco here," Falco answered the call.

"Finally! Felco, I'm in a clusterfuck standoff with some assholes and I need a quick ride out of here!" Rebecca explained.

"Shit, sounds like a mess. Where are you?" Falco asked.

"I'm at the Supermarket on Horizonte and Wired!" Rebecca sent him her location as she looked for anything that could be used as a weapon.

"I'm in the car but I'll be there in five minutes." Falco replied.

"Five minutes?! I'll be dead in five minutes!" Rebecca snapped as a few bullets passed over her head and through the meat on the window. "God damn it all." She hissed at her situation.

"The concert is over, little girl! Sorry that my solo got cut short but I'll make it up to you and give you a quick clean death." Silver Wind worked on fixing his arm, unsure of what made it go nuts. "Ain't that right boys? Say your prayers!" His remaining flunkies cheered him on, only for one of them to get punched across the face, going down.

Everyone turned to see their ally on the floor. Confusion spread through their minds as they looked for a reason behind the sudden drop. They looked around, for signs of a sniper or someone with an invisible chrome piece. One of them suggested that there was a netrunner going around.

"Please don't be ridiculous. If there was a netrunner then they would've already made themselves known."

"Maybe that guy she was with is hiding and is taking us out?"

"Fat chance, he didn't pull out any weapon this whole time. Think about it, what kind of cyberpunk doesn't pull out their guns when someone is shooting at them?"

"This is probably something to do with the run girl over there!"

Rebecca heard them all talking and cursing around. She wondered if Falco had brought back up in the form of Kiwi. But that didn't make sense in her head. As much as she thought the netrunner was a cold bitch along with Lucy, she would've taken them all out at once, not one by one. Something else was happening.

"Keep your eyes open, there's something fishy going on." Silver Wind pulled out his own pistol. "Come out and fight us like a man, you damn scrub!"

Unbeknownst to the cyberpunks, Robin looked down on them from the remaining stalls. He jumped down on the shoulder of one of the Slammers, looking at the cyberpunk's head like it was a five story house. It was big, and normally no one would try this, but he ran on his shoulder until he reached the neck of the jacket. Reeling his fist back, he jumped at the cyberpunk's face, punching him in the cheek with all the strength of a bullet hitting at close range. The Slammer fell down, feeling the strong punch knocking out a few of his teeth only for Robin to grab him by the helm of his shirt, slamming him to the ground. He quickly jumped back on top of his flying ant as he went after the next Slammer.

As he flew, he commanded his ants to jam their weapons. In the middle of their scares, the Slammers didn't see the ants move onto their safety switches on their guns. They work together and put the safety on according to his instructions. The ants moved quickly and silently as Robin moved on to his next target.

He jumped on the back of another Slammer, pulling them down by the back of their jackets. Dropping them on the floor, he jumped into their neck outlet, ripping out the cables. Electricity coursed through the Slammer's head as Robin jumped out and onto his flying ant. He saw the three last Slammers starting to panic with two of them trying to shoot only for their guns to get stuck or jammed from the safety.

"What the heck man?!"

"What's going on?!"

"Stay frosty! We can take this punk!" Silver Wind snapped.

Robin jumped into the stomach of the first Slammer, slamming his feet against his stomach with all the strength of a body being shot by a cannon. The strike sent the Slammer into the ground and away from the group, but Robin just used him as a springboard before landing on the second Slammer. He grabbed hold of the rocker's pierced earring, pulling him with him. The Slammer spun in place before Robin dragged him to the floor, slamming his face with all his body's weight. It was a weird feeling to have the strength to fall giants at his size, but he wasn't going to question it when there was one final Slammer to take down. Robin looked up at Silver Wind, narrowing his eyes behind his lenses.

"Time to take the last one down!" Robin called forth his ants.

The ants swarmed around Silver Wind's face, making him stumble and step back in shock. They kept him blind, biting him in whatever part of flesh they could find. The buzzing and biting of the ants made the leader Slammer to step back, trying to run away from the ants. But they kept on chasing after him like a pack of hounds after a chunk of meat. Out of desperation, he tossed his pistol at the ants, but it didn't help the situation. They continued swarming the wannabe rockstar until he got desperate.

"Leave me the hell alone you tiny bastards!" Silver Wind swung his guitar around, trying to swat away at the swarm. But that was what Robin wanted.

Robin grew back to his normal size, grabbing hold of the guitar as Silver Wind swung it. He snatched it free easily. With a smile on his face, he reeled the guitar behind his head with both arms. Usually he would be conflicted about using a piece of tech like the guitar to fight an enemy, but he did always have the dream to swing the guitar in a specific manner.

"Who are-?" Silver Wind began only to get a guitar to the face.

Silver Wind's face was smashed and his metal teeth were knocked loose by the blow. He fell to the ground before getting a kick to the face.

"Just in case," Robin muttered to himself. "You are coming with me now." Robin tied the guitar on his back before shrinking down.

Rebecca was left awestruck as she saw what had happened.

"Holy shit! That was fucking nova!" Rebecca ran out. "Who the heck was that guy?"

However, what Rebecca didn't notice was one of the Slammers getting back up. He aimed a gun at her with an intent to kill, pulling back the hammer. She turned just as he was about to pull the trigger.

"Shi-!" Rebecca cursed.

A pan smacked the gun down, causing the shot to miss Rebecca completely.

Robin was so happy that he had mastered taking his suit on and off so fast. The last thing he wanted was to be caught mid-change by some goons or some explosive girl. He swung the pan at the Slammer's face, knocking him out completely.

"And that should take care of them." Robin dropped the pan on the Slammer before turning to Rebecca. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Me? Yeah, choom! I'm cool. But what the heck are you doing here?" Rebecca asked. "Didn't I tell you to scram? This was my fight." Rebecca pointed at the downed Slammers.

"It sort of became my fight when I tossed the bottle at them. Don't know why I did that though." Robin shrugged. "Guess I can't say no to a lady in danger." He walked to the exit of the supermarket with Rebecca next to him.

"Me? I can take care of myself. Next time, I'll have twice as many guns and magazines on me, then they should all be afraid!" Rebecca laughed. "But I gotta say, you have some chrome after all. Those huge metal balls of yours are tougher than anything I've seen before!" Rebecca punched Robin's side with a smile.

Robin didn't know why, but he felt a warm sensation on his chest as Rebecca smiled at him. He would admit that what he did was more out of self-preservation and to take anything that Arasaka had given the Slammers out of their hands. But he had to admit that this spunky and crazy girl was starting to get on his good side. He couldn't remember the last time he was around someone as just friends and not an ally or an acquaintance that he needed to blend in. The lifestyle of a hermit and an outcast had made him forget what it was like to have a close relationship with someone. But he couldn't afford that luxury, not at that moment.

They were just about to reach the supermarket entrance when suddenly…

"Die you gonks!" Silver Wind cried out with missing teeth, running at them with a kitchen knife.

But before he could stab them in the back, a gunshot echoed through the store.

Silver Wind was sent flying backwards with a gaping hole in his chest.

"Damn, sorry for the delay, Becca." A voice with a cowboy accent spoke.

Robin and Rebecca turned to see a tall man with black hair, a neatly brushed mustache, and a metal right hand standing before them. He dressed like a modern cowboy, a white buttoned up shirt under a dark brown vest with a pair of gun holsters on the sides, two bullet filled belts around his waist and black pants with matching black boots. He had a shotgun in his hand and a cigar in the other as he gave them a smile.

"Falco, you asshole! What took you so damn long?" Rebecca snapped.

"I was on my way to a garage to get my ride fixed, when I got your call. Sorry for the delay but the girl has been struggling for a while." Falco pointed to his car before taking a whiff of his cigarette. "So, who's this bright eyed young man? You didn't start a gang conflict on your first date, did you?"

"Hey, come on, I'm a classy girl." Rebecca pouted.

"Nah, but I did get involved in Rebecca's conflict." Robin looked at Falco's car. "Tell you what, as a thanks for saving our bacon, how about I take a look at your ride?"

Falco looked Robin over, wondering what his plan was. He could tell that there was something odd about this kid and that made him a little cautious. But he seemed harmless enough to at least give the benefit of the doubt to.

"Don't bother, I was headed to the outside of the city. A friend of mine told me there's a good mechanic out there that doesn't charge much. But thanks for the offer." Falco tossed his cigarette away.

"You were going to a suburb?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, you know the guy?" Falco asked. "He lives in Sandy Shades."

"You're looking at him. My name is Robin." Robin offered his hand in a handshake, which Falco shook.

"Huh, well, would you look at that. Guess I can give you a lift to your spot and have you look at my ride," Falco said.

"Sure." Robin smiled.

"Wait, you're a mechanic?! And you're not afraid to get your hands dirty?" Rebecca asked.

"Yeah, I am still a person of mystery for you, Becca." Robin smirked with some sass thrown in.

Rebecca couldn't help but laugh and smack Robin's back.

"You're alright, Robin! We're gonna wreck this town with someone as crazy as you, meat bag!" Rebecca laughed.

"Um, what?" Falco felt like he was looking at an inside joke between two friends, but he figured he could ask later.

Late that night, Robin was working on his latest project, getting his new Firebite Blaster ready for action. Tools scattered across his working table as he put together what he got from his little material run and the gear he took from the Slammers. He finished screwing in the last screw before picking up the blaster. He checked the aim and the weight that it had. It felt good in his hand and it fit his holster much better than his old blaster.

Standing up in front of a mirror, he drew his blaster over and over, testing the reaction time and ease by which he could draw his weapon. It was kinda silly, but it was a great way to make sure he could take on anyone that came his way.

"You feeling lucky, punk?" Robin smirked, getting into character.

He put away his blaster before pulling up his other project, the whirlwind summoning guitar. This was a very powerful and dangerous piece of tech, tech he had seen before. Using a screwdriver, he opened the guitar, opening the guitar to see what made it tick. The machines he saw were very detailed and streamlined, all the signs of Arasaka's handy work. But there was something about the system and the type of tech that was being used by the mega corporation.

"This is not normal. These systems are more ambitious than Arasaka's usual work," Robin said. "This isn't Arasaka. This is Alchemax tech, and they're testing them on the streets with cyberpunks and everyone caught in the middle of everything."